C H A P T E R 4 |
AP 2.3.1 on Sun Enterprise Servers |
This section contains the release notes for Alternate Pathing (AP) 2.3.1 on Sun Enterprise 3x00, 4x00, 5x00, 6x00, and 10000 servers.
AP enables you to define and control alternate physical paths to peripheral devices, adding increased availability and a level of fault recovery to your server. If a physical path to a device becomes unavailable, an alternate path can be used. For more information, see the Sun Enterprise Server AP 2.3.1 User Guide in the AnswerBook2 Alternate Pathing 2.3.1 Collection.
AP multipath I/O technology is being retired in favor of the newer, more scalable technologies presented by Sun StorEdge Traffic Manager and IPMP.
These modern technologies present better overall multipath solutions, with refined, user-friendly interfaces that are well integrated with Solaris. IPMP also provides true automatic switching for networks upon error detection.
If you use AP for its I/O multipath capabilities, you are encouraged to unconfigure your AP installations, and begin utilizing these newer technologies for I/O multipath control.
All 3 technologies are available during the Solaris 8 timeframe. However, be advised that AP will no longer be available in Solaris 9.
If you are upgrading from Solaris 2.6 or Solaris 7 software to Solaris 8 software and have AP 2.1 or AP 2.2 on your system, you must upgrade to AP 2.3 or AP 2.3.1. The following sections include references to a volume manager because most systems have one installed.
This section contains an overview of the entire upgrade process, which requires you to use several sections from different publications. You should ensure that you have the following publications before you start the upgrade:
Solaris 8 2/04 Release Notes Supplement for Sun Hardware (available in printed form in your Solaris 8 2/04 Media Kit)
Solaris 8 2/04 Sun Hardware Platform Guide (available in printed form in your Solaris 8 Media Kit or in AnswerBook2 format on the Sun Hardware Supplements CD)
Sun Enterprise Server Alternate Pathing 2.3.1 User Guide (available in AnswerBook2 format on the Sun Hardware Supplements CD in your Solaris 8 Media Kit)
Your Volume Manager User's Guide
Your Volume Manager Installation and Product Notes
Note - Before attempting an upgrade, verify that your volume manager supports the Solaris 8 software. |
Caution - You must follow the sequence given here to successfully complete the upgrade. |
In general, you will perform the following tasks:
Unconfigure your volume manager.
Remove the previous version of AP.
Upgrade to the Solaris 8 operating environment.
Install AP 2.3.1.
Install and reconfigure your volume manager.
Specifically, you must perform the following tasks:
Read "Performing an Upgrade of AP" in the Solaris 8 2/04 Sun Hardware Platform Guide.
Commit any uncommitted AP metadevices (see Step 1 in "To Upgrade to AP 2.3.1" in the Solaris 8 2/04 Sun Hardware Platform Guide).
Unconfigure your volume manager using the documentation provided by the specific vendor.
Note - With regard to AP, no additional steps need to be taken to do this other than those recommended by the manufacturer to unconfigure the volume manager. |
Remove the current AP configuration using "Remove the current AP configuration." of the Solaris 8 2/04 Sun Hardware Platform Guide.
Upgrade to Solaris 8 using "Upgrade the Solaris operating environment (if applicable) now" in the Solaris 8 2/04 Sun Hardware Platform Guide.
Upgrade to AP 2.3.1 using instructions in the Solaris 8 2/04 Sun Hardware Platform Guide.
Install your volume manager according to your manufacturer's instructions.
When upgrading AP 2.3.1, unless both paths are accessible when you run ap_upgrade_begin, ap_upgrade_finish completes but is unable to recreate your path groups. No error message appears.
This section contains general issues that involve AP on Sun Enterprise servers. Read this section before you attempt to install or configure AP.
The following devices are supported by the AP software on Sun Enterprise servers:
Sun SPARCstorage Arrays recognized by AP using the pln(soc) controllers
Sun StorEdge A5000 recognized by AP using sf(socal) or fp(qlc) controllers
Sun StorEdge T3 recognized by AP using sf(socal) or fp(qlc) controllers
Sun Enterprise E3500 internal drives recognized by using sf(socal) or fp(qlc) controllers
SunFastEthernet 2.0 (hme)
SunFDDI/S 6.0 (nf) SAS (Single-Attach Station) and DAS (Dual-Attach Station)
SCSI-2/Buffered Ethernet FSBE/S and DSBE/S (le)
Quad Ethernet (qe)
Sun Quad FastEthernet (qfe)
Sun Gigabit Ethernet 2.0 (ge)
The following table lists the devices supported in each release:
AP 2.3.1 validation tests were performed on SunFDDI/S (revision 7.0) and Gigabit Ethernet (revision 2.0). If you install either of these devices, you must use the revision level that was tested, unless a higher revision level exists. In addition, you must install all of the available patches for these devices. Refer to
http://www.sunsolve.sun.com for more information about the patches.
The Sun StorEdge A3000 supports failover capabilities that are similar to those provided by AP 2.3.1. Because of this, AP 2.3.1 does not support the Sun StorEdge A3000. See that product's documentation for more information about its failover support.
AP 2.3.1 supports the Sun StorEdge A5000 for this release.
AP 2.3.1 does not support the Sun StorEdge A7000 for this release.
AP 2.3.1 supports the Sun StorEdge T3 in a path optimized AP configuration with this release. Path optimization refers to the efficient distribution of I/O traffic for the T3.
The following lists includes the possible combinations of AP and Solaris software you can install on a Sun Enterprise server.
Solaris 8 with AP 2.3.1 and DR
Solaris 8 with AP 2.3 and DR
Solaris 7 with AP 2.3.1 and DR
Solaris 7 with AP 2.3 and DR
Solaris 7 with AP 2.2 and DR
Solaris 2.6 with AP 2.3.1 and DR
Solaris 2.6 with AP 2.3 and DR
Solaris 2.6 with AP 2.1 and DR
Solaris 2.5.1 with AP 2.0.1 and DR (Sun Enterprise 10000 server only)
Solaris 2.5.1 with AP 2.0 and DR (Sun Enterprise 10000 server only)
Check the SunSolve website on a regular basis for any AP patches that may be available, and apply the recommended patches:
The DR Attach operation can complete without the controller being immediately accessible to AP. You must verify that the physical device is present before switching to the new controller using apconfig.
A Sun Enterprise 10000 server running the Solaris 2.6 operating environment requires Patch 106284-02 for AP 2.3.1 to run correctly with the dr_daemon.
AP 2.3.1 provides support for only one alternately pathed boot disk plus a mirror disk per domain.
In order to fix inconsistencies in boot recovery behavior, device aliases for the boot disk are not supported.
Boot recovery is architecture generic in AP 2.3.1. Boot recovery works on Sun Fire as well as Starfire platforms.
IPMP/AP path groups are not supported for this release.
A SENA device that uses the qlc/fp drivers is considered a different physical device than a SENA device that uses the socal/sf stack. SENA devices do not support mixed configurations where qlc/fp and socal/sf drivers service a single SENA device. Therefore, the two devices cannot be combined in an AP metadevice.
Revising the firmware on a physical SENA device using socal/sf drivers to use qlc/fp drivers for your Fibre Channel controllers is the same as replacing the hardware with a different type of controller. (The converse is also true.) You must unconfigure Alternate Pathing on such controllers before you revise the firmware. For example:
After you have performed the revision, recreate your pathgroups using the new device names, for example:
Documentation for AP 2.0 and 2.0.1 can be found in their respective collections under Hardware -> Enterprise Servers at docs.sun.com.
AP 2.1 and 2.2, however, are in the Hardware -> Solaris on Sun Hardware AnswerBook collection at docs.sun.com.
AP 2.3 and 2.3.1 are in their own collections under Hardware -> Enterprise Servers.
Panic while switching unplumbed metanetwork. (BugID 4361968)
This section contains the synopses and Sun BugID number of the more important bugs that have been fixed since the AP 2.3 release (Solaris 8). This list does not include all of the fixed bugs.
(RFE) An immediate switch of path using AP after DR configure forces it into a `T' state. (BugID 4265982)
(RFE) AP handling for individual target failure, FC hubs/fabric, and daisy chaining. (BugID 4276330)
(RFE) Hang on Sun Enterprise 3500 with mirrored internal disk pull out with AP and sds. (BugID 4297492)
Read/write errors during ctrl failover with Sun StorEdge T3 Array partner group or 2x2 expansion. (BugID 4342963)
Multiple ".probe" execution causes LUNs on UNIX host to fail with ENODEV. (BugID 4347014)
ENXIO from Sun StorEdge T3 ONLINE Master immediately after .probe initiated ctlr failure. (BugID 4347016)
This section contains the synopses and Sun BugID number of the more important bugs that have been discovered regarding AP 2.3.1 and the Solaris 8 operating environment. This list does not include all bugs.
Description: AP depends on Sun Device ID functions; specifically ddi_devid_compare(). Any device that AP supports must adequately interface with the Sun Device ID. This leads to a direct dependency on the resolution of Sun BugID 4295457. Thus, there is a dependency on three separate patches:
Solution: You can obtain these patches from SunSolve at:
http://sunsolve.sun.com
Systems running the Solaris 7 operating environment using qfe controllers should install patch 107743-06, to prevent system hangs when switching pathgroups with qfe controllers in them.
Solution: You can obtain Patch 107743-06 from SunSolve at:
http://sunsolve.sun.com
Copyright © 2003, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.