HP BL460c Boot from EVA 5000 Notes

November 21, 2008 · Filed Under Server Hardware, Storage, Windows Server 2003 · Comment

Booting from SAN isn’t really anything special these days, but it’s still not the easiest thing in the world to do. Of course, having older storage hardware as your boot source can complicate things. So, here’s some notes and guidance developed in my environment to successfully get HP BL460c blades booting from a Generation 1 EVA 5000.

Disclaimer: Not every, exact, specific step you have to perform is listed here. It’s assumed that you’ve fully read the HP Booting from SAN document listed below. Furthermore, it’s assumed that you’re familiar with installing all of the HBA firmware, drivers and other software listed here. If you have existing knowledge of working with BL460c blades, Emulex LPe1105-HP HBAs and EVA 5000 storage systems, then you should be OK. Your mileage may very. Always keep your local HP support team engaged in changes in your environment.

Applicable documents:

HP StorageWorks Booting Windows Server 2003 and Windows Serverx64 Edition systems from a storage area network application notes
Rapid Deployment Pack: How To Perform a Boot From SAN Installation (not used in this procedure though, discussed below)

Equipment list:

HP c7000 blade system chassis
Brocade 4/24 4GB FC switches for c-Class blade system
HP BL460c servers
Emulex LPe1105-HP 4GB dual-port HBAs
EVA 5000 with HSV110 controllers (Generation one)
(Optional) Other FC switches upstream of c-Class chassis, commonly the case when you add the c-Class chassis into an existing EVA environment
Fabric environment that includes two independent zones, A and B or 1 and 2, or something such similar

Software list:

Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 64-bit (could use 32-bit as well, but not Windows Server 2008 as it is not supported in Active/Passive controller mode with VCS 3.x code on the EVA 5000)
Most current versions of firmware, drivers and management software for the LPe1105-HP HBA.
Start here to obtain these software items
- Emulex HBAnyware management software (v 3.3a14 as of this post)
- HP branded firmware for the LPe1105-HP (v 2.72a2 as of this post)
- HP branded multi-boot firmware for the LPe1105-HP (v 6.00a5 as of this post)
- HP StorPort driver for LPe1105-HP (v 7-2.00a12 as of this post)
- MPIO Basic package from HP (v 1.2 as of this post)
- LP6DUTIL command line HBA maintenance utility (found in v 2.70a5 of firmware)
- Microsoft StorPort hotfix for HP systems (currently MS KB 946448 as far as I know)

So, the basic process goes like this:

Create and enable a single zone that includes HBA port #1 and a single EVA controller port on Fabric A.
Boot to a DOS prompt and use the the LP6DUTIL to update the multi-boot code on the LPe1105-HP HBAs. See below for more information on creating a bootable USB key.
On the BL460c, enter the RBSU (ROM Based Setup Utility) and move HBAs up to #1 and #2 in boot order list. Disable the on board E200i adapter from PC device list.
Reboot the BL460c and enter Emulex BIOS.
Enable the BIOS on HBA port #1.
Set HBA port #1 fabric topology to “Fabric Point to Point” by choosing option 4 from the menu and then selection option 4 again (see Image 1 and 2 below).
Set HBA port #1 “Start Unit Command” to enabled, which is only needed on Generation 1 EVAs, by choosing Option 8 from the menu.
Create the server object in Command View.
Create a boot from SAN LUN in Command View.
Assign the new LUN to the server in Command View.
Configure boot options on HBA (1 port with 1 path), follow the directions in the HP document.
Send the Boot from SAN specific RDP job to server (this is a modified standard job with one change to “Distribute Disk Image” part (see Image 3 below).
Complete Windows configuration using standard guidelines.
Install all HBA items in this order:
1. HBAnyware
2. HBA firmware via HBAnyware
3. HP StorPort driver
4. Reboot
5. Microsoft StorPort hotfix
6. Reboot
7. MPIO Basic
8. Reboot
9. HBAnyware (yes, again, it gets uninstalled when you install the HP StorPort driver for whatever reason)
Change first zone to include both EVA controller ports on Fabric A.
Add the second HBA port to Boot from SAN LUN in EVA Command View.
Add the second zone with both EVA controller ports and HBA port #2 in Fabric B.
Reboot, enter Emulex BIOS again.
Add second boot path to HBA port #1 (this would be other EVA controller in Fabric A).
Enable the BIOS on HBA port #2 and add both boot paths to it.
- Make sure that both HBAs are setup in the same order (i.e. Primary to Controller B, Secondary to controller A…see what controller “owns” the BoS volume in Command View).
Set HBA port #2 fabric topology to “Fabric Point to Point”.
Set HBA port #2 “Start Unit Command” to enabled (only needed on Gen 1 EVA).
Reboot the server.
Complete monitoring application configuration.
Complete application software installation and configuration.

Image 1: The Configure This Adapter’s Parameters menu

Image 2: Configuring the fabric topology type

Image 3: Changes made to Distribute Disk Image step in RDP installation job

Making this change to the RDP job was a suggestion of an HP support engineer who’s done quite a few Boot from SAN installations using RDP. Furthermore, he also stated there was no reason to perform the actions outlined in RDP KB article 127 if you’re following along step for step with the Boot from SAN document listed above.

You can create a bootable USB key by downloading and using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (v2.1.8), which is pretty hard to find. Download it from a Chinese language HP page here. Just click the button to the right of the file name. You’ll also need the Windows 98 or Me media to make your boot disk.

Image 4: The HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Run the utility and be sure to select Create a DOS startup disk and you’ll have a formatted, bootable, USB key in no time. Place your LP6DUTIL file and your multi-boot code file (.PRG) on the USB key and you’re good to go on that.

Booting BL460c blades from an EVA 5000…did this help?

Tags: C-Class Blades, Fibre Channel, HBA, HP, SAN, Tools

FREE Ops Mgr Management Pack Utility

August 11, 2008 · Filed Under Operations Manager · Comment

Add another great tool to your Ops Mgr toolbox (in addition to the mandatory MP Viewer by Boris) with Silect’s MP Studio 2007 Lite. From their Website:

MP Studio 2007 Lite helps organizations quickly develop a clear understanding of Management Packs, a key component of System Center Operations Manager 2007. MP Studio Lite combines rich Management Pack content analysis capabilities with predefined out-of-the-box Management Pack reports giving System Center Operations Manager 2007 users a comprehensive view of all Management Pack components.

MP Studio Lite allows users to work with either installed Management Packs or file-based Management Packs. Users can view the relationships between Management Packs as well as view all Management Pack content including rules, monitors, overrides, modules, views, tasks and more. MP Studio Lite provides rich, customizable analysis tools to quickly turn Management Pack details into an understanding of exactly what the Management Pack does.

Download and register for your free license key here.

Tags: Operations Manager, Tools

ADMT updated to version 3.1

July 18, 2008 · Filed Under Active Directory · Comment

If you’ve ever done an AD migration as part of a version upgrade (typically NT 4.0 to something newer) or due to organizational changes, then you’ve probably looked at the Active Directory Migration Tool. I last used it in version 2.0 for an NT 4.0 to 2003 migration and even back then it worked like a charm. My only complaint was that the documentation was pretty sparse and you had to look in more than a few locations to get all of the bits and pieces of knowledge you needed to use it effectively.

A lot has changed since version 2.0, and now version 3.1 has been released with a slew of updates.

Support for Windows Server 2008
Support for both 32-bit and 64-bit DCs with the Password Export Server piece
An update migration guide (hooray!)

Get the updated ADMT utility here, the documentation here and the 32-bit PES and 64-bit PES here.

Note that version 3.1 only supports Windows 2000 SP4 and newer source/target domains. So…if anyone is still running NT 4.0, you’ll need to get ADMT version 3.0, which does support NT 4.0 SP4 source domains (the PDC must be at least SP4, but I’d recommend SP6 from previous experience). You can download ADMT version 3.0 here and the ADMT version 3.0 guide here.

Tags: Active Directory, Tools