Enabling NPIV on an existing system

Enabling N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) on an existing system requires that you complete several preparatory steps before you enable NPIV.

Note: When a storage system is configured as backend storage for the system and has NPIV enabled, verify that both the backend storage system and the system are running versions that support NPIV.

Prerequisites

If you are changing the NPIV for an I/O group in an existing system, complete the following prerequisite steps:
  1. Review your SAN fabric layout and zoning rules because NPIV has stricter requirements. Ensure that equivalent ports are on the same fabric and in the same zone. For more information, see the topic about zoning details.
  2. For more information, see the topic about zoning details.
  3. Ensure that Fibre Channel switches permit each physically connected system port the ability to create two additional NPIV ports.

Using the management GUI

After you have completed these prerequisite steps, you can enable port virtualization on an existing system by completing these steps:
  1. In the management GUI, select Settings > System > I/O Groups.
  2. Verify that the value for the NPIV is set to Enabled. For new systems, the default status for NPIV is set to enabled. However, if you are adding a node to an existing system, verify this setting. If it is set to either Transitional or Disabled, it must be changed to Enabled.
  3. If NPIV is disabled, complete these steps to change it to transitional:
    1. Right-click the I/O group and select Change NPIV Settings.
    2. On the Change NPIV Settings page, select Transitional for the new state. Users cannot go directly from disabled to enabled state. The system must be in a transitional state where the I/O group contains both physical and virtual Fibre Channel ports. Click Continue.
    3. Verify that the new Transitional state is displayed on the I/O Groups page.
  4. Reconfigure all hosts to use the newly created virtual fibre channel ports. For more information, see Reconfigure hosts to use the virtual WWPNs.
  5. Ensure that the hosts are using the NPIV ports for host I/O. To verify that you are logged in to these hosts with these NPIV ports, view the Settings > Network > Fibre Channel Connectivity
    1. View each host using the View connectivity for filters.
    2. Validate that none of the Fibre Channel logins from the host are connected to physical WWPNs.
  6. Complete these steps to change the state to Enabled:
    1. Right-click the I/O group and select Change NPIV Settings.
    2. On the Change NPIV Settings page, select Enabled for the new state. Click Continue.
    3. Wait approximately 2 minutes before you verify that the new Enabled state is displayed on the I/O Groups page.

Using the command-line interface

For new systems, the default status for NPIV is set to enabled. However, if you are adding a node to an existing system, you should verify this setting. To verify the NPIV settings on an existing system in the command-line interface, complete the following steps:
  1. Enter the following command to verify the NPIV setting on the system: 
    lsiogrp -gui
    The fctargetportmode parameter indicates NPIV setting for the I/O group.
  2. If the fctargetportmode parameter is enabled for all IO groups with one more more nodes, the system is configured for NPIV, and no additional changes are required.
  3. If the fctargetportmode parameter is disabled for any IO groups, you must change the fctargetportmode parameter to transitional for those IO groups first. The system cannot go directly from disabled to enabled state. To enable transitional mode, enter the following command:
    chiogrp -fctargetportmode transitional io_group_id_or_name
    where io_group_id_or_name is the ID or name of the I/O group.
  4. Reconfigure all hosts to use the newly created virtual fibre channel ports. For more information, see Reconfigure hosts to use the virtual WWPNs.
  5. Ensure that the hosts are using the NPIV ports for host I/O. To verify that all hosts are using the virtual ports, enter the following command for each host: 
    lsfabric -host host_id_or_name
    where host_id_or_name is the ID or name of the host. Ensure that none of the Fibre Channel logins listed in the lsfabric output are connected to physical WWPNs.
  6. To change the NPIV setting to enabled, enter the following command:
    chiogrp -fctargetportmode enabled
  7. Wait approximately 2 minutes before you enter the following command to verify that NPIV is enabled:
    lsiogrp -gui
    Verify that the fctargetportmode parameter is enabled.

Reconfigure hosts to use the virtual WWPNs

Note: If you are reconfiguring any IBM i systems, follow the alternative procedures documented here: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7159521
Once the system is configured to use transitional mode, there will be multiple WWPNs on each fibre channel port. During this section, the term "physical port" will be used to reference the WWPN that was active when the system had fctargetportmode disabled. The term "virtual port" will be used to refer to the extra WWPNs that were enabled when changing fctargetportmode to transitional mode
  1. Look up the WWPNs of the newly configured virtual ports, and how they map to the old physical ports.
    • In the CLI, use the following command to view all the WWPNs configured on the system:
      lstargetportfc -filtervalue protocol=scsi
      If the virtualized field in the output is yes, the port is a virtual port.
    • In the management GUI:
      1. Select Settings > Network > Fibre Channel Ports.
      2. Right click on the column headers of the table, and ensure that the Protocol Type is checked
      3. Open the sections to display the list of WWPNs.
      4. If the Virtualized field in the output is Yes, the port is a virtual port. Only use the ports that have Protocol Type of SCSI
  2. For each host that is zoned to the physical ports, make the following change
    1. Using multipathing commands, check the number of paths per volume before the change is started.
    2. Make zoning changes on all fabrics so that the host can log in to both the physical ports and virtual ports at the same time
    3. Use operating system commands to discover the new paths to the volumes
    4. Using multipathing commands, validate that the number of paths per volume (for the affected volumes) has doubled and that all paths are online.
      Note: If the zoning changes were made on one fabric at a time, the number of extra paths is dependent on the zoning configuration change that was made.
    5. Make zoning changes to remove the connectivity between the host and the physical ports.
    6. Perform the operating system and multipathing steps used above to clean up the paths that were removed in the previous step.