VMWARE VSPHERE 7.

0:
INSTALL, CONFIGURE, MANAGE

Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

Document Version: 2020-11-04

Copyright © 2020 Network Development Group, Inc.

www.netdevgroup.com

NETLAB+ is a registered trademark of Network Development Group, Inc.

VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.

Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3
Objectives............................................................................................................................ 3
Lab Topology....................................................................................................................... 4
Lab Settings ......................................................................................................................... 5
1 View and Delete an Existing ESXi Host iSCSI Configuration........................................ 6
2 Add a VMKernal Port Group to a Standard Switch................................................... 15
3 Configure the iSCSI Software Adapter and Connect it to the Storage ..................... 23

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

Introduction

In this lab, you will configure access to an iSCSI datastore.

Objectives

 View and delete an Existing ESXi Host iSCSI Configuration

 Add a VMKernel port group to a standard switch
 Configure the iSCSI software adapter and connect it to the storage

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

Lab Topology

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

Lab Settings

The information in the table below will be needed in order to complete the lab. The
task sections below provide details on the use of this information.

Virtual Machine IP Address Account Password

sa-esxi-01 eth0: 172.20.10.51 root Train1ng$

sa-esxi-02 eth0: 172.20.10.52 root Train1ng$

sa-aio eth0: 172.20.10.10 sysadmin vmware123

sa-student eth0: 172.20.10.80 sysadmin vmware123

sa-vcsa eth0: 172.20.10.94 [email protected] vmware123

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

1 View and Delete an Existing ESXi Host iSCSI Configuration

In this task, you will familiarize yourself with the existing VMkernel and iSCSI software
adapter configuration on sa-esxi-01.vclass.local along with deleting the iSCSI software
adapter.

1. Launch the sa-student virtual machine to access the graphical login screen.

To launch the console window for a virtual machine, you may access by
either clicking on the machine’s graphic image from the topology page
or by clicking on the machine’s respective tab from the navigation bar.

2. Log in as sysadmin using the password vmware123.

3. Launch the Mozilla Firefox web browser by either clicking on the icon shortcut
found on the bottom toolbar or by navigating to Start Menu > Internet > Firefox
Web Browser.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

4. Notice the homepage is automatically configured to load the URL address of the
VMware vCenter Server Appliance (sa-vcsa virtual machine). Click on the LAUNCH
VSPHERE CLIENT (HTML5) button to launch the vSphere Client.

If you cannot successfully load the VMware Getting Started webpage,

then please wait an additional 3-5 minutes and refresh the page to
continue. During this time, the vCenter Server Appliance is still
booting up and requires extra time to initialize.

5. In the Username text field, type [email protected] and in the Password text
field, type vmware123. Click on LOGIN.

You may ignore the “browser-OS combination” warning message

presented on the VMware vCenter Single Sign-On page and continue
moving forward with the lab.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

6. On the Hosts and Clusters tab in the navigation pane, expand the Datacenter object.
Select sa-esxi-02.vclass.local and click the Configure tab.

7. In the right pane under Storage, select Storage Adapters.

8. In the Storage Adapters pane, select the vmhba65 iSCSI software adapter. Verify
that the vmhba65 iSCSI adapter is Online.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

9. In the Storage Adapters pane, select the Properties tab. Notice the Adapter Status,
Name, iSCSI Name and Authentication Method.

10. Select the Devices tab and verify Lun0 and Lun1 are showing.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

11. Select the Dynamic Discovery tab and note the iSCSI server IP address.

12. Select the Network Port Binding tab and notice the attached VMkernal Adapter.

13. While on the Network Port Binding tab, select the Management Network Port
Group and click Remove.

14. On the Remove Network Port Binding window, click OK.

15. Select the Static Discovery tab and select all 4 iSCSI Servers by the holding the Shift
key and select each item. Click Remove.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

16. In the vmhba65 - Remove iSCSI servers window, click OK.

17. On the Dynamic Discovery tab, select 172.20.10.10:3260 and click Remove.

18. In the vmhba65 - Remove iSCSI servers window, click OK.

19. In the Storage Adapters main workspace, click Rescan Storage.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

20. In the Rescan Storage window, click OK.

21. Notice after rescanning the Storage, the vmhba65 adapter is still Online.

22. In the Storage Adapters main workspace, select the vmhba65 iSCSI Software
Adapter.

23. Select the Properties tab and click Disable.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

24. In the Disable adapter | sa-esxi-02.vclass.local window, click OK.

25. On the Storage Adapters main workspace window, notice the message shown. To
proceed to the next task, you will need to reboot sa-esxi-02.vclass.local. Once sa-
esxi-02 has rebooted the adapter will be removed and all the storage devices
associated with it will be inaccessible.

26. In the navigation pane, notice that sa-esxi-02.vclass.local says (Reboot Required).
Right-click sa-esxi-02.vclass.local select Power > Reboot.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

27. In the Reboot Host window, type Remove iSCSi Software Adapter in the Log a
reason for the reboot operation. Click OK.

The reboot process takes 2 to 4 minutes to complete. During this

time, sa-esxi-02.vclass.local will be unavailable. You will not be able to
complete the next task until sa-esxi-02.vclass.local has fully rebooted.

28. Once sa-esxi-02.vclass.local has finished rebooting, leave the vSphere Client open
and continue with the next task.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

2 Add a VMKernal Port Group to a Standard Switch

In this task, you will use VMkernel interfaces to provide network connectivity for your
hosts and to handle other types of traffic, such as VMware vSphere vMotion traffic,
storage traffic, and VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance traffic.

1. Expand the Datacenter inventory object, select sa-esxi-02.vclass.local, followed by

clicking on the Configure tab in the main workspace.

2. In the main workspace, in the middle pane, under Networking, select VMkernel
adapters.

3. Click the Add Networking button.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

4. In the Add Networking window, on the Select connection type step, select VMkernel
Network Adapter and click Next.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

5. On the Select target device step, choose New standard switch and click Next.

6. On the Create a Standard Switch step, click the Add adapters (green plus) icon.

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7. In the Add Physical Adapters to the Switch window, select vmnic1 and click OK.

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8. Back on the Add Networking window, review the information and click Next.

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9. On the Port properties step, type IP Storage in the Network Label text box and click
Next.

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10. On the IPv4 settings step, select Use static IPv4 settings and use the information
below to configure the settings:
a. IPv4 address: 172.20.11.52
b. Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
c. Check the checkbox for Override default gateway for this adapter
d. Default gateway: 172.20.11.10
e. Click Next.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

11. On the Ready to complete step, review the information and click Finish.

12. Leave vSphere Client open to continue with the next task.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

3 Configure the iSCSI Software Adapter and Connect it to the Storage

In this task, you will use the built-in software iSCSI adapter on the ESXi host to directly
connect to a remote iSCSI target on the IP network.

1. While in vSphere Client, ensure you are on the Configure tab of sa-esxi-
02.vclass.local. Select Storage Adapters under Storage, in the middle pane.

2. Click on the Add Software Adapter button.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

3. In the Add Software Adapter window, select the radio button for Add software iSCSI
adapter and click OK.

4. In the Storage Adapters list, select the newly created iSCSI software adapter
(vmhba65).

5. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Properties tab.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

6. Verify that the adapter status is Enabled. Click the Edit button next to the General
header.

7. Ensure that the name shown in the iSCSI Name text box matches iqn.1998-
01.com.vmware:sa-esxi-02-xxxxxxxx (the numbers at the end of the iSCSI name
have x’s to represent characters that might change). Click OK.

8. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Network Port Binding tab.

9. Click the Add button.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

10. In the Bind vmhba65 with VMkernel Adapter window, select the IP Storage checkbox
and click OK.

11. Click Dynamic Discovery, followed by clicking Add.

12. In the Add Send Target Server window, type 172.20.11.10 in the iSCSI Server text box
and click OK.

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Lab 10: Accessing iSCSI Storage

13. Monitor the Recent Tasks pane. Once completed, click the Rescan Storage button.

14. In the Rescan Storage window, leave the defaults checked and click OK. Wait for the
task to complete.

15. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Devices tab.

16. Verify that one or more LUNs appear. Notice the LUN number, capacity, operational
state, and hardware acceleration information.
17. The lab is now complete; you may end the reservation.

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