StarWind Targets and Linux Open iSCSI Initiator
Posted by Michael Rakitin on
February 1, 2018
Symptoms
- After a short time when a StarWind device is connected in a Linux based OS, the device encounters random disconnect and needs to be reconnected.
- After mounting StarWind device as ext3 or ext4 datastore inside Linux, StarWind service immediately crashes.
Resolution
- The issue is related to the Open iSCSI when it is trying to send iSCSI NoPout request while the target is busy. For correct work of Open-iSCSI with StarWind targets and to avoid timeouts and intervals for iSCSI pings, edit “iscsid.conf” configuration files (/etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf). Use any built-in text editor (nano, vi, etc.) to set the below values:
node.conn[0].timeo.noop_out_interval = 0
node.conn[0].timeo.noop_out_timeout = 0
Also, make sure that “Replacement timeout” parameter is not bigger than 120:
node.session.timeo.replacement_timeout = 120
After accepting these changes, StarWind device will not encounter random disconnects anymore. - The issue is related to the wrong processing of hardware acceleration SCSI command from Open-iSCSI. To disable hardware acceleration support in StarWind, perform the following steps:
Please note: In StarWind VSAN, till 8.9996 build version, VAAI/ODX support is disabled by default.
For StarWind VSAN builds 8.10547 – 8.11456:
– Stop StarWind Service
-Open StarWind configuration file in StarWind root folder (default path is C:\Program Files\StarWind Software\StarWind\StarWind.cfg)
– Find the string <HardwareAccelerationEnabled value=”yes”/> and change it to <HardwareAccelerationEnabled value=”no”/>
– Save the changes and start StarWind service
For StarWind VSAN build 8.11456 and later
– Stop StarWind Service
– Open StarWind configuration file in StarWind root folder (default path is C:\Program Files\StarWind Software\StarWind\StarWind.cfg)
– Find the strings
<VaaiExCopyEnabled value=”yes”/>,
<VaaiCawEnabled value=”yes”/>,
<VaaiWriteSameEnabled value=”yes”/>and change them to
<VaaiExCopyEnabled value=”no”/>,
<VaaiCawEnabled value=”no”/>,
<VaaiWriteSameEnabled value=”no”/>-Save the changes and start StarWind service.
After disabling Hardware Acceleration in StarWind VSAN, StarWind device should be mounted as ext3 or ext4 in Linux-based machine without any issues.
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