Setting up iSCSI

Introduction

iSCSI consists of two pieces: A target and an initiator. A target is a large pool of disk space that can be accessed over IP by the initiators. Initiators use the disk space, formatting it and mounting it the same as local disk.

iSCSI Target

The iscsitarget-X.X.apk package provides the target functionality. It includes the ietd service (ietd is the iSCSI Enterprise Target Daemon). Once the package is installed, you can set up a target by editing two conf files.

In /etc/ietd.conf, add the following information:

       Target iqn.2006-01.com.example:disk2.vol1
              Lun 0 Path=/dev/sda1, Type=fileio

The iSCSI Qualified Name is documented in RFC 3720, with further examples of names in RFC 3721. Briefly, the fields are:

literal iqn
date (yyyy-mm) that the naming authority took ownership of the domain
reversed domain name of the authority (org.alpinelinux, com.example, to.yp.cr)
Optional ":" prefixing a storage target name specified by the naming authority.

From the RFC:

                   Naming     String defined by
      Type  Date    Auth      "example.com" naming authority
     +--++-----+ +---------+ +--------------------------------+
     |  ||     | |         | |                                |     

     iqn.2001-04.com.example:storage:diskarrays-sn-a8675309
     iqn.2001-04.com.example
     iqn.2001-04.com.example:storage.tape1.sys1.xyz
     iqn.2001-04.com.example:storage.disk2.sys1.xyz

The "Target" line above is an example. This line really just needs to be unique. /dev/sdx refers to the disk and partition that will be presented to the initiator.

In the /etc/initiators.allow file, add the following line:

    iqn.2006-01.com.example:disk2.vol1 10.1.194.111

The IP address in the line above will be the initiator's ip address. Now only this ip address is allowed to access this specific target.

Can hostnames be used instead of ip addresses?--Ncopa 08:03, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

iSCSI Initiator

To configure the iSCSI initiator, add the initiator name to the file /etc/iscsi/initiatorname.iscsi

    InitiatorName=iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:4efa151441

What does 01 mean? where comes the 4efa151441 number from? Did you made it up? What does it mean? Why Debian?--Ncopa 08:02, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Verify the file /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf exists. If not, it may need to be copied from /etc/iscsid.conf.

Start the initiator daemon with

/etc/init.d/iscsi start

Connecting the Initiator to the Target

From the iSCSI initiator, first run this command:

    iscsiadm --mode discovery --type sendtargets --portal IP_OF_TARGET

This command contacts the target to determine which disks are available. If all is configured correctly, the target name iqn.2006-01.com.example:disk2.vol1 (from the example above) will be returned.

After the target is discovered, run this command to connect:

    iscsiadm --mode node --targetname NAME_OF_TARGET --portal IP_OF_TARGET --login

Replacing --login with --logout will end the connection.

To make this connection persistent (so that it will reconnect after reboot), run this command:

    iscsiadm -m node -T NAME_OF_TARGET -p IP_OF_TARGET --op update -n node.conn[0].startup -v automatic

Any references/links to where to find more details about it?--Ncopa 16:04, 8 November 2007 (UTC)