Enabling NPIV on the fabric switch

When installing the VC-FC module, NPIV must be enabled on the fabric switch that is
attached to the VCFC module uplinks before the server blade HBAs can log in to the
fabric. See the Fibre Channel switch firmware documentation for information on
whether it supports NPIV and for instructions on enabling this support.

Brocade switch

Most Brocade Fibre Channel switches running Fabric OS 5.1.0 or later will support
NPIV. All Brocade 4Gb and 8Gb-capable Fibre Channel switches are configured with
NPIV enabled by default.

When not enabled by default, use the portCfgNPIVPort command within the Brocade
switch command line interface to enable NPIV. For additional information on usage
of the portCfgNPIVPort command, see the Brocade switch firmware documentation.

To enable NPIV on all other Brocade Fibre Channel Switches, use the following
Fabric OS CLI procedure:

To enable or disable NPIV on a port-by-port basis, use the portCfgNPIVPort

command.

Example: To enable NPIV on port 10, enter following command:

switch:admin> portCfgNPIVPort 10, 1

To specify the number of virtual N_Port_IDs per port or per switch, use the
configure command with either of the following parameters:

switch.login.perPortMax: Use this parameter to set the number of virtual

N_Port_IDs per port to a value between 0 and 255. The default setting is 126.

switch.login.perSwitchMax: Use this parameter to set the number of virtual

N_Port_IDs per switch to a value between 0 and (126 * number of ports). The default
setting is (15 * number of ports).

Example:

switch:admin> switchdisable
switch:admin> configure
Configure...
Fabric parameters (yes, y, no, n): [no]
Virtual Channel parameters (yes, y, no, n): [no]
F-Port login parameters (yes, y, no, n): [no] y
Maximum logins per switch: (1..4032) [4032] 2048
Maximum logins per port: (1..255) [255] 126
.
.
switch:admin> switchenable

Cisco switch

Cisco Fibre Channel switches running SAN-OS 3.0 or later will support NPIV. To
enable NPIV on Cisco Fibre Channel Switches running the Cisco Device Manager, use
the following procedure:

From the Cisco Device Manager, click Admin, and then select Feature Control.
The Feature Control window appears.
 Click the row titled NPIV.

In the Action column select enable, and then click Apply.

Click Close to return to the Name Server screen.

Click Refresh to display the Host ports.

McDATA switch

McDATA Fibre Channel switches with E/OS 8.0 or later will support NPIV. McDATA
switches require an optional license to enable this function. Use the following
procedure to apply this license and enable NPIV:

From a browser, open the web user interface for the McDATA switch that is to be
connected to the VC-FC module. The Node List view details the devices attached to
the McDATA switch.

To install the NPIV license, click Maintenance, and then select Options
Features.

Enter the license key for NPIV in the Feature Key field. Select the key as the
"N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)." Link from the window and apply the key by
clicking OK. A check mark in the left window indicates that the N_Port ID
Virtualization key is installed.

Click Configure, and then select Ports>NPIV.

Click Enable.

At the prompt click OK if user is sure user wants to enable NPIV.

In the Login column, set the value to 17 or higher for each port connected to
the VC-FC to ensure proper operation.

Click OK to save changes.