EMC PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere

Version 5.7

Release Notes
P/N 300-012-545 Rev A01

August 29, 2011

These release notes contain information about the features, system requirements, and limitations of PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere.

Revision History ................................................................................... 2 Product description.............................................................................. 2 New features and changes .................................................................. 4 Fixed problems ..................................................................................... 8 Environment and system requirements.......................................... 10 Known problems and limitations .................................................... 20 Technical notes.................................................................................... 25 Documentation ................................................................................... 29 Software media, organization, and files.......................................... 31 Installation ........................................................................................... 33 Troubleshooting and getting help.................................................... 34

Revision History

Revision History
Table 1 on page 2 presents the revision history of this document.
Table 1

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes revision history Revision A01 Date August 29, 2011 Description Release of PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere.

Product description
PowerPath/VE is a server-resident performance and application availability enhancing software solution. PowerPath/VE combines multiple path I/O capabilities, automatic load balancing, and path failover functions into one integrated package. PowerPath/VE provides:

Automatic failover in the event of hardware failure Dynamic multipath load balancing

Your license type determines the extent of PowerPath/VE functionality available. If you have questions about your license, contact your Customer Support Representative.

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere overview

PowerPath/VE works with VMware vSphere as a multipathing plugin (MPP) that provides enhanced path management capabilities to VMware vSphere hosts. Having multiple paths enables the VMware vSphere host to access a storage device even if a specific path is unavailable. Multiple paths can also share the I/O traffic to a storage device. PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere also uses a PowerPath remote multipathing (rpowermt) CLI package that is installed on a server., called RTOOLS, for management. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information on rpowermt server functions; "Supported PowerPath/VE remote CLI (rpowermt) server on page 14 provides information on supported operating systems for the rpowermt server.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Product description

Note that throughout this document, wherever the VMware vSphere host or platform is mentioned, it refers only to VMware vSphere ESXi, unless otherwise noted. "VMware vSphere ESX support on page 7 provides more information.

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere licensing

Electronic License Management (ELM) is used for PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere. The rpowermt server stores unserved license information. For served licenses, PowerPath for VMware vSphere uses a third-party license server to manage ELM information to manage license information. The electronic license server is the host on which the ELM software and licenses for PowerPath for VMware vSphere products are loaded. For more information on ELM and other licensing information for PowerPath for VMware vSphere, see "Electronic License Server operating systems on page 16. If you have a valid PowerPath/VE 5.4 and service packs for VMware vSphere license installed on your license server, license information is preserved when you install PowerPath 5.7. "Possible moving of licenses for unserved licenses on page 25 in Technical notes provides more information.

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere packaging

The PowerPath/VE package is available as a software distribution from Powerlink as an offline package, which is a zipped file containing a descriptive XML file and three VMware infrastructure bundles (.vibs). A VIB is a package suitable for use on VMware vSphere. You can use either the ZIP file or the VIB files for installation. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides information. The RTOOLS packages are separate from the VIB packages and consist of two different files: an .rpm package for Linux and a ZIP package for Windows. To facilitate obtaining and downloading the required files as well as to facilitate all VMware installation requirements, all files necessary to download and install PowerPath/VE are contained within the PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere - Install SW Bundle.zip, located on Powerlink. The software distribution is located in the PowerPath for VMware Software Downloads section of Powerlink.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

New features and changes

The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information on package requirements for different installation methods. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere - Install SW Bundle.zip also contains the Flexera software to be utilized for Electronic Licensing Management of served license files by your operating system. The supported Windows and Linux versions are included. PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere is implemented as a dynamically loadable VMware kernel module. The package is persistent and PowerPath/VE loads when the system is rebooted.

New features and changes

This section includes new features and changes in PowerPath/VE 5.7:

PowerPath/VE 5.7

Note: Earlier versions of PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere may be qualified with the following product versions. The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator provides complete, up-to-date qualification information.

Support for VMware vSphere 5.0 on PowerPath/VE 5.7 "VMware vSphere configurations on page 11 provides information on PowerPath/VE and VMware vSphere supported versions.

Support for stateless vSphere hosts Stateless support is provided through the served license model. Support for the Auto Deploy installation method for stateless vSphere hosts The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information.

Support for automatic license registration Automatic license registration (autoregistration) allows PowerPath/VE to register a license on the vSphere host without having to expressly register the PowerPath/VE license with the rpowermt register command. Instead, the PowerPath/VE license is registered automatically with the use of most rpowermt commands. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

New features and changes

Expanded RSA rpowermt lockbox support: Access to rpowermt lockbox from multiple hosts Support for environment variables and commands to disable or bypass lockbox The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information on setting use options. Support for CIM Ticket Authentication CIM Ticket Authentication allows you to use RTOOLS in combination with vCenter Server to authorize a vSphere host that is managed by vCenter without the need of a root password. CIM Ticket Authentication also allows RTOOLS to access vSphere hosts that are in Lockdown mode. You use the CIM ticket output with most rpowermt commands to authorize the vSphere host. VMware documentation on CIM Ticket Authentication, available at the VMware support website (http://www.vmware.com/support/developer) provides more information on acquiring a CIM services ticket. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information using CIM Ticket Authentication.

Extended license data reporting The rpowermt check_registration command now displays additional information regarding the PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere license that was used to register PowerPath/VE on the target vSphere host, such as: host ID license type (served or unserved) license issue date days until license expiration license file search path license file names

The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information on extended license data output for served and unserved licenses.

Support for EMC storage systems: VMAXe

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes
5

New features and changes

VPLEX 5.0 "Storage systems on page 17 provides more information on PowerPath/VE-supported storage systems.

Support for EMC storage system software: VNX OE 5.31 (formerly FLARE) VNX File OE 7.0 (formerly DART 7.0) VNXe File OE 2.x Symmetrix storage systems, with Enginuity 5874 ATS support VPLEX GeoSynchrony 4.x VPLEX GeoSynchrony 5.0

Support for software iSCSI NICs: Intel Emulex

Support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet CNAs: Emulex Qlogic

Support for Fibre Channel HBAs: Emulex Qlogic

Support of the following operating systems on the remote CLI (rpowermt) server: Windows 2008 R2 SP1 RHEL 5.6 RHEL 6.0 RHEL 6.1

Support of the following operating systems on the electronic licensing management (ELM) server: Windows 2008 R2 SP1 on RHEL 5.6 RHEL 6.0 RHEL 6.1

"Supported PowerPath/VE remote CLI (rpowermt) server on page 14 and "Electronic License Server operating systems on page 16 provide more information on supported versions of the rpowermt and ELM server.

Several bug fixes, as described in "Fixed problems on page 8

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

New features and changes

Support changes
PowerPath/VE 5.7 VMware vSphere ESX support VMware vSphere ESX, which is the console version of the ESX host, is deprecated by VMware as of VMware vSphere version 5.0. As of PowerPath/VE 5.7 and later, VMware ESXi is only type of VMware vSphere host available and supported by PowerPath/VE. Unlicensed host behavior As of PowerPath/VE 5.7, kernel licensed operation is always enabled. Default load-balancing and failover policies are Symmetrix Optimized for Symmetrix devices, CLARiiON Optimized for VNX and CLARiiON devices, and Adaptive for Invista, VPLEX, VNXe, supported Celerra devices, and supported third-party devices. When PowerPath/VE is installed but not licensed, the rpowermt server is not able to see the information for the vSphere host. Upon installation of a valid PowerPath/VE for VMware license, host display and management capabilities are enabled through the rpowermt server. Expired licensed state and license state for newly added devices are unchanged from PowerPath/VE 5.4 and service packs. The PowerPath/VE for VMware Installation and Administration Guide provides more information on licensed and unlicensed host behavior. Optional manual registration of PowerPath/VE licenses As of PowerPath/VE 5.7, running the rpowermt register command is no longer required to register a PowerPath/VE license on the VMware vSphere host. Most rpowermt commands can automatically register the PowerPath/VE license on the vSphere host. Support for automatic license registration on page 4 provides more information. Online depot packaging Support for the online depot format is deprecated by PowerPath/VE as of version 5.7. This includes support for online depot installation for importing updates with VMware Update Manager (VUM). As of PowerPath/VE 5.7 and later, only the offline depot format is supported. "PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere packaging on page 3 provides more information.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Fixed problems

License information persistence across vSphere host reboot As of PowerPath/VE 5.7, license information is not persisted across vSphere host reboot. However, license registration upon reboot of the vSphere host using the rpowermt register command is not required. The PowerPath/VE license is registered automatically with the use of most rpowermt commands. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information. vihostupdate functionality The vihostupdate command is deprecated by VMware as of VMware vSphere version 5.0. As of PowerPath/VE 5.7 and later, most vihostupdate functionality is ported to the esxcli command. VMware documentation provides more information. Claim rules As of PowerPath/VE 5.7, the claim rule string length and characters must match exactly. "Claim rules and unsupported third-party storage systems on page 26 in Technical notes provides more information. Flexera version 11.6.1 support As of PowerPath/VE 5.7, Flexera version 11.6.1 is no longer supported for management of the electronic license environment. "Electronic License Server operating systems on page 16 provides information on supported Flexera versions.

Fixed problems
Table 2 on page 8 lists problems that have been fixed in PowerPath/VE 5.7:
Table 2

Fixed problems in PowerPath/VE 5.7: Found in version 5.4 SP2 Fixed in version 5.7

Description 364901 When entering host information on the RSA rpowermt lockbox using the rpowermt setup command on PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP2, the lockbox becomes corrupt. 361298 The VMware ESX/ESXi 4.0/4.1 host randomly crashes with PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP2 installed. This is due to a rare condition between PowerPath/VE and ESX I/O dispatch threads which results in PowerPath/VE acting on an I/O that has already been freed/completed.

5.4 SP2

5.7

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Fixed problems

Table 2

Fixed problems in PowerPath/VE 5.7: Found in version 5.4 SP2 Fixed in version 5.7

Description 361246 Windows 2008 systems hosting Flexera license server version 11.8.0.0 stop and start, after which all licenses are checked back in. License count is not persisted after reboot. Related OPTs: 364231, 356108 349839 VMware servers experience PSOD with ESX/ESXi 4.1 and PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP1 and 5.4 SP2. The VMware PR number for this issue is 578782. Related OPTs: 349218, 355033 335685 PowerPath/VE installation using VUM fails if the host has no HBA cables attached or if the device is removed from the host. This is because VUM is unable to verify certain properties of the VMs that are inaccessible due to the datastore being disconnected during the Remediation phase of VUM installation. The VMware PR number for this issue is 552768. 318689 Because of a VMware problem, VUM displays the following error message on the VI Client GUI while removing PowerPath/VE:
XXX host.PatchManager.Uninstall.label not found XXX

5.4 SP1

EMC Knowledgebase Solution emc252367 provides more information. 5.7

5.4 SP2

5.4 SP1

5.7

This is a logging issue only. Functionality is not affected. The VMware PR number for this issue is 471853. 323349 iSCSI ALUA LUNs take more than 40 minutes to trespass to other SP even when all the optimal paths are disabled. Reboot does not trespass the LUNs to other available SP. The VMware PR number for this issue is 407152. Related OPT: 307683 324741 Because of a VMware vSphere problem, powered-off VMs do not automatically migrate to a live ESX host in DRS cluster during a PowerPath/VE upgrade using VUM. The VMware PR number for this issue is 498494. 5.4 SP1 5.7 5.4 SP1 5.7

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

Table 2

Fixed problems in PowerPath/VE 5.7: Found in version 5.4 SP1 Fixed in version 5.7

Description 324497 Removing a LUN from Celerra leads to bus reset for all the target ports from Celerra as well as other CLARiiONs connected to the host. The VMware PR number for this issue is 498942. 308084 The ESX host fails to boot when the back-end CLARiiON disks are faulted. The VMware PR number for this issue is 404102. Related OPT: 307973 307683 Because of faulty task management in the QLogic driver, QLogic driver abort handler fails. Related OPT: 323349 307359 After running rpowermt set periodic_autorestore=<on|off> or rpowermt set periodic_autorestore=<on|off> class=all, unexpected dead paths to Invista devices may be reported by the CLI if a path failure occurs. 305320 An error message is received when you rescan HBAs after adding a new CLARiiON device from Navisphere. The VMware PR number for this issue is 388534. 292876 Uninstall with all paths disabled fails in Fibre Channel and iSCSI hardware setups. Related OPT: 297219

5.4

5.7

5.4 SP1

5.7

5.4

5.7

5.4

5.7

5.4

5.7

Environment and system requirements

This section discusses PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere environment and system requirements.

E-Lab Interoperability Navigator

The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator and the EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware, available on the Powerlink website, provide full, up-to-date interoperability information. This includes information
10

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

about the hardware, software, and networked storage components that are tested and compatible with both EMC storage systems and third-party storage systems. It also includes information about supported host models, operating system revisions, host bus adapters, and connectivity devices.
Note: The information in E-Lab Interoperability Navigator takes precedence over the information in this document in case of inconsistency.

VMware vSphere configurations

Table 3 on page 11 summarizes PowerPath/VE release support for VMware vSphere configurations.

Table 3

PowerPath/VE 5.7 supported vSphere configurations Supported VMware vSphere version

PowerPath/VE ESX 4.0 release ESXi 4.0 5.4 5.4 SP1 5.4 SP2 5.7 YesvCLI install only YesvCLI install only No No

ESX 4.0.x ESXi 4.0.x YesvCLI install only

ESX 4.1 No

ESXi 4.1 No No.

ESX 4.1 U1 ESXi 4.1 U1 No No

ESXi 5.0 No No

YesVUMand YesvCLI vCLI install install only No No

YesVUMand YesVUMand YesVUMand No vCLI install vCLI install vCLI install No No No YesVUMand vCLI install

Installation format support

PowerPath/VE 5.7 can be installed using the following formats:

VUM with the offline package format vCLI with VIB package or offline package format Auto Deploy with offline package format

The PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides installation procedures.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

11

Environment and system requirements

Operating environment
The following are required for the PowerPath/VE and VMware operating environment:

vSphere CLI (vCLI) vCLI is VMwares remote CLI tool. RTOOLS RTOOLS is the PowerPath/VE package for remote CLI (rpowermt) utility.

Table 4

PowerPath/VE 5.4 and service packs supported vCLI versions Supported VMware vSphere vCLI version vCLI 4.0 vCLI 4.0 U1/U2 Yes Yes No No vCLI 4.1 U1 No No Yes No vCLI 5.0 No No No Yes

Platform

PowerPath/VE release

Windows/ Linux

5.4 5.4 SP1 5.4 SP2 5.7

Yes Yes No No

For more information on vCLI, search the VMware developer support site of www.vmware.com for references to vSphere Command-Line Interface documentation. VMware vSphere documentation provides vCLI installation information.

12

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

Table 5

PowerPath/VE-supported RTOOLS packages Supported RTOOLS packages Linux and Windows

PowerPath/VE release RTOOLS for PowerPath/VE 5.4 5.4 5.4 SP1 5.4 SP2 5.7 Yes Yes Yes No

RTOOLS for RTOOLS for RTOOLS for PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP1 PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP2 PowerPath/VE 5.7 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Table 6 on page 13 lists RTOOLS installation user privileges requirements:

Table 6

PowerPath/VE RTOOLS for Installation user privilege requirements Username User with Administrator privileges User without Administrator privileges installation privileges Yes No Yes Yes with administrator password Yes No

Operating system version Windows 2003

Windows 2008 Windows 2008 R2 Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Linux

User with Administrator privileges User without Administrator privileges User with root privileges User without root privileges

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

13

Environment and system requirements

The rpowermt lockbox is an RSA-enabled encrypted file used to store and protect sensitive information. rpowermt uses the lockbox to securely store remote host IP addresses and their username and password combinations.
Table 7

PowerPath/VE-supported rpowermt lockbox packages Supported rpowermt lockbox packages

PowerPath/VE release rpowermt lockbox for PowerPath/VE 5.4 5.4 5.4 SP1 5.4 SP2 5.7 Yes Yes Yes Yes

rpowermt lockbox for rpowermt lockbox for rpowermt lockbox for PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP1 PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP2 PowerPath/VE 5.7 No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes

The RSA Common Security Toolkit (CST) library transparently upgrades an old lockbox to the new lockbox format.

Configuration limits

This section details configuration limits set by VMware vSphere software:

Maximum number of paths: 1024 Maximum number of LUNs: 256 Maximum number of paths per device: 32

See VMware documentation for information on the configuration limits of Virtual Machines (VMs). Note that the above are absolute limits; that is, if a configuration has 8 paths per LUN, then the maximum number of LUNs is 128.

Supported PowerPath/VE remote CLI (rpowermt) server

PowerPath/VE 5.7

Windows: Windows 2003 SP2 and later (x32) Windows 2008 (x32) Windows 2008 R2 (x64) Windows 2008 R2 SP 1 (x64) The rpowermt CLI is a 32-bit application on all supported versions of Windows.

14

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

Linux: RHEL 5.2 (x64) RHEL 5.3 (x64) RHEL 5.6 (x64) RHEL 6.0 (x64) RHEL 6.1 (x64)

SAN topologies
PowerPath/VE has been qualified with:

Fibre Channel physical connections. Each Fibre Channel HBA connects to a port on a Fibre Channel interface on the storage system or to a Fibre Channel switch. iSCSI software initiators (NIC) and hardware initiators (HBA), which connect to an iSCSI switch.

HBA requirements

PowerPath/VE has been qualified with: See the Interoperability Navigator and the EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware ESX Server, available on Powerlink, for supported HBAs. Also refer to the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide For ESX Server 5i for supported device and model information.

iSCSI NICs: Intel Emulex

Fibre Channel over Ethernet CNAs: Emulex Qlogic

Fibre Channel HBAs: Emulex Qlogic

Interoperability

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere supports interoperability with the following software:

Microsoft Cluster Services (MSCS for Windows 2008 and Microsoft 2003) in Guest OS with HA and DRS (FC only). PowerPath Viewer

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

15

Environment and system requirements

"Limitations on page 24 provides more information.

VNX OE and CLARiiON management software: Unisphere Navisphere MirrorView SnapView CLARiiON NDU CLARiiON Single Initiator failover CLARiiON Nice Names SAN Copy

Symmetrix/DMX management software: TimeFinder Symm Manager SRDF

VPLEX Management Console Native VMware features: Site Recovery Manager (SRM) VMware vCenter Update Manager (VUM) Native multipathing (NMP) vCenter Server vStorage Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) Raw Disk Mapping (RDM) VM High Availability (HA) and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) VMotion and Storage VMotion The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator and the EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware, available on the Powerlink website, provide full, up-to-date interoperability information. For information on these and other native VMware features, see VMware documentation and the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide glossary.

Electronic License Server operating systems

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere uses Flexera ELM server software for management of the electronic license environment. Flexera versions Supported Flexera ELM server software versions are: 11.8
16

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

Operating systems

Supported operating systems for the Flexera ELM server software are:

Windows: Windows 2008 (x32) Windows 2008 R2 (x64) Windows 2008 R2 SP 1 (x64) Windows 2003 SP2 and later (x32)

Windows rpowermt hosts are able to run in 32-bit mode.

Linux: RHEL 5.2 (x64) RHEL 5.3 (x64) RHEL 5.6 (x64) RHEL 6.0 (x64) RHEL 6.1 (x64)

See the PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Licensing Guide for more information on PowerPath for VMware vSphere served and unserved licensing.

Storage systems

PowerPath/VE 5.7 supports three types of storage systems:

Active-active Symmetrix, Invista, VPLEX, supported Celerra devices, and supported third-party storage system devices (see "Third-party storage systems on page 19) Active-passive VNX OE and CLARiiON systems. ALUA (asymmetric logical unit access) VNX OE and CLARiiON CX (systems with FLARE version 03.26 and later).

For information on these storage systems see the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide and Interoperability Navigator, available on the Powerlink.
Note: On a VMware vSphere host, if you create a vStorage VMFS volume on a PowerPath/VE-managed device using VNX OE or CLARiiON storage systems with a FLARE version previous to 4.28.000.6.701 and subsequently remove PowerPath/VE, the vStorage VMFS volume will not be recognized until the ALUA mode is set to Passive Not Ready (PNR).

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

17

Environment and system requirements

EMC storage systems

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere supports the following EMC storage systems and associated software:

VNX OE 05.31 VNXe OE 2.x Note that: VNX devices are managed under the clariion device class and appear as CLARiiON devices in rpowermt output. VNXe devices managed under in the generic device class and appear as Celerra devices in rpowermt output.

CLARiiON storage systems, with FLARE 30, which provides support for: Direct-mapped LUNs LUN shrink 6FB BE

CLARiiON storage systems, with FLARE 29, which provides support for: LUN spin-down Note that, due to a VMware limitation, more than 256 LUNs per storage group is not supported.

CLARiiON storage systems, with FLARE 23 or higher: AX series (AX 4-5 systems only) CX3 series

CLARiiON CX4 series Symmetrix storage systems, with Enginuity 5671 or higher: Symmetrix/DMX series Symmetrix VMAX seriesrequires Enginuity 5874 or higher Symmetrix VMAXe seriesrequires Enginuity version 5875.198.148.e Note that VMAX and VMAXe devices are managed under the symm device class and appear as Symmetrix devices in rpowermt output.

VPLEX with GeoSynchrony 4.0 and service packs VPLEX 4.0

18

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

VPLEX with GeoSynchrony 5.0 VPLEX 4.0 VPLEX 5.0 Note that VPLEX devices are included in the invista device class and look like Invista devices in rpowermt output.

Invista Invista 2.2 and service packs Invista 2.3 and service packs Invista 2.4 and service packs

Celerra with DART 5.6 FC and iSCSI (IPv4 support only) NS20 FC NS40 FC NS-G2 NS40G NS20 FC NS40 FC NS-G2 NS40G
Note: Support for Celerra DART releases prior to 5.6 requires RPQ.

Celerra with DART 6.0 iSCSI (IPv4 support only)

The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator and the EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware, available on the Powerlink website, provide full, up-to-date interoperability information.

Third-party storage systems

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere supports the following third-party storage systems and associated software:

HP StorageWorks: XP 10000, 12000, 20000, 24000 EVA 5000 running firmware VCS 4.x EVA 8000, 8100

Hitachi TagmaStore NSC55, USP100, USP600, USP 1100 USP V, USP VM AMS 2100, 2300, 2500
PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes
19

Environment and system requirements

Compaq EVA 5000 running firmware VCS 4.x IBM DS8x00

Note: The EVA 5000 series is listed as both an HP StorageWorks and Compaq device because the device appears with each vendor name when listing the claim rules.

During PowerPath/VE installation, PowerPath/VE claims all Symmetrix, VNX OE, CLARiiON, Invista, VPLEX, supported Celerra devices, and supported third-party storage devices by default. In the case of third-party storage system devices, the claim rules claim all third-party vendor models, including some models that may not be supported by PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere. See "Claim rules and unsupported third-party storage systems on page 26 in Technical notes for more information.

20

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator and the EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware, available on the Powerlink website, provide full, up-to-date interoperability information.

Known problems and limitations

This section describes the known problems and limitations in PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere.

Known problems
Table 8

The following problems have been reported for PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere:
Known problems in PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere (page 1 of Workaround None.

Description 374269 After uninstalling PowerPath/VE, the settings and options are inherited by a subsequent PowerPath installation. 373202 VMware SRM rescan operation in recovery DataCenter is much longer on ESXi 5.0 hosts when PowerPath/VE 5.7 is installed. Messages files of ESXi hosts contains thousands of the following entries for any R2 devices in Write Disabled state which contains a replicated VMFS datastore:
Jul 20 10:05:25 vmkernel: 44:00:29:48.149 cpu46:4142)ScsiDeviceIO: 1672: Command 0x2a to device "naa.60060480000290xxxxxx533030384641" failed H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x3 Possible sense data: 0x7 0x27 0x0.

EMC Knowledgebase Solution emc274767 provides information.

370097 PowerPath/VE may hang/PSOD due to excessive logging when large number of devices are claimed by PowerPath. The VMware PR number for this issue is 733842. Related OPT: 369529 369983 In an ALUA configuration, when removing a device from the storage group, the paths to the non-optimized SP change to dead, but the paths to the active SP remain alive. Related OPTs: 330462

Reduce the amount of PowerPath and VMware vSphere logging.

Run rpowermt -host <hostname> restore.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

21

Known problems and limitations

Table 8

Known problems in PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere (page 2 of Workaround None.

Description 369553 Creating a datastore in PowerPath/VE 5.7 may result in system hang or PSOD. The VMware PR number for this issue is 744500. 368545 Occasionally removal of PowerPath/VE 5.7 using the following command fails because of a VMware vSphere issue:
# esxcli -s <IP address or hostname> software vib remove -n powerpath.cim.esx -n powerpath.plugin.esx -n powerpath.lib.esx

Contact Customer Support and reference EMC Knowledgebase Solution emc276015.

The VMware PR number for this issue is 744075. 368069 VNX datastores of VMFS 5 type do not get remounted on reboot. The VMware PR number for this issue is PR739266. 367933 The esxcfg-rescan command continues to hang in APD condition after dead paths are enabled. This behavior is seen with both NMP and PowerPath. The VMware PR number for this issue is 715489. 367758 Resetting LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable prevents PowerPath/VE utilities such as RTOOLS from running successfully. Re-scan the devices.

None.

Verify that the path to the directory containing the RTOOLS shared libraries is included in the library search path. Type:
$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

If it is not included, add the PowerPath/VE library installation directory path to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. In bourne, Korn, and bash shells:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PA TH}:/lib/emc/powerpath/remote_t ools/<rtools build number>/

In C shell:
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH ${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:/lib/emc/pow erpath/remote_tools/<rtools build number>/

352754 I/O error seen on Linux VM during initiator/host long cable pull with PowerPath/VE 5.4 SP2 using CIM Provider version 1.3.4 for Qlogic 8142 CNA installed on VMware ESX 4.1. Paths are also unstable.

Upgrade QLogic CNA driver version to 841.k1.16.2-1vmw.

22

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

Table 8

Known problems in PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere (page 3 of Workaround None.

Description 335037 On PowerPath/VE with 4.1 ESXi systems, each rpowermt command that is run logs an EMCInvokeMethod log in the /var/log/messages file. 334088 Removal of RTOOLS package prompts the following warning:
An unidentified program wants to access your computer. Don't run the program unless you know where it's from or you've used it before. Unidentified publisher.

Disregard the warning.

This occurs because during installation of RTOOLS, which is based on Windows MSI technology, the Windows installer caches a copy of MSI and removes unnecessary files, which invalidates the digital signature in the User Account Control (UAC) elevation prompt that appeared during installation. This occurs for all MSI-based setups. 324918 VNX and CLARiiON navi-registration is delayed significantly. Related OPT: 334768. 317830 Because of a VMware configuration limitation, PowerPath/VE installation on a setup with more than 256 LUNs is not supported. This 256 LUN limit includes both internal and external devices. If PowerPath/VE is installed on an ESX server with more than 256 LUNs, a reboot might cause the system to hang or go into a recovery shell. 301471 Due to a CLARiiON issue on FLARE 29 and prior FLARE versions, rebooting a CLARiiON SP does not proactively trespass all LUNs owned by that SP. This is an intermittent issue and does not happen on all attempts to trespass the LUNs. It happens on the second reboot when the same SP is rebooted in succession. 298115 Some paths to all LUNs unnecessarily go dead briefly and then come back alive automatically when a single LUN is removed from the storage group in Navisphere Manager. 289451 When running claimrules manually on a device in use, PowerPath/VE claims paths of NMP devices in use. The VMware PR number for this issue is 334203. None.

Be sure to configure PowerPath/VE-managed LUNs with no more than 256 LUNs. VMware does not support configurations of more than 256 LUNs. The VMware documentation set provides more information on LUN limits. Upgrade to FLARE 30.

See procedures for removing new logical devices in the PowerPath/VE 5.4 and Service Pack Releases for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide. Reboot the host.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

23

Known problems and limitations

Limitations
PowerPath/VE 5.7 PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere has the following limitations:

PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support the following VMware vSphere host versions: ESX 4.0 ESXi 4.0 ESX 4.0 U1/U2/U3 ESXi 4.0 U1/U2/U3 ESX 4.1 ESXi 4.1 ESX 4.1 U1 ESXi 4.1 U1

PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support upgrading PowerPath/VE from a 5.4 and service pack version to PowerPath/VE 5.7 PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not preserve PowerPath/VE 5.4 and service pack versions on a VMware vSphere host when upgrading VMware vSphere ESX version from 4.x to 5.0. PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere is removed from the vSphere host when upgrading VMware vSphere ESX version from 4.x to 5.0. PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support online depot installation using VUM. "VMware vSphere configurations on page 11 provides more information on supported VMware vSphere versions and supported installation methods for VMware vSphere.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support Virtual Storage Integrator. PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support VMware Auto Deploy for the unserved license model. PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support stateless hosts for unserved the license model. The PowerPath/VE 5.7 version of the rpowermt lockbox is not backward-compatible with the PowerPath 5.4 and 5.4 SP1 versions of the rpowermt lockbox. Chapter 5, Troubleshooting, of the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware Installation and Administration Guide, provides more information.

24

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Technical notes

PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support PowerPath Migration Enabler. PowerPath/VE 5.7 does not support PowerPath Encryption.

Technical notes
The Technical notes section includes the following topics:

"Possible moving of licenses for unserved licenses on page 25 "PowerPath Viewer on page 26 "Claim rules and unsupported third-party storage systems on page 26 "Error in Linux manual pages and Windows online help on page 26 "Similarities to other PowerPath platforms on page 27 "Workarounds for non-existent powermt commands on page 28 "Necessary reboot when changing Failover mode from PNR to ALUA on page 29 "HBA rescanning when all paths are dead on page 29

Possible moving of licenses for unserved licenses

If you are installing PowerPath/VE 5.7 on a vSphere host on which you are reusing an existing valid PowerPath/VE 5.4 for VMware vSphere unserved license, the vSphere 5.0 host might discover an alternate NIC instead of the original NIC that was used to generate the ESX unique system ID. If this happens, the vSphere host generates a new ESX unique system ID. Because the unserved license is bound to the vSphere host by the ESX unique system ID, the unserved license file is no longer valid for that particular vSphere host, requiring you to move the PowerPath/VE 5.7 unserved license with the newly generated ESX unique system ID. The PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides information on moving licenses.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

25

Technical notes

PowerPath Viewer
EMC PowerPath Viewer is a centralized monitoring utility that provides a consolidated display of events and allows you to view and monitor up to 500 PowerPath hosts through a graphical user interface (GUI). With EMC PowerPath Viewer, you can view hosts, host groups, LUNs, individual paths to each LUN, and buses. PowerPath Viewer also provides email alerts to any changes in the status of PowerPath devices. PowerPath Viewer includes two components: PowerPath Viewer Console, which is the interface that displays information and alerts about the remote PowerPath hosts that you are monitoring; and the PowerPath Management Component, which is the host-based software that monitors host, LUNs, data path, and bus events and sends information and alerts to the Viewer Console over IP. The Management Component is not required for PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere. PowerPath Viewer Console communicates with the remote VMware vSphere host on which PowerPath is installed through the CIMOM to monitor the status of VMware vSphere hosts. PowerPath Viewer is available as a separate download in the PowerPath software downloads section of Powerlink. The PowerPath Viewer 1.0 and Minor Releases Release Notes, available on Powerlink, provides more information.

Claim rules and unsupported third-party storage systems

During PowerPath/VE installation, PowerPath/VE claims all Symmetrix, VMAX, VMAXe, VNX OE, CLARiiON, Invista, VPLEX, VNXe, supported Celerra devices, and supported third-party storage system devices by default. In the case of third-party storage system devices, the claim rules claim all third-party vendor models, including some models that may not be supported by PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere. See chapter 5, Managing PowerPath/VE, of the PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide for a procedure to manipulate the claim rules at HBA/device/target level so that the unsupported third-party storage system models are not claimed by PowerPath/VE.

Error in Linux manual pages and Windows online help

The rpowermt display alua section of the Linux manual pages and Windows online help contain an error in the following arguments:

26

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Technical notes

dev=<device>|all every=<#seconds>

Appendix C, rpowermt Command Line Interface, of the PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide, provides updated information.

Similarities to other PowerPath platforms

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere supports the following features the same as PowerPath on other supported platforms:

Dynamic path failover and path recovery Autorestore Active-active, active-passive, and ALUA load balancing Load-balancing and failover policies: CLARiiON optimization Least I/O Least blocks Round robin StreamIO Symmetrix optimization Adaptive

For information on multipathing and load-balancing features and policies, see the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide, available on Powerlink.

VNX OE, CLARiiON, VPLEX, and Symmetrix nondisruptive upgrades Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, and iSCSI protocols Boot from SAN of PowerPath devices
Note: PowerPath/VE supports coexistence with NMP boot from SAN.

See the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide for information.

rpowermt commands

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

27

Technical notes

The PowerPath rpowermt commands are used to configure and manage PowerPath and paths under its control on VMware vSphere hosts in the PowerPath for VMware vSphere environment. The rpowermt set mode command is not supported on the iSCSI software initiator setup for PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere. PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere provides alternatives to carry out the intended function of the following non-existent powermt commands: powermt check powermt remove powermt manage powermt unmanage See "Workarounds for non-existent powermt commands on page 28 for the workarounds provided to carry out the functions of these non-existent powermt commands. For information about rpowermt for PowerPath/VE configuration and management and the supported rpowermt commands, see the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide, available on Powerlink.

Workarounds for non-existent powermt commands

The following powermt commands are non-existent in PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere but have workarounds to carry out their intended function. powermt check powermt check checks specified paths and, if desired, removes from the PowerPath/VE configuration any paths marked dead. Because rpowermt check is not supported, to remove dead paths, you should run the VMware native command esxcfg-rescan vmhba#. The rescan can be done using vSphere Client as well (in the vSphere Client, go to the Configuration tab> storage adapter link). For more information on adding and removing paths and devices, see the PowerPath/VE 5.4 and Service Pack Releases for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide.

28

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Documentation

powermt remove

powermt remove is used for adding and removing paths and devices. The PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides procedures for common configuration changes in a PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere environment. To carry out the powermt manage function, use the VMware native command esxcli storage core claimrule add and associated procedures to claim specific devices in and out of PowerPath/VE control. The PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides information on claiming and unclaiming devices. To carry out the powermt unmanage function, use the VMware native command esxcli storage core claiming unclaim and associated procedures to unclaim specific devices in and out of PowerPath/VE control. The PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides information on claiming and unclaiming devices.

powermt manage

powermt unmanage

Necessary reboot when changing Failover mode from PNR to ALUA

When you want to change the failover mode from PNR to ALUA through Unisphere on VNX OE storage systems and Navisphere on CLARiiON storage systems with FLARE version 03.26 and later, you must reboot the host for ALUA mode to be effective.

HBA rescanning when all paths are dead

Rescanning the HBAs leaves one dead path when all paths are dead. The workaround for this problem is to rescan the HBAs again. If the dead path still exists, reboot the host. The VMware PR number for this issue is 366598.

Documentation
This section provides a list of the documentation that supports PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

29

Documentation

PowerPath/VE documentation
The following table lists the PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere documentation set.
Table 9

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Documentation Set Part number 300-012-544 300-012-545 Name EMC PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide EMC PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes (this document)

Electronic versions of all PowerPath/VE manuals are available on the Powerlink website at http://Powerlink.EMC.com. These manuals are updated periodically on the Powerlink website.

Related Documentation
If your environment includes Symmetrix storage systems, refer to the EMC host connectivity guides, available on Powerlink. If your environment includes VNX OE and CLARiiON storage systems, refer to the following sources:

EMC host connectivity guides VNX OE Storage-System Support website (www.emc.com/vnxsupport) CLARiiON Storage-System Support website (www.emc.com/clariionsupport)

If your environment includes other vendors storage systems, refer to the appropriate documentation from your vendor.

End of service dates and extended support

EMC has a standard software support duration policy which specifies that a major version will reach End of Service Life (EOSL) a minimum of 36 months following the General Availability (GA). EOSL may be followed by an Extended Support period during which customers may elect to pay an additional fee to extend their support coverage rather than migrate to a current software version.

30

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Software media, organization, and files

Once a software product reaches EOSL, EMC Technical Support is no longer available under base support/maintenance agreements. Customers interested in uninterrupted support must upgrade to a current release or contract for Extended Support (ES). Powerlink contains a list of documents that provide end-of-service and extended support information for EMC software and hardware products. To access these documents on Powerlink: 1. Go to Powerlink. 2. Enter the following text in the Search box and click Search:
EMC software release end of service life

3. Find the EMC Software Release and End of Service Life Notifications document in the results. 4. Open it and search for your product and version. This document provides EOSL dates for EMC software products.
Note: This policy is in effect for select releases and will be phased in as new versions are made available. In cases where a software release is not eligible for Extended Support, the previous policy, which specifies product support and maintenance under Continuous Coverage Product Maintenance (CCPM), terms still apply.

Software media, organization, and files

This section describes the PowerPath/VE software media.

PowerPath/VE 5.7

EMC PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere is a full release available on CD and for download from the Powerlink and EMC.com websites, described below. Table 10 on page 32 provides build numbers and descriptions for the releases of PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere:

Media

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

31

Software media, organization, and files

Table 10

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Releases Description PowerPath/VE software distribution, including offline package for installation using VUM, vCLI with offline package locally available on vSphere host, and Auto Deploy. Installed on the VMware vSphere host.

Release

Package EMCPower.VMWARE.5.7.b173.zip

PowerPath/VE 5.7

Also including the 3 PowerPath/VE VIB files for installation using vCLI with offline package remotely EMC_bootbank_powerpath.cim.esx_5.7.0.00.00-b173.vib available on http server: PowerPath/VE CIM VIB EMC_bootbank_powerpath.lib.esx_5.7.0.00.00-b173.vib EMC_bootbank_powerpath.plugin.esx_5.7.0.00.00-b173.vib PowerPath/VE libraries VIB PowerPath/VE driver VIB Installed on the VMware vSphere host. rpowermt package for Linux; provides management capabilities for PowerPath/VE and devices under its control. Installed on the rpowermt server. rpowermt package for Windows; provides management capabilities for PowerPath/VE and devices under its control. Installed on the rpowermt server.

EMCPower.RTOOLS-5.7.0.00.00-173.RHEL5.x86_64.rpm

EMCPower.RTOOLS.Windows.x86_32.5.7.b173.zip

32

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

Installation

Organization
PowerPath/VE 5.7 The EMC PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere software CD contains the files necessary for PowerPath/VE deployment. The PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides a list of files that are added or modified when you install PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere.

Files

Installation
For instructions on installing PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere, see the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide, available on Powerlink.

Persistence of configuration data

PowerPath/VE 5.7 supports persistence of some PowerPath/VE configuration data when PowerPath/VE 5.7 and VMware vSphere 5.0 are installed on systems where previous versions of both software existed, such as:

load-balancing settings

Note that upgrades are not supported; "Limitations on page 24 provides more information. Upgrading the RTOOLS package Upgrading the Windows RTOOLS package If you have PowerPath 5.4 SP2 HF01 or PowerPath 5.4 SP2 HF02 installed on your Windows host, you must remove it before upgrading to the PowerPath/VE 5.7 RTOOLS package. Upgrading Linux RTOOLS packages To upgrade the PowerPath/VE 5.4, 5.4 SP1,and 5.4 SP2 Linux RTOOLS packages to the PowerPath/VE 5.7 RTOOLS package, you must specify the -Uvh RPM option. The PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware Installation and Administration Guide provides RTOOLS installation and upgrade procedures.

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes

33

Troubleshooting and getting help

Troubleshooting and getting help

For troubleshooting procedures, see Chapter 5, Troubleshooting, in the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide. Additionally, the EMC Grab Utility 1.2 for ESXi/vSphere, which collects system and software configuration information, supports the ESXi hosts. Submit the generated tar file, along with any other supporting material, to EMC Customer Support. You can download emcgrab from the Powerlink website. Select Support and locate the section for Product and Diagnostic Tools and Grab Utilities. Refer to the emcgrab ReadMe.txt file on Powerlink for prerequisite information and instructions on using the utility.

Reporting a problem
If you find a problem in PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere, collect crash dump logs from vSphere Center Server or vSphere client (see Troubleshooting in the PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide) and submit the generated file with system information and dump, along with any other supporting material, to EMC Customer Support. If you encounter a problem with Powerlink Licensing via Powerlink, contact licensing@emc.com.

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS. EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to the Technical Documentation and Advisories section on EMC Powerlink. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

34

PowerPath/VE 5.7 for VMware vSphere Release Notes