Hello,
This is a two part question.
We're on FreeNAS 9.10.1.
1. How do i trace a disk (on a VM machine) back to the iSCSI extent on the FreeNAS?
We are running Oracle VM server. OVM has discovered the FreeNAS. When a new iSCSI extent is created, you tell OVM to "refresh" the storage device and the new iSCSI extent show up on the OVM list of "disks" ... that can then later be attached to a VM guest. The problem is, the list of disks doesn't give any ID that can be traced back to the FreeNAS so I can clearly see which disk uses which extent. When the list is refreshed, the disk appears with a generic name of "FreeNAS." And if you created, say 3 new iSCSI extents and they were all they same sizes, then the list would update with: FreeNAS, FreeNAS(1), FreeNAS(2).
You can then rename the disk in OVM arbitrarily and that's how the previous admin has done, but the name have been more todo with which VM guest will use the disk than which iSCSI extent/file it uses. Inside the disk properties in OVM, I see what looks like Oracle assigned IDs (looks like "UUIDs" it creates for it's own use). None of these IDs correlate back to the FreeNAS iSCSI gui interface. The only ID I see there is the "serial" number and that doesn't match the Oracle UUIDs.
I inherited this system, so I'm now trying to make sure I know which disk foes with which iSCSI extent file on the FreeNAS.
2. The main reason I'm doing is is because the previous admin also didn't create a logical file structure on the FreeNAS for storing all these extent files. They are all in one folder. I'd like to organize the file structure and move the extents in a big effort to clean house. So my next question is to confirm the process for moving iSCSI extent files:
a. Disconnect the client from the disk. Ie, shutdown the VM guest. On OVM manager, detach the disk from the VM guest.
b. Stop iSCSI service on the FreeNAS. Based on what Ive read, this seems to a needed step, but I'm wondering if this is necessary in the later version of FreeNAS. This would mean all VMguest using iSCSI from the FreeNAS will be impacted (since I'm taking the whole iSCSI service down), right?
c. Copy/move the extent file to desired location. I don't know if this involves more complicated steps apart from just copying/moving (cp/mv) the file via the FreeNAS shell gui. I've read people use rsync but I don't know if that's needed in particular.
d. Update the iSCSI extent and point it to the new location of the file.
e. Startup iSCSI service.
f. Re-attach the disk to the VM guest.
g. Restart the VM guest. And when it starts up, it should see the disk as if nothing has happened.
Thanks for any feedback.
This is a two part question.
We're on FreeNAS 9.10.1.
1. How do i trace a disk (on a VM machine) back to the iSCSI extent on the FreeNAS?
We are running Oracle VM server. OVM has discovered the FreeNAS. When a new iSCSI extent is created, you tell OVM to "refresh" the storage device and the new iSCSI extent show up on the OVM list of "disks" ... that can then later be attached to a VM guest. The problem is, the list of disks doesn't give any ID that can be traced back to the FreeNAS so I can clearly see which disk uses which extent. When the list is refreshed, the disk appears with a generic name of "FreeNAS." And if you created, say 3 new iSCSI extents and they were all they same sizes, then the list would update with: FreeNAS, FreeNAS(1), FreeNAS(2).
You can then rename the disk in OVM arbitrarily and that's how the previous admin has done, but the name have been more todo with which VM guest will use the disk than which iSCSI extent/file it uses. Inside the disk properties in OVM, I see what looks like Oracle assigned IDs (looks like "UUIDs" it creates for it's own use). None of these IDs correlate back to the FreeNAS iSCSI gui interface. The only ID I see there is the "serial" number and that doesn't match the Oracle UUIDs.
I inherited this system, so I'm now trying to make sure I know which disk foes with which iSCSI extent file on the FreeNAS.
2. The main reason I'm doing is is because the previous admin also didn't create a logical file structure on the FreeNAS for storing all these extent files. They are all in one folder. I'd like to organize the file structure and move the extents in a big effort to clean house. So my next question is to confirm the process for moving iSCSI extent files:
a. Disconnect the client from the disk. Ie, shutdown the VM guest. On OVM manager, detach the disk from the VM guest.
b. Stop iSCSI service on the FreeNAS. Based on what Ive read, this seems to a needed step, but I'm wondering if this is necessary in the later version of FreeNAS. This would mean all VMguest using iSCSI from the FreeNAS will be impacted (since I'm taking the whole iSCSI service down), right?
c. Copy/move the extent file to desired location. I don't know if this involves more complicated steps apart from just copying/moving (cp/mv) the file via the FreeNAS shell gui. I've read people use rsync but I don't know if that's needed in particular.
d. Update the iSCSI extent and point it to the new location of the file.
e. Startup iSCSI service.
f. Re-attach the disk to the VM guest.
g. Restart the VM guest. And when it starts up, it should see the disk as if nothing has happened.
Thanks for any feedback.