Home Lab – Adding freeNAS 8.3 iSCSI LUNS to ESXi 5.1
About a half a year ago I setup my freeNAS iSCSI SAN, created 2 x 500GB iSCSI LUNS and attached them to ESXi 5.1. These were ample for quite a while. However I have the need to add additional LUNS…. My first thought was – “Okay, Okay, where are my notes on adding LUNS…” They are non-existent… Eureka! Its time for a new blog post… So here are my new notes around adding iSCSI LUNS with freeNAS to my ESXi 5.1 Home lab – As always read and use at your own risk
J
- Start in the FreeNAS admin webpage for your device. Choose Storage > Expand Volumes > Expand the volume you want to work with > Choose Create ZFS volume and fill out the Create Volume Pop up.
When done click on Add and ensure is show up under the Storage Tab
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On the left-hand pane click on Services > iSCSI > Device Extents > View Device Extents. Type in your Extent Name, Choose the Disk Device that you just created in Step 1 and choose OK
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Click on Associated Targets > Add Extent to Target, Choose your Target and select the new Extent
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To add to ESXi do the following… Log into the Web Client for vCenter Server, Navigate to a host > Manage > Storage > Storage Devices > Rescan Host
If done correctly your new LUN should show up below. TIP – ID the LUN by its location number, in this case its 4
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Ensure your on the Host in the left Pane > Related Objects > Datastores > Add Datastore
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Type in the Name > VMFS Type > Choose the Right LUN (4) > VMFS Version (5) > Partition Lay out (All or Partial), Review > Finish
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Setup Multi-Pathing – Select a Host > Manage > Storage > Storage Devices > Select LUN > Slide down the Devices Details Property Box and Choose Edit Multipathing
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Choose Round Robin and Click On Okay
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Validate all Datastores still have Round Robin enabled. 2 Ways to do this.
- Click on the LUN > Paths. Status should read Active I/O for both paths
- Click on LUN > Properties > Edit Multipathing – Path section Policy should state – Round Robin (See PIC in Step 8)
Summary – These steps worked like a charm for me, then again my environment is already setup, and hopefully these steps might be helpful to you.
November 3, 2018 at 7:49 pm
I’m running FN 11 and wanted to added another extent. I felt it must be straightforward but after a bit of running around couldn’t find an answer to this simple problem.
So thanks – bits of the post were a big help.
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November 3, 2018 at 8:14 pm
You are most welcome! Though I don’t run freeNAS anymore its was great tool for leaning how to use iSCSI
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