How To Install and Config PowerPath on RHEL
Introduction
PowerPath is EMC licensed software for managing SAN attached storage on your systems. In this post we will cover how to install, license and scan for newly attached storage.
Prerequisites
Download the PowerPath software from EMC powerlink website. If you’ve purchased EMC support, you should have access to powerlink.
For RHEL 4
EMCpower.LINUX-5.3.0.00.00-185.rhel.x86_64.rpm
EMCpower.LINUX-5.3.0.00.00-185.rhel.i386.rpm
For RHEL 5 / 6
5.7.SP5/EMCPower.LINUX-5.7.5.00.00-002.RHEL5.x86_64.rpm
5.7.SP5/EMCPower.LINUX-5.7.5.00.00-002.RHEL6.x86_64.rpm
Installation
# rpm -ivh EMCPower.LINUX-5.7.5.00.00-002.RHEL5.x86_64.rpm Preparing... ########################################### [100%] 1:EMCpower.LINUX ########################################### [100%] All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. NOTE:License registration is not required to manage the CLARiiON AX series array.
Start the Power path service
# /etc/init.d/PowerPath start
Register EMC Powerpath
Before you can use the EMC powerpath software, you should register it using the EMC Powerpath License key received when you purchased the software from EMC.
Use emcpreg tool to install EMC Powerpath license key as shown below.
# emcpreg -install =========== EMC PowerPath Registration =========== Do you have a new registration key or keys to enter?[n] y Enter the registration keys(s) for your product(s), one per line, pressing Enter after each key. After typing all keys, press Enter again. Key (Enter if done): **emc-powerpath-license-key** 1 key(s) successfully added. Key successfully installed. Key (Enter if done): Key is invalid, ignored. Try again or press Enter if done. 1 key(s) successfully registered. Verify EMC Powerpath Registration
Use EMC powermt command to check the registration as shown below.
# powermt check_registration Key **emc-powerpath-license-key** Product: PowerPath Capabilities: All
Scan for storage
In this example we are using an Emulex fiber card and the device is contained in /sys/class/scsi_host/. To get the fiber card to go out and scan for any added storage. There are several ways to accomplish this task.
# cd /sys/class/scsi_host/ # echo "- - -" >
My favorite using a for loop.
# cd /sys/class/scsi_host/ # for i in `ls`; do echo "- - -" > $i/scan; done
Next steps are to make PowerPath update the luns. This is done suing the powermt command.
# powermt update lun_names # powermt config # powermt save
Now display what was found and can proceed to mount and use the storage.
# powermt display dev=all
Conclusion
As we can see, by installing and using EMC Powerpath application on RHEL we can effectivly manage SAN attached storage.
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