Installing the Linux software iSER initiator

To install the Linux® software iSER initiator for iSER host attachment, set the iSCSI qualified name, target discovery, and authentication. Also, enable multipathing for the Linux hosts.

Before you begin

The system supports the use of the iSER initiator software that is provided by your Linux distribution vendor. Ensure that you have the latest release of the initiator software that is installed on your host before you continue with the instructions.

The initiator software on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems is packaged as iscsi-initiator-utils. The initiator software on SLES systems is packaged as open-iscsi.

Procedure

  1. Configure the iSER-initiator daemon by editing the /etc/iscsi file. 
    [root@R64SRV6 ~]# cd /etc/iscsi/

[root@R64SRV6 iscsi]# ls

initiatorname.iscsi  iscsid.conf

[root@R64SRV6 iscsi]#
  2. Manage the software by using the chkconfig command and the service command. The service on RHEL systems is named iscsid. The service on SLES systems is named open-iscsi.
    Consider the examples for RHEL and SLES systems.

    For RHEL systems:

    [root@R64SRV6 iscsi]# chkconfig --list | grep "iscsid"
iscsid          0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off

[root@R64SRV6 iscsi]# chkconfig iscsid on

[root@R64SRV6 iscsi]# chkconfig --list | grep "iscsid"
iscsid          0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off
[root@R64SRV6 iscsi]#

    For SLES systems:

    Yast and Yast2 provide an appropriate method to properly configure iSER services and initiator. From a command line for iSER services in SLES:

    #/etc/init.d/open-iscsi start

#chkconfig open-iscsi on
  3. Use the default settings for the iSER initiator. These settings are described in /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf.