Re: ReadyNAS Pro 4.2.24, iSCSI and VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5

jrsmith · ‎2013-11-22

I just upgraded to VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 and I tried to access an iSCSI target (LUN) that was originally created with ESXi 5.0. I added the new initiator IQN to the access control list for the iSCSI target on the ReadyNAS Pro, which is running RAIDiator 4.2.24, but ESXI did not see the device or the datastore. I then deleted the ISCSI target and created a new one, but ESXi still did not see the device. Oddly enough, VMware does show the target name in the iSCSI initiator properties. I've refreshed, rescanned, rebooted (both sides) several times. Is RAIDiator going to need an update for ESXi 5.5?

chirpa · ‎2013-11-22

You will probably have to call them for them to look at it. Over 30 days since purchase will require PayPerIncident fees to call.

The 4.2 x86 line is also EOL, any releases are maintenance releases.

jrsmith · ‎2013-11-23

I think I found the source of the problem. The default iqn, aka WWN, generated by ESXi 5.5 was very, very long. When I shortened it to something of my own choosing, I was able to see the devices. Unfortunately, I can't be sure this was the fix because I broke the cardinal rule of troubleshooting. I changed two things at the same time. I also configured DNS on the ESXi server when I changed the iqn. I may re-install the server later today to determine exactly which change corrected the problem.

chirpa · ‎2013-11-23

The VMware HCL says ReadyNAS is only good up to 5.1U1 so far. They would have to re-test and submit for 5.5.

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compati ... tegory=san

The delay is likely due to Jar Jar Binks no longer working there, he did all the certifications.

jrsmith · ‎2013-11-23

Thanks Chirpa. I realize my ReadyNAS Pro is not on the VMware HCL for ESXi 5.5 yet, but I would not expect to have a problem moving from 5.1U1 to 5.5. I'm pretty sure the problem was related to the iqn length or format that VMware generated. I had only configured my ESXi server with a static IP address and I had not yet given it a hostname or configured DNS when I attempted to configure iSCSI.

Here's the iqn that VMware generated when my server had no hostname

iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:5290ef73-38f4-78e0-4fee-5cf3fc57918a-082e1a10

as soon as I changed the iqn to this

iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esx55

I could see the LUNs and format them with VMFS.

gavind · ‎2013-12-09

Hi JR, how did this work out for you? I was wondering if you were able to find any luck onto this issue yet and if you could share the steps too.

jrsmith · ‎2013-12-09

As I stated in my last post, once I started using a shorter iqn, everything worked fine.

kevsterrrrr · ‎2015-06-22

Hi,

is anyone running ESXi5.5 Latest build or prior on Readynas PRO 6 (latest firmware) and using NFS mounts?

I see RNPRO 6 is still only HCL'ed to 5.1U3 just wondering if theres a significant technical issue to taking it up to 5.5 apart from obviously the non support from VMware..

Cheers,

K