With independent hardware-based iSCSI storage, you use a specialized third-party adapter capable of accessing iSCSI storage over TCP/IP. This iSCSI initiator handles all iSCSI and network processing and management for your ESXi system.

You must install and configure the independent hardware iSCSI adapter for your host before you can access the iSCSI storage device. For installation information, see vendor documentation.

Hardware iSCSI setup requires a number of high-level tasks. You should be familiar with the corresponding command for each task. You can refer to the relevant documentation for each command or run esxcli iscsi --help in the console. Specify one of the options listed in Connection Options for vCLI Host Management Commands in place of <conn_options>.

Prerequisites
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Verify that you are familiar with iSCSI authentication. See Enabling iSCSI Authentication.

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Verify that you are familiar with CHAP. See Setting iSCSI CHAP.

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Verify that you are familiar with iSCSI parameters. See Listing and Setting iSCSI Parameters.

Procedure
1

Determine the iSCSI adapter type and retrieve the iSCSI adapter ID. 

esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter list
2

Configure the hardware initiator (HBA) by running esxcli iscsi networkportal ipconfig with one or more of the following options.

Option

Description

-A|--adapter=<str>

iSCSI adapter name (required)

-1|--dns1=<str>

iSCSI network portal primary DNS address

-2|--dns2=<str>

iSCSI network portal secondary DNS address

-g|--gateway=<str>

iSCSI network portal gateway address

-i|--ip=<str>

iSCSI network portal IP address (required)

-n|--nic=<str>

iSCSI network portal (vmknic)

-s|--subnet=<str>

iSCSI network portal subnet mask (required)
3

(Optional) Set the iSCSI name and alias. 

esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter set --adapter <adapter_name> --name=<name>
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter set --adapter <adapter_name> --alias=<alias>
4

Add a dynamic discovery address or a static discovery address.

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With dynamic discovery, all storage targets associated with a host name or IP address are discovered. You can run the following command. 

esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget add --address=<ip/dns[:port]> --adapter=<adapter_name>
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With static discovery, you must specify the host name or IP address and the iSCSI name of the storage target. You can run the following command. 

esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter discovery statictarget add --address=<ip/dns[:port]> --adapter=<adapter_name> --name=<target_name>
5

(Optional) Set the authentication information for CHAP.

You can set per-target CHAP for static targets, per-adapter CHAP, or apply the command to the discovery address.

Option

Command

Adapter-level CHAP

 
esxcli iscsi adapter auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=[prohibited, discouraged, preferred, required] --secret=<string> --adapter=<vmhba>

Discovery-level CHAP

 
esxcli iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=[prohibited, discouraged, preferred, required] --secret=<string> --adapter=<vmhba> --address<sendtarget_address>

Target-level CHAP

 
esxcli iscsi adapter target portal auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=[prohibited, discouraged, preferred, required] --secret=<string> --adapter=<vmhba> --name<iscsi_iqn_name>

The following example sets adapter-level CHAP. 

esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=preferred --secret=uni_secret --adapter=vmhba33
Note

Mutual CHAP is not supported for independent hardware iSCSI storage.

6

(Optional) Set iSCSI parameters.

Option

Command

Adapter-level CHAP

 
esxcli iscsi adapter param set --adapter=<vmhba> --key=<key> --value=<value>

Discovery-level CHAP

 
esxcli iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget param set --adapter=<vmhba> --key=<key> --value=<value> --address=<sendtarget_address>

Target-level CHAP

 
esxcli iscsi adapter target portal param set --adapter=<vmhba> --key=<key> --value=<value> --address=<address> --name=<iqn.name>
7

After setup is complete, run esxcli storage core adapter rescan --adapter=<iscsi_adapter> to rescan all storage devices.

8

After setup is complete, perform rediscovery and rescan all storage devices.

The following example performs the rediscovery and rescan operations. 

esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter discovery rediscover
esxcli <conn_options> storage core adapter rescan --adapter=vmhba36