# Introduction to FAStT MSJ

This chapter introduces IBM FAStT Management Suite Java (FAStT MSJ) and includes background information on SAN environments and an overview of the functions of FAStT MSJ.

Notes:

1. Read the readme file, located in the root directory of the installation CD, or see the latest installation and user information about FAStT MSJ at the following Web site:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-57078

2. FAStT MSJ will be enhanced as new IBM products are introduced. Always refer to the online Help from the FAStT MSJ menu bar for the latest information on FAStT MSJ.

## SAN environment

In a typical Storage Area Network (SAN) environment, a system might be equipped with multiple host bus adapters (HBAs) that control devices on the local loop or on the fabric. In addition, a single device can be visible to and controlled by more than one HBA. An example of this is a dual-path device used in a primary/failover setup.

In a switched or clustering setup, more than one system can access the same device; this type of configuration enables storage sharing. Sometimes in this scenario, a system must access certain LUNs on a device while other systems control other LUNs on the same device.

Because a SAN has scalable storage capacity, you can add new devices and targets dynamically. After you add these new devices and targets, you need to configure them.

A SAN can change not only through the addition of new devices, but also through the replacement of current devices on the network. For device hot-swapping, you sometimes need to remove old devices and insert new devices in the removed slots.

In such a complicated environment where there is hot-swapping of SAN components, some manual configuration is required to achieve proper installation and functionality.

## Overview of the IBM FAStT Management Suite

FAStT MSJ is a network-capable application that can connect to and configure remote systems. FAStT MSJ helps you configure IBM Fibre Channel HBAs in a SAN environment. FAStT MSJ uses Open Network Computing (ONC) remote procedure calls (RPC) for network communication and data exchange. The networking capability of FAStT MSJ enables centralized management and configuration of the entire SAN.

Note: The diagnostic functions of FAStT MSJ are available for all supported operating systems. The FAStT MSJ configuration functions are available for Linux operating systems only.

With FAStT MSJ, you can use the following four types of operations to configure devices in the system:

Disable (unconfigure) a device on a host bus adapter

When a device is set as unconfigured by the utility, it is not recognized by the HBA and is inaccessible to that HBA on that system.

Enable a device

This operation adds a device and makes it accessible to the HBA on that system.

Designate a path as an alternate for preferred path
When a device is accessible from more than one adapter in a system, you can assign one path as the preferred path and the other path as the alternate path. If the preferred path fails, the system switches to the alternate path to ensure that data transfer is not interrupted.

Replace a removed device with a new inserted device

In a hot-plug environment, the HBA driver does not automatically purge a device that has been physically removed. Similarly, it does not automatically delete a device that is no longer accessible because of errors or failure. Internally, the driver keeps the device in its database and marks it as invisible. In addition, the HBA driver adds a new device to the database even if the device is inserted into the same slot as the removed device.

FAStT MSJ enables you to delete the removed device's data from the driver's database and to assign the inserted device the same slot as the one that it replaces.

## FAStT MSJ system requirements

The FAStT MSJ application consists of the following two components:

· FAStT MSJ client interface

· Host agent

Each component has different system requirements depending on the operating system.

### FAStT MSJ client interface

FAStT MSJ, which is written in Java, should run on any platform that has a compatible Java VM installed. On all platforms, the minimum system requirements for FAStT MSJ are as follows:

· A video card capable of 256 colors

· At least 128 Mbytes of physical RAM (256 Mbytes is recommended). Running with less memory may cause disk swapping, which has a severe effect on performance.

· 64 Mbytes of free disk space (for installation)

Platform-specific requirements for the FAStT MSJ client interface are as follows:

· Linux x86

o Pentium II 233MHz (preferred minimum)

Linux Distribution | Kernel
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Server 2.1 | 2.4.9-e.25 UP, SMP, Enterprise (Bigmem) and Summit
RedHat Linux 7.x | 2.4.18-19.7.x UP, SMP and Enterprise (Bigmem)
RedHat Linux 8.0 | 2.4.18-27.8 UP, SMP, and Enterprise (Bigmem)
United Linux 1.0 with SP2 and 32-bit 1 | 2.4.19-333
United Linux 1.0 IA-64 1 | 2.4.19 (The client code in this package will only install and run on 32-bit Linux)
SuSE Professional 8.1 | 2.4.19
1 United Linux support includes the following distributions: § SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 (SLES 8) § Turbolinux Enterprise Server 8 (TLES 8) § Conectiva Linux Enterprise Edition Powered by United Linux

· Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows 2003 and Windows NT

- Pentium III processor 450 MHz or greater

· Novell NetWare

- Pentium III processor 450 MHz or greater

### Host agent

Host agents are platform-specific applications that reside on a host with IBM HBAs attached. The minimum system requirements for an agent to run on all platforms are as follows:

· An IBM FAStT MSJ supported driver version (see readme file for a list of supported driver versions on each platform).

· At least 8 Mbytes of physical RAM is required to run an agent

· 2 Mbytes of free disk space is required for installation

Platform-specific requirements for the FAStT MSJ host agents are as follows:

· Linux x86 - Agent runs as a daemon

· Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 2000/2003 - Agent runs as a Windows NT service

· Novell NetWare installation prerequisites

Be sure you meet the following requirements before you install the QLremote NetWare Agent:

o NetWare Client software (from Novell) on the Windows OS client

o NWLink IPX/SPX-compatible transport or TCP/IP transport network protocols

Note: The TCP/IP transport must be loaded to communicate with the FAStT MSJ agent.

o NWLink NetBios

o Drive letter mapped to the root of the SYS volume of the NetWare server. By default, the NetWare client maps to sys\system or sys\public; however, you must set the root of SYS volume by assigning a drive letter to sys:\.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to map server drive letters.

o On the NetWare Server - NetWare 5.1 server with Support 1Pack 6 or later or NetWare 6.x Support Pack 3 or later.

### Limitations

The following is a list of FAStT MSJ limitations:

· Multiple Network Interface Cards -- If multiple Network Interface Cards (NICs) are present in the system, the FAStT MSJ client will broadcast to the first IP address subnet based on the binding order. Therefore, ensure that the NIC for the local subnet is first in the binding order. If this is not done, the diagnostics might not run properly and remote connection might not occur. See the readme file in the release package for more information.

· Host IP Addresses -- The FAStT MSJ client tries to help in not allowing the user to connect to the same host more than once (this behavior causes issues with policies and wasted system resources). This adds the requirement that all host IP addresses MUST resolve to a host name to allow connection to complete.

· Local host file -- If DNS is not used, you must edit the local host file on the systems where you are running the FAStT MSJ GUI and the QLremote agent. Add the host name to IP mapping manually. Edit the file `/etc/hosts`.

· Firewalls -- Systems with firewalls installed could cause problems with async alarms from the agent running on Linux to a remote machine. Problems could also occur if the GUI is running on a Linux Client communicating to a remote machine. To circumvent this problem, type the following command at a shell prompt:
`chkconfig``--list`

Verify that both `ipchains` and `iptables` in run levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 are disabled. To disable at a specific run level, set the following:
`chkconfig``--level 2 ipchains off
chkconfig --level 3 ipchains off
chkconfig --level 4 ipchains off
chkconfig --level 5 ipchains off
chkconfig --level 2 iptables off
chkconfig --level 3 iptables off
chkconfig --level 4 iptables off
chkconfig --level 5 iptables off`

· HBA connected to a fabric -- When a FAStT Fibre Channel HBA (QL2200, 2310, or 2340) is connected to the fabric (switch), loopback testing is disabled because the adapter is in a point-to-point mode. To enable loopback testing, unplug the cable from the fabric and insert a wrap plug at the end of the cable (or at the adapter).

· Configuration refresh -- When an online device fails and goes offline and a subsequent configuration refresh occurs, the loop ID for that device does not reflect the original ID because, in effect, the device is no longer in the loop (might show x100 or xff).

· Restarting after failure detection -- When a failure occurs during diagnostics (loopback test and read/write buffer test) and the test is restarted immediately, FAStT MSJ might request whether or not you want to refresh the configuration. Select NO to continue the test. If YES is selected, the host may be disconnected with the following message:

`Unable to connect to the Host: {Host Name / IP address}. The Host is currently in diagnostics mode, try again later.`

To recover from this disconnection, do one of the following:

o Windows OS: Stop the Qlogic Management Agent in the Services dialog and then restart it. Restart FAStT MSJ.

o Linux OS: Stop (press <CTL + C> in the terminal session where you started `qlremote`) and then restart the agent using `qlremote`.

## Installing and getting started

This section contains procedures for how to install FAStT MSJ and how to use the application.

### Initial installation options

FAStT MSJ supports both stand-alone and network configurations. Install the software appropriate for your configuration. See Table 6 for details.

Note: The same version of FAStT MSJ must be installed on all connected systems.

Table 6. Configuration option installation requirements

Configuration | Software Requirements
Stand-alone system: This system monitors host bus adapters locally. | FAStT MSJ GUI, plus one of the following: FAStT MSJ Windows NT/W2k/W2003 AMD/IA32/IA64 FAStT MSJ Linux agent
Networked system: This system monitors host bus adapters locally and monitors remote systems on the network. Host agents are required for remote connection (see "Host agent system" following). | FAStT MSJ GUI, plus one of the following: FAStT MSJ Windows NT/W2k/W2003 AMD/IA32/IA64 FAStT MSJ Linux agent
Client system: This system monitors host bus adapters only on remote systems on the network. | FAStT MSJ GUI Host agents (see requirements for host agent system)
Host agent system: The host bus adapters on this system are remotely monitored only from other systems on the network. | One of the following: FAStT MSJ Windows NT/W2k/W2003 AMD/IA32/IA64 Netware IA32 (agent only) FAStT MSJ Linux agent

#### Installing FAStT MSJ from the GUI

The FAStT MSJ installer is a self-extracting program that installs the FAStT MSJ application and related software.

Notes:

1. If you have a previous version of FAStT MSJ installed, uninstall the previous version of FAStT MSJ before you install the current version. See Uninstalling FAStT MSJ.

2. You cannot install the FAStT MSJ agent directly on a NetWare server; you must install the agent on a system connected to the NetWare server. The Netware server must have a drive mapped to a system running the Windows OS.

Perform the following steps to install FAStT MSJ on the system or the NetWare server:

1. Access the FAStT MSJ installer by performing one of the following actions:

- If installing FAStT MSJ from a CD, open the `IBM FAStT MSJ` folder on the CD.
- If installing FAStT MSJ from the IBM Web site, go to the page from which you can download FAStT MSJ (this URL is listed in the readme file).

2. From the CD folder or the folder in which you saved the FAStT MSJ installer, select the appropriate install file by performing one of the following actions:

- For Windows NT/W2k/W2003 AMD/IA32/IA64, double-click the FAStTMSJ_install.exe file.

Note: For NetWare, save to the system drive mapped to the NetWare server.

- For Linux, perform the following steps:

a. Open a shell.

b. Change to the directory that contains the FAStT MSJ installer that you downloaded in Step 1.

c. At the prompt, type

`sh``./FAStTMSJ_install.bin`

where `install` is the FAStT MSJ installer file.

InstallAnywhere prepares to install FAStT MSJ. The Installation Introduction window displays.

Note: You can install FAStT MSJ either from a GUI or from a Linux command line.

3. Click Next. The Choose Product Features window displays. The window differs, depending on whether you are installing on a system running Windows or Linux.

4. Perform one of the following actions to install the software appropriate to your configuration:

- For a system running Windows, click one of the following preconfigured installation sets, then click Next:

§ Click GUI and NT Agent if the system running Windows will monitor host bus adapters on this system and remote systems on the network.

§ Click GUI if the system will monitor host bus adapters only on remote systems on the network.

§ Click NT Agent if the host bus adapters on the system running Windows will be remotely monitored only from other systems on the network.

§ Click NetWare 5.x and Above Agent if the host bus adapters on this NetWare 5.x or above system will be remotely monitored only from other systems on the network.

o For Linux systems, click one of the following preconfigured installation sets, then click Next:

§ Click GUI if the system will monitor host bus adapters only on remote systems on the network.

§ Click Linux Agent if the host bus adapters on this system running Linux will be remotely monitored only from other systems on the network.

§ Click GUI and Linux Agent if this system running Linux will monitor host bus adapters on this system and on remote systems on the network.

- For other configuration installation sets, click Customize to create a customized installation set. The Choose Product Components window displays. The window differs depending on whether you are installing on a system running Windows or Linux. Perform the following steps to create a custom installation set:

In the Feature Set list-box, click Custom Set.

.o Select from the following components:

0. For a system running Windows:

- GUI
- NT Agent
- NetWare Agent
- Help

§a. For a system running Linux:

- GUI
- Linux Agent
- Help

a.o Click Next. The Important Information window displays.

5. Read the information and then click Next.

Note: Information in the readme file supplied with the installation package takes precedence over the information in the Important Information window.

The Choose Install Folder window displays.

6. Perform one of the following actions:

Note: For NetWare, click the drive mapped to the NetWare server.

o To select the default destination location displayed in the window, click Next.

The default location for a system running Windows OS is:

`C:\Program Files\IBM FAStT Management Suite\`

The default location for a system running Linux is:

`/root/IBM_FAStT_MSJ`

o To select a location other than the default, click Choose, click the desired location, and click Next.

o To reselect the default location after selecting a different location, click Restore Default Folder, and click Next.

7. If you are installing on a Windows platform, the Select Shortcut Profile Location window displays. Perform one of the following actions:

o To select the All Users profile to install the application program group and shortcuts, select the All Users Profile radio button and click Next.

o To select the Current Users profile to install the application program group and shortcuts, select the Current Users Profile radio button and click Next.

8. If you are installing on a NetWare system, the Novell NetWare Disk Selection window displays. A list of the autodetected, mapped NetWare drives on the subnet displays in the following format:

drive, server name, server IP address

.a. Click the drives on which to install the NetWare agent. Each drive must be a NetWare drive mapped on the system running Windows. You can select drives by clicking one or more autodetected drives from the list or by typing the drive letter corresponding to the drive you want to use.

a.b. Click Next. The Installing Components window displays. Subsequent windows inform you that the installation is progressing. When the installation is complete, the Install Complete window displays.

9. Click Done.

10. Customize the FAStT MSJ application and set your security parameters. See Security for details.

#### Installing FAStT MSJ from a Linux command line

Use one the following procedures to install FAStT MSJ from the command line of a Linux system.

Note: The command line installation procedure is not currently supported with the IA-64 FAStTMSJ package.

· To perform a command line installation of FAStT MSJ and the qlremote agent, perform the following steps:

1. Open a shell and change to the directory that contains the FAStT MSJ installer.

2. At the prompt, type:

`sh` `FAStTMSJ_install.bin -i silent`

3. FAStT MSJ installs in the `/opt` directory. The launch script is located in the `/usr` directory.

· To perform a command line installation of only the qlremote agent, perform the following steps:

1. Open a shell and change to the directory that contains the FAStT MSJ installer.

2. At the prompt, type:

    sh FAStTMSJ_install.bin -i silent -DCHOSEN_INSTALL_SET="QMSJ_LA"

3. FAStT MSJ installs in the `/opt` directory. The launch script is located in the `/usr` directory.

### Uninstalling FAStT MSJ

You must exit the FAStT MSJ application before you uninstall FAStT MSJ. Make sure you uninstall the NetWare agent from the Windows drive mapped to the Novell NetWare server when installing FAStT MSJ.

Perform the following steps to uninstall FAStT MSJ:

1. Start the FAStT MSJ Uninstaller:

o On a system running Windows OS, click Start -> Programs -> IBM FAStT MSJ -> FAStT MSJ Uninstaller.

o On a system running Linux:

a. Change to the directory where you installed FAStT MSJ. For example, type:

    cd /usr

b. Type the following command to run the InstallAnywhere Uninstaller:

    ./FAStT_MSJ_Uninstaller

o The InstallAnywhere Uninstaller window displays; it lists IBM FAStT Management Suite Java Vx.x.xx as the program to be uninstalled.

2. Click Uninstall. The InstallAnywhere Uninstaller - Component List window lists the components to be uninstalled. A message displays informing you that the uninstaller is waiting 30 seconds for the agent to shut down. Wait while the uninstaller removes the components. The InstallAnywhere Uninstaller - Uninstall Complete window informs you that the uninstall process is complete.

3. Click Quit.

4. If any items are not successfully uninstalled, repeat the uninstall instructions to remove them.

5. Restart the system.

### Getting started

FAStT MSJ enables you to customize the GUI and agent. After you install FAStT MSJ and set your initial parameters, these components activate each time you start the application.

#### Starting FAStT MSJ

This section describes how to start FAStT MSJ.

##### Windows OS

On a system running Windows, double-click the FAStT MSJ icon on your desktop (if you selected to create the icon during installation) (see Figure 2), or click Start -> Programs -> IBM FAStT MSJ -> FAStT MSJ.

Figure 2. FAStT MSJ icon

The FAStT MSJ main window opens.

##### Linux OS

On a system running Linux, perform the following steps to start the FAStT MSJ:

1. Ensure that you are in a graphical user environment.

2. Open a command terminal.

3. Change to the `usr` directory in which the IBM FAStT MSJ application is installed by typing `cd``/usr`.

4. Type `./FAStT_MSJ`. The FAStT MSJ main window opens.

#### FAStT MSJ main window

The IBM Management Suite Java-HBA View window (hereafter referred to as the FAStT MSJ main window) displays after you start FAStT MSJ. See Figure 3.

Figure 3. FAStT MSJ main window

The window consists of the following sections:

· Menu bar

· Toolbar

· HBA tree panel

· Tab panel

## FAStT MSJ basic features overview

This section lists FAStT MSJ features and contains general information needed to run FAStT MSJ on any supported platform.

### Features

FAStT MSJ enables you to perform the following actions:

· Set FAStT MSJ options

· Connect to hosts

· Disconnect from a host

· View extensive event and alarm log information

· Use host-to-host SAN configuration policies

· Configure port devices

· Use LUN Level configuration

· Watch real-time to see when failovers occur with the Failover Watcher

· Control host-side agent operations, including setting the host agent polling interval

· Review host adapter information, including:

o General information

o Statistics

o Information on attached devices

o Attached device link status

· Perform adapter functions, including:

o Configure adapter NVRAM settings

o Run fibre channel diagnostics (read/write and loopback tests)

o Perform flash updates on an adapter

o Perform NVRAM updates on an adapter

· Manage configurations

o Save configurations for offline policy checks and SAN integrity

o Load configurations from file if host is offline for policy checks and SAN integrity

· Confirm security

### Options

To configure FAStT MSJ, click View -> Options. The Options window opens.

The Options window has four sections and two buttons:

· Event Log

· Alarm Log

· Warning Displays

· Configuration Change Alarm

· OK (save changes) and Cancel (discard changes) buttons

The Options window functions are described in the following sections.

#### Event log

Event log information includes communication and file system errors. FAStT MSJ stores the event entries in the `events.txt` file. You can log informational and warning events.

You can set the maximum size of the event log to be in the range of 20 to 200 event entries; the default is 20 events. When the maximum size of the event log is exceeded, old entries are automatically deleted to provide space for new entries.

#### Alarm log

When FAStT MSJ communicates with a host, FAStT MSJ continually receives notification messages from the host, indicating changes directly or indirectly made on adapters. Messages regarding status, configuration, and NVRAM changes are logged. FAStT MSJ stores these alarm messages in the `alarms.txt` file.

You can set the maximum size of the alarm log to be in the range of 20 to 200 event entries; the default is 200 entries. When the maximum size of the alarm log is exceeded, old entries are automatically deleted to provide space for new entries.

#### Warning displays

FAStT MSJ displays additional warning dialogs throughout the application. By default, the Warning Displays option is enabled. To disable the display of warning dialogs, clear the Enable warning displays check box in the Options window.

#### Configuration change alarm

FAStT MSJ tries to keep current the devices and the LUNs that the adapter displays. During cable disconnects, device hotplugs, or device removal, configuration change alarms are generated to keep the GUI current. You can control the way FAStT MSJ handles configuration change alarms with the Configuration Change Alarm option. You can choose from the following options:

· Apply Configuration Changes Automatically

When a configuration change alarm is detected by the GUI, the application disconnects the host and reconnects to get the new configuration automatically.

· Confirm Configuration Change Applies (default setting)

When a configuration change alarm is detected by the GUI, the application displays a window that the user clicks Yes or No to refresh the configuration for the specified host.

· Ignore Configuration Changes

With this setting, a configuration change alarm detected by the GUI is ignored. For the configuration to be updated, you must perform a manual disconnect and connect of the host must be performed.

Note: To refresh the configuration, select the desired host and click the Refresh button on the toolbar, or right-click the desired host and click Refresh on the pop-up menu.

### Connecting to hosts

There are two ways to connect to hosts in a network:

· Manually

· Automatically with the Broadcast function

For multi-homed or multiple IP hosts, FAStT MSJ tries to ensure that a specified host is not loaded twice into the recognized host tree. If a particular host has multiple interfaces (NICs), each with its own IP address, and proper name-resolution-services are prepared, the host will not be loaded twice into the tree. Problems can occur when one or more IPs are not registered with a host.

A blinking heart indicator (blue pulsating heart icon) indicates that the connection between the client and remote agent is active for this test.

#### Manual connection

Perform the following steps to manually connect to a host:

1. From the FAStT MSJ main window, click the Connect button or click Connect from the Host menu.

The Connect to Host window displays.

2. Type the host name, or select the host you want to connect to from the drop-down list. You can use the computer IP address or its host name. If the computer you want to connect to is the computer on which FAStT MSJ is running, select localhost from the drop-down list. To delete all user-entered host names from the drop-down list, click Clear.

3. After you have selected or typed the host name, click Connect to initiate the connection.

If the connection attempt fails, an error message displays that indicates the failure and potential causes. If the connection is successfully established, the host's name and its adapters are shown on the HBA tree.

Click Cancel to stop the connection process and return to the main window.

#### Broadcast connections

FAStT MSJ can auto-connect to all hosts running an agent in a network. For auto-connect to function properly, ensure that the Broadcast setting is enabled. To enable auto-connect, select the Auto Connect check box from the Host menu. To disable auto-connect, clear the Auto Connect check box.

Note: If multiple NICs are present in the system, the FAStT MSJ client will broadcast to the first IP address subnet based on the binding order. Therefore, ensure that the NIC for the local subnet is first in the binding order. If this is not done, the diagnostics might not run properly and remote connection might not occur. See the readme file in the release package for more information.

### Disconnecting from a host

Perform the following steps to disconnect from a host:

1. From the FAStT MSJ main window HBA tree, click the host that you want to disconnect from.

2. Click Host -> Disconnect.

When a host is disconnected, its entry in the HBA tree is removed.

### Polling interval

You can set polling intervals on a per-host basis to retrieve information. The polling interval setting can be in the range from 1 second to 3600 seconds (one hour). Perform the following steps to set the polling interval:

1. Click the host in the HBA tree in the FAStT MSJ main window.

2. Click Host -> Polling. The Polling Settings - Target window displays.

3. Type the new polling interval and click OK.

### Security

FAStT MSJ protects everything written to the adapter or adapter configuration with an agent-side password. You can set the host agent password from any host that can run the FAStT MSJ GUI and connect to the host agent.

When a configuration change is requested, the Security Check window displays to validate the application-access password. Type the application-access password for confirmation.

To change the host agent password, select a host by clicking it in the HBA tree. The Information/Security tab panels display. Click the Security tab to display the Security panel.

The security panel is divided into two sections: Host Access and Application Access.

#### Host access

The Host Access section verifies that the host user login and password has administrator or root privileges before an application access is attempted. The login and password values are the same as those used to access the computer.

Login

A host user account with administrator or root-level rights.

Password

The password for the host user account.

#### Application access

The Application Access section enables you to change the FAStT MSJ host agent password. To change the password, type the following information into the following fields:

Old password

The current application-access password for the host. The original default password is config. Change it immediately to a new password.

New password

The new application-access password for the host.

Verify Password

The new application-access password for host verification.

### The Help menu

From the FAStT MSJ Help menu, you can specify the location of the browser to launch when help is requested by a user. You can also view FAStT MSJ version information.

The Help menu contains the following items:

· Set Browser Location

Click this item to display the Browser Location window. Type the file path of the browser that FAStT MSJ will launch when a user requests help, or click Browse to find the file location.

· Browse Contents

Click this item to access FAStT MSJ help.

· About

Click this item to view information about FAStT MSJ, including the current FAStT MSJ version number.

## Diagnostics and utilities

The diagnostic and utility features of FAStT MSJ enable you to perform the following actions:

· View event and alarm log information

· Review host adapter information

o View general information

o View statistics

o View information on attached devices

o View attached device link status

o View adapter NVRAM settings

· Perform adapter functions, including:

o Configure adapter NVRAM settings

o Perform NVRAM updates on an adapter

o Perform flash updates on an adapter

o Run Fibre Diagnostics (read/write and loopback tests)

· Manage configurations

o Save configurations for offline policy checks and SAN integrity

o Load configurations from file if host is offline for policy checks and SAN integrity

### Viewing logs

FAStT MSJ records an extensive set of information to the event and alarm logs. The logs are saved as text files (`alarms.txt` and `events.txt`) in the folder where FAStT MSJ is installed. FAStT MSJ can parse and view these logs in a window. To view these logs, click Event Log or Alarm Log from the View menu, or click the appropriate button on the button bar.

#### Viewing the event log

The Event Log window displays events relating to FAStT MSJ application operations. New events display in the window as they occur. There are three types of time-stamped event messages:

Informative - an informative or general information event

Warning - a non-critical application event

Error - a critical application event

Click OK to close the Event Log window. Click Clear to purge all event entries from the log.

##### Sorting

To sort a column in ascending or descending order, right-click the column header and then click the desired sorting method.

##### Details

To view an individual event entry, double-click the entry; a separate event details window displays. You can navigate individual entries by clicking Next or Previous.

#### Viewing the alarm log

The alarm log window displays events that occurred on hosts connected to FAStT MSJ. New alarms display in the window as they occur. Alarm entries have the following properties:

· Time Stamp - The date and time of the logged alarm

· Host Name - The agent host that sent the alarm

· Adapter ID - The host adapter the alarm occurred on

· Application - The type of device that sent the alarm

· Description - The description of the alarm

Click OK to close the Alarm Log window. Click Clear to purge all alarm entries from the alarm log.

##### Sorting

To sort a column in ascending or descending order, right-click the column header and then click the desired sorting method.

##### Colors

When the GUI receives an alarm with a status color other than white (informational), the adapter in the HBA tree with the most severe status blinks until you view the alarm. The following types of alarms are associated with each color:

· Informational: Rows in the table are color-coded white.

· Unknown: Rows in the table are color-coded blue.

· Warning: Rows in the table are color-coded yellow.

· Bad: Rows in the table are color-coded red.

· Loop Down: Adapter in the HBA tree is color-coded yellow with a red X.

##### Details

To view an individual alarm entry, double-click the entry; the Alarm Details window displays. You can navigate individual entries by clicking Next and Previous.

### Viewing adapter information

To view adapter information, click the adapter in the HBA tree. The Information panel displays general information about the selected adapter (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Adapter Information panel

#### Viewing adapter statistics

The Statistics panel displays statistical information about the selected adapter (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Adapter Statistics panel

The Statistical panel displays the following information:

· HBA Port Errors: The number of adapter errors reported by the adapter device driver

· Device Errors: The number of device errors reported by the adapter device driver

· Reset: The number of LIP resets reported by the adapter device driver

· I/O Count: The total number of I/Os reported by the adapter device driver

· IOPS (I/O per second): The current number of I/Os per second

· BPS (bytes per second): The current number of bytes per second processed by the adapter

Use the buttons and check box at the bottom of the Statistics panel to control sampling:

· Set Rate

Click Set Rate to set the polling interval at which the GUI retrieves statistics from the host. The valid range is 5 to 30 seconds.

· Update

Click the Update button to retrieve statistics from the host.

· Reset

Click the Reset button to reset all statistics to the initial value of 0.

· Auto Poll

Select this check box to use automatic sampling mode. To use manual mode, clear the check box. If the check box is selected, use Set Rate to define the sampling rate.

· Log to File

Click on the Log to File checkbox to save the adapter statistic values to a CSV file. To select the file to save to data a file chooser will be displayed. Each row or line of data in the file will include the data collected at that point in time.

The data format of the file is:

`adapter errors, device errors, resets, I/O count, IOPS, BPS`

The following example shows sample data from a log file:

0,0,1,122328,223,9549516

0,0,1,123532,240,10398924

0,0,1,124608,215,9310310

0,0,1,125752,228,9737728

0,0,1,126977,245,10387148

0,0,1,128073,219,9449472

0,0,1,129255,236,10049126

#### Device list

The Device List panel displays the following information about the devices attached to an adapter connected to a host:

· Host: The name of the host

· Adapter: The ID of the adapter

· Node Name: The node name of the adapter (WWN)

· Port Name: The port name of the adapter

· Path: The path number

· Target: The device ID

· Loop ID: The loop ID of the adapter when operating in loop mode

· Port ID: The port ID of the adapter (the AL-PA if in arbitrated loop environment)

· Vendor ID: The ID of the device manufacturer

· Product ID: The ID of the device

· Product Revision: The device revision level

#### Link status

The Link Status panel displays link information for the devices attached to an adapter connected to a host. See Figure 7.

Figure 7. Adapter Link Status panel

Click the Link Status tab to display the latest adapter link status from the device driver and the status for the adapter and all attached targets.

The first column of the Link Status panel is the World Wide Unique Port Name of the adapter and the attached devices.

The remaining columns display the following diagnostic information about the adapter and devices (see Table 7).

Table 7. Link status table

Diagnostic information | Definition
Link Failure | A loss of word synchronization for more than 100 msec or loss of signal.
Sync Loss | Four invalid transmission words out of eight (FC-PH rules) cause loss of synchronization (synch). Only transitions from in sync to out of sync are counted. Three valid ordered sets in a row are required to reestablish word sync.
Signal Loss | The receiver is not detecting a valid input signal.
Invalid CRC | The number of Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) errors that were detected by the device.

Use the buttons at the bottom of the panel for the following actions:

· Refresh Current

Click this button to query the adapter for updated device link statistics since the last refresh.

· Refresh Total

Click this button to query the adapter for cumulative updated device link statistics.

· Reset Current

Click this button to initialize link statistics.

##### Displaying device information

You can view general device information or a LUN list.

###### Viewing general device information

To view general information about a device, click the device in the FAStT MSJ main window HBA tree. The Information panel for the device displays.

###### Viewing the LUN List

To display information about LUNs, click the device in the FAStT MSJ main window HBA tree; then, click the LUN List tab. The LUN List window displays. See Figure 8.

Figure 8. LUN List window

The following LUN list information displays on the LUN List tab:

· LUN: The LUN number

· Vendor: The manufacturer of the LUN

· Product ID: The product ID of the LUN

· Product Rev: The product revision level of the LUN

· World Wide Unique LUN Name: The World wide name of the LUN

· Size: The capacity of the LUN

· Disk Number: The disk number of the LUN

##### Displaying LUN information

To view general information about a LUN, click the LUN in the FAStT MSJ main window HBA tree; then, click the Information tab. The Information window for the LUN displays.

#### Host Adapter Settings

The Host Adapter Settings displays parameters that are saved in the adapter Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM).

Note: The NVRAM parameters are preset at the factory. Do not alter them unless an IBM technical support representative instructs you to do so. Adapter operation might be adversely affected if you enter the wrong parameters.

The Host Adapter Settings panel controls three categories of NVRAM settings: HBA Port settings, Advanced HBA Port Settings, and Boot Device Selection. You access sections by clicking an option in the Select Settings drop-down list. The following sections define the NVRAM parameters and do not necessarily reflect the IBM default values.

##### HBA Port settings

When you click Host Port Settings in the Select Settings section list box, the information shown in Figure 9 displays.

Figure 9. HBA Port Settings panel

The following parameters are available in the Host Port Settings section:

Connection Options

Defines the type of connection (loop or point-to-point) or connection preference during startup (see Table 9).

Table 9. Connection type and preference

Bit | Description
0 | Loop only
1 | Point-to-point only
2 | Loop preferred, otherwise point-to-point
3 | Point-to-point preferred, otherwise loop

Data Rate

This setting determines the board data rate. When this setting is 1, the HBA runs at 2 Gbps. When this setting is 2, FAStT MSJ determines what rate your system can accommodate and sets the rate accordingly. The default is 0 (the HBA board runs at 1 Gbps).

These bits specify the data rate (1 or 2 gigabits/sec).

Data Rate:

1 gigabit/sec

2 gigabit/sec

Auto-negotiated

Hard Loop ID

ID used by the adapter when the Enable Adapter Hard Loop ID setting is enabled.

Frame Size

Specifies the maximum frame length supported by the adapter. The valid frame sizes are: 512, 1024, and 2048.

Loop Reset Delay

After resetting the loop, the firmware refrains from initiating any loop activity for the number of seconds specified in this setting. The valid delay is 0 to 60 seconds.

Enable HBA Port Hard Loop ID

If this setting is enabled, the adapter uses the ID specified in the Hard Loop ID setting.

Enable Host Adapter BIOS

When this setting is disabled, the ROM BIOS on the host bus adapter is disabled, freeing space in the upper memory of the system. Do not disable this setting if you are booting from a fibre channel disk drive attached to the adapter.

The Initial button restores all parameters to the settings used when the system was initially started. The Current button restores the updated settings modified by FAStT MSJ. The Save button saves the updated NVRAM settings.

##### Advanced HBA Port settings

When you click Advanced HBA Port Settings in the Select Settings section list box, the information shown in Figure 10 displays.

Figure 10. Advanced HBA Port Settings panel

The following parameters are available in the Advanced HBA Port Settings section:

Operation Mode

This field specifies the reduced interrupt operation (RIO) modes (see the following values). RIO modes enable you to post multiple command completions in a single interrupt.

· 0 - Interrupt for every I/O completion.

· 5 - Interrupt when Interrupt Delay Timer expires.

· 6 - Interrupt when Interrupt Delay Timer expires or no active I/O.

Execution Throttle

Specifies the maximum number of commands running on any one port. When a port execution throttle is reached, no new commands are run until the current command finishes running. The valid values for this setting are in the range 1 to 256.

Login Retry Count

Specifies the number of retries the adapter uses during a login. This can be a value in the range 0 to 255.

Port Down Retry Count

Specifies the number of times the adapter software retries a command to a port returning port down status. Valid range is 0 to 255.

Link Down Timeout

This is the time the driver waits for the link to come up after link down before returning the I/Os. This is analogous to Port Down Retry Count, which is used for cases when the port goes away on the far side.

### Link Down Timeout = 0; use previous algorithms to handle this case

### Link Down Timeout = 1- 255; number of seconds that the driver will wait for Link to come up before returning the I/Os.

LUNs per Target

Specifies the number of LUNs per target. Multiple LUN support is typical for Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) boxes that use LUNs to map drives. The valid values for this setting are 0, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256. If you do not need multiple LUN support, set LUNs per Target to 0.

Enable Extended Error Logging

This setting provides additional error and debugging information to the operating system.

Enable LIP Reset

This setting determines the type of LIP reset that is used when the operating system initiates a bus reset routine. When this setting is enabled, the adapter device driver initiates a global LIP reset to clear the target drive reservations. When this setting is disabled, the device driver initiates a global LIP reset with full login.

Enable LIP Full Login

When this setting is enabled, the adapter logs in to all ports after a loop initialization process (LIP).

Enable Target Reset

When this setting is enabled, the adapter device driver issues a target reset to all devices on the loop during a SCSI bus reset function call.

#### Utilities

Within the Utilities panel you can perform adapter-level configurations on a host-connected adapter. See Figure 12.

Figure 12. Utilities panel

##### Update flash

When you click this button (and the adapter accepts the update), the application prompts for the file name that contains the new flash BIOS. You can obtain this file from the IBM Web site or service personnel. The file name ends with .BIN (for example, QL22ROM.BIN).

After you enter a valid flash file, click OK to proceed with the update or click Cancel to cancel.

When you click OK, FAStT MSJ verifies the file name and format of the new file. If the file is valid, the application compares the version of the file with the adapter flash version. If the adapter version is the same or newer than the file flash version, the application asks if you still want to update the flash.

If the update fails, an error message displays.

##### Update NVRAM

When you click this button (and the adapter accepts the update), the application prompts you for the file name that contains the new NVRAM. You can obtain this file from the IBM Web site or service personnel. The file name ends with .DAT (for example, NVRM22.DAT).

After you enter a valid NVRAM file, click OK to proceed with the update or click Cancel to cancel.

When you click OK, FAStT MSJ verifies the contents of the new file.

If the update fails, an error message displays.

## Update Driver

To update the driver, click the Update Driver button. The following Select Driver message is displayed.

Choose either From the QLogic website or Browse. To browse files, click [...]. The following open file window is displayed.

Select an appropriate file for updating the driver.

#### Diagnostics

You can perform the loopback and read/write buffer tests using the Diagnostics panel (see Figure 13).

Figure 13. Diagnostics panel

The loopback test is internal to the adapter. The test evaluates the fibre channel loop stability and error rate. The test transmits and receives (loopback) the specified data and checks for frame CRC, disparity, and length errors.

The read/write buffer test sends data through the SCSI Write Buffer command to a target device, reads the data back through the SCSI Read Buffer command, and compares the data for errors. The test also compares the link status of the device before and after the read/write buffer test. If errors occur, the test indicates a broken or unreliable link between the adapter and the device.

The Diagnostics panel has the following three main parts:

· Identifying Information

This part of the panel displays information about the adapter being tested. This information includes:

o Host

o Adapter

o Node Name

o Port Name

o Port ID

· Diagnostic Configuration Error

This part of the panel contains the following testing options:

Data Pattern

Sets the test pattern. You can click a data pattern in the list or specify a customized pattern.

To specify a customized pattern, click Customized in the list and type the data pattern in hex format (0x00 - 0xFF) into the boxes under Customized.

When you select the random pattern from the list, a new random 8-byte pattern is sent to the devices, the adapter, or both (depending on whether you select the loopback or read/write buffer test).

Number of test(s)

Sets the number of tests you want to run. You can run the test for a certain number of times (up to 10,000) or continuously. You can also set the number of test increments per test up to 10,000.

Test continuously

Select this check box to test continuously.

Test Increment

The Test Increment value determines the number of times a test will be run against a particular device (read/write buffer test). For example if the value is set to 10, the read/write buffer test will be run 10 times against that device before moving to the next device in the Device List. The Number of Tests parameter determines the total number of tests that will be run.

If you select Test continuously, the Test Increment value is set to 125 as the default value. You can increase this value up to 10,000. While the test is running, a test progress dialog window displays. You can cancel the test at any time by clicking the Stop button in this window. FAStT MSJ waits until the Test Increment value is reached before stopping. Thus, a large Test Increment value will delay the stop action. The delay is dependent on the number of devices being tested.

On error

Select from the drop down box: Ignore, Stop, Loop.

· Ignore: Ignores the error and continues running

· Stop: Stops when an error is encountered

· Loop: Runs continuously on the test that resulted in the error.

· Test Results

The Loopback Test Results section displays the results of a test. The first column shows whether the test passed or failed. The remaining columns display error counters.

For a loopback test, the test result includes the following information: Test Status, CRC Error, Disparity Error, and Frame Length Error.

For a read/write buffer test, the test result shows the following information: Loop ID/Status, Data Miscompare, Link Failure, Sync Loss, Signal Loss, and Invalid CRC.

Some devices do not support read/write buffer commands. FAStT MSJ displays the result for these devices as Information (blue) with the `R/W buffer not supported` message in the Data Miscompare column. The test results are sorted in the following order:

0.1. Errors

1.2. Information

2.3. Success

Notes:

1. The TotalStorage Fibre Channel host bus adapter (QLA2100) does not support loopback mode. Use only the read/write test for this type of adapter.

2. A wrap connector and coupler (see the readme file for the part number) is available to assist in isolating loop problems. When running the loopback test, you can plug the wrap connector directly into the FAStT host bus adapter to verify whether the adapter is functional. You can then move the wrap connector to other points in the loop (for example, the ends of cables, hubs, and so on) to isolate the point of failure.

3. If the read/write buffer test returns the message `The Adapter has no devices attached`, make sure that the HBA is connected to the devices, and click Refresh. Detected devices will appear in the HBA tree of the selected host.

##### Running the diagnostic tests

When running read/write buffer tests, all devices that are seen by the adapter are selected by default. To unselect a specific device from being tested, right-click on the device node and select Device Diagnostics -> Disable on Device.

After you have chosen the loopback and read/write buffer test parameters, click Loopback Test or Read/Write Buffer Test to run the loopback or read/write buffer test.

If displaying warnings is enabled, the warning window shown in Figure 14 displays.

Figure 14. Diagnostic Loopback and Read/Write Buffer Test Warning window

Note: To disable the warning message, click View -> Options and clear the Enable Warning Messages Displays check box.

If you selected the Test continuously check box or a large value for number of tests or test increments, the Test Progress dialog window displays (see Figure 15). Click Stop to cancel the test.

Figure 15. Test Progress dialog window

##### Diagnostic test results

The Test Results section of the Diagnostics panel displays the results of a test. Descriptions of the loopback and read/write test results sections follow.

###### Loopback test results

The Loopback Test Results section provides the following information:

· Tests Status - Whether the test passed or failed. The possible values are:

o Success - The test passed.

o Error - CRC, disparity, or frame length errors occurred.

o Failed - An error occurred when attempting to issue a command.

o Loop down - The loop is down.

· CRC Error - Number of CRC errors

· Disparity Error - Number of disparity errors

· Frame Length Errors - Number of frame length errors

The Test Status column in Figure 16 shows that the loopback test failed.

Figure 16. Test Results section of the Diagnostics panel (Loopback)l

###### Read/Write Buffer Test Results

The Read/Write Buffer Test Results section provides the following information (see Figure 17):

· Loop ID - The loop ID of the adapter when operating in loop mode

· Status - Whether the test passed or failed. The possible values:

o Success - The test passed.

o Error - A data miscompare or link status firmware error occurred.

o Failed - A link status error, SCSI write buffer error, or SCSI read buffer error occurred.

o Unknown - The target was not present.

o Unsupported - The device does not support this test.

· Data Miscompare - Type of data miscompare. The possible values:

o 0 (no data miscompares)

o Get link status failed

o Read buffer failed

o Reserve unit failed

o Release unit failed

o R/W buffer not supported

o Write buffer failed

· Link Failure - Number of link failures

· Sync Loss - Number of sync loss errors

· Signal Loss - Number of signal loss errors

· Invalid CRC - Number of CRCs that were not valid

Figure 17. Read/Writer Buffer Test Results section of the Diagnostics panel

### Saving a configuration to a file

You can save a virtual image of a host that has been configured and might no longer be connected to the network by saving the host configuration to a file. To load the configuration of the host that has been saved, you must first configure and save the host information to a file.

To save the host configuration, click Host-> Save -> To File in the main menu bar.

You are alerted with the information shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18. Save Configuration to File Notification dialog window

You can also save the configuration as a text file. Click Host-> Save -> To Text File in the main menu bar.

After you save the file, you can load it.

### Loading a configuration from a file

After you save a host configuration to a file, you can load the configuration. Loading from a file enables you to load a virtual image of a host that was previously configured but is no longer connected to the network.

To load a configuration from FAStT MSJ, perform the following steps:

1. Click Host -> Load from File.

2. In the Open window, click the file you want to load, and then click Open (see Figure 19).

Figure 19. Open window

After you load the file, the adapters under the newly loaded host will appear in blue in the HBA. Blue adapters indicate that the host was loaded from a file rather than a live host.

### Opening a group

Opening the group from a file enables the user to reload all the host information that was previously saved by the Save Group operation. FAStT MSJ will then connect the host and identify any discrepancies between the saved configuration and the newly discovered one.

To open a host configuration, click File -> Open Group in the host adapter configuration window. Select the desired .hst file from the Open window. After the file opens, the newly loaded host will be connected and displayed in the HBA tree panel.

### Saving a group

Saving a host group to a file enables the user to save the HBA tree for that host, including the device list and configuration settings. This feature also allows a system administrator to create host files to selectively connect a number of hosts in the same SAN.

To save a host configuration to FAStT MSJ, you must configure the host adapter. Click File -> Save Group in the host adapter configuration window.

After you select Save Group, the Save window displays. Select a file name (for example, `HostNodeA.HST`) and click Enter.