This blog will carry on from part 2 adding more simple functionality to the LAB being created.
In this blog we will look at adding iSCSI storage to the LAB through PowerCLi. To do this the LAB will need storage of which many are available on the internet (this can be real or virtual). The script is designed to allow the addition of a datastore with a specific ip address and name. This has not been tested in a situation where multiple iSCSI targets could reply.
This is not as hard as it may seem and with the aid of using a script every host can be configured with the same datastore in one simple script. Scripts take away human error and misconfiguration making the life of an administrator that much easier. The vSphere PowerCLI Administration Guide is a great place to start for simple scripts to help in the day to day operation of a virtual infrastructure. The following has its base taken from this guide but converted to allow the configuration of all the hosts through one script.
Below is the complete script which I will break down underneath.
<br />
$hosts = Get-VMHost<br />
$name = $hosts</p>
<p>Foreach ($name in $hosts) {<br />
Get-VMHostStorage $name | Set-VMHostStorage -SoftwareIScsiEnabled $true<br />
$iscsiHba = Get-VMHostHba -Type iScsi<br />
$iscsiHba | New-IScsiHbaTarget -Address 10.10.1.10 -Type Send<br />
Get-VMHostStorage $name -RescanAllHba<br />
$lunPath = Get-ScsiLun -VMHost $name -CanonicalName ($iscsiHba.Device + "*") | Get-ScsiLunPath<br />
New-Datastore -Vmfs -VMHost $name -Path $lunpath.LunPath -Name iSCSI<br />
}<br />
At the start the following two lines are carried out. This gets all the hosts that are managed by the current virtual center and stores them in $host. This information is then stored in $name to be used during the rest of the script
<br /> $hosts = Get-VMHost<br /> $name = $hosts<br />
As we want this script to run against every host that is stored in $name a Foreach is being used. This allows the script to run through each host until each is completed. The next line is retrieving the host storages on the host and then enabling the iSCSI adapter
<br /> Get-VMHostStorage $name | Set-VMHostStorage -SoftwareIScsiEnabled $true<br />
The next reads in the HBA data but only for iSCSI and stores it in $iscsiHba
<br /> $iscsiHba = Get-VMHostHba -Type iScsi<br />
The $iscsiHba information is then used in the following line to setup a new dynamic target with a specific ip address (using the default 3260 port. If another is needed then add –Port xxxx)
<br /> $iscsiHba | New-IScsiHbaTarget -Address 10.10.1.10 -Type Send<br />
The HBA needs to be rescanned now as it would if this was being done manually so the next line does exactly that
<br /> Get-VMHostStorage $name -RescanAllHba<br />
The next line is getting the canonical name of the iSCSi lun and storing this information in $lunPath
<br /> $lunPath = Get-ScsiLun -VMHost $name -CanonicalName ($iscsiHba.Device + "*") | Get-ScsiLunPath<br />
The last line adds the datastore that has been found during the above process. It will add a Vmfs file system to a host using the canonical name the previous line obtained and give the datastore a name if iSCSI (If the datastore with the name specified already exists then this datastore is just added to the host and can be used. I have not tested with a datastore that is not formatted to confirm that it would be formatted, named and added)
<br /> New-Datastore -Vmfs -VMHost $name -Path $lunpath.LunPath -Name iSCSI<br />
By Paul Wood