Why would an FCP SAN host login to storage, then immediately logout?
Applies to
- Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode
- Data ONTAP 8
- ONTAP 9
Answer
- Fabric zoning and storage configuration may allow a host to initially login to a storage target, but some hosts will logout if they have no LUNs mapped from the target.
- NetApp's event logs only record when an FCP initiator logs in. FCP logouts are not recorded.
- FCP logins are seen in EMS, but when you run commands like
"igroup show -v"
or
"fcp initiator show"
,
there will be no logins for the affected hosts.
- The FCP login/logout behavior of the host initiators is managed by the host operating system and/or HBA drivers, and can vary.
- HPUX and AIX are known for logging out initiators when LUNs are NOT present or not being utilized.
- Regardless of host operating system, if this behavior is present and there are no LUNs mapped to the host's initiator group (igroup), the first step should be to map a new LUN and rescan and/or reboot the hosts.
Additional Information
In ONTAP 9, the following command is useful when validating FCP host connectivity:
fcp ping-initiator -vserver <VSERVER> -wwpn <INITIATOR_WWPN>