How to Configure Fibre Channel Ports

How to Configure Fibre Channel Ports

The Fibre Channel (FC) port provider can use the same HBAs that are used for the Fibre Channel initiators. A given Fibre Channel port can be used as an initiator or as a target, but not as both. You can also configure a dual or quad port FC HBA so that a subset of the HBA ports is in target mode and the rest of the ports are in initiator mode.

The procedures in this section are specific to QLogic HBAs. The driver to use with HBAs in initiator mode is qlc, which is a Qlogic driver. The qlc driver works only in initiator mode, and cannot be used for target mode. The COMSTAR driver for a target Qlogic 4G HBA is qlt.

Because initiator mode and target mode use different drivers, the driver you attach to an HBA port defines its function as a target or initiator. You can specify a driver for all the ports by specifying the PCI device ID of the HBA. Or, you can configure the driver on a port-by-port basis. Both methods are described in this section. Each of these procedures uses the update_drv(1M) command. For more information, see the update_drv(1M) man page.

How to View Existing Port Bindings

Before making changes to the HBA ports, first check the existing port bindings.

  1. View what is currently bound to the port drivers.
    In this example, the current binding is pciex1077,2432.
    # mdb -k
    
    Loading modules: [ unix krtld genunix specfs ...
    > ::devbindings -q qlc
    30001617a08 pciex1077,2432, instance #0 (driver name: qlc)
    300016177e0 pciex1077,2432, instance #1 (driver name: qlc)
    
  2. Quit mdb.
    > $q
    

How to Set All Ports to a Specific Mode

This procedure changes all ports on all HBAs of a specific PCI device ID to target mode. The PCI device ID number binds a driver to a port, thereby setting all the HBA ports with that PCI device ID, for example, all Qlogic 4G PCI express HBAs, to target mode.

  1. Remove the current binding, which in this example is qlc.
    In this example, the qlc driver is actively bound to pciex1077,2432. You must remove the existing binding for qlc before you can add that binding to a new driver. Single quotes are required in this syntax.
    # update_drv -d -i 'pciex1077,2432' qlc
    
    Cannot unload module: qlc
    Will be unloaded upon reboot.
    

    This message does not indicate an error. The configuration files have been updated but the qlc driver remains bound to the port until reboot.

  2. Establish the new binding to qlt.
    Single quotes are required in this syntax.
    # update_drv -a -i 'pciex1077,2432' qlt
    
    devfsadm: driver failed to attach: qlt
    Warning: Driver (qlt) successfully added to system but failed to attach
    

    This message does not indicate an error. The qlc driver remains bound to the port, until reboot. The qlt driver attaches when the system is rebooted.

  3. Reboot the system to attache the new driver, and then recheck the bindings.
    # reboot
    ...
    # mdb -k
    
    Loading modules: [ unix krtld genunix specfs dtrace ...
    > ::devbindings -q qlt
    30001615a08   pciex1077,2432, instance #0 (driver name: qlt)
    30001615e0    pciex1077,2432, instance #1 (driver name: qlt)
    
  4. Quit mdb.
    > $q
    
  5. Verify that the target mode framework has access to the HBA ports.
    # stmfadm list-target -v
    
    Target: wwn.210100E08BA54E60
    Operational Status : Offline
    Provider Name : qlt(1)
    Alias : -
    Sessions : 0
    Target: wwn.210100E08BA54E60
    Operational Status : Offline
    Provider Name : qlt(0)
    Alias : -
    Sessions : 0
    

How to Set Selected Ports to a Mode

This procedure uses path-based bindings. It shows you how to use a specific device path to bind a port to a driver that is different from the one to which it is currently bound.

  1. View a list of the HBA ports and their respective device paths.
    # luxadm -e port
    
    /devices/pci@780/QLGC,qlc@0,1/fp@0,0:devctl CONNECTED
    /devices/pci@780/QLGC,qlc@0/fp@0,0:devctl CONNECTED
    

    This example shows the HBA ports' respective device paths for a single HBA with two ports.

  2. Set the top port to target mode and leave the bottom port in initiator mode.
    Note

    You drop the initial /devices portion of the path, and include everything up to /fp@0.... This is the path to which the system binds the qlt driver. Single quotes are required in this syntax.

    # update_drv -a -i '/pci@780/QLGC,qlc@0,1' qlt
    
    devfsadm: driver failed to attach: qlt
    Warning: Driver (qlt) successfully added to system but failed to attach.
    

    This message does not indicate an error. The qlc driver remains bound to the port until reboot. The qlt driver attaches during reboot.

  3. Reboot the system to attach the new driver, and then recheck the bindings.
    # reboot
    ...
    # mdb -k
    

    You should see that the port changed from initiator mode (qlc) to target mode (qlt).

  4. Quit mdb.
    > $q
    
  5. Verify that the target mode framework has access to the HBA ports.
    # stmfadm list-target -v
    
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