This script is a result of having to create quite a large number of dedicated Masking views for VMware ESX 5.x server boot volumes and Masking Views for shared vmfs datastore clusters. In this example I will create two dedicated ESX server MV’s and one Cluster Masking View consisting of the two ESX Hosts sharing a VMFS datastore.

Each VMware ESX server boots from a SAN-attached boot volume presented from the VMAX array. As an example the boot LUNs are 20GB devices which are configured from a dedicated RAID5 3+1 disk group:
symconfigure -sid xxx -cmd “create dev count=2, config=Raid-5, data_member_count=3, emulation=FBA, size=20GB, disk_group=1;” COMMIT
List the newly created devices:
symdev -sid xxx list -disk_group 1

If you wish to confirm that a device has not already been assigned to a host:
symaccess -sid xx list assignment -dev xxx
Or if you need to check a series of devices:
symaccess -sid xxx list assignment -dev xxx:xxx

“symaccess” command performs all Auto-provisioning functions. Using the symaccess command we will create a port group, initiator group and a storage group for each VMware ESX host and combine these newly created groups into a Masking View.

Port Group Configuration
1. Create the Port Group that will be used for the two hosts:
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX-Cluster-PG -type port create
2. Add FA ports to the port group; in this example we will add ports from Directors 8&9 From Engines 4&5 8e:0,9e:0:
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX-Cluster-PG -type port -dirport 8e:0,9e:0 add

Note on Port Groups: Where possible to achieve best performance and availability hosts should be mapped to two or more Front-End ports on directors. If you have multiple engines then spread across engines and directors – Rule 17 (20/40K). Please see post: EMC VMAX 10K Zoning with Cisco MDS Switches

Check that the Host HBAs are logging in:
symaccess -sid xxx list logins -dirport 8e:0
symaccess -sid xxx list logins -dirport 9e:0

Host ESX01 Masking View Configuration
1. Create the Initiator Group for ESX01:
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX01_ig -type initiator create -consistent_lun
2. Add the ESX Initiator HBA WWNs to the Initiator Group:
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX01_ig -type initiator -wwn wwn_A add
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX01_ig -type initiator -wwn wwn_B add
3. Create the Storage Group for the first ESX host Boot volume:
symaccess –sid xxx -name ESX01_sg -type storage create
4. Add the Symmetrix boot volume device to the Storage Group:
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX01_sg -type storage add devs ####
5. Create the Masking View:
symaccess -sid xxx create view -name ESX01_mv -sg ESX01_sg -pg ESX-Cluster-PG -ig ESX01_ig

Host ESX02 Masking View Configuration
1. symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX02_ig -type initiator create -consistent_lun
2. symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX02_ig -type initiator -wwn wwn_A add
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX02_ig -type initiator -wwn wwn_B add
3. symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX02_sg -type storage create
4. symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX02_sg -type storage add devs ####
5. symaccess -sid xxx create view -name ESX02_mv -sg ESX02_sg -pg ESX-Cluster-PG -ig ESX02_ig

Configuration of Cluster1 (ESX01,ESX02) with shared VMFS Datastore
1. We begin by cascading the cluster hosts into a single Initiator Group:
symaccess -sid xxx -name Cluster1_IG -type initiator create -consistent_lun
symaccess -sid xxx -name Cluster1_IG -type initiator -ig ESX01_ig add
symaccess -sid xxx -name Cluster1_IG -type initiator -ig ESX02_ig add
2. Create the Storage Group containing the shared Datastore(s):
symaccess -sid xxx -name Cluster1_SG -type storage create
4. Add the Symmetrix shared Datastore(s) device(s):
symaccess -sid xxx -name Cluster1_SG -type storage add devs ####(:####)
5. The Port Group contains the director Front-End ports zoned to the ESX Hosts (As per the PG created above):
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX-Cluster-PG -type port create
symaccess -sid xxx -name ESX-Cluster-PG -type port -dirport 8e:0,9e:0 add
6. The Masking View for the entire ESX cluster:
symaccess -sid xxx create view -name Cluster1_MV -sg Cluster1_SG -pg ESX-Cluster-PG -ig Cluster1_IG

View Configuration Details
To view the configuration of the groups PG,IG,SG and MV (use -v for more detail):
symaccess -sid xxx list -type storage|port|initiator -v
symaccess -sid xxx list -type storage|port|initiator -name group_name
symaccess -sid xxx show group_name -type storage|port|initiator
symaccess -sid xxx list view -v
symaccess -sid xxx list view -name view_name
symaccess -sid xxx list view -name view_name -detail
symaccess -sid xxx list assignment -dev DevID
Examples:
symaccess -sid xxx list -type port (Lists all exisiting port group names)
symaccess -sid xxx show ESX-Cluster-PG -type port
symaccess -sid xxx list -type port -dirport 8e:0 (Lists all port groups that a particular director port belongs to)
symaccess -sid xxx show -type initiator Cluster1_IG -detail
symaccess -sid xxx list logins -wwn xxxx (Verify that wwn xxx is logged in to the FAs)
symaccess -sid xxx list -type initiator -wwn xxxx(Verify that the HBA is a member of the correct Initiator Group)
symaccess -sid xxx show Cluster1_SG -type storage
symaccess -sid xxx show view Cluster1_MV
symaccess -sid xxx list assignment -dev XXXX (Shows the masking details of devices)

Verify BOOT|DATA LUN Assignment to FA Port(s) (LUN To PORT GROUP Assignment):
symaccess -sid xxx list assignment -devs ####
symaccess -sid xxx list assignment -devs ####:####

Backup Masking View to File
The masking information can then be backed up to a file using the following command:
symaccess -sid xxx backup -file backupFileName
The backup file can then be used to retrieve and restore group and masking information.

The SYMAPI database file can be found in the Solutions enabler directory: for example “D:\Program Files\EMC\SYMAPI\db\symapi_db.bin” if you wish to confirm the SE install location quickly then issue the following registry query cmd:
reg.exe query “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EMC\EMC Solutions Enabler” /v InstallPath

Note: On the VMAX Service Processor the masking information is automatically backed up every 24 hours by the Scheduler. The file (accessDB.bin) is saved to O:\EMC\S/N\public\user\backup.

Restore Masking View from File
To restore the masking information to Symmetrix enter the following command:
symaccess -sid xxx restore -file backupFileName