This post outlines how to create the VMAX Masking view for Gatekeeper RDM volumes and the Script to Automate Adding RDM Disk’s to a VMware MGMT VM.

First some notes on Gatekeeper volumes:
SE(CLI) and Unisphere(GUI) are the main tools used to manage a VMAX Array, Gatekeeper volumes are required in order to carry these commands from both CLI&GUI and generate low level commands which are sent to the VMAX Array to complete the required instruction such as IG,SG,PG,MV or volume creation. It is good practice to use dedicated Gatekeeper devices and avoid using any devices which contain user or application data which may be impacted by the I/O requirement from the instruction command. For example if the device used as a gatekeeper is also servicing application I/O then a scenario may arise if the VMAX is executing a command which takes some time, as a result of this latency the application may encounter poor performance. These are the reasons why EMC strongly recommends to create and map dedicated devices as Gatekeepers.

VMAX3: Creating the RDM Volumes and Associated Masking View

This is an example Masking View for a two node ESXi cluster on which the VMAX management virtual machine shall reside:

1. Create a Port Group with the VMAX FA ports that the ESXi hosts have been zoned to:
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_PG -type port create
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_PG -type port -dirport 1d:24,2d:31,3D:28,4d:27 add

2. Create the Initiator Group containing the ESXi hosts WWNS:
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_IG -type initiator create -consistent_lun
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_IG -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff5CXXF8 add
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_IG -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff5CXXF9 add
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_IG -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff55XX4C add
symaccess -sid 123 -name MGMT_VM_IG -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff55XX4D add

3. Create the Storage Group for the Gatekeeper RDM Volumes:
symsg -sid 123 create MGMT_VM_SG -slo optimized -srp SRP_1
Listing the SRP:
symcfg list -srp

4. Create the Gatekeeper volumes (10 Gatekeeper volumes in this example) and add to the MGMT_VM_SG:
symconfigure -sid 123 -cmd “create dev count=10, emulation=FBA, sg=MGMT_VM_SG, size=3 CYL, config=tdev”; preview -nop
symconfigure -sid 123 -cmd “create dev count=10, emulation=FBA, sg=MGMT_VM_SG, size=3 CYL, config=tdev”; prepare -nop
symconfigure -sid 123 -cmd “create dev count=10, emulation=FBA, sg=MGMT_VM_SG, size=3 CYL, config=tdev”; commit -nop

5. Create the Masking View:
symaccess -sid 123 create view -name MGMT_VM_MV -sg MGMT_VM_SG -pg MGMT_VM_PG -ig MGMT_VM_IG

View Configuration Details

Confirm that the HOSTS are logged into the correct VMAX ports:
symaccess -sid 123 list logins -wwn 21000024ff5CXXF8
symaccess -sid 123 list logins -wwn 21000024ff5CXXF9
symaccess -sid 123 list logins -wwn 21000024ff55XX4C
symaccess -sid 123 list logins -wwn 21000024ff55XX4D

Verify that the HBA is a member of the correct Initiator Group:
symaccess -sid 123 list -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff5CXXF8
symaccess -sid 123 list -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff5CXXF9
symaccess -sid 123 list -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff55XX4C
symaccess -sid 123 list -type initiator -wwn 21000024ff55XX4D

Storage Group details:
symaccess -sid 123 list -type storage -name AMP_SG -v
symaccess -sid 123 show AMP_SG -type storage

Port Group details:
symaccess -sid 123 list -type port -name AMP_PG -v
symaccess -sid 123 show AMP_PG -type port

Initiator Group details:
symaccess -sid 123 list -type initiator -name AMP_IG -v
symaccess -sid 123 show AMP_IG -type initiator

Masking View details:
symaccess -sid 123 list view -name AMP_MV
symaccess -sid 123 list view -name AMP_MV -detail

Gatekeeper details:
symdev -sid 340 list -cap 3 -captype cyl
symaccess -sid 123 list assignment -dev 049:052

If you need to remove the devs from the SG:
symaccess -sid 123 -name AMP_SG -type storage remove devs 049:052

####################################################################
Script to Automate Adding RDM Disk’s:

PowerCLI Script: Automate Adding RDM Disk’s
Here is a script which scans for the Host LUN ID and then attributes the $LUN_# parameter
to the ‘ConsoleDeviceName’. This greatly simplifies the process of adding large quantities of RDM Disk’s.

There are 4 parameters used in the script. The following 3 shall be prompted for:
“Your-ESXi-Hostname” $VMhostname
“Your-VM-Name” $VM
“Your-VMFS-DS-Name” $Datastore

Please edit the runtime name as required, the script default is :
“vmhba0:C0:T0:L#”

The following example script will automatically create 10 RDM Disks on a Virtual Machine and place the pointer files
in a VMFS Datastore based on the parameters provided.

#####################################################################

Write-Host “Please edit the runtime name in the script if required before proceeding, the default is:” -ForegroundColor Red
Write-Host “vmhba0:C0:T0:L#” -ForegroundColor Green

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi/Vcenter Host IP Address:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$VMHost = Read-Host

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi/Vcenter Username:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$User = Read-Host

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi/Vcenter Password:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$Pass = Read-Host

Connect-VIServer -Server $VMHost -User $User -Password $Pass

##########################################

$VMhostname = ‘*’

ForEach ($VMhostname in (Get-VMHost -name $VMhostname)| sort)
{

Write-Host $VMhostname

}

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi Hostname where your target VM resides:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$VMhostname = Read-Host

######################################

$Datastore = ‘*’

ForEach ($Datastore in (Get-Datastore -name $Datastore)| sort)
{

Write-Host $Datastore

}

Write-Host “From the list provided – Please enter the VMFS datastore where the RDM pointer files will reside:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$Datastore = Read-Host

######################################

$VM = ‘*’

ForEach ($VM in (Get-VM -name $VM)| sort)
{
Write-Host $VM
}

Write-Host “From the list provided – Please enter the VM Name where the RDM volumes shall be created on:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$VM = Read-Host

##############
Write-Host “ESXi Hostname you have chosen: ” -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host “$VMhostname” -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host “VMFS you have chosen: ” -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host “$Datastore” -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host “Vitual Machine you have chosen: ” -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host “$VM” -ForegroundColor Green

################
## ACLX T0:L0 ##
################
$LUN_0 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L0”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_0 = $LUN_0 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_0 = $LUN_0 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_0 = $LUN_0 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_0
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_0 -DataStore $Datastore

#####################
## Gatekeepers x10 ##
#####################
$LUN_1 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L1”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_1 = $LUN_1 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_1 = $LUN_1 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_1 = $LUN_1 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_1
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_1 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_2 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L2”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_2 = $LUN_2 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_2 = $LUN_2 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_2 = $LUN_2 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_2
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_2 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_3 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L3”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_3 = $LUN_3 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_3 = $LUN_3 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_3 = $LUN_3 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_3
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_3 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_4 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L4”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_4 = $LUN_4 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_4 = $LUN_4 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_4 = $LUN_4 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_4
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_4 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_5 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L5”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_5 = $LUN_5 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_5 = $LUN_5 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_5 = $LUN_5 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_5
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_5 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_6 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L6”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_6 = $LUN_6 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_6 = $LUN_6 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_6 = $LUN_6 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_6
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_6 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_7 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L7”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_7 = $LUN_7 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_7 = $LUN_7 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_7 = $LUN_7 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_7
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_7 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_8 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L8”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_8 = $LUN_8 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_8 = $LUN_8 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_8 = $LUN_8 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_8
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_8 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_9 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L9”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_9 = $LUN_9 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_9 = $LUN_9 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_9 = $LUN_9 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_9
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_9 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_10 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L10”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_10 = $LUN_10 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_10 = $LUN_10 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_10 = $LUN_10 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_10
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_10 -DataStore $Datastore

##############
### VERIFY ###
##############
##Finding RDMs Using PowerCLI:##
# Detailed #
# Get-VM | Get-HardDisk -DiskType “RawPhysical” | Select Parent,Name,DiskType,ScsiCanonicalName,DeviceName,CapacityGB | fl
# Brief #
# Get-ScsiLun -VMHost $VMhostname -LunType disk
# NAA #
# Get-ScsiLun -VMHost $VMhostname -LunType disk | select CanonicalName

### Get IP Address for ViClient to check GUI ###
# Get-VMHost -Name $VMhostname | Get-VMHostNetworkAdapter