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Identity Pools in OpenManage Enterprise
18 Advanced Server Configuration in Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise 3.0
Starting Virtual MAC Address, Count
The Identity Pool wizard allows the entry of a starting Virtual MAC address and a pool size (that is, the
number of MAC addresses in the pool, up to a maximum size of 5,000 addresses).
Note—A valid MAC address, using hexadecimal digits, must be supplied. The wizard has a tool tip which
shows acceptable formats. The range cannot include any broadcast MAC addresses (that is, where the
second digit in the first octet in the address is odd (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, B, or D)).
3.3.2 iSCSI Identities
iSCSI identities refers to the configuration attributes that provide a unique virtual identity for iSCSI operations
on a network. The iSCSI page of the Identity Pool wizard is used to define a sub-pool to use for generating
unique iSCSI virtual identities. iSCSI can be used for connection to iSCSI-based storage and/or for booting
from an iSCSI-based repository. These activities may require virtual MAC addresses, a name, and/or IP
addresses—a sub-pool can be specified for each of these. The following values are specified to define
applicable sub-pools for generating an iSCSI virtual identity:
Starting Virtual MAC Address, Count
This pool functions the same as the Virtual MAC Address identities for Ethernet (and has the same value
constraints), but is reserved for generating only iSCSI virtual identities. An iSCSI virtual MAC address is
required whenever deploying a template in which iSCSI operations are enabled (either for an iSCSI
connection or for iSCSI boot).
IQN Prefix
The IQN Prefix value is used when iSCSI is configured for booting. In this case, the target device needs
to configure an iSCSI initiator, and the initiator requires a unique name for its virtual identity. The Identity
Pool wizard accepts a prefix to use for generating unique iSCSI IQNs for the target device to use. When
an iSCSI IQN is needed, it will add a unique string to the end of the specified prefix.
It is a best practice to always specify an IQN Prefix when configuring an Identity Pool to include iSCSI
MAC addresses. Although an IQN is only required when iSCSI boot is configured, it is likely that some
templates that configure iSCSI will also require an iSCSI IQN. Therefore, it is best to just enter a prefix
when the Identity Pool is defined. This prevents an error later in the Deploy Template wizard when an
IQN is required but no prefix is specified in the Identity Pool.
Unlike other ranges (for MAC addresses and IP addresses), the iSCSI IQN is just a text name. It is not a
limited resource. OpenManage Enterprise adds a seven-digit numerical suffix to the prefix specified in the
wizard. Thus, every IQN pool can generate up to 10 million unique IQNs (minus one).
The official IQN format is: iqn.yyyy-mm.naming-authority:unique name
It is recommended that the specified IQN prefix at least begin with “iqn.” to avoid name rejection
by a NIC. Think of OpenManage Enterprise as supplying “unique name”.