Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 243
Chapter 8 Configuring Devices
NOTE The!SCSI!bus!is!assigned!a!number!by!the!host!operating!system!after!all!IDE!
buses!have!been!assigned!numbers.!For!example,!if!you!have!2!IDE!buses,!they!
are!numbered!0!and!1.!The!first!SCSI!bus!is!assigned!bus!number!2.!In!the!
example!above,!you!use!2!for!X.
If!you!cannot!determine!the!SCSI!bus!number!on!your!own,!you!can!try!using!a!third‐!
party!tool!like!winobj!(which!you!can!download!for!free!from!www.sysinternals.com)!
to!determine!this!information.
The!device!target!ID!is!usually!set!by!some!jumpers!or
!switches!on!the!device.!Refer!to!
the!owner’s!manual!for!the!device!for!information!on!how!to!determine!the!target!ID.
Generic SCSI on a Linux Host Operating System
Using!the!SCSI!Generic!driver!in!Linux,!VMware!Server!allows!your!guest!operating!
system!to!operate!generic!SCSI!devices!within!a!virtual!machine.!The!SCSI!Generic!
driver!sets!up!a!mapping!for!each!SCSI!device!in!/dev.!Each!entry!starts!with!sg!(for!the!
SCSI!Generic!driver)!followed!by!a!
letter.!For!example,!/dev/sga!is!the!first!generic!SCSI!
device.
Each!entry!corresponds!to!a!SCSI!device,!in!the!order!specified!in!/proc/scsi/scsi,!
from!the!lowest!device!ID!on!the!lowest!adapter!to!the!highest!device!ID!on!the!lowest!
adapter,!and!so!on!to!the!highest!device!ID!on!the
!highest!adapter.!Do!not!enter!
/dev/st0!or!/dev/scd0.
NOTE When!setting!up!a!generic!SCSI!device!in!the!virtual!machine!settings!editor,!
as!described!later!in!this!section,!you!specify!the!device!you!wish!to!install!in!
the!virtual!machine!by!typing!its!/dev/sg!entry!in!the!Connection!field.
Requirements
Generic!SCSI!requires!version!2.1.36!of!the!SCSI!Generic!(sg.o)!driver,!which!comes!
with!kernel!2.2.14!and!higher.!
Avoiding Concurrent Access to a Generic SCSI Device
Under!Linux,!some!devices!!specifically!tape!drives,!disk!drives,!and!CDROM!drives!
!already!have!a!designated!/dev!entry!(traditionally,!st,!sd!and!scd,!respectively).!
When!the!SCSI!Generic!driver!is!installed,!Linux!also!identifies!these!devices!with!
corresponding!sg!entries!in!/dev!!in!addition!to!their
!traditional!entries.!VMware!
Server!ensures!that!multiple!programs!are!not!using!the!same!/dev/sg!entry!at!the!same!
time!but!cannot!always!ensure!that!multiple!programs!are!not!using!the!/dev/sg!and!
the!traditional!/dev!entry!at!the!same!time.!It!is!important!that!you!do!not!attempt!to!