Installation guide

www.vmware.com
324
VMware ESX Server Administration Guide
Choosing Path Management Tools
ESX Server allows you to configure and manage multipath access to storage devices
through both the Management Interface and the Service Console. The sections below
describe how to manage multipathing in the Service Console with the
vmkmultipath command. For instructions on configuring multipathing with the
Management Interface, seeViewing Failover Paths Connections on page 239.
Viewing the Current Multipathing State
You can view your current multipathing configuration with the vmkmultipath -q
command. The -q option displays the state of all or selected paths recognized by ESX
Server. The report displayed by vmkmultipath shows the current multipathing
policy for a disk and the connection state and mode for each path to the disk.
The report identifies disks by their canonical name. The canonical name for a disk is
the first path ESX Server finds to the disk. Since ESX Server begins its scans at the first
controller and the lowest device number, the first path (and thus the canonical name
of the disk) is the path with the lowest number controller and device number. For
example, if the paths to a disk are vmhba0:0:2, vmhba1:0:2, vmhba0:1:2 and
vmhba1:1:2, then the canonical name of the disk is vmhba0:0:2.
To see a report for all disks, enter:
# vmkmultipath -q
Below is a typical report displayed for a configuration of ESX Server managing a SAN:
Disk and multipath information follows:
Disk vmhba0:0:1 (34,326 MB) has 6 paths. Policy is fixed.
vmhba0:0:1 on (active, preferred)
vmhba0:1:1 on
vmhba0:2:1 on
vmhba1:0:1 on
vmhba1:1:1 on
vmhba1:2:1 on
Disk vmhba0:0:2 (100,319 MB) has 6 paths. Policy is fixed.
vmhba0:0:2 on (active, preferred)
vmhba0:1:2 on
vmhba0:2:2 on
vmhba1:0:2 on
vmhba1:1:2 on
vmhba1:2:2 on
Disk vmhba0:0:4 (0 MB) has 6 paths. Policy is fixed.
vmhba0:0:4 on (active, preferred)
vmhba0:1:4 on