Connect an Xsan Client to a StorNext MDC

Requirements

In order to connect Xsan Clients to StorNext MDCs, verify you are meeting the following requirements:

StorNext MDCs and Xsan clients must be connected to the same SAN and be able to see the same LUNs
If the system configuration includes both Xsan and StorNext MDCs, and Xsan clients, ALL machines in the configuration must have the identical .auth_secret file. However, if the only MDCs in use are StorNext MDCs, the .auth_secret files should be removed from the Xsan clients, the StorNext clients, and the MDCs.
Important Considerations Regarding the .auth_secret File

If you add or remove the .auth_secret file, then all clients and MDCs fail to mount file systems until the following services are restarted.

For Linux clients:
1. On the secondary node, run the following command:
  
  service cvfs stop
2. On the primary node, run the following command:
  
  service cvfs stop
3. On the primary node, run the following command:
  
  service cvfs start
4. On the secondary node, run the following command:
  
  service cvfs start
For macOS clients:
- On a macOS client, run the following command:
  
  sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist
  
  Followed by the following command:
  
  sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist

For Systems Running StorNext 6.x (or earlier) and macOS 11.x (or later)

Mount the StorNext File System

Perform the following procedure to connect an Xsan 5.0 (or later) client to a StorNext MDC.

Generate a configuration profile:

mdc# cd /usr/cvfs/config

mdc# /usr/cvfs/lib/make_profile mysan
Rename the resultant profile file to have a .mobileconfig extension instead of a .configprofile extension:

mdc# mv mysan.configprofile mysan.mobileconfig
Copy the profile to the Xsan client:

mdc# scp mysan.mobileconfig root@xsan50client:/tmp
On your macOS client (desktop), remove any existing profiles as follows:

Note: If your system is a fresh install and does not contain an existing profile, then proceed to the next step to install the profile.
1. Click System Preferences to display its dialog:
2. In the System Preferences dialog, click Profiles to display its dialog:
3. On the left pane of the Profiles dialog, click the device profile you want to remove and then click - on the left pane:
4. You are prompted to verify you want to remove the device profile. Click Remove:
On your macOS client (desktop), install the new profile as follows:
1. Click Finder and navigate to the /tmp directory where the profile is located:
2. Double-click the .mobileconfig profile:
3. The Profiles dialog appears, prompting you to review the profile in System Preferences if you want to install it:
4. Click System Preferences to display its dialog:
5. In the System Preferences dialog, click Profiles to display its dialog:
6. On the left pane of the Profiles dialog, click the device profile you want to install and then click Install... on the right pane:
7. You are prompted to verify you want to install the device profile. Click Install:
8. You are prompted to verify you want to install the Xsan payload. Click Install:
9. Enter your credentials in the User Name and Password fields:
10. The Profiles dialog displays the device profile installation progress in the lower left of the dialog box:
11. After the installation is complete, the Profiles dialog displays the installed device profile:
Restart Xsan:

Note: On a new Xsan 5.0 (or later) driver installation, an Xsan client may not have been loaded and an error will be displayed when you execute launchctl unload. Quantum recommends you verify a driver is loaded and skip the unload step if the driver is not loaded.

When the Xsan client is loaded using the command launchctl load, the client will need to be rebooted before the Xsan client is loaded. Quantum recommends you reboot the client.

If an upgrade to Xsan 5.0 (or later) has been performed, Xsan is disabled after the upgrade. Re-enable Xsan using the commands below.

xsan50client$ sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist

xsan50client$ sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist
Execute the command cvadmin to verify the file systems are present.
Execute the command cvdamin –e disks to verify the all the LUNs used for file systems are displayed.
In the Terminal type xsanctl mount <fsname>, where <fsname> is the file system name displayed in cvadmin. See Special Considerations for Xsan Mount Restrictions.
Verify the StorNext file system is mounted on the macOS X computer.

Mount an Xsan Server from a StorNext Client

Perform the following procedure to mount the StorNext file system on a macOS computer.

Make sure the Xsan MDC has a valid license.dat file.
Create file systems/Volumes on Xsan MDC
Install StorNext client build on your desired systems.
Verify the StorNext clients can see the same disks/LUNs as the Xsan MDC (use "cvlabel -L" or "cvadmin -e disks" to verify this)
Copy the .auth_secret and fsnameservers files from the Apple Xsan MDC to each StorNext client (may need to change permissions on both files).
1. For Linux Clients:
  - Place both files under the /usr/cvfs/config directory.
2. For Windows Clients:
  - Place both files under the C:\Program Files\StorNext\config directory.
Restart the StorNext services on the client

For Systems Running StorNext 6.x (or earlier) and macOS 10.x (or earlier)

Mount the StorNext File System

Perform the following procedure to connect an Xsan 5.0 (or later) client to a StorNext MDC.

Generate a configuration profile:

mdc# cd /usr/cvfs/config

mdc# /usr/cvfs/lib/make_profile mysan
Copy the resultant profile to the Xsan client:

mdc# scp mysan.configprofile root@xsan50client:/tmp
Remove any existing Xsan profiles from the client:

xsan50client$ sudo profiles –L | grep com.apple.xsan | awk '{print $NF}' > /tmp/oldprofiles

xsan50client$ for i in `cat /tmp/oldprofiles`; do sudo profiles –R –p $i; done
Install the new profile:

xsan50client$ cd /tmp

xsan50client$ sudo profiles –I –F mysan.configprofile
Restart Xsan:

Note: On a new Xsan 5.0 (or later) driver installation, an Xsan client may not have been loaded and an error will be displayed when you execute launchctl unload. Quantum recommends you verify a driver is loaded and skip the unload step if the driver is not loaded.

When the Xsan client is loaded using the command launchctl load, the client will need to be rebooted before the Xsan client is loaded. Quantum recommends you reboot the client.

If an upgrade to Xsan 5.0 (or later) has been performed, Xsan is disabled after the upgrade. Re-enable Xsan using the commands below.

xsan50client$ sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist

xsan50client$ sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist
Execute the command cvadmin to verify the file systems are present.
Execute the command cvdamin –e disks to verify the all the LUNs used for file systems are displayed.
In the Terminal type xsanctl mount <fsname>, where <fsname> is the file system name displayed in cvadmin. See Special Considerations for Xsan Mount Restrictions.

Verify the StorNext file system is mounted on the macOS X computer.

Mount an Xsan Server from a StorNext Client

Perform the following procedure to mount the StorNext file system on a macOS computer.

Make sure the Xsan MDC has a valid license.dat file.
Create file systems/Volumes on Xsan MDC
Install StorNext client build on your desired systems.
Verify the StorNext clients can see the same disks/LUNs as the Xsan MDC (use "cvlabel -L" or "cvadmin -e disks" to verify this)
Copy the .auth_secret and fsnameservers files from the Apple Xsan MDC to each StorNext client (may need to change permissions on both files).
1. For Linux Clients:
  - Place both files under the /usr/cvfs/config directory.
2. For Windows Clients:
  - Place both files under the C:\Program Files\StorNext\config directory.
Restart the StorNext services on the client

Special Considerations for Xsan Mount Restrictions

The client attempts to mount all of the StorNext file systems automatically, including the High Availability (HA) shared file system.
By default, the Distributed LAN Client (DLC) is enabled for all file systems.
If the automount.plist file exists, the client ignores the /Library/Preferences/Xsan/automount.plist file. On a fresh installation, the automount.plist file does not exist.
To only mount a given file system, execute the command similar to the example below. The command enforces mounts on snfs1 and snfs2 only:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.xsan onlyMount –array snfs1 snfs2
To deny automatic mounting of a given file system, execute the command similar to the example below. The command enforces not to automatically mount the HA shared file system shared-AV1234ABC00567:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.xsan denyMount –array shared-AV1234ABC00567
To disable DLC for a list of file systems, execute the command similar to the example below. The command disables DLC on snfs1 and snfs2 file systems only:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.xsan denyDLC -array snfs1 snfs2
At system boot, the Xsan daemon might attempt to use DLC to mount a volume if the mount event occurs before the Fibre Channel interface is visible to the system, if the Xsan client is a SAN only client disable DLC for all file systems:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.xsan useDLC -bool NO

Confirm what Xsan Preferences are set on the system, execute the command below and review the output that is similar to the below:

defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.xsan.plist
{
    denyMount =     (
        "shared-AV1234ABC00567"
   );
    onlyMount =     (
        snfs1,
        snfs2
    );
    denyDLC =     (
        snfs1,
        snfs2
    );
    useDLC = 0;
}

Note: For additional information, see the Apple support article available online at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205333.