Dell Emulex Family of Adapters - Manual (Page 857)

Emulex Drivers Version 10.2 for Linux User Manual P010081-01A Rev. A
3. Configuration
Virtual Port (VPort) Configuration
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Virtual Port (VPort) Configuration
VPort Configuration Prerequisites
Before configuring VPorts, consider the following points:

Ensure you are using the latest recommended firmware for VPort functionality.
Check the Emulex website for the latest firmware.
Note: Before performing a firmware update, driver installation is required. See
“Installing and Uninstalling” on page 816.

Loop devices and NPIV are not supported on the same port simultaneously. If
you are running a loop topology and you create a VPort, the VPort’s link state is
offline.

You can create VPorts only on 4, 8, 10, and 16 Gb/s adapters. You cannot create
VPorts on 1 and 2 Gb/s adapters.

VPorts do not persist across system reboots.
Creating, Deleting, and Displaying VPorts
VPorts are created through sysfs entries that are presented in the physical port's sysfs
directory. The vport_create and vport_delete sysfs entries are discussed in “VPort sysfs
Entries” on page 860, but there are also three scripts for creating, deleting and
displaying VPorts. The scripts reside in the /usr/sbin/lpfc directory and are part of the
OneCommand Manager application kit.
When NPIV is enabled and VPorts are configured, it may take longer for the adapter to
finish discovery in some cases because each VPort must perform discovery
independently. As more VPorts are configured, the amount of time that the driver and
adapter take to finish discovery of remote ports on the SAN increases. To compensate
for this extended amount of time taken in discovery, set the lpfc_devloss_tmo
parameter to 60 seconds when NPIV is enabled.
Creating VPorts Using the mkvport.sh Script
You can use the mkvport script to create VPorts. To see the usage information, run the
script with no parameters specified. The mkvport.sh script uses the following syntax:
./mkvport.sh
You must supply the physical port’s host number, WWPN, and WWNN when using
the mkvport.sh script. For example, to create a VPort with port name of
10000000c94ac63a and a node name of 20010000c94ac63a on the physical port with
scsi_host name “host7”, type
./mkvport.sh host7 10000000c94ac63a 20010000c94ac63a
This script fails if the VPort is not created.
Note: It is possible for a VPort to be created successfully but to be in a failed state. For
example, loop devices and NPIV are not supported on the same port