Installing and using Linux advanced path
failover drivers
The advanced path failover drivers for Linux replace the normal SCSI Tape and SCSI Generic drivers.
The advanced path failover drivers for Linux pass all SCSI commands for devices that do not support
advanced path failover through the same code path that is followed when the standard drivers are loaded
and route commands for devices that do support failover through the new
pfo
driver. The advanced path
failover drivers for Linux perform automatic load balancing and will automatically select a path with the
fewest open tape devices.
Installing advanced path failover drivers
Procedure
1.
For systems using Symantec NetBackup: Using the advanced path failover drivers with NetBackup
requires the creation of specific paths in the
sys
filesystem. To allow the advanced path failover
drivers to create the necessary directories when the drivers are installed:
echo "options pfo netbackup=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/pfo-netbackup.conf
2.
Download the drivers for the revision of Linux running on the server. Drivers for a specific revision of
Linux will not operate properly in other revisions. See the most recent release notes to find out which
RPM file to use for the Linux operating system that is running on the server.
a.
http://www.hpe.com/support/hpesc
.
b.
Enter
ESL G3
(for ESL G3),
MSL3040
(for MSL3040), or
MSL6480
(for MSL6480), and then click
Go
.
c.
In the
Results
, select your library.
d.
In the
Download options
tab, click
Drivers, software & firmware
.
e.
For the ESL G3, select your product.
f.
In the
Operating System
drop down, select
OS Independent
.
g.
Click
Driver — Storage Tape
.
h.
Click
Obtain software
for the High Availability Failover Driver for your operating system.
i.
Click
Receive for Free
.
j.
Follow the prompts to download the driver package.
3.
To install the drivers:
rpm -ivh <filename>.rpm
The
filename
is version-dependent. See the release notes for filenames for the version you are
installing.
4.
In some cases the server will need to be rebooted to complete the installation. Check the instructions
provided by the RPM file output and reboot the server if requested.
5.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise highly recommends using a maximum 256K block size with the Linux path
failover drivers. Using block sizes larger than 256K can cause failures. The block size is configured in
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Installing and using Linux advanced path failover drivers
