FreeBSD iSCSI Initiator

FreeBSD iSCSI Initiator Installation and Configuration †

Q. How do I install and configure iSCSI initiator service under FreeBSD server? †

A. FreeBSD 7.x has full support for iSCSI. Older version such as FreeBSD 6.3
requires backport for iSCSI. Following instruction are known to work under FreeBSD 7.0 only.

FreeBSD iscsi_initiator driver †

The iscsi_initiator implements the kernel side of the Internet SCSI (iSCSI)
network protocol standard, the user land companion is iscontrol and permits
access to remote virtual SCSI devices via cam.

Compile driver †

Please note that FreeBSD 7.x has this driver compiled by default. You can skip
this step if driver exists at /boot/kernel/iscsi_initiator.ko. To compile this
driver into the kernel,

# cd /usr/src/sys/i386/conf
# cp GENERIC ISCSIKERNEL
# vi ISCSIKERNEL

Place the following lines in your kernel configuration file:

device iscsi_initiator

Save and close the file. Building a Kernel, type the following commands:

# cd /usr/src
# make buildkernel KERNCONF=ISCSIKERNEL

Install the new kernel:

# make installkernel KERNCONF=ISCSIKERNEL

Now reboot the system:

# reboot

Install iSCSI Initiator driver under FreeBSD †

You need FreeBSD kernel driver for the iSCSI protocol. You need to use driver
called /boot/kernel/iscsi_initiator.ko. You can load this driver by typing
following command as root user:

# kldload -v iscsi_initiator.ko

Output:

Loaded iscsi_initiator.ko, id=6

Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in /boot/loader.conf:

# vi /boot/loader.conf

# Beginning of the iSCSI block added by Vivek
iscsi_initiator_load="YES"
# End of the block added by Vivek

Save and close the file.

FreeBSD iscontrol command to login / negotiator / control for an iSCSI initiator session †

Now, you need to use iscontrol command. First, do a discovery session and exit:

# iscontrol -d targetaddress=iSCSI-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS initiatorname=nxl
# iscontrol -v -d targetaddress=192.168.1.100 initiatorname=nxl

Please note down the list of available targetnames/targetadresses. Once you know the target name, edit /etc/iscsi.conf file:

# vi /etc/iscsi.conf

Append config directives as follows:

officeiscsi {
       authmethod      = CHAP
       chapIName       = YOUR-ISCSI-USERNAME
       chapSecret      = YOUR-ISCSI-PASSWORD
       initiatorname   = nxl
       TargetName      = iqn.XYZZZZZZZZZZZZZ #  whatever "iscontrol -v -d " gives you
       TargetAddress   = 192.168.1.100:3260,1 # your iscsi server IP
}

Save and close the file.

Where,

   * officeiscsi { : Start config for iSCSI.
   * authmethod : Set authentication method to chap
   * chapIName : Your username
   * chapSecret : Your password
   * initiatorname : if not specified, defaults to iqn.2005-01.il.ac.huji.cs:<hostname>
   * TargetName : is the name by which the target is known, not to be confused with target address,
      either obtained via the target administrator, or from a discovery session.
   * TargetAddress : is of the form domainname[:port][,portal-group-tag] to quote the RFC:
      The domainname can be specified as either a DNS host name, a dotted-decimal IPv4 address,
      or a bracketed IPv6 address as specified in [RFC2732].
   * } : End of config

Start an iSCSI session †

The following command will read options from /etc/iscsi.conf, use the targetaddress found in the block nicknamed myiscsi,
login and negotiate whatever options are specified, and start an iscsi-session.

# iscontrol -c /etc/iscsi.conf -n officeiscsi

Once you run the iscontrol command it should create a new device in /dev directory.
To see the device name run dmesg command:

# dmesg 

Format iSCSI volume †

Now run sysinstall command to format just discovered iSCSI device name at /dev location:

# sysinstall

Select Custom > 3 Partition > Select iSCSI device name such as da1. Once formatted just mount device, enter:

# mkdir /iscsi
# mount /dev/da1s1 /iscsi 

You may also need to update /etc/fstab file:

/dev/ad1s1 /iscsi ufs rw 3 3