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How to Configure Storage on a Hyper-V Host in VMM

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

You can use the following procedures to configure storage on a Hyper-V host in Virtual Machine Manager (VMM). The procedures show the following:

  • How to create and assign a logical unit from a managed Hyper-V host

  • How to assign an existing logical unit to a Hyper-V host

  • How to remove an assigned logical unit from a Hyper-V host

  • How to create an iSCSI session on a host

Account requirements To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrator user role or a member of the Delegated Administrator user role where the management scope includes the host group where the Hyper-V host is located.

Prerequisites

Before you begin these procedures, make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

  • You must have completed the procedures in the Configuring Storage in VMM section on a supported storage array to discover, classify and provision storage through the VMM console. When you provision the storage to a host group, consider the following:

    • If you want to create logical units from a managed host, you must allocate a storage pool to the host group where the host resides. For more information, see How to Allocate Storage Pools to a Host Group in VMM.

    • If you want to assign pre-created logical units to a host, allocate logical units to the host group where the host resides. For more information, see How to Allocate Storage Logical Units to a Host Group in VMM.

      Note

      Be aware that if you create a logical unit from a host as described in the previous bullet, and then you do not assign the logical unit to the host, the logical unit is available to other hosts in the host group.

  • Make sure that the host is correctly configured to access the storage array. Configuration will vary depending on your storage hardware. Configuration typically includes the following:

    Note

    For specific configuration information, see your storage array vendor’s documentation.

    • The Multipath I/O (MPIO) feature must be added on each host that will access the Fibre Channel or iSCSI storage array. You can add the MPIO feature through Server Manager. If the MPIO feature is already enabled before you add a host to VMM management, VMM will automatically enable MPIO for supported storage arrays by using the Microsoft provided Device Specific Module (DSM). If you already installed vendor-specific DSMs for supported storage arrays, and then add the host to VMM management, the vendor-specific MPIO settings will be used to communicate with those arrays.

      If you add a host to VMM management before you add the MPIO feature, you must add the MPIO feature, and then manually configure MPIO to add the discovered device hardware IDs. Or, you can install vendor-specific DSMs.

      Note

      For more information, including information about how to add the MPIO feature, see Support for Multipath I/O (MPIO).

    • If you are using a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN), each host that will access the storage array must have a host bus adapter (HBA) installed. Additionally, make sure that the hosts are zoned accordingly so that they can access the storage array.

    • If you are using an iSCSI SAN, make sure that the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service on each host is started and set to Automatic. This topic includes a procedure to ensure that iSCSI portals have been added and that the iSCSI initiator is logged into the array.

To create a logical unit and assign it to a host

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then click All Hosts.

  3. In the Hosts pane, right-click the host that you want to configure, and then click Properties.

  4. In the Host Name Properties dialog box, click the Storage tab.

  5. To create a logical unit, follow these steps:

    1. On the toolbar, next to Disk, click Add.

    2. Next to the Logical unit list, click Create Logical Unit.

      The Create Logical Unit dialog box opens.

    3. In the Storage pool list, click the desired storage pool.

    4. In the Name box, enter a name for the logical unit. Use only alphanumeric characters.

    5. Optionally, in the Description box, enter a description for the logical unit.

    6. In the Size (GB) box, enter the size of the logical unit, in gigabytes.

    7. When you are finished, click OK.

    The new logical unit is listed in the Logical unit list. At this point, the logical unit is created, but not assigned to any host. To assign the logical unit to the host, continue with this procedure.

  6. In the Logical unit list, verify that the logical unit that you just created is selected.

  7. In the Format new disk area, if you want to format the disk, select the Format this volume as NTFS volume with the following settings check box, and then do the following:

    1. In the Partition style list, click MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table).

    2. In the Volume label box, enter a volume label, for example Finance Data.

    3. In the Allocation unit size list, either accept the default, or click a specific allocation unit size. (Note that the values 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 and 8192 are in bytes.)

    4. Select or clear the Quick format check box. By default, the check box is selected. To prevent data loss, quick format formats the disk only if the disk is unformatted.

    5. If desired, select the Force format even if a file system is found check box. By default, the check box is clear.

      Warning

      If you select this option, any existing data on the volume will be overwritten.

  8. In the Mount point area, select one of the following options:

    • Assign the following drive letter (the default). If you select this option, click the desired drive letter.

    • Mount in the following empty NTFS folder. If you select this option, click Browse, and then select the empty destination folder.

    • Do not assign a drive letter or drive path

  9. When you are finished, click OK.

    VMM registers the storage logical unit to the host and mounts the storage disk. To view the associated job information, open the Jobs workspace.

  10. To verify that the logical unit was assigned, view the information on the Storage tab in the Host Name Properties dialog box. The newly assigned logical unit appears under Disk. Click the new disk to view the disk details.

    Tip

    If the Array field is populated in the disk details, this indicates that the storage array is under VMM management.

  11. To perform further configuration of the disk, open Disk Management on the host. (To open Disk Management, click Start, type diskmgmt.msc in the search box, and then press ENTER.)

    The new disk appears in the list of disks as a basic disk. If you chose to format the disk, the disk is already formatted and online. You can right-click the disk to see the available options, such as Format and Change Drive Letter and Paths.

To assign an existing logical unit to a host

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then click All Hosts.

  3. In the Hosts pane, right-click the host that you want to configure, and then click Properties.

  4. In the Host Name Properties dialog box, click the Storage tab.

  5. To assign an existing logical unit to the host, on the toolbar, next to Disk, click Add.

  6. In the Logical unit list, click the logical unit that you want to assign to the host.

  7. Configure the format and mount point options, and then click OK to assign the logical unit to the host. For more information about these options and how to verify that the logical unit was assigned, see steps 7 through 12 of the “To create a logical unit and assign it to a host” procedure in this topic.

    Note

    If the logical unit has existing data, and you do not use the Force Format option, the VMM job to assign the logical unit will complete with a warning. VMM assigns the logical unit to the host. You can format the disk later.

To remove a logical unit from a host

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then click All Hosts.

  3. In the Hosts pane, right-click the host that you want to configure, and then click Properties.

  4. In the Host Name Properties dialog box, click the Storage tab.

  5. Under Disk, click the logical unit that you want to remove, and then on the toolbar, click Remove.

    Note

    For the Remove button to be enabled, the logical unit must be under VMM management.

  6. Review the warning message, and then click Yes to remove the logical unit.

    Note

    When you remove a logical unit, the volume and any data on the logical unit are not modified.

  7. Click OK to commit the changes.

    VMM unregisters the logical unit from the host. To view the associated job information, open the Jobs workspace.

To create an iSCSI session on a host

  1. On the target host, in the Services snap-in, make sure that the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service is started and set to Automatic.

  2. In the VMM console, open the Fabric workspace.

  3. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then click All Hosts.

  4. In the Hosts pane, right-click the host that you want to configure, and then click Properties.

  5. In the Host Name Properties dialog box, click the Storage tab.

  6. Under iSCSI Arrays, see if the storage array is already listed. If it is not, on the toolbar, next to iSCSI Array, click Add.

    The Create New iSCSI Session dialog box opens.

  7. In the Array list, click the desired iSCSI storage array.

  8. To create an iSCSI session with the default settings, click Create.

    To create an iSCSI session with customized settings, select the Use advanced settings check box, and then do the following:

    1. In the Target portal list, click the IP address and port number for the connection to the storage array.

    2. In the Target name list, click the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) of the storage array.

    3. In the Initiator IP list, click the IP address of the network card on the host that you want to use. The associated logical networks are also listed.

    4. When you are finished, click Create.

    The array that you added appears under iSCSI Arrays. Click the array to view more details.

  9. To create additional iSCSI sessions to the array, click Create session. In the Create New iSCSI Session dialog box, do either of the following:

    1. Click Create to have VMM automatically determine the connection information. VMM creates the iSCSI session by matching the host initiator IP address subnets with the iSCSI target portal IP subnets.

    2. Click Use advanced settings to manually select the target portal, target name and the initiator IP address, and then click Create.

See Also

Configuring Storage in VMM