PowerPath Family for AIX

Version 7.0 and minor releases

Release Notes
01
October 2019

These release notes contain supplemental information about PowerPath. Topics include:
l Revision history..........................................................................................................2
l Product description................................................................................................... 2
l New features and changes.........................................................................................3
l Fixed problems...........................................................................................................5
l Known problems and limitations.................................................................................5
l Technical notes........................................................................................................ 10
l Environment and system requirements.....................................................................13
l Host operating system support summary..................................................................17
l PowerPath packages................................................................................................ 17
l Installation and upgrade............................................................................................ 17
l Documentation......................................................................................................... 18
l Troubleshooting and getting help............................................................................. 19
l Reporting a problem................................................................................................. 19
Release Notes

Revision history
The following table presents the revision history of this document.

Table 1 Revision history

Revision Date Description

01 October 2019 First release of the product.

Product description
This section describes the PowerPath family of products.
The PowerPath family of products include: PowerPath multipathing, Migration Enabler, and
Serviceability feature of PowerPath Management Appliance (previously known as PowerPath
Configuration Checker).
The PowerPath multipathing license includes Migration Enabler functionality for all Migration
Enabler technology types. Migration Enabler, and Serviceability feature of PowerPath
Management Appliance does not require a separate product license. If you have questions about
your license, contact your Customer Support Representative.
Note: These release notes covers the PowerPath major, minor, and service pack releases. For
patch release details refer to the patch Readme available on Dell EMC Online Support.

PowerPath multipathing
PowerPath is a server-resident software solution designed to enhance performance and
application availability.
PowerPath:
l combines automatic load balancing, path failover, and multiple path I/O capabilities into one
integrated package.
l enhances application availability by providing load balancing, automatic path failover, and
recovery functionality.
l supports servers, including cluster servers, connected to Dell EMC and third-party arrays.

PowerPath Migration Enabler

PowerPath Migration Enabler is a host-based migration tool that allows you to migrate data
between supported storage systems.
Migration Enabler uses the PowerPath filter driver, in conjunction with an underlying technology,
to provide nondisruptive or minimally disruptive data migrations.
The underlying technologies for Migration Enabler are Open Replicator for Symmetrix (OR) and
HostCopy (host-based copy). The PowerPath Migration Enabler User Guide provides additional
information.

2 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

New features and changes

This section describes new PowerPath features by version.
Earlier versions of PowerPath may be qualified with the following product versions. The E-Lab
Interoperability Navigator provides complete, up-to-date qualification information.

New features
This section describes new features and functionality.

PowerPath 7.0
This section describes new features in PowerPath

PowerPath Non-Disruptive Upgrade Support

Non-disruptive upgrade (NDU) enables PowerPath to upgrade from older versions (6.x) to 7.0
without any application downtime.

AIX live update support with PowerPath

PowerPath supports IBM Live Update function, which eliminates the workload downtime that is
associated with AIX system restart that is required by previous AIX releases when fixes to the AIX
kernel are deployed.

Table 2 AIX Live Update and PowerPath NDU support matrix

Supported Operating Supported Arrays Supported ODM Versions

System Levels

l 7200-03-03-1914 l Symmetrix l 6.1.1.1

l 7200-02-04-1914 l XtremIO l 6.1.2.0
l 7200-01-06-1914 l Unity
l VNX
l Dell SC
l VPLEX

AIX Live Update and PowerPath NDU Limitations:

1. Live Update/NDU is not supported with Boot From SAN environment.
2. Live Update with PowerPath is not cluster aware.
3. PowerVC not supported.
4. Live Update operation using NIM planned in future release.
5. These Features are supported only with FC devices.
6. Device reserve_policy single_path not supported.
7. PowerPath operations including PowerPath Migration Enabler migrations must not be
performed during the activity.
Note: All IBM suggested Live Update restrictions are also applied. See the IBM documentation
for AIX Live Update.

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 3

Release Notes

For step-by-step PowerPath NDU procedure, see to the PowerPath NDU Procedure section in
Installation and Administration Guide guide.

Support for automatically detecting and configuring newly added paths

For devices from PowerMax running microcode 5978.444.444 and above, PowerPath
automatically detects and configure newly added paths to existing devices without requiring host
scan.
Note: emcp mond service is mandatory for this feature. To start the emcp_mond service,
run /etc/rc.emcp_mond start.

Proactive Port Offline Autostandby support

PowerPath has introduced a new autostandby mode that is supported for devices from PowerMax
running microcode 5978.444.444 and above.
This mode is known as autostandby offline (asb:ofln). PowerPath proactively sets this mode
when it detects that a port maintenance operation is going to be conducted on a PowerMax Front-
end adapter.

Flaky Path Reporting to PowerMax

For devices from PowerMax running microcode 5978.444.444 and above, PowerPath also reports
flaky path information to the array. This process helps array administrators to identify potential
problems on the array if multiple hosts report flaky paths from the same port.

SAN latency reporting

PowerPath now reports SAN latency values for paths to PowerMax arrays running microcode
5978.444.444 and above.

Oracle instance reporting to PowerMax

For devices from PowerMax running microcode 5978.444.444 and above used by Oracle ASM
database applications, the database instance names are reported to PowerMax.
This feature needs access to Oracle tables and logs a security message similar to
security:notice su: from root to oracle at /dev/tty?? in system log once every
24 hours.
Note: emcp mond service should be running for this feature to work. To start the emcp_mond
service, run /etc/rc.emcp_mond start.

Array firmware support

PowerPath for AIX 7.0 supports the following Array firmware:
l Support for PowerMax arrays running microcode 5978 and above.
l Support for EMC Unity storage systems running Operating Environment 4.4.1 SP1 and 5.0.x.
l Support for XtremIO X2 running firmware version 6.2.2 and 6.3.0 with LUNs having sector size
of 512 bytes.
l Support for VPLEX GeoSynchrony 6.1 P01 and P02.
l Support for Dell SC arrays running SCOS 7.4.x.
l Support for VNX /VNXe Block running OE 05.33.x and below.

4 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

AIX OS technology level support

Support added for AIX 7.2 TL3 SP3, AIX 7.1 TL5 SP4, and VIOS 3.x.
Note: See ESM for the latest information about OS and Array microcode support.

Support changes
This section describes changed behavior, end-of-life announcements (deprecations), and other
support changes.

Changed behavior
This section describes changed behavior with functionality in fresh PowerPath installations. On
upgrade, the previous settings might be retained where appropriate.

Powermt Check force

If the Auto Detection of New Path feature triggers a host scan, WARNING:
Autoconfiguration in progress, please run check force after sometime
message is observed while running powermt check force command.
In this case, run powermt check force after the scan gets over to remove dead paths.

Fixed problems
This section lists fixed problems in this release.

Table 3 PowerPath fixed problems

Problem Problem summary Found in Fixed in

number version version

PPAI-618 PowerPath: powerdd: MpxPeriodicCallbackDaemon caused AIX failed and 6.4 7.0
restarted.

Known problems and limitations

This section lists the known problems and limitations by product.
l PowerPath multipathing known problems
l PowerPath Migration Enabler known problems
l Known interoperability problems
l Limitations

PowerPath multipathing known problems

The following table shows the known problems in PowerPath multipathing:

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 5

Release Notes
Table 4 PowerPath multipathing known problems
Problem Problem summary
number
PPAI-637 security:notice su: from root to
oracle at /dev/tty?? message is logged
to syslog on hosts running oracle database
because of the Oracle Instance Reporting feature.
PPAI-479 Upgrade from 5.7 SP2 P04 and below will observe
Auto Host registration in disabled state.
PPAI-427 Due to rebranding changes in PowerPath 6.4,
downgrade of PowerPath needs license Key to be
reapplied.
464822 The savebase failed warning message is
displayed after performing mirrorvg on rootvg with
PowerPath.
460982 Volume Group creation on PowerPath pseudo
device changes the asb:iopf mode to active.
447812 A VPLEX device that is unmanaged in PowerPath Perform the following procedure:
5.7 is configured under PowerPath after upgrading
1. In PowerPath 5.x before upgrading, run
to PowerPath 6.0.
447279 After upgrading to PowerPath 6.x in an XtremIO
configuration, array ports that were disabled in
6 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases
Workaround or resolution
Remove /etc/emc/bin/oracleinstance
crontab entry.
Note: With this workaround, Oracle instance
reporting to PowerMax feature is not
available.
After PowerPath upgrade, run powermt set
auto_host_registration=on class=symm
to enable the feature.
Perform the following procedure:
1. Before uninstalling PP 6.4 note down license
key by running emcpreg -l.
2. After uninstalling PowerPath 6.4, remove
license file by running rm /etc/
emcp_registration .
3. After installing previous GA build, reapply
license by running emcpreg -a
licensekey.
None.
None.
powermt display unmanaged to display
unmanaged devices.
2. Get the Logical device ID for all unmanaged
devices.
3. Upgrade to PowerPath 6.0.
4. Using the Logical device ID, run odmget to
get the relevant hdiskpower. For example,
odmget -q "name like hdiskpower*
attribute=unique_id *Logical
device ID*" CuAt|grep name|awk
'{print$3}'|awk -vRS='"'
'{printf}'
5. Unmanage the devices.
powermt unmanage dev=hdiskpower
After upgrade, run powermt set
port_disable to disable the array ports.
 Release Notes

Table 4 PowerPath multipathing known problems (continued)

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number

earlier PowerPath versions may become enabled

after upgrade

443099 When powermt remove hba=x followed by a Restart the host to display the size of the path.
volume group is created (
mkvg –y <vgname> <TPA LUN>
) on the remaining paths, and then the HBA goes
online (powermt config) again, the size of the
path come back is zero.

432020 In some scenarios, stale entries in CuDep ODM for Perform the following procedure:
powerpath0 device causes PowerPath
1. Delete stale ODM entries from CuDep
uninstallation to fail with the following error
database:
message:

Error removing powerpath0 device. Unable # odmdelete -

to remove PowerPath. q"dependency=powerpath0" -o CuDep

Manually removing powerpath0 device fails with 2. Retry PowerPath uninstallation.

the message:

# rmdev -dl powerpath0 Method error

(/etc/methods/undpower): 0514-030 Cannot
perform the requested function because
the specified device is dependent on
another device which is not in a correct
state.

422341 After you run powermt remove, performance None.

metrics for all devices under PowerPath control
might be affected. Performance data will resume
in two sampling intervals.

417713 Read/Write bytes PMI statistics for a device None.

running less than 512 bytes I/Os are rounded
down to zero.

416337 Qualification and verification of a procedure to
upgrade PowerPath on PowerHA/HACMP Active
Passive configuration.
When upgrading PowerPath for AIX on HACMP
clusters, use concurrent volume groups (VGs).
PowerPath for AIX does not support seamless
upgrades on HACMP configuration with non-
concurrent volume groups.

PowerPath Migration Enabler known problems

The following table shows the known problems in PowerPath Migration Enabler.

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 7

Release Notes

Table 5 Migration Enabler known problems

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number

463920 The following message appears in the syslog after None.

setting up a Migration Enabler Open Replicator
migration session (using powermig setup)
between a non-VMAX3 array and a VMAX3 array.

Front-End Zero Detection or PACE

feature are not available in migration
from /dev/<hdisk#> to /dev/<hdisk#>

423888 After migration on VxVM disks, the vxdisk list
does not display the correct source and target
device information.
After the migration,
1. Remove the /etc/vx/disk.info file.
2. Type vxconfigd -k to restart the
vxconfigd services.

419145 The None.

powermig setup -tt hostcopy -file
filename
command stops when it finds invalid device pair
mentioned in the file.

333290 If Migration Enabler pre-setup check fails because Use the HBA management utility to change the
the maximum transfer length for the target LUN is maximum transfer length by lowering it on the
smaller than it is for the source LUN, powermig source HBA or increasing it on the target HBA.
setup fails with the following error message: Reboot may be required after the change.

PPME error (66): Target’s max transfer

attribute is too small.

This may be caused when HBA cards from

different vendors or when a mixture of protocols
(Fibre Channel and iSCSI) are used on the same
host.

Known interoperability problems

The following table shows the known interoperability problems with PowerPath. The issues reside
outside of the PowerPath code.

Table 6 Known interoperability problems

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number

PPAI-488 Symmetrix ODM uninstallation is limited / fails if Unzone VMAX3 array and remove LUNZ devices.
VMAX3 LUNZ visible to host.

8 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

Table 6 Known interoperability problems (continued)

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number

464711 After installing VxVM 6.1 and patch VxVM 6.1.1, Symantec article TECH67777 provides
vxconfigd reports the following error: instructions on how to resolve the error.

VxVM:xxxx: ERROR: IPC Failure:

Configuration daemon is not accessible

461826 All paths do not come under PowerPath control in None. The maximum number of native paths that
a max path config(32paths) setup. ENOMEM are supported is 24,000.
error might occur from IBM AIX SCSI stack.

Limitations
This section lists the limitations by product.
l PowerPath multipathing limitations
l PowerPath Migration Enabler limitations

PowerPath multipathing limitations

This section lists the PowerPath multipathing limitations.

PowerPath for AIX includes the following limitations:

l VPLEX has known limitations with NDU (non-disruptive upgrades). Refer to the VPLEX
documentation and VPLEX tracking zephyr-q7910 for more information.
l The support for XtremIO firmware is restricted to LUs having sector size of 512 bytes only.
l SRDF R1/R2 boot from SAN is not supported in AIX.

PowerPath Migration Enabler limitations

This section lists the Migration Enabler limitations.
PowerPath for AIX includes the following limitations:
l Do not rename a logical unit that is involved in a migration session. (PowerPath does not
prevent you from doing so.)
l If the Migration Enabler host uses different HBAs to access the source and target logical
devices, the HBAs must be comparable in every way; there cannot even be different revisions
of the same HBA.
l With the HostCopy technology type, you can start as many migration sessions as desired but
only 8 sessions will be in the copy state at any given point in time.
l Migration Enabler Open Replicator technology type does not support throttling with VMAX3
array.

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 9

Release Notes

Technical notes
This section describes technical notes by product.
l PowerPath multipathing technical notes
l PowerPath Migration Enabler technical notes

PowerPath multipathing technical notes

This section lists the PowerPath multipathing technical notes.

Importing PowerPath pseudo mappings from a file

Before importing PowerPath pseudo mappings from a file, execute
emcpadm check_mappings -f <mappings file>
to check if an import is required. Execute
emcpadm import_mappings -f <mappings file>
only if the current pseudo mappings differ from the mappings in the file.
After importing the mappings, run check_mappings command to verify if the mappings have
been imported properly. If there is some difference, run import_mappings again and verify
check_mappings after that. This process may have to be repeated a few times to make sure the
import has been completed properly, especially on hosts with a large number of LUNs.

IBM utility "cl_fscsilunreset" to clear reservation in PowerHA / HACMP environment

The emcpowerreset utility is used to clear reservations in HACMP/PowerHA, removing disk
reservations held by PowerPath pseudo devices for EMC Symmetrix and CLARiiON arrays, in the
event that a node crashes.
Starting with HACMP 5.4 and PowerHA environments, IBM introduced the native
cl_fscsilunreset utility that can be used to clear disk reservations on EMC and third party
devices. This note is applicable for array devices like XtremIO and PowerPath supported third
party devices.
The cl_fscsilunreset utility is available under following location in the PowerHA / HACMP
environment:
/usr/es/sbin/cluster/events/utils
Following is the usage to run the utility with PowerPath devices:
# ./cl_fscsilunreset fscsi2 hdiskpower128 false

Performance metrics and the powermt commands

When you run the powermt check or powermt remove command, performance metrics for all
devices under PowerPath control might be affected. Performance data will resume after two
sampling intervals.

PVID error on varyonvg

After uninstalling PowerPath, which contains dead paths, and then re-installing PowerPath,
varyonvg may return a PVID (Physical Volume Identifier) error.
About this task
This is caused due to the PVID not transferring back to the pseudo device. This is expected
behavior. Before uninstalling PowerPath that contains dead paths:

10 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

Procedure
1. Run powermt save
2. Uninstall PowerPath.
3. Install PowerPath.
4. Run powermt load

Removing reserve_policy=yes
Certain upgrade scenarios of the EMC ODM kit and PowerPath may encounter
reserve_policy=yes for PowerPath pseudo devices, which were modified in customized
attribute (CuAt).
Procedure
1. Identify the reserve_policy=yes attributes in CuAt.
# odmget -q"attribute=reserve_policy and value=yes" CuAt

2. Delete the reserve_policy=yes attributes from the CuAt.

# odmdelete -o CuAt -q"attribute=reserve_policy and value=yes"

3. Verify the reserve_policy=yes entries are removed from CuAt.

# odmget -q"attribute=reserve_policy and value=yes" CuAt # lsattr -El
hdiskpower21

4. Run savebase -v.

Unity, VNX, and CLARiiON failover mode values

The following table describes failover mode values and compatibility with PowerPath platforms.
The Array failover mode field appears only when PowerPath manages Unity, VNX, and CLARiiON
arrays. The failover mode setting applies to a server’s HBA ports, and is configured through the
Unity/VNX OE Unisphere and CLARiiON Navisphere GUI or CLI. For more information about array
failover modes, refer to the Unity, VNX, and CLARiiON documentation.
After changing the devices failover mode, a host reboot is required for PowerPath to recognize the
change.

Table 7 Failover modes

Failover mode Failover mode PowerPath support

name

0 LUN-based trespass Not supported with PowerPath.

1 PNR Supported with PowerPath for Solaris.

2 dynamic Not supported with PowerPath.

multipathing (DMP)

3 passive always ready Not supported with PowerPath for Linux,

(PAR) Solaris. PAR is supported with NDU.

4 asymmetric logical Supported with PowerPath for AIX, Linux,

unit access (ALUA) Solaris, Windows. Limitations with ALUA may
apply. ALUA is supported with NDU.

Example 1 Array failover mode

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 11

Release Notes

Example 1 Array failover mode

The following example shows the array failover mode set to 4, which is ALUA.

Pseudo name=hdiskpower30
VNX ID=APM00140835274 [AX202044]
Logical device ID=600601606D2037001825F9934C64E411 [LUN 279]
state=alive; policy=LeastBlocks; queued-IOs=0
Owner: default=SP A, current=SP A Array failover mode:4
====================================================================
--------- Host ----------- - Stor - -- I/O Path -- -- Stats ---
### HW Path I/O Paths Interf. Mode State Q-IOs Errors
====================================================================
1 fscsi1 hdisk100 SP B0 active alive 0 0
1 fscsi1 hdisk88 SP A1 active alive 0 0
0 fscsi0 hdisk24 SP B1 active alive 0 0
0 fscsi0 hdisk12 SP A0 active alive 0 0

VxVM does not list pseudo device names for third party arrays and EMC XtremIO
PowerPath pseudo device names for third party arrays (TPA) and EMC XtremIO are not listed
under VxVM vxdisk list, as there is no ASL (provided by Symantec) for support with
PowerPath. These devices are listed with native names.

Example 2 Pseudo device names

bash-4.0# vxdmpadm listenclosure all

ENCLR_NAME ENCLR_TYPE ENCLR_SNO STATUS ARRAY_TYPE
LUN_COUNT FIRMWARE
====================================================================
=========
pp_emc_xtremio0 PP_EMC_XtremIO 9bf0000 CONNECTED A/A
6269 3000

bash-4.0# powermt display dev=hdisk909

Pseudo name=hdiskpower95
XtremIO ID=JWXED130500271
Logical device ID=514F0C59BF000110 [ax202038_77]
state=alive; policy=ADaptive; queued-IOs=0
==================================================================
---------- Host ---------- - Stor - -- I/O Path -- -- Stats ---
### HW Path I/O Paths Interf. Mode State Q-IOs Errors
==================================================================
1 fscsi1 hdisk1925 X1-C2-f2 active alive 0 0
1 fscsi1 hdisk1556 X1-C1-f1 active alive 0 0
1 fscsi1 hdisk1433 X1-C2-f1 active alive 0 0
1 fscsi1 hdisk1210 X1-C1-f2 active alive 0 0
0 fscsi0 hdisk909 X1-C2-f2 active alive 0 0
0 fscsi0 hdisk510 X1-C1-f1 active alive 0 0
0 fscsi0 hdisk387 X1-C2-f1 active alive 0 0
0 fscsi0 hdisk64 X1-C1-f2 active alive 0 0

bash-4.0# vxdisk list

DEVICE TYPE DISK GROUP STATUS
hdisk909 auto:LVM - - LVM

12 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

PowerPath storage interface for Dell SC may display different port numbers from Dell Storage
Manager port names
The PowerPath storage interface for Dell Storage Center displays the last two digits of a front end
port's WWPN, which may differ from the friendly name assigned to the port in the Dell Storage
Manager. This issue applies to all models and is working as expected. To workaround this issue,
include the last two digits of the WWPN in the Storage Center front end port's friendly names.
This action helps the storage administrator to associate the port name with the PowerPath display.

For example, name the ports spa.1.05 and spa.2.06. These names combine the friendly
names (spa.1 and spa.2) with the last two digits of the WWPN (05 and 06).

PowerPath Migration Enabler technical notes

This section lists the Migration Enabler technical notes.

Migrations in progress at shutdown are not in correct state after host boot
Any Migration Enabler migrations in progress at shutdown are not in the correct state after the
host boots (although no source is lost.)
This is because PowerPath installation does not detect that the /etc/rc.shutdown script ends with
an exit 0 statement, and adds the following lines after the existing exit 0:

if [ -x /usr/sbin/powermig ]; then
/usr/sbin/powermig transition -noprompt 2>/dev/null; exit 0; fi

As a result, the powermig command does not run when a host shuts down. To correct this
problem, edit the /etc/rc.shutdown script as shown below:

#! /bin/ksh
[customer installed script command]
lsdev -Cl powerpath0 | grep Available > /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 -a -x /usr/sbin/powermig ]; then
/usr/sbin/powermig transition -noprompt 2>/dev/null; fi
[any additional customer installed script command]
exit0

Environment and system requirements

This section lists interoperability and host configuration information not found in other sources,
and it provides references to where you can find more information.
l E-Lab Interoperability Navigator
l Support Summary

E-Lab Interoperability Navigator

For interoperability information, such as information about the hardware, software, and networked
storage components that are tested and compatible with both Dell EMC storage systems and
third-party storage systems, refer to the E-Lab Interoperability Navigator.
The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator is a web-based, searchable database of configuration
information.

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 13

Release Notes

Note: The information in E-Lab Interoperability Navigator takes precedence over the
information in this release notes in case of inconsistency.

Support summary
The following tables summarize what has been qualified PowerPath as of the general availability
date. These tables do not provide a comprehensive list of all supported products and versions.
The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator provides complete, up-to-date qualification information and
supported operating system versions.

Cluster environment support summary

The following table summarizes support for cluster environments.

Table 8 Cluster environments

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

PowerHA 7.2.2 (AIX7.2 and Yes No1

AIX7.1)

Veritas Cluster Server Yes No1

Infoscale 7.4 (AIX7.2 and
AIX7.1)
1When migrating devices in a cluster configuration, you should select one node to remain active
and all secondary nodes should be shutdown during the migration.
The PowerPath Migration Enabler User Guide provides details of a PowerHA and VCS environment
and the migration procedures.
Migration Enabler supports a procedure for migrating a logical unit that resides in a cluster
environment. The procedure requires disruption of failover capability during part of the migration.

File system support summary

The following table summarizes support for file systems:

Table 9 File systems

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

JFS, JFS2 Yes Yes

Veritas File System (VxFS) Yes Yes

Host operating system support summary

The following table summarizes support for the host operating systems:

Table 10 Host operating system

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

AIX 7.1 TL5 SP4 Yes Yes

AIX 7.2 TL3 SP3 Yes Yes

14 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

Table 10 Host operating system (continued)

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

VIO Server 2.2.5.x,2.2.6.x, and Yes Yes

3.x

Migration on VIO Server is supported only for non-VTD devices, such as NPIV-based VIOS
systems, and VIOS NPIV-based clients.

Host software support summary

The following table summarizes support for host software.

Table 11 Host software

Technology PowerPath Migration Enabler

multipathing

Solutions Enabler 7.6 or later for Yes Yes; required for OR

VMAX2

Solutions Enabler 8.1 or later for Yes Yes; required for OR

VMAX3 PowerMax 5977.x

Solutions Enabler 9.0 or later for Yes Yes; required for OR

VMAX3 PowerMax 5978.x

Physical and virtual storage system support summary

The following table summarizes support for physical and virtual storage systems:
Note: The information in the Simple Support Matrix for Dell EMC VPLEX and GeoSynchrony and
E-Lab Interoperability Navigator takes precedence over the information in this release notice.
Refer to them for a complete list of supported storage systems and for more detailed support
information.

Table 12 Storage systems

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

Dell SC Series running SCOS Yes Yes; with HostCopy only

7.4.x

VMAX3 Family running Yes Yes; with HostCopy and OR

PowerMax OS 5978.444.444

Unity systems running OE Yes Yes; with HostCopy and OR

4.4.1 SP1 and 5.0.x

VNXe2 series running OE Yes Yes; with HostCopy and OR

05.33.x and below

VPLEX running Yes Yes; with HostCopy and OR

GeoSynchrony 6.1 P01 and
P02 version

XtremIO X2 running firmware Yes Yes; with HostCopy and OR

version 6.2.2 and 6.3.0

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 15

Release Notes

Dell EMC PowerPath Management Appliance support summary

Dell EMC PowerPath Management Appliance supports the latest versions of PowerPath. The
PowerPath Management Appliance Release Notes provides the supported versions.

Protocol support summary

The following table summarizes support for protocols.

Table 13 Protocol

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

Fibre Channel Yes Yes

Fibre Channel over Ethernet Yes Yes

(FCoE)

iSCSI Yes1 Yes

1 IBM currently does not support fast_fail in their AIX iSCSI driver. This driver's limitation
introduces a delay in PowerPath failover in the iSCSI environment.
Migrations from Fibre Channel to iSCSI or from iSCSI to Fibre Channel are supported with
HostCopy only.
VMAX3 Family and XtremIO are supported only on Fibre Channel.

Virtually provisioned (thin) devices support summary

The following table summarizes support for virtually provisioned (thin) devices.

Table 14 Thin devices

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

Symmetrix Enginuity/ Yes Yes

PowerMax Operating
Environment

CLARiiON FLARE and the Yes Yes

Virtual Provisioning enabler or
VNX OE

Volume manager support summary

The following table summarizes support for volume managers.

Table 15 Volume managers

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

Veritas Storage Foundation Yes Yes

(VSF)/InfoScale 7.1, 7.2, 7.3,
and 7.4

Veritas Volume Manager Yes Yes

(VxVM)/Infoscale 7.1, 7.2,
7.3, and 7.4

16 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

Connectivity requirements
Install HBAs, their supporting firmware versions, and other network components using the
manufacturer’s directions and the settings specified in the E-Lab Interoperability Navigator. Using
incorrect settings can cause erratic failover behavior or extended response time for system I/O.

Host operating system support summary

The following table summarizes support for the host operating systems:

Table 16 Host operating system

Technology PowerPath multipathing Migration Enabler

AIX 7.1 TL5 SP4 Yes Yes

AIX 7.2 TL3 SP3 Yes Yes

VIO Server 2.2.5.x,2.2.6.x, and Yes Yes

3.x

Migration on VIO Server is supported only for non-VTD devices, such as NPIV-based VIOS
systems, and VIOS NPIV-based clients.

PowerPath packages
The following table lists the PowerPath packages available for download from Dell EMC Online
Support. The software archive package includes the executable install for PowerPath.

Table 17 Software packages

PowerPath release Package

7.0 DellEMCPower.AIX.7.0.b069.tar.gz

Installation and upgrade

This section highlights PowerPath installation and upgrade.
The installation and administration guide provides more information.

Installing and upgrading PowerPath

To install or upgrade PowerPath, follow the instructions in the installation and administration guide
available on Dell EMC Online Support.

Storage system configuration

Before you install PowerPath set up connections between a storage system and a host.
The host connectivity guide provides information on setting up connections for CLARiiON,
Symmetrix, Unity, VNX, VPLEX, and XtremIO systems. For information on setting up connections
for Dell SC arrays and other third-party storage systems, refer to your vendor's documentation.

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 17

Release Notes

Upgrading from PowerPath 5.7.x

Following are the observations after upgrading PowerPath from 5.7.x to 6.x:
l After upgrading PowerPath from 5.7.x to 6.1.x and later and the environment includes XtremIO
devices, you must run powermt manage class=xtremio to manage the XtremIO devices.
Otherwise, the devices do not display in powermt display and is displayed as unmanaged.
Note: On fresh installations of PowerPath 6.1.x and later, the system automatically
manages the XtremIO devices.
l Upgrading PowerPath from 5.7 SP2 P04 and below to 6.4 observes Auto Host registration in
disabled state. After PowerPath upgrade, run powermt set
auto_host_registration=on class=symm to enable the feature.
l Proximity-based auto standby values are retained post upgrade.

Supported PowerPath upgrade paths

The following list summarizes the supported upgrade paths. These upgrade paths refer to
upgrading only PowerPath on your current operating system and not upgrading your operating
system as well.
You can upgrade directly from earlier PowerPath versions that are installed on these operating
systems. You can also perform a fresh installation by uninstalling earlier PowerPath versions and
installing the latest.

Table 18 Upgrade paths

AIX 7.1 AIX 7.2 VIO Server 2.2.x

PowerPath 7.0 from PowerPath 5.7.x, from PowerPath 5.7 SP2, 6.0.x, from PowerPath 5.7.x, 6.0.x,
6.0.x, 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.4.x 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.4.x 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.4.x

Documentation
This section lists the PowerPath and Dell EMC storage system related documentation.
l Related PowerPath documentation
l Related documentation
Electronic versions of all PowerPath manuals are available on Dell EMC Online Support. These
manuals are updated periodically.

Related PowerPath documentation

This section lists the related PowerPath documentation for your environment.
l PowerPath Family for AIX Release Notes (this document)
l PowerPath for AIX Installation and Administration Guide
Cross-platform documentation
The following is a list of the PowerPath documents that are not platform specific.
l PowerPath Family CLI and System Messages Reference Guide
l PowerPath Family Product Guide

18 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases

 Release Notes

l PowerPath Management Appliance Installation and Configuration Guide

l PowerPath Management Appliance Release Notes
l PowerPath Migration Enabler User Guide

Related documentation
This section lists the related documentation if your environment includes Symmetrix, VNX, or
CLARiiON storage systems.
l If your environment includes Dell SC arrays, refer to the Dell SC documentation.
l If your environment includes Symmetrix storage systems, refer to the Host connectivity
guides.
l If your environment includes VNX and CLARiiON storage systems, refer to the following:
n VNX OE Support or CLARiiON Support home page
n Host connectivity guides, which provides basic information about the features and setup
procedures for host interfaces to VNX and CLARiiON storage systems.
l If your environment includes other vendors’ storage systems, refer to the appropriate
documentation from your vendor.

Troubleshooting and getting help

Support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows.
Product information
For documentation, release notes, software updates, or information about Dell EMC PowerPath
Virtual Appliance products, licensing, and service, go to the Dell EMC Online Support website
(registration required).
Technical support
For technical support, go to Dell EMC Online Support and select Service Center. On the Service
Center page, you will see several options, including one to create a service request. Note that to
open a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. Contact your Customer Support
Representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or with questions about your
account.

Reporting a problem
The following describes how to report a problem:
If you find a problem in PowerPath, run the emcgrab utility, which collects system and software
configuration information. Submit the generated tar file, along with any other supporting material,
to your Customer Support Representative.
Note: EMC Grab version 4.8.1 and above is required to collect PowerPath 6.4 and above
information.
You can download emcgrab from the Dell EMC Online Support website. Refer to the emcgrab
ReadMe.txt file for prerequisite information and instructions on using the utility.
If you encounter a problem with licensing, contact licensing@emc.com.

PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases 19

Release Notes

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20 PowerPath Family for AIX 7.0 and minor releases