Troubleshooting Virtual Connect

This paper assumes you already have an understanding of the HP Virtual Connect
product and its feature set on both Ethernet and Fiber Channel. While nothing in this
paper is HP Confidential or HP Restricted, it is not intended to be distributed to
customers as-is. It is intended to be used by field resources to help you troubleshoot your
customers VC issues.

Q1. When I attempt to log in, I see the message Loading, please wait and I cannot
enter a username and password.
A1. If this message appears for more than about 2 seconds, it means the Virtual
Connect Manager (VCM) is unable to properly communicate with the Virtual
Connect Ethernet modules. We have most often seen this when a user enters one of
the IP addresses already in use by a VC module into the Static IP option within VC.
This box is not meant to be a duplicate of an already-used address it is intended to
be an unused virtual static IP address that the VCM will assign to whichever
module is currently hosting the VCM.
Q2. I see Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) frames when I connect a network
trace analyzer to a VC uplink port. What is VC doing with LLDP and can I disable it?
A2. LLDP is the IEEE equivalent to Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP). It is a Layer 2
protocol that allows one device to both announce itself (and some of its feature set) as
well as discover other connected devices on the network. It is extremely lowbandwidth and is unobtrusive. VC uses LLDP to determine when one of its uplinks or
crosslinks is directly connected to another VC module so that it can form a stacking
link. There is currently no way to disable it.
Q3. I dont have any CX4 10GB cables to form stacking links. Can I combine
multiple 1GB RJ-45 links instead?
A3. Yes, by adding multiple 1GB links between modules, VC automatically
aggregates them together to form a single 802.3ad port trunk.
Q4. I have upgraded to the latest version of VC from HP.COM and have properly
configured VC. However, no matter what I do, my MAC addresses on the server
dont change to what the VC profile says they should be. The MAC addresses I see
are still the burned in addresses.
A4. Most likely, the server needs a system or option ROM update (or both). VC
should detect an out-of-date System ROM and flag the blade as incompatible, but
Option ROMs (which control embedded/LOM NIC support) are not currently flagged

by the VC Manager. Make sure you update both the System and Option ROMs. If
that does not change the situation, unassign and reassign the profile.
Q5. I have upgraded to the latest version of VC from HP.COM and have properly
configured VC. However, no matter what I do, my WWPN addresses on the server
dont change to what the VC profile says they should be. The WWPN addresses I see
are still the burned in addresses.
A5. Most likely, the HBA in the server needs a firmware/BIOS update. Make sure
you update the firmware of the HBA to the latest version. If that does not change the
situation, unassign and reassign the profile.
Q6. I am trying to get 802.3ad Port Trunking to work but cant seem to get it to pass
traffic. What am I doing wrong?
A6. VC 1.16 and below currently only support LACP for 802.3ad port trunks. Ciscos
PAgP is not supported by VC. Future versions of VC may add additional features to
enhance this functionality. For LACP to work properly on a Cisco switch, the
Channel Protocol must explicitly be set to LACP and the channel mode set to Active.
VC can display detailed Ethernet and port trunk statistics by clicking the desired
Ethernet module under Hardware Overview in the left hand tree-view of VCM.
Q7. I setup VC and ran through the wizards. I then added a server to a new bay and
noticed that all NICs show as disconnected in the OS. Whats going on?
A7. Server Profiles must be applied to all server bays that need connectivity. If a
server bay does not have a profile assigned, all of the NICs and FC connections are
not connected to a network
Q8. How do I setup a cluster hearbeat network?
A8. Create an Ethernet Network in VC and do not assign an uplink port to the
network. Next, assign a heartbeat NIC from each blade in the cluster to this new
network.
Q9. I cant seem to get VC-FC to connect to my MSA1000 storage array. Isnt the
MSA1000 supported?
A9. Yes, MSA storage arrays are supported by VC-FC. However, a direct connection
from VC-FC to ANY storage array is not supported without an NPIV-capable switch
in the middle. All VC-FC uplink ports must be connected to a FC switch with NPIV
enabled on those ports connected to VC-FC.
Q10. So I understand that VC-FC requires NPIV, but Im not ready to enable NPIV
on every switch in my Storage Area Network as some of my core switches dont even
support NPIV. What can I do?

A10. NPIV is only needed on the edge switches connected directly to VC. Core
switches not directly connected to VC do not require NPIV support.
Q11. I am ready to enable NPIV on my edge switches. Is this a disruptive process?
A11. If no switch firmware upgrade is required, enabling NPIV is completely nondisruptive.
Q12. I have a Brocade Silkworm 4100 series switch that I want to enable NPIV on. I
upgraded from a non-NPIV capable firmware to an NPIV capable firmware using the
on-the-fly hot code load and activation feature. I cant seem to get VC-FC to work
properly with this switch now even though I can clearly see NPIV is enabled on the
Brocade Switch port.
A12. The Brocade 4100 seems to have some issues enabling NPIV when using the
hot code load feature. This feature allows the switch to upgrade firmware without
rebooting. NPIV is the only known feature that doesnt work properly afterward.
Despite what the switchshow command reveals, NPIV may not be working
properly. In order to enable NPIV on a switch in this condition, the switch may need
to be rebooted. Note that running portcfgnpivport and enabling/disabling the port has
not worked in our testing.
Q13. How can I tell if NPIV is even working?
First, an HBA in a blade must attempt to log into the fabric in order for the upstream
switch to detect NPIV for the port. In order to do this, the HBA either needs to be in
the HBA setup utility or the OS must be installed with an HBA driver loaded.
There are 2 ways to verify NPIV capability:
1. From the Brocade: Run PortShow <port #> | grep i NPIV if no lines are
returned, NPIV is not properly enabled. Otherwise, the PortFlags line
should be returned by grep showing NPIV as one of the flags. Like this:
FC_SW:admin> portshow 0 | grep -i npiv
portFlags: 0x24b03 PRESENT ACTIVE F_PORT G_PORT U_PORT NPIV LOGICAL_ONLINE LOGIN NOELP LED ACCEPT

2. Physical check of VC module LEDs. On the back of the VC-FC module, there
are 3 indicator lights for each of the 4 ports as seen here:

A = When lit, a downlink port (server profile) is associated with this uplink port

B = When lit, Link is detected to another switch port

C = Activity LED. If this light constantly blinks once every second and shows no random
activity, NPIV is not being detected by VC.
Q14. When I attempt to login to VC, I am confronted with a message stating Active Virtual
Connect Manager not at this address. It says this no matter which modules IP address I go to.
What can I do?
A14. VCM will only function if an Ethernet module is in Bay 1. If a redundant module is desired, it
would be in Bay 2. Not only does the module in Bay 2 act as the redundant module for Ethernet
traffic flow, it also is the redundant module for the VC configuration. It will also host the VCM
should the module in Bay 1 cease to function. Under normal circumstances, if you attempt to
login to a VC module that is not actively hosting the VCM, it will return this message AND refer
you to the correct IP address of VCM. However, if no forwarding IP is given, it means that the VC
you are attached to is unable to locate the active VCM. This usually occurs when there is no VC
module in Bay 1 or Bay 2.
Q15. When I attempt to update the VC firmware, it seems stuck on the VC-FC modules at 5%.
Whats going on?
If you are in this situation, you will need to restart the affected VC-FC modules uising OAs Virtual
Buttons (or simply unplug them and re-insert them into the enclosure). Some reasons this can
happen are below.
A15a. When upgrading VC firmware from some earlier versions, you must upgrade the Ethernet
Modules ahead of the FC modules. The firmware upgrade process requires you to upload the
binary firmware image to the active Ethernet module before it can be applied to slave Ethernet
modules. Since you have to apply the image to ALL Ethernet modules before applying to FC, this
will require you to re-upload the file after upgrading all Ethernet modules (because the uploaded
file is lost when the active VC activates the new firmware). Once all Ethernet Modules are
upgraded and activated, you can proceed to the FC modules.
A15b. The firmware activation process is a pull as opposed to a push process. When a module
begins the upgrade process, it attempts to download the firmware binary from the active modules
IP address. If the active module and slave module(s) are assigned IP addresses in different
subnets, they will be unable to talk to each other and the upgrade will fail. Having various
interconnects assigned to different IP subnets is not supported at this time. Note that OAs EBIPA
interface does not restrict a user from this setting up this configuration.