VNX Issues and Recommended Actions

Date: October 4, 2011

VNX Issues and Recommended Actions The following table (which can also be found in EMC Knowledgebase article emc271233) is a list of known VNX issues or topics and workarounds as well as recommended solutions, as applicable.

Important: This list was accurate at publication time but may have since been updated. Always check EMC Knowledgebase article emc271233 and its referenced Knowledgebase articles for the latest information.

Note: The EMC Knowledgebase articles in the Solution column of this table provide detailed information about the Issue and its solution. To read an article, go to the EMC Online support web page, click the Search Support tab, and then enter the Knowledgebase article number. Next, select Solutions from the drop-down menu, and then click Search.

Issue Description Workaround Solution Fix

VIA hangs or stalls during setup

VNX Installation Assistant (VIA) hangs during Pre-Configuration apply stage

Wait 15 minutes to restart the VIA application, then try to verify the status of the system using the referenced knowledgebase solution.

emc261729

Escalate any unresolved VIA or Unisphere login issues to your Service Provider.

Corrected in File OE 7.0.35.3.

VIA initialization fails due to Cache Dirty Control LUNs

Cache Dirty LUNs can occur during system shutdown due to issue with VNX OE for Block 05.31.000.5.006

If the VIA initialization fails, output the log from SP A, and search for “Cache Dirty” entries. If "Cache Dirty" entries are noted, escalate this issue to your Service Provider. On the control station:

# /nasmcd/sbin/navicli –h <spa_ip> getlog > spa.log

# cat spa.log |grep “Cache Dirty”

ETA emc267297. Escalate all Cache Dirty LUN issues to your Service Provider for corrective action.

Contact your Service Provider for assistance. Corrected in VNX for Block OE 05.31.000.5.007 and later.

CDES DAE enclosure firmware

Common Disk Enclosure Software (CDES) issue after 42.7 days-will not recognize new disk, LCC may reset or possibly hang, causing a DU situation.

Upgrade to VNX OE for Block 05.31.000.5.007 or later.

ETA emc265311

Corrected in VNX for Block OE 05.31.000.5.007 and later, CDES firmware 1.16.


USM Dual Control Station Issue

USM > Software Install > Install VNX OE fails with “Dual Control Station configuration is not supported” message on systems with Dual Control Stations.

Dual Control Station upgrades are not supported using USM, except for the “Install VNX for Block” wizard, which allows the User to upgrade Block OE and add Enablers/Firmware to the array.

emc266770 Dual Control Stations for all USM Install Software wizards will be supported in a future version of VNX OE.

MirrorView Support

MirrorView (both MV/S and MV/A) between VNX and CX4, CX3, AX4-5 is supported, but naviseccli must be used to establish the connections. No GUI support.

Must use CLI commands to setup MirrorView.

emc262013 Corrected in VNX for Block OE 05.31.000.5.002.

Single VNX Domains, no Legacy management

The first release of the VNX product, and Unisphere version 1.1, does not support legacy domains or adding other VNX systems to a VNX domain.

The VNX Unisphere multi-domain capability, and legacy domain management, will be provided in the next scheduled maintenance release.

emc266655 Corrected in the VNX for File OE 7.0.35.3, VNX for Block OE 05.31.000.5.502, and Unisphere 1.1.25.1.0129.

Invalid Time Zone issue in VIA

Certain time zone settings in VIA do not work during the initialization process.

Click Back in VIA until you reach the time zone settings screen, and then change the setting to a Region/City time zone that matches your location.

emc261627 Corrected in the VNX for File OE 7.0.35.3.

Initialization utility fails to discover VNX Block system

Unisphere Initialization Utility for Block fails to discover Block systems during installation.

If running Cisco Security: the Cisco Security Agent may be blocking the wizard. Set CSA service to disabled, reboot system, and retry Initialization Utility.

If running another Firewall product, check if it is blocking the Initialization Utility application, disable and retry.

emc265863 N/A

Time issue between SP and Client

Time difference between client and SPs creates certificate date problem, preventing access to Unisphere

Follow the workaround outlined in the Knowledgebase solution.

emc247504 Will be corrected in the next VNX OE for Block maintenance release.

Invalid Time issue on Client

Unisphere login from Client system fails with the "Certificate has invalid date"

Set the Windows workstation PC Clock ahead to a time slightly before the "Valid From" date in the details of the Certificate (generally about 6 hours ahead)

emc265473 Environmental


Dual Control Station (CS) operation with VNX domains and Unisphere.

Unisphere login works with either CS0 or CS1 running as the Primary Control Station, however, there is a domain IP update process that takes approximately 15 minutes to complete after every Failover or Failback operation, during which Unisphere will be unable to log into the VNX system.

Expected operation of dual Control Stations with Unisphere.

emc260055 No fix, just an explanation of how Control Station failover and failback works within the Unisphere domain.

Changing Control Station and/or SP IP addresses.

Changing the Control Station and/or SP IP Addresses after the system has been initialized.

Contact your Service Provider for guidance and assistance when changing Control Station and/or SP IP addresses. Also, note that the Control Station and SP IP addresses must exist on the same network.

emc269625 None at this time

VIA IPMI cable check failure

VIA initialization with dual Control Stations may fail with “Secondary Control Station is unreachable on IPMI network”.

The solution explains possible workaround steps to get past the issue.

emc269717 Corrected in VNX for File OE 7.0.35.3.

Non-disruptive Blade enclosure fault LED and alert.

Under certain conditions a fault LED will be illuminated on the Blade Enclosure and a CB x Csum Error will appear in a System Alert.

Although the issue has no impact to the system, to correct the resume prom checksum issue, contact your Service Provider. The issue can be resolved without disrupting user access.


Recommended cache values for VNX arrays on initial system installation.

Recommended cache settings on VNX Block and Unified arrays.

Block systems ship without cache enabled, and Unified systems set cache defaults contrary to best practices. Use the guidance outlined in the knowledgebase solution to set the basic Read and Write cache values for the VNX array.

emc267304 Installation documentation for Block-only systems, and in File OE 7.0.35.3 for Unified/File systems.

Root user workaround for Unisphere access to the Control Station.

A workaround is required that provides Control Station root privilege to a Storage domain administrator account in order to manage Control Station settings, ConnectHome, etc.

Set up a domain account and assign root UID=0 privileges on the Control Station for the selected Storage administrator user account.

emc258105 Corrected in VNX for File OE 7.0.35.3. Root User workaround no longer required. Login as Root Scope Local to manage Control Station properties.

Unisphere connection error or login error

Unisphere connection or login error after using nas_config -ssl to generate an SSL certificate

Regenerate the SSL certificate using /nas/sbin/nas_ca_certificate -generate.

emc266560 Corrected in VNX for File OE 7.0.13.1, 7.0.14.0, and 7.0.35.3.


Password change to VNX administrator account causes communication failure between File and Block components.

After a Global administrator password change, the File Control Station can no longer communicate with the Block backend.

Run nas_storage -m id=1 -s to synchronize the administrator password credentials to the Control Station.


The Linux Control Station IP alias feature is disabled in the first release of the VNX File OE.

The Control Station IP Alias feature is not supported in the 7.0.12.0 release.

The IP alias feature is disabled on the Linux Control Station. Cannot use an IP alias for dual Control Station environments at this time.

emc259516 VNX for File OE 7.0.35.3 re-enables IPalias feature for Control Station.

Unisphere 1.1 cannot be used to manage legacy Celerra or CLARiiON

The Unisphere 1.1 release cannot be used to manage any Celerra or CLARiiON legacy systems.

Use a Unisphere Client version appropriate for the legacy system, or use a web browser connection to manage the system.


VNX for File OE version vs. VNX for Block OE version compatibility table.

Table that displays compatible File OE to Block OE versions.

Refer to this knowledgebase solution when determining which VNX OE versions are compatible between File and Block components.

emc261310 N/A

Restarting the VIA program.

Outlines the steps required to re-enter the VIA initialization process if the process was interrupted prior to completing all initialization steps.

Refer to the solution for the necessary steps to restart the VIA when initializing the VNX Unified/File system.

emc270909 N/A

Control Station 558 Callhome events when Blades cabled to SPS units

Blade enclosure power cables are incorrectly plugged into SPS power outlets on VNX5300/5500 Unified systems, and weekly SP battery test results in CRITICAL 558 Callhome events.

Fix is to re-cable the Blade Enclosure power cables correctly, and remove from SPS power outlet and plug into the rack power distribution units (PDUs).

emc273879

Installation mis-configuration issue.

Blade panics from Mac OS X Lion (10.7) client access

Mac OS X Lion (10.7) CIFS clients can panic the VNX Blades (Data Movers) due to unexpected null values, resulting in Rolling Panics.

Stop access from all Mac OS X Lion (10.7) clients, apply patch to stop rolling panics.

emc263721 Apply patch to stabilize, upgrade to 7.0.13.1 or later.


Recommended Cache Page and Watermark settings

Default Cache Page and Watermark settings may not be set out of the factory in accordance with best practice values.

See emc274779 for the recommended Cache Page and Watermark settings on the VNX arrays. See emc267304 for Best Practice settings for Read and Write Cache.

emc274779 N/A

Configuring domain system account on VNX.

Upgrades to [7.0.35.3/05.31.000.5.502] do not automatically assign the “System Account” attribute, and requires manual intervention.

7.0.35.3 factory installs create sysadmin by default as the “System Account” for the VNX Unified/File, but upgrades to 7.0.35.3 does not. See emc270977 for the procedure to configure the “System Account”.

emc270977 N/A

Setup of SP IP addresses may fail during VIA initialization.

During the VIA initialization process, occasionally the SP IP setup fails with: Backend IP and Name Setup | Could not change IP address of the SP.

Follow the guidance found in emc275841 to resolve the failure and complete the VIA setup.


CRITICAL alerts and Callhomes for mismatched OE versions

When upgrading from 7.0.12.0-7.0.14.0 and 05.31.000.5.006-012 OE versions, to the OE versions [7.0.35.3/05.31.000.5.502], the system will Callhome if both the File and Block are not updated to OE 7.0.35.3/05.31.000.5.502 within 4 hours.

See emc276260 for more details. Essentially the system will Callhome after the File/Block OE versions become mismatched after 4 hours, then every 48 hours thereafter until corrected.

emc276260 N/A

SAS Driver issue leads to Drive Errors & SP Panics

Multiple SP Bug check issues with the SAS driver interaction and the disk drives can lead to drive errors, timeouts, and eventual SP panics.

No workaround. emc271461 Fixed in Block OE patch 05.31.000.5.011.

Disabling the Unisphere workaround for root access to Control Station functions

With the release of VNX OE 7.0.35.3/05.31.000.5.502, the root user workaround for Unisphere management of the Control Station is no longer required.

See emc270273 to disable the workaround that was published with emc258105.


Configuring an IPalias for dual VNX Control Stations

With the release of VNX OE 7.0.35.3/05.31.000.5.502, the Control Station IPalias feature has been restored.

See emc277437 for an example of how to configure an IPalias using dual VNX Control Stations, including Control Station failover and failback.


Domain may become un-fused and broken

The VNX domain may break after changing the Control Station’s IP address, or conducting Control Station failover operations.

See emc277605 for more information on this issue, which points to the appropriate knowledgebase solution to re-fuse the domain.

emc277605 Future service pack

http://knowledgebase.emc.com/emcice/documentDisplay.do?%20docType=1006&clusterName=DefaultCluster&resultType=5002&groupId=1&page=&docProp=$solution_id&docPropValue=emc270273&passedTitle=null�




SP POST health check upgrade failure message

Both File OE and Block OE upgrade checks will flag SP POST versions 36.80 or below, and block the upgrade process.

See emc277473 for more information related to the FCO F041211FC, and bad POST versions on the SPs.

emc277473 FCO F041211FC

NDU of Block Enablers can disable READ cache and reduce Write cache values

Certain array enablers require dedicated memory resources. An NDU of certain enablers will forcibly reduce Read and Write cache values, and disable READ cache.

See emc277689 for an example of an Enabler NDU that changes cache values and disables READ cache.

emc277689 N/A

VNX Unified/File systems do not call home for all Block events.

The Unified/File Control Station template file is outdated and does not properly flag and dispatch all VNX Block CallHome events for callhome.

See ETA emc277773 for more information and a workaround for the issue.

emc277773 To be fixed in a Service Pack.

Adding or Removing VNX systems to local domains

This knowledgebase shows how to add or remove a VNX system from a Local domain with VNX OE 7.0.35.3/05.31.000.5.502.

See emc278385 for Unisphere examples of adding or removing a system from the Local domain, as well as what happens to domain accounts in the system being added or removed.

emc278385 N/A

Replication checkpoints can become corrupt and lead to Data Mover panics

There is a regression issue with 7.0.35.3, where a file system’s replication checkpoints can become corrupt if F-RDE deduplication is enabled, causing the Blade to panic.

Please contact your Service Provider for assistance regarding this issue.

ETA emc277607 File OE patch 7.0.35.301 will prevent server panic.

Copyright © 2011 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Published October - 2011

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