Xsan 2.3 (Lion) client configuration for StorNext compatibilities

Robert Leong -

Xsan 2.3 client configuration for StroNext compatibilities

This is a collection of Xsan 2.3 related references which is enough to bring up a Xsan 2.3 client on StorNext, a step-by-step should be coming soon. is here.

Xsan 2.3 comes with Lion (10.7), configuration is different than Xsan 2.2.x, location of files are not where they used to be. 

Does Xsan 2.3 work with StorNext 3.1.x / 3.5.x? Officially no. 

Tested in our lab with StorNext 4.0.1.1, mounts and can read/write. This is outside the official Quantum and Apple supported configuration but seems to work. 

Quantum official support Xsan 2.3 at 4.1.2. 

Apple compatibility matrix: 
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1517 

Full Xsanity thread here: 
http://www.xsanity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=69483 

Excerpt: (with Robert's updates) 
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Configuration was easy. 

First you need to enable XSAN in the PrefPane. 
Config files in OS X 10.7 are found at /Library/Preferences/Xsan/ 
Just create fsnameservers with your mdc address(es) inside 
Copy your .auth_secretfile if you use one 
Copy or create config.plist and automount.plist 
Reboot or restart services 
sudo cvadmin will show up your StorNext filesystems 

So there is no need for any licenses! So you get a XSAN/StorNext Client for 24EUR...wow! 

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The Xsan prefs pane should only appear if you have an Apple Fibre Channel HBA installed. If you do have that and you're still not seeing it, you should contact AppleCare.

What kind of storage are you using? If it isn't Apple-supported storage, you could try manually loading Xsan and servermgrd on the system:

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.xsan.plist
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.servermgrd.plist


##################### 

Xsan binaries are now tucked away in ... 
/usr/sbin/ 
/System/Library/Filesystems/acfs.fs/Contents/bin/ 

##################### 

Everything that was in /Library/Filesystems/Xsan has moved to one of three places. 

Config (/L/F/X/config) is now /Library/Preferences/Xsan 
Read-only items (bin and man) are now /System/Library/Filesystems/acfs.fs/Contents/{bin,man} 
Writable items (logs) are now /Library/Logs/Xsan/{debug,data} 

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Today I managed to automount a SNFS filesystem with XSAN2.3 and Mac OS X 10.7 

The configuration of XSAN was quite easy on Lion. But one file was still missing, because I thought theres was no need for it. 

But the config.plist is essential for autmount. 

so I copied a config.plist from a other client with SL and Xsan2.2 and removed the last array with the Xsan2.2 licence and other information because Lion has its own license. 

I put the file into: /Library/Preferences/Xsan/config.plist 

Code: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> 
<plist version="1.0"> 
<dict> 
<key>computers</key> 
<array/> 
<key>metadataNetwork</key> 
<string>192.168.76.0/22</string> 
<key>role</key> 
<string>CLIENT</string> 
<key>sanName</key> 
<string>YourSAN</string> 
</dict></plist> 


Just be sure to adapt the metadata network information. 
EDIT: I removed some entries from the config.plist I think there is no use for them. The String YourSAN is displayed in the SAN component in the Systemsettings where you can mount and unmount your SNFS Filesystems. 

After rebooting, the automount.plist was read and the filesystem was mounted automatically.

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