Release Notes

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere

Version 6.4 and minor releases

Release Notes
302-005-265
01
October 2018

These release notes contain supplemental information about PowerPath/VE for

VMware vSphere. Topics include:
l Revision history...................................................................................................... 2
l Product description................................................................................................ 2
l New features and changes......................................................................................3
l Fixed problems........................................................................................................4
l Known problems and limitations..............................................................................5
l Technical notes.......................................................................................................8
l Environment and system requirements...................................................................9
l PowerPath packages.............................................................................................12
l Installation and upgrade.........................................................................................12
l Documentation...................................................................................................... 13
l Troubleshooting and getting help.......................................................................... 14
l Reporting a problem.............................................................................................. 15
Release Notes

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

Table 1 Revision history

Revision Date Description

01 October 2018 First release of the product.

Product description
This section describes the PowerPath family of products.

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere is a server-resident performance and application

availability enhancing software solution. PowerPath/VE combines multiple path I/O
capabilities, automatic load balancing, and path failover functions into one integrated
package.
PowerPath/VE provides:
l Automatic failover in the event of hardware failure.
l Dynamic multipath load balancing.
PowerPath/VE automates and optimizes data path pools in virtual environments such
as VMware to ensure business process availability and performance and the ability to
scale-out mission-critical applications.
PowerPath/VE works with VMware vSphere as a multipathing plugin (MPP) that
provides enhanced path management capabilities to VMware vSphere hosts. Having
multiple paths enables the VMware vSphere host to access a storage device even if a
specific path is unavailable. Multiple paths can also share the I/O traffic to a storage
device.
PowerPath/VE also uses a PowerPath remote multipathing (rpowermt) CLI package
that is installed on a server, called RTOOLS, for management. The PowerPath/VE for
VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide provides more information on
rpowermt server functions.

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.

Throughout this document, wherever the VMware vSphere host or platform is

mentioned, it refers only to VMware vSphere ESXi, unless otherwise noted.

2 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 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 6.4
This section describes new features in PowerPath

PowerMaxOS support
Support for PowerMaxOS version 5978.214.207.

Note

Refer ESM for information on latest code availability.

EMC Unity storage system support

Support for EMC Unity storage systems running Operating Environment 4.2.x, 4.3.1
and 4.4.0 . Unity devices are managed by the unity class.

XtremIO firmware support

Support for XtremIO X2 running firmware version 6.0 SP2 , 6.1 and 6.2.0 with LUNs
having sector size of 512 bytes.

VPLEX GeoSynchrony support

Support for VPLEX GeoSynchrony 6.1.0.

Dell SC Series array support

Support for Dell SC arrays running SCOS 7.3.x Dell arrays are managed by the sc
class.

VNX/VNXe OE firmware support

Support for VNX /VNXe Block running OE 05.33.x and below.

VMware vSphere ESXi support

Support for VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7

Note

Refer ESM for the latest information on ESXi OS and Array support.

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

New features and changes 3

Release Notes

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

Dell EMC rebranding

Following rebranding updates have been done to packages within PowerPath/VE
software bundle in general:
l Package Name: The package name has been changed from EMC to DellEMC.
l Software Vendor/Publisher Information: The vendor information has been
changed from EMC to DellEMC.
l Software Copyright Information: The copyright information has been changed
from EMC Corporation to Dell Inc or its subsidiaries.
However, the functionality will remain the same and to support upgrades from
previous versions, the name as seen in the rpm database has been retained as
before:

# rpm -qa | grep EMCpower

EMCPower.RTOOLS-6.4.0.00.00-102.x86_64
EMCPower.ELMS.LINUX-11.12.01-02.x86_64

Dynamic linking to OpenSSL library

PowerPath Rtools for Linux is now dynamically linked to Operating Systems provided
OpenSSL library.
Therefore, in order for Rtools to work, OpenSSL 1.0.x version library or latest version
of OpenSSL has to be present on the host. If no OpenSSL library is installed, Rtools
can not be installed.

Fixed problems
This section lists fixed problems by product.

PowerPath multipathing fixed problems

The following table shows the fixed problems in PowerPath multipathing.

Table 2 PowerPath multipathing fixed problems

Problem Problem summary Found in Fixed in

number version version
PPVM-1187 dev_inuse_to_array_report feature failed to send mounted device information 6.3 6.4
immediately after the feature gets enabled.

PPVM-1182 Auto Host registration failed for VNX /Clariion array class. 6.3 6.4

PPVM-1188 device_perf_to_array_report feature sends performance statistics to array even 6.3 6.4
after the feature has been disabled.

4 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

This section lists the known problems and limitations by product.
l Known problems
l Known interoperability problems
l Limitations

Known problems
The following table shows the known problems:

Table 3 Known problems

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number
PPCC-118 SRDF device paths are not active after deleting device None.
pair.

PPVM-439 When using RTOOLS 6.1 and later versions with None.
PowerPath/VE 5.9 SP1 P03, the rpowermt display
output shows Device WWN instead of Logical
device ID.
PPVM-608 Powermt commands do not display complete Storage None.
interface information for SC PE devices.

PPVM-649 During NDM with Autostandby feature enabled the None.

target device paths are detected as asb:prox.

PPVM-907 Observing "PowerPath: MPAPI: Error: Internal error None.

occured." messages in logs for Auto Host Registration.

PPVM-1033 dev_inuse_to_array_report feature reports devices as If there are active IOs to device, then only the devices
not mounted even if datastore is created and there is are shown as mounted.
no IO activity.

PPVM-1107 With dev_inuse_to_array_report feature fails to None.

display complete VM Names, they get truncated after
15 characters.

PPVM-1108 dev_inuse_to_array_report and auto host registration Execute any rpowermt commands to the respective
features fail to report VM names. host for VM names to be available in all PowerPath
features or configure PPMA.

PPVM-1170 In dev_inuse_to_array_report feature, Solution None.

Enabler may display both older and new host for the
same device when there is a change in host name.

PPVM-1171 If the host has powered-off or inaccessible VM's, auto None.

host registration does not list all VM information.

PPVM-1178 With RTOOLs version 6.3 and later user cannot view Upgrade PowerPath/VE to 6.3.
Auto host registration setting in powermt display
options if PowerPath/VE version is 6.2 and older.

Known problems and limitations 5

Release Notes

Table 3 Known problems (continued)

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number
PPVM-1186 If LUNs are shared between multiple hosts, correct VM None.
details are not reflecting in device in use to array
report Data.

444338 When Electronic License Manager System (ELMS) and Enable IPv6 on the main network adapter. Once a valid
RTOOLS exists on the same Windows Server 2008 or IPv6 address is available on the primary network
above host, RTOOLS may not connect to the local adapter then RTOOLS can connect to the local ELMS.
ELMS server.

Known interoperability problems

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

Table 4 Known interoperability problems

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number
PPVM-652 SFCB issues result in various error messages. Perform one of the following steps: For ESXi 6.0.x.
l XML internal parse error 1. Log into the vSphere server.
l Insufficient memory 2. Modify the /etc/sfcb/sfcb.cfg file.

l Lost connection to host

threadPoolSize:30
l User Authentication Invalid requestQueueSize:30
providerTimeoutInterval:200
l Out of memory provMemOveride:sehost_omc=200

3. Clear the IPMI SEL logs.

localcli hardware ipmi sel clear

4. Restart the sfcbd-watchdog service.

/etc/init.d/sfcbd-watchdog restart

5. Run an rpowermt command.

For ESXi 6.5.x

1. Log into the vSphere server.

2. Modify the /etc/sfcb/sfcb.cfg file.

threadPoolSize:30
requestQueueSize:30
providerTimeoutInterval:200
provMemOveride:sehost_omc=200

3. Clear the IPMI SEL logs.

localcli hardware ipmi sel clear

6 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 Release Notes

Table 4 Known interoperability problems (continued)

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number

4. Restart the WBEM service.

esxcli system wbem set -e 0

esxcli system wbem set -e 1

5. Run an rpowermt command.

For ESXi 6.7.x

1. Log into the vSphere server.

2. Clear the IPMI SEL logs.

localcli hardware ipmi sel clear

3. Restart the WBEM service.

esxcli system wbem set -e 0

esxcli system wbem set -e 1

4. Restart the sfcbd-watchdog service.

/etc/init.d/sfcbd-watchdog restart

5. Run an rpowermt command.

452263, When a license expires, all hosts registered with that None.
428495 Electronic License Manager System (ELMS) (including
the hosts registered to valid licenses) becomes
unlicensed.

428083 Running rpowermt commands, on hosts with valid Perform one of the following steps: For ESXi 6.0.x
credentials, fails with the following error message.
1. Log into the vSphere server.
File or directory not found 2. Restart the sfcbd-watchdog service.

/etc/init.d/sfcbd-watchdog restart

3. Run an rpowermt command.

For ESXi 6.5.

1. Log into the vSphere server.

2. Restart the WBEM service.

esxcli system wbem set -e 0

esxcli system wbem set -e 1

3. Run an rpowermt command.

411075, All Paths Dead message is observed during inter- Use VPLEX firmware version 5.0.1 patch 1 or later.
410700 cluster link failure on a HA clustered node to which

Known interoperability problems 7

Release Notes

Table 4 Known interoperability problems (continued)

Problem Problem summary Workaround or resolution

number
preferred VPEX cluster is connected. The issue is seen
only with VPLEX firmware 5.0.1 version.

374269 After uninstalling PowerPath/VE, the settings and None. The VMware PR number for this issue is 691405.
options are inherited by a subsequent PowerPath/VE
installation.

Limitations
This section lists the limitations by product.

PowerPath multipathing limitations

This section lists the PowerPath multipathing limitations.
PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere includes the following limitations:
l RTOOLS versions are backward-compatible with earlier versions and forward-
compatible with later versions of PowerPath/VE. However, some of the features
and commands that will be introduced in the future versions of PowerPath/VE will
not be supported with older version of RTOOLS.

Technical notes
This section describes technical notes by product.

PowerPath multipathing technical notes

This section lists the PowerPath multipathing technical notes.

After installing RTOOLS on Windows, we cannot run any rpowermt commands

After you install RTOOLS on Windows hosts, you must log off and then log back in
before you can run any rpowermt commands.
To avoid the log-off/log-on requirement, perform one of the following steps. This
needs to be completed if you are using the default or non-default installation location.
Procedure
l Navigate to the rpowermt installation location and then run an rpowermt
command.

# cd C:\Program Files (x86)\EMC\PowerPath\rpowermt

# rpowermt display

l Add the rpowermt installation location to the PATH environment variable.

set PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\EMC\PowerPath\rpowermt\

8 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 Release Notes

Use VSI to auto register PowerPath/VE

To use Virtual Storage Plug-in (VSI) to automatically register PowerPath/VE, you
must install the VSI's VSI-PM plugin. For more detailed information for installation and
configuration, please refer to the VSI documentation.

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 EMC
storage systems and third-party storage systems, refer to the E-Lab Interoperability
Navigator.

Note

The information in E-Lab Interoperability Navigator takes precedence over the

information in this release notes in case of inconsistency.

The E-Lab Interoperability Navigator is a web-based, searchable database of

configuration information.

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 5 Cluster environments

Technology PowerPath multipathing

Microsoft Clusters -- Microsoft Cluster Yes
Server (MSCS)

Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) Yes

Oracle Real Application Cluster is supported on Oracle Linux 6.x and SLES 11.x The
Logical Volume Manager supported is provided for Oracle ASM on virtual (VMFS) and
physical (RDM) disks.

Environment and system requirements 9

Release Notes

File system support summary

The following table summarizes support for file systems.

Table 6 File systems

Technology PowerPath multipathing

VMware vStorage Virtual Machine File Yes
System (VMFS)

Host operating system support summary

The following table summarizes support for the host operating systems.

Table 7 Host operating system

Technology PowerPath multipathing

vSphere ESXi 6.0, 6.0 U1/U2/U3, 6.5, 6.5 U1, and 6.7 Yes

Note

Refer ESM for the latest information on ESXi OS support.

Physical and virtual storage system support summary

The following table summarizes support for physical and virtual storage systems.
The information in the Simple Support Matrix for 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 8 Storage systems

Technology PowerPath multipathing

PowerMaxOS version 5978.214.207 Yes

Unity systems running OE 4.2.x, 4.3.1, and Yes

4.4.0

XtremIO X2 running firmware version 6.0 Yes

SP2 , 6.1 and 6.2.0

VPLEX running GeoSynchrony 6.1.0 version Yes

Dell SC Series running SCOS 7.3.x Yes

VNXe2 series running OE 05.33.x and below Yes

10 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 Release Notes

Protocol support summary

The following table summarizes support for protocols.

Table 9 Protocol

Technology PowerPath multipathing

Fibre Channel Yes

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Yes

iSCSI Yes

VPLEX are supported only on Fibre Channel.

PowerPath/VE ELMS operating system support summary

The following list summarizes the supported server operating systems for the
PowerPath/VE Electronic License Manager System (ELMS). The ELMS servers can
be physical servers or VMs.
l Supports RHEL 7.5 and below
l Supports Windows Server 2016 and below
The supported PowerPath/VE ELMS software version is 11.14.

PowerPath/VE rpowermt operating system support summary

The following list summarizes the supported server operating systems for the
PowerPath/VE remote CLI (rpowermt) server. The rpowermt servers can be physical
servers or VMs. The rpowermt server CLI is a 32-bit application.
l Supports RHEL 7.5 and below
l Supports Windows Server 2016 and below
SLES VM is supported only with the PowerPath Management Appliance.

PowerPath Migration Enabler support summary

Migration support for Unity, XtremIO, or VNX array to VMAX array using Open
Replicator technology.
Migration features are limited in this release. Before you perform a migration, contact
Customer Support for help and additional documentation.

Virtually provisioned (thin) devices support summary

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

Table 10 Thin devices

Technology PowerPath multipathing

Symmetrix Enginuity/HYPERMAX Operating Yes
Environment

XtremIO Yes

Dell SC array Yes

Support summary 11
Release Notes

Table 10 Thin devices (continued)

Technology PowerPath multipathing

CLARiiON FLARE and the Virtual Provisioning Yes
enabler or VNX OE

VMware vSphere CLI support summary

The following table summarizes support for VMware vSphere command line interface
(vSphere CLI). vSphere CLI support is available only on Linux and Windows hosts.

Table 11 vCLI

vSphere CLI (vCLI) 6.0,

6.5, and 6.7
PowerPath/VE 6.4 Yes

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.

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

PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere install SW

This package contains the files needed to install PowerPath/VE on VMware
vSphere.

PowerPath/VE Stand-Alone Tools Bundle

This package contains the files needed to manually install or upgrade stand-alone
instances of RTOOLS or ELMS.

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.
PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere can be installed using the following formats:
l VMware Update Manager (VUM) with the offline package format.

12 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 Release Notes

l VMware vSphere Auto Deploy with offline package format.

l VMware vSphere CLI (vCLI) with VIB package or offline package format with
locally or remotely available hosts.

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.

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.

Table 12 Upgrade paths

ESX/ESXi 5.x ESXi 6.0.x ESXi 6.5.x

PowerPath/VE Direct upgrade is not from PowerPath/VE from
6.4 supported. Upgrade the 6.0.x, 6.1.x, 6.2, and 6.3. PowerPath/VE
operating system to 6.1.x, 6.2, and 6.3.
vSphere ESXi 6.x and
then upgrade
PowerPath/VE.

Supported PowerPath RTOOLS upgrade paths

The following table summarizes the supported RTOOLS upgrade paths.
You can upgrade directly from these earlier PowerPath RTOOLS versions to the
following later versions. You can also perform a fresh installation by uninstalling earlier
PowerPath RTOOLS versions and installing the latest.

Table 13 RTOOLS upgrade paths

RTOOLS 6.0.x 6.1 6.2 6.3

5.9.x
RTOOLS 6.4 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Documentation
This section lists the PowerPath and 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.

Supported PowerPath upgrade paths 13

Release Notes

Related PowerPath documentation

This section lists the related PowerPath documentation for your environment.

l PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere Release Notes (this document)

l PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 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
l PowerPath Family Product Guide
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 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.

14 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes
 Release Notes

Reporting a problem
The following describes how to report a problem.
If you find a problem in PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere, collect crash dump logs
from vSphere Center Server or vSphere client. See emc278043 for information on
running Grab with VMware ESX support and “Troubleshooting” in the PowerPath/VE
for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide. The EMC Grab Utility for
ESXi/vSphere, which collects system and software configuration information,
supports the ESXi hosts. Then submit the generated file with system information and
dump, along with any other supporting material, to EMC Customer Support.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.

Reporting a problem 15
Release Notes

Copyright © 2009-2018 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.

Published October 2018

Dell believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

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16 PowerPath/VE for VMware vSphere 6.4 and minor releases Release Notes