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Troubleshooting issues related to SnapMirror over Fibre Channel

You might come across certain issues when setting up a SnapMirror over Fibre Channel connection. The following table lists some of the problems you might encounter and recommends ways to tackle these issues.

Problem Solution
Connection failure
  1. Check the cabling between the system and switch and make sure there are no loose connections.
  2. Ping the ports. If you have a good connection, you should see something similar to the following output.
    filer_1*> ping -s 10.1.1.26
    
    64 bytes from 10.1.1.26 (10.1.1.26): icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=0.903 ms
    64 bytes from 10.1.1.26 (10.1.1.26): icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.462 ms
    64 bytes from 10.1.1.26 (10.1.1.26): icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=0.439 ms
    64 bytes from 10.1.1.26 (10.1.1.26): icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=0.442 ms
    
    --- 10.1.1.26 ping statistics ---
    
    4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss
    
    round-trip min/avg/max = 0.439/0.561/0.903 ms
    In case of a connection failure, you see something similar to this.
    filer_1*> ping 10.1.1.26
    
    no answer from 10.1.1.26
The local Fibre Channel NIC port might be offline
  1. Enter the ifconfig command to exam the Fibre Channel NIC port state.
  2. If you do not see the UP state in the ifconfig output, as shown here, that means the interface has been taken down.
    filer_1*> ifconfig ql4a
    
           ql4a: flags=800040<RUNNING,LINK_UP> mtu 8160
           inet 1.1.1.15 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 0.0.0.0
           partner inet 1.1.1.16 (not in use)
           ether 00:00:00:00:00:00 (VIA Provider)
  3. Enter the following command to correct this problem.
    ifconfig interface_name up
  4. If you do not see the LINK_UP state in the output, the physical connections is offline.
    filer_1*> ifconfig ql4a
    
            ql4a: flags=40041<UP,RUNNING> mtu 8160
            inet 1.1.1.15 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 0.0.0.0
            partner inet 1.1.1.16 (not in use)
            ether 00:00:00:00:00:00 (VIA Provider)
  5. In this case, check the physical connections including the fiber-optic cable and the FC switch side configuration.
The remote Fibre Channel NIC port information might not be correct, and the local port might not “see” the remote port.
  1. Use the fcnic command to verify that a local FC NIC port can “see” remote ports that are zoned together. This command requires diagnostic privilege (priv set diag command). A sample output is shown here.
    filer_1*> fcnic show fabric ql4a
    
      pid = 0xa01000 wwn = 20:00:00:e0:8b:14:67:af IP addr(s) = 10.1.1.13
    * pid = 0xa01200 wwn = 20:00:00:e0:8b:0a:a8:6d IP addr(s) = 10.1.1.15
      pid = 0xa01300 wwn = 20:01:00:e0:8b:2a:aa:6d IP addr(s) = 10.1.1.16
      pid = 0xa01800 wwn = 20:00:00:e0:8b:14:70:af IP addr(s) = 10.1.1.26
    
    Port Login database:
    
      pid = 0xfffffe, lid = 0x7e
      pid = 0xfffffc, lid = 0x80
      pid = 0xa01800, lid = 0xee
      pid = 0xfffffa, lid = 0xef
  2. The entry prefixed by an asterisk (*) is the local entry specified in the command line. This output displays all the FC NIC ports (remote and local) that are zoned together. Any missing entries or any missing information within an entry indicates a connection problem.
The Fibre Channel switch might not be configured correctly.
  1. To pinpoint a Fibre Channel connection problem, check the Fibre Channel switch and the fabric to which the system is connected.
  2. Under normal working conditions, an FC NIC port should communicate with the FC switch as an F-Port. The following example shows an output of the switchshow command on a Brocade switch.
    brcd_sw_1:root> switchshow
    
    switchName:     brcd_sw_1
    switchType:     9.2
    switchState:    Online
    switchMode:     Native
    switchRole:     Principal
    switchDomain:   160
    switchId:       fffca0
    switchWwn:      10:00:00:60:69:51:58:d9
    switchBeacon:   OFF
    Zoning:         ON (sm_zone_cfg)
    
    port  0: id N2 Online       F-Port 20:00:00:e0:8b:14:67:af
    port  1: id N1 Online       F-Port 20:00:00:e0:8b:0a:16:6e
    port  2: id N2 Online       F-Port 20:00:00:e0:8b:0a:a8:6d
    port  3: id N2 Online       F-Port 20:00:00:e0:8b:0a:aa:6d
    port  4: id N2 No_Light
    port  5: id N2 Online       F-Port 21:00:00:e0:8b:0a:15:6e
    port  6: id N1 Online       F-Port 20:00:00:e0:8b:14:7c:af
    port  7: id N2 Online       F-Port 21:00:00:e0:8b:14:9c:af
    port  8: id N2 Online       F-Port 20:00:00:e0:8b:14:70:af
    port  9: id N2 No_Light
    port 10: id N2 No_Light
    port 11: id N2 No_Light
    port 12: id N2 No_Light  L2
    port 13: id N2 No_Light
    port 14: id N2 No_Light
    port 15: id N2 No_Light
  3. If the corresponding port does not show up as an F-Port, there are some negotiation problems between the Fibre Channel NIC port on the system and the switch port. Check the switch port configuration, in particular, the port topology and speed configurations.
The switch name server might not have all the Fibre Channel NIC port entries.
  1. Make sure that the switch name server database has all the FC NIC port entries. On a Brocade switch, use the nsallshow command, the output of which is shown here.
    brcd_sw_1:root> nsallshow
    
    {
    a01000 a01100 a01200 a01300 a01500 a01600 a01700 a01800
    8 Nx_Ports in the Fabric }
  2. This command displays the 24-bit Fibre Channel addresses (PIDs) of all the devices in the fabric. Ensure that this list includes all the FC NIC ports.
Note: If you observe very low throughput compared to the available physical network bandwidth, contact technical support.