Adding iSCSI Block Shares

This short tutorial video demonstrates basic steps to set up an iSCSI share configuration.

To use the setup wizard,

1. Add the block device.

   a. Enter a name using all lowercase alphanumeric characters plus a dot (.), dash (-), or colon (:). We recommend keeping it short or at most 63 characters.

   

   b. Choose the Extent Type. You can select either Device or File.

   If you select Device, select the zvol to share from the Device dropdown list.

   If you select File, file settings display. Browse to the file location to populate the path, then enter the size in Filesize. Enter 0 to use the actual existing file size.

   

   c. Select the type of platform using the share. For example, if you use an updated Linux OS, choose Modern OS.

   d. Click Next.

2. Add the portal

   Now you either create a new portal or select an existing one from the dropdown list.

   If you create a new portal, select a Discovery Authentication Method from the dropdown list.

   If you select None, you can leave Discovery Authentication Group empty.

   If you select either CHAP or MUTUAL CHAP, you must also to select a Discovery Authentication Group from the dropdown list. If no group exists, click Create New and enter a value in Group ID, User, and Secret.

   

   Select 0.0.0.0 or :: from the IP Address dropdown list. 0.0.0.0 listens on all IPv4 addresses and :: listens on all IPv6 addresses.

   Click NEXT

3. Add the Initiator. After adding the portal, set up the initiators that use the iSCSI share.

   Decide which initiators can use the iSCSI share. Leave the list empty to allow all initiators, or add entries to the list to limit access to those systems.

   

4. Confirm the iSCSI setup. Review your settings. If you need or want to change any setting click Back until you reach the wizard screen with the setting.

5. click Save.

1. Configure share settings that apply to all iSCSI shares.

   a. Click Configure on the main Block (iSCSI) Share Targets widget. The Target Global Configuration tab screen opens.

   

   b. Enter a name using lowercase alphanumeric characters plus dot (.), dash (-), and colon (:) in Base Name. Use the iqn.format for the name. See the “Constructing iSCSI names using the iqn.format” section of RFC3721.

   c. Enter the host names or IP address of the ISNS servers to register with the iSCSI targets and portals of the system. Separate entries by pressing Enter.

   d. The value in Pool Available Space Threshold generates an alert when the pool has this percentage of space remaining. This is typically configured at the pool level when using zvols or at the extent level for both file and device-based extents.

   e. Enter the iSCSI listen port. Add the TCP port used to access the iSCSI target. The default is 3260.

   f. (Optional, Enterprise-licensed systems only) Select Asymmetrical Logical Unit Access (ALUA) to enable it. Shows only on Enterprise-licensed systems. Only enable if both the client and server systems support ALUA, and ALUA is enabled on both client and server.

   g. Click Save.

2. Add portals. Click Portals tab.

   a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the Add Portal screen.

   

   b. (Optional) Enter a description. Portals are automatically assigned a numeric group.

   c. Select the Discovery Authentication Method from the dropdown list.

   None allows anonymous discovery and does not require you to select a Discovery Authentication Group.

   CHAP and Mutual CHAP require authentication and you to select a group ID in Discovery Authentication Group.

   d. (Optional) Based on your Discovery Authentication Method, select a group in Discovery Authentication Group.

   e. Click Add to select an IP Address the portal listens on from the dropdown list. 0.0.0.0 listens on all IPv4 addresses and :: listens on all IPv6 addresses.

   f. Click Save.

3. Add initiators groups to create authorized access client groups. Click on the Initiators Groups tab to open the screen.

   a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the SHARING > ISCSI > INITIATORS > Add screen.

   

   b. Select Allow All Initiators or configure your own allowed initiators.

   Enter the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) in Allowed Initiators (IQN) and click + to add it to the list. Example: iqn.1994-09.org.freebsd:freenas.local.

   c. Click Save.

4. Add network authorized access. Click on the Authorized Access tab to open the screen.

   a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the Add Authorized Access screen.

   

   b. Enter a number in Group ID. Each group ID allows configuring different groups with different authentication profiles. Example: all users with a group ID of 1 inherit the authentication profile associated with Group 1.

   c. Enter a user around to create for CHAP authentication with the user on the remote system. Consider using the initiator name as the user name.

   d. Enter the user password of at least 12 to no more than 16 characters long in Secret and Secret (Confirm).

   e. (Optional) Enter peer user details in Peer User and Peer Secret and Peer Secret (Confirm). Peer user is only entered when configuring mutual CHAP and is usually the same value as User. The password must be different from the one entered in Secret.

   f. Click Save.

5. Create storage resources. Click Targets tab.

   

   a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the Add iSCSI Target screen.

   b. Enter a name in Target Name. Use lowercase alphanumeric characters plus dot (.), dash (-), and colon (:) in the iqn.format. See the “Constructing iSCSI names using the iqn.format” section of RFC3721.

   c. (Optional) Enter a user-friendly name in Target Alias.

   d. Click Add next to Authorized Networks to enter IP address information.

   e. Click Add under iSCSI Group to display the group settings.

   f. Select the group ID from the Portal Group ID dropdown.

   g. (Optional) Select the group ID in Initiator Group ID or leave it set to None.

   h. (Optional) Select the Authentication Method from the dropdown list of options.

   i. (Optional) Select the Authentication Group Number from the dropdown list. This value represents the number of existing authorized accesses.

   j. Click Save.

6. Add new share storage units (extents). Click the Extents tab.

   

   a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the Add Extent screen.

   b. Enter a name for the extent. If the extent size is not 0, it cannot be an existing file within the pool or dataset.

   c. Leave Enabled selected.

   d. In the Compatibility section, the Enable TPC checkbox is selected by default. This allows an initiator to bypass normal access control and access any scannable target.

   e. Xen initiator compat mode is disabled by default. Select when using Xen as the iSCSI initiator.

   f. Do not change LUN RPM when using Windows as the initiator. Only change LUN RPM in environments where you need accurate reporting statistics for devices that use a specific RPM.

   g. Read-only is disabled by default. Select to prevent the initiator from initializing this LUN.

   h. In the Type section, select the extent type from the Extent Type dropdown. Device provides virtual storage access to zvols, zvol snapshots, or physical devices. File provides virtual storage access to a single file.

   i. (Optional) Select the option from the Device dropdown. This field only displays when Extent Type is set to Device. Select the path when Extent Type is set to File. Browse to the location. Create a new file by browsing to a dataset and appending /{filename.ext} to the path. Enter the size in Filesize.

   

   j. Select the Logical Block Size from the dropdown list. Leave at the default of 512 unless the initiator requires a different block size.

   k. Select Disable Physical Block Size Reporting if the initiator does not support physical block size values over 4K (MS SQL).

   l. Click Save.

7. Add associated storage resources. Click Associated Targets tab.

   

   a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the Add Associated Target screen.

   b. Select the target from the Target dropdown list.

   c. Select or enter 0. The first LUN on TrueNAS must be zero (0). If adding additional LUNs, enter or select a value between 1 and 1023 for those additional LUNs. Some initiators expect a value below 256. Leave this LUN ID blank to automatically assign the next available ID.

   d. Select an existing extent from the Extent dropdown.

   e. Click Save

Go to Shares and click the Block (iSCSI) Shares Targets widget.

a. Click Add at the top right of the screen to open the Add iSCSI Target screen.

b. Enter a name in Target Name. Use lowercase alphanumeric characters plus dot (.), dash (-), and colon (:) in the iqn.format. See the “Constructing iSCSI names using the iqn.format” section of RFC3721.

c. (Optional) Enter a user-friendly name in Target Alias.

d. Click Add next to Authorized Networks to enter IP address information.

e. Click Add under iSCSI Group to display the group settings.

f. Select the group ID from the Portal Group ID dropdown.

g. (Optional) Select the group ID in Initiator Group ID or leave it set to None.

h. (Optional) Select the Authentication Method from the dropdown list of options.

i. (Optional) Select the Authentication Group Number from the dropdown list. This value represents the number of existing authorized accesses.

j. Click Save.