Document Number: 110-6327-EN Rev. R1 October 2020 Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Microsoft Edition Version 5.4 Release Notes This document contains important product information and restrictions for version 5.4 of the Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Microsoft Edition software kit. Topics: • Revision History • Platforms Affected • HIT/ME Components • Supported Versions of the Windows Operating System • Requirements • New in This Release • Issues Corrected in Version 5.4 • Usage Constraints • Known Issues • Support Resources • Copyright Revision History Revision Date Description R1 October 2020 Version 5.4 initial release Platforms Affected Affected platforms include software, firmware, and Microsoft Windows operating systems. Firmware For all operating systems, use PS Series firmware version 9.x or later. Hardware Host Integration Tools for Microsoft Edition (HIT/ME) version 5.4 supports all PS and FS Series hardware platforms. Supported Applications Through the ASM/ME, HIT/ME supports backup and restore operations for the following applications: ● SQL Server 2016 and SQL Server 2017 ● System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2016 and SCVMM 2019 1 NOTE: SCVMM PowerShell should be used for importing EqualLogic SMP provider for SCVMM 2016. ● Hyper-V ● Exchange Server 2016 and Exchange Server 2019 ● SharePoint 2016 and SharePoint 2019 Microsoft Windows Operating Systems HIT/ME version 5.4 runs on any of the following Microsoft Windows 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems: ● Windows Client 10 ● Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, and 2019 ● Windows Server Core 2012 R2, 2016, and 2019 HIT/ME Components Host Integration Tools for Microsoft Edition (HIT/ME) includes the user-selectable components described in the following table: Table 1. HIT/ME Tools Components Component Description Remote Setup Wizard (RSW) Initializes a PS Series storage array Remote Setup Command Line Interface (RSWCLI) Provides a command-line alternative to the Remote Setup Wizard. Also enables you to configure multipath I/O settings and configure access to a PS Series group. Multipath I/O device-specific module (MPIO/DSM) Supports redundant network paths between a computer and the PS Series group for high availability and high performance. Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft Edition (ASM/ME) Creates and manages Smart Copies (snapshots, clones, and replicas of PS Series iSCSI volumes). Use the alternate command-line interface, ASMCLI, for custom operations and scripting. VSS Provider Used by Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to manage application- consistent Smart Copies Virtual Disk Service Provider (VDS) Used by VDS version 1.1 and Storage Manager for SANs to create and manage volumes in a group Storage Management Provider (SMP) Manages storage groups on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2 or later operating systems PowerShell Tools Manages one or many PS Series groups through a comprehensive set of PowerShell Tool cmdlets EqualLogic MPIO Configuration Tool EqualLogic MPIO Configuration Tool is a new Graphical User Interface (GUI) application (EqlMPIOConfigurator.exe), which provides same user interface as the HIT/ME MPIO Configuration tab. Supported Versions of the Windows Operating System The following tables list supported versions of the Windows operating system and identify Host Integration Tools components that do not support specific operating system versions. NOTE: The capability to import EqualLogic storage to PowerStore is supported for PS Series version 10.0.3 with Microsoft® Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Windows Server 2016. 2 NOTE: If the Host Integration Kit is installed with the capability to import EqualLogic volumes to a PowerStore array, see the Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide for supported operating systems. Table 2. Windows Desktop Operating System Support Component Windows 10 RSW Yes Remote Setup CLI Yes MPIO/DSM No ASM/ME No VSS Provider No VDS Provider No PowerShell tools Yes Storage Management Provider (SMP) Yes Rethinning driver No EqualLogic MPIO Configuration Tool No Table 3. Windows Server and Server Core Support Component Windows Server Windows Server Core 2012 R2, 2016, and 2019 2012 R2, 2016, and 2019 RSW Yes No Remote Setup CLI Yes Yes MPIO/DSM Yes Yes ASM/ME Yes No VSS Provider Yes Yes VDS Provider Yes Yes PowerShell tools Yes Yes Storage Management Provider (SMP) Yes Yes Rethinning driver No No EqualLogic MPIO Configuration Tool Yes No Requirements To install and use HIT/ME, your environment must meet the firmware and software requirements listed in the following table. You cannot use an unsupported instance of an application (such as SQL) on the same computer as a supported instance. Doing so might cause HIT/ME to operate incorrectly. HIT/ME supports only the host bus adapters (HBAs) specified in the following table: NOTE: During installation, the HIT/ME kit disables the MPIO Path Verification for devices claimed by the Dell EqualLogic MPIO DSM. This step prevents a potential problem that could introduce a delay in reconnecting to iSCSI volumes during a Dell EqualLogic PS Series firmware update or controller failover. Table 4. Supported Software and Firmware Versions Product Revision PS Series firmware For all operating systems, use PS Series firmware version 9.x or later 3 Table 4. Supported Software and Firmware Versions (continued) Product Revision PowerShell Tools Windows PowerShell Tools version 4.0, 5.0, and 5.1 SharePoint ● SharePoint 2016 with September update (KB3118289) ● SharePoint 2019 with July update (KB4484453) Exchange Server ● Exchange Server 2016 ● Exchange Server 2019 Virtual Disk Service (VDS) Version 1.1 SQL Server (SQL Express is unsupported) ● SQL Server 2017 and SQL Server 2016 Hyper-V ● Windows Server 2012 R2 ● Windows Server 2016 (standard checkpoints only) ● Windows Sever 2019 System Center Virtual Machine Manager ● SCVMM 2016 (SCVMM) ● SCVMM 2019 QLogic QLA405x and QLE406x iSCSI initiator ● Firmware version 3.0.1.49 and BIOS version 1.14 with Windows driver HBAs version 2.1.4.26 ● On the QLogic driver downloads page, follow the link specific for Dell EqualLogic models Broadcom NetXtreme II iSCSI initiator HBA Version 12.8 driver suite New in This Release New features in HIT/ME version 5.4 include: ● Support for PS Series firmware version 10.0.3 ● Support for importing EqualLogic storage to PowerStore Issues Corrected in Version 5.4 The following issues were fixed in HIT/ME version 5.4: ● Corrected the Free space calculation in the PowerShell command Get-EqlMember. ● In the Installation wizard, the default Setup Type is changed to Custom and includes only mandatory features. Usage Constraints The following usage constraints exist in this release of HIT/ME: Windows Server 2012 R2 or Later and Windows 10 This section describes usage constraints that are specific to Windows Server 2012 R2 or later and Windows 10 operating systems. Incorrect Report of a Device as In-Use Windows Server 2012 might incorrectly notify you that a device is in use when you try to log out from an iSCSI target. This issue can occur even though no application is using files on any volume associated with the iSCSI target. 4 Consequently, the relevant task wizards in Auto-Snapshot Manager (or ASMCLI commands) such as Unmount, Logoff, or Delete might display a Volume in use error. If you encounter this problem and you are certain that no application is using the volume, you can select the Ignore option in Auto-Snapshot Manager or you can set the disk offline on Windows Server 2012 by using the following procedure: CAUTION: Following this procedure (using either the ASM/ME GUI or the ASMCLI) when one or more files are in use might result in data loss or corruption. 1. Identify the correct iSCSI target. 2. Launch the command prompt by clicking Start → Run, then type cmd. 3. Enter diskpart at the Windows command prompt to display the DISKPART> prompt. 4. Enter list volume to list all volumes known to Windows. 5. Examine the column headed Volume ### and identify the volume (or volumes) associated with the iSCSI target. 6. Enter select volume volume_name, where volume_name is the volume that you identified in the previous step. 7. Enter offline disk to set the physical disk for the volume offline. 8. Enter exit to close the diskpart menu. 9. Enter exit to close the command window. After setting the disk offline, you can successfully log out from the iSCSI target using the iSCSI initiator GUI or CLI. Unsupported PowerShell Cmdlets for Windows 10 or Windows Server 2012 R2 or Later The Storage Management Provider (SMP) does not support the following PowerShell cmdlets in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2 or later: ● New-StoragePool ● Remove-StoragePool ● Add-PhysicalDisk ● Add-VirtualDiskToMaskingSet ● Rename-MaskingSet ● Repair-VirtualDisk ● Set-PhysicalDisk ● Set-ResiliencySetting ● Reset-PhysicalDisk ● Remove-InitiatorId HIT Must Be Installed on Each VM in a Windows Server Configuration In a Windows Server configuration using Cluster Shared Volumes, HIT/ME must be installed on each VM. Installing HIT/ME ensures Smart Copies of VMs will work correctly in all configurations, including Enterprise, Datacenter, Core, or any other Windows Server release configuration. This requirement applies whether you start the Smart Copy operation or when you create a schedule from the VM or the Volume node in the ASM/ME GUI. If HIT/ME is not installed on each VM, you can create a Smart Copy, but an error displays stating that ASM/ME could not open a connection to the VM. The Smart Copy will not be file-system consistent, but is crash consistent with respect to the file system in the VM. You might have to run the chkdsk utility the next time the VM restarts. 5 Cluster Shared Volume VSS Writer Does Not Report Remote VMs Under rare circumstances the Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) VSS Writer in Windows Server 2012 does not report remote VMs. This omission results in remote VMs not being included in Smart Copies of Cluster Shared Volumes.