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Q. How do I format and connect to an iSCSI Volume under Debian / Ubuntu Linux?

A. You need to install open-iscsi package for high performance, transport independent iSCSI implementation under Debian / Ubuntu Linux. This package is also known as the Linux Open-iSCSI Initiator. You need Linux operating system with kernel version 2.6.16, or later. See REHL 5 / CentOS 5 / Fedora Linux specific instructions here.

Install Open-iSCSI Initiator

Type the following command at a shell prompt:
$ sudo apt-get install open-iscsi

Open-iSCSI default configuration

Default configuration file could be located at /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf or ~/.iscsid.conf. Open /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf file:
# vi /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf
Set node.session.auth.username, node.session.auth.password and other parameter as follows:
node.startup = automatic
node.session.auth.username = MY-ISCSI-USER
node.session.auth.password = MY-ISCSI-PASSWORD
discovery.sendtargets.auth.username = MY-ISCSI-USER
discovery.sendtargets.auth.password = MY-ISCSI-PASSWORD
node.session.timeo.replacement_timeout = 120
node.conn[0].timeo.login_timeout = 15
node.conn[0].timeo.logout_timeout = 15
node.conn[0].timeo.noop_out_interval = 10
node.conn[0].timeo.noop_out_timeout = 15
node.session.iscsi.InitialR2T = No
node.session.iscsi.ImmediateData = Yes
node.session.iscsi.FirstBurstLength = 262144
node.session.iscsi.MaxBurstLength = 16776192
node.conn[0].iscsi.MaxRecvDataSegmentLength = 65536

Save and close the file. Restart open-iscsi service:
# /etc/init.d/open-iscsi restart
Now you need to run a discovery against the iscsi target host:
# iscsiadm -m discovery -t sendtargets -p ISCSI-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS
If 192.168.1.60 is iSCSI server IP address, enter:
# iscsiadm -m discovery -t sendtargets -p 192.168.1.60
Finally restart the service again:
# /etc/init.d/open-iscsi restart

Format iSCSI Volume

Now you should see an additional drive on the system such as /dev/sdc. Use /var/log/messages file to find out device name:
# tail -f /var/log/messages
If your device name is /dev/sdc, enter the following command to create a partition:
# fdisk /dev/sdc
Next format partition:
# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdc1
Mount file system:
# mkdir /iscsi
# mount /dev/sdc1 /iscsi

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