Hardware - QNAP - Notes

Connecting a Windows Server 2016 as iSCSI initiator to a QNAP iSCSI LUN

Tested to work on a QNAP TS-1231XU-RP running firmware 4.3.4.0597 Build 20180528 with one 36 TB storage pool served as one block-based thick provisioned iSCSI LUN.

Scenario:

On the NAS:

  1. On the NAS: create the LUN with a CHAP username and password.
    1. Do *NOT* use mutual CHAP, you have been warned!
  2. Make sure the CHAP password is *NOT* longer than 16 characters.

If you modify the IP address of the portal, make sure that you not only remove the discovery portal for the old IP from the iSCSI initiator on the server, but also remove the target from the “Favorite Targets” tab. Failure to do so will mean that the re-added target with different IP will stay in “Reconnecting” state after reboot.

On Windows Server 2016:

  1. Start the iSCSI Initiator application.
  2. Answer Yes to the question tot start the iSCSI Service.
  3. Go to the Discovery tab.
  4. Click on the “Discover Portal…” button.
  5. Fill in the IP address (or name) of the QNAP NAS.
  6. Click on Advanced…
  7. Click on the General tab.
  8. Set “Local adapter” to “Microsoft iSCSI Initiator”.
  9. Set “Initiator IP” to the IP address of the network adapter that is in the same network as the QNAP NAS.
  10. Leave the rest of the settings as default.
  11. Click on OK on the Advanced Settings screen.
  12. Click on OK on the Discover Target Portal screen.
  13. Click on the Targets tab in the iSCSI Initiator Properties screen.
  14. It should show a discovered target on the QNAP NAS.
  15. Click on the discovered target.
  16. Click on Connect.
  17. Leave the “Add this connection to the list of Favorite Targets.” marked.
  18. Do not check “Enable multi-path”.
  19. Click on Advanced…
  20. Set “Local adapter” to “Microsoft iSCSI Initiator”.
  21. Set “Initiator IP” to the IP address of the network adapter that is in the same network as the QNAP NAS.
  22. Set the “Target portal IP” to the listing for the portal that was added on the Discovery tab (step 5).
  23. Leave CRC/Checksum settings unchecked.
  24. Check the “Enable CHAP log on” option.
  25. Fill in the Name and “Target secret”.
  26. Do not check “Perform mutual authentication” or any of the 2 RADIUS options.
  27. Click on OK on the Advanced Settings screen.
  28. Click on OK on the “Connect To Target” screen.
  29. The target should now show as Connected on the Target tab of the “iSCSI Initiator Properties” screen.
  30. Configure and format the drive with the disk manager in Windows Server.
  31. Reboot the server.
  32. Check that the disk is still automatically (re-)connected.

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