Configuring iSCSI LUN Targets

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Last updated: Apr 13, 2023 by Sean HastertVersion comment
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Sharing block devices via iSCSI is a common way to make network-attached storage available. An iSCSI LUN is a logical unit of storage. In SoftNAS, the basic storage LUN is a volume that is accessed as a block device. The block device volumes have a mount point in the Linux /dev/zvol filesystem because they are disk block devices.

For example, a storage pool naspool1 with volume name lun01 would be named /dev/zvol/naspool1/lun01 as its mount point. These device references are links to Linux block devices used to access the volume's raw data blocks via iSCSI.

iSCSI targets are used by iSCSI initiators to establish a network connection. The target serves up the LUNs, which are collections of disk blocks accessed via the iSCSI protocol over the network. A target can offer one or more LUNs to the iSCSI clients, who initiate a connection with the iSCSI server.

For example, VMware or Windows connects to the iSCSI server and retrieves a list of available targets. Then, for each target, the list of its published LUNs are available for use.

1.  Target Name Grid

  • The Target LUN Grid displays the list of targets and LUNs in a tabular grid format. It has the following fields.

Field

Description

Target Name

It shows the complete path and name of the target.

Delete Target

Link to delete target.

2. Creating a Target

  • To do so, simply click the Create Target option in the toolbar. The additional target will be created automatically, without additional steps.


You can publish any number of block device volumes via a single iSCSI target. A default iSCSI target is ready for use. However, if you need another, use the Create A Target link to add new targets as needed.

3. Adding a LUN

  • You can create one or more volumes assigned as LUNs (iSCSI logical units) for each target. You can do this in one of two ways:
  1. Select the target, and click Add LUN

    OR

  2. Double-click the desired target.

  • Select the volume's block device from the Volume Blockdevice dropdown (which will show available volumes).
  • Click Add LUN to link the block device to the iSCSI Target as a LUN.

4. Deleting a LUN/Target

You can now delete LUNs from a target, without deleting the target. An empty target can be deleted separately.

  1. To delete a LUN, select it from the list.
  2. Click the Delete button from the toolbar.
  3. The Delete Confirm message box asking you to confirm the deletion of the LUN will be displayed.
  4. Click the Yes button. The selected LUN will be removed.

Delete Target

To delete a target, the same process is followed.