Smart Storage Administrator CLI (SSACLI)
Version 5.10-44.0
1/20/2021

Description
-----------
Smart Storage Administrator CLI is a command line-based disk configuration
program for Smart RAID/HBA controllers.

* All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their
  respective companies.

Supported Operating Systems and Platforms
-----------------------------------------
Linux 32-bit components:
   SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
   SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Linux 64-bit components:
   SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x86_64)
   SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (x86_64)
   SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (x86_64)
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (x86_64)
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (x86_64)
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (x86_64)

   NOTE: For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1 the sg driver must be manually
         added so that it is loaded at boot time. Without the sg driver being
         loaded, devices or controllers may not be discovered.
         Here is a recommended way to do this:

            sudo echo sg > /etc/modules-load.d/sg.conf
            sudo rebo

  * Any platform that requires the CCISS driver should use version 3.6.28 or
    newer.

  These drivers are available from:
     http://support.hpe.com
     or
     http://www.adaptec.com

Supported Controllers
---------------------
  Dynamic Smart Array B110i SATA RAID
  Smart Array P212 Controller
  Smart Array P410 Controller
  Smart Array P410i Controller
  Smart Array P411 Controller
  Smart Array P711m Controller
  Smart Array P712m Controller
  Smart Array P812 Controller

  Dynamic Smart Array B120i
  Dynamic Smart Array B320i
  Smart Array P220i Controller
  Smart Array P222 Controller
  Smart Array P420 Controller
  Smart Array P420i Controller
  Smart Array P421 Controller
  Smart Array P721m Controller
  Smart Array P822 Controller

  Smart Array P230i Controller
  Smart Array P430 Controller
  Smart Array P431 Controller
  Smart Array P530 Controller
  Smart Array P531 Controller
  Smart Array P731m Controller
  Smart Array P830 Controller
  Smart Array P830i Controller

  Dynamic Smart Array B140i
  Smart HBA H240 Controller
  Smart HBA H240ar Controller
  Smart HBA H240nr Controller
  Smart HBA H241 Controller
  Smart HBA H244br Controller
  Smart Array P240nr Controller
  Smart Array P244br Controller
  Smart Array P246br Controller
  Smart Array P440 Controller
  Smart Array P440ar Controller
  Smart Array P441 Controller
  Smart Array P542D Controller
  Smart Array P741m Controller
  Smart Array P840 Controller
  Smart Array P840ar Controller
  Smart Array P841 Controller

  Adaptec SmartHBA-SA
  Adaptec SmartHBA-SA 8i
  Adaptec SmartHBA-SA 8i8e
  Adaptec SmartHBA-SA 8e
  Adaptec SmartHBA-SA 16i
  Adaptec SmartHBA-SA 4i4e

  Microsemi Adaptec HBA 1000-16i
  Microsemi Adaptec HBA 1000-16e
  Microsemi Adaptec HBA 1000-8i8e
  Microsemi Adaptec HBA 1000-8i
  Microsemi Adaptec HBA 1000-8e

Installing and running Smart Storage Administrator
--------------------------------------------------------------
  Installation:
    SSACLI is distributed using Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) packages and
    .deb packages for Debian.
    If there is an older version of SSACLI installed on the system, please
       use "rpm -e ssacli" to remove it first. Use "rpm -i <file name>" to
       install the application.
    Please type "man rpm" for other details regarding RPM.
    NOTE: On Debian systems, a ".deb" package file can be installed using the
    "dpkg -i ssacli.xxx.deb" command.  The dpkg -r ssacli command
    is used to remove the package.
    The software resides in /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli and the executable
    name is ssacli which is located in /usr/sbin.

    When attempting to run SSACLI on any -supported version of Linux, it is
    highly recommended that you install the latest version of the
    Smart RAID/HBA controller driver for your intended Linux operating system.
    Drivers may be obtained online.

  For Debian 64 bit:
     dpkg -i --force-architecture <file name>. ssacli requires the libunwind
     bit package to be installed.

  Run the SSACLI:

    Make sure that you have gone through the following checklist:
    . You run ssacli as root.

    To start the application:
    If /usr/sbin is already added in your path, just type:
    "ssacli".
    More options can be found by typing "ssacli help".  Also see the "Using
    SSACLI" section of this document, located after Feedback.

  Exiting SSACLI:
    1. To exit the SSACLI, type "exit" while at the CLI command console.

Additional Notes
----------------
  1.  After creating or deleting logical drives with SSACLI, under some
      special circumstances, the device name mapping might change after you
      first reboot the system. Also, Linux might see previously not visible
      logical drives after rebooting. This name mapping problem is common to
      all SCSI devices on Linux.
  2.  Do not insert or remove a controller driver module when ssacli is
      running.
  3.  Please stop the Storage Agents when deleting logical drives
      since Storage Agents keeps all logical drives open.
  4.  If all physical drives on a controller fail or are removed, software keys
      will not be saved to the controller.
  5.  SSACLI may appear unresponsive during heavy array controller I/O
      conditions, such as during a partition format or a logical drive rebuild.
  6.  SSACLI will not prevent the deletion of logical drives on fiber
      controllers that have mounted partitions.
  7.  When using Linux as the host operating system, if a Smart RAID/HBA
      controller has 16 or more volumes configured, deleting any volume in
      SSACLI will not update the /proc/partitions to reflect the deletion of
      the device node associated with that volume. Rebooting the server will
      cause the update to happen. Note that there is also a limitation that
      only the first 16 volumes configured will be available to the operating
      system.
  8.  On RHEL5 systems, for this version of the SSACLI version 3.6.18-10 or
      newer of the Smart RAID/HBA controller driver for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      5 (x86, x86-64) is required. Drivers may be obtained online.

Notes for SSA Scripting
-----------------------
* SSA scripting (SSASCRIPTING) now uses a new engine to auto configure
  volumes. When using the AUTO mode, it will attempt to configure two volumes;
  an OS volume and a Data volume. The OS volume will be RAID1, while the Data
  volume will be the highest possible RAID up to 6, depending on the number of
  disks and RAID modes supported by the controller. Spares may be automatically
  allocated. All user input in the input config file is ignored in AUTO mode.
  The actual volumes created will depend on the controller, the number and size
  of disks and the status of license keys in the controller.
* In scripting input/output, 2 disk mirrors are considered RAID1, 4 disk and
  higher mirrors are RAID10. For compatibility, input scripts still accept
  RAID1 for 4+ disk mirrors, however we recommend moving to the new argument
  terminology as soon as possible.
* ARRAY and VOLUME arguments in configure mode can be specified as "Next",
  which will use the next available ID.
* DRIVE arguments can be a number or wildcard, e.g. "*" or "2". In the first
  example, all available drives will be used, in the second two drives will be
  used.
* The CONTROLLER argument can be FIRST. Controllers are sorted after discovery,
  the order being: internal before external, in ascending slot order. This
  ensures that the input CONTROLLER=FIRST will target an internal controller
  (SLOT=0) or the controller in the lowest PCI slot.
* To improve performance, use the REPEAT keyword when creating multiple
  identical logical drives.

Support
-------
For support for SSACLI and Microsemi/Adaptec RAID controllers and HBAs,
please visit http://www.microsemi.com
