SYS: Configure a system as an iSCSI initiator that persistently mounts an iSCSI target.

In order to test an iSCSI initiator, you will need to configure an iSCSI target.

Install the following package:

# yum install -y iscsi-initiator-utils

Discover the available iSCSI targets from your already installed ‘targetserver‘:

# iscsiadm -m discoverydb -t st -p targetserver -D

Start the iSCSI service:

# service iscsi start

Retrieve the new iSCSI disk name (here /dev/sda):

# grep "Attached SCSI" /var/log/messages
Nov 22 10:28:38 testvm kernel: sd 2:0:0:1: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

Create a file system on this disk:

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda

Note: if you are connecting remotely, set up a console access before.

Retrieve the UUID of this disk:

# blkid | grep "/dev/sda"

Add the disk UUID to the /etc/fstab file:

# echo "UUID=..." >> /etc/fstab

Edit the /etc/fstab file and add mount point, file system type and mount options (_netdev):

UUID=... /mnt ext4 _netdev 0 0

You can additionally read this very interesting Linux Journal’s article about iSCSI & RHEL 6 certification.