The qla-autoconf script eases the configuration and deployement of your QLogic qla2300 driver. It allows to do pattern based LUN masking, specifying the failover path and making paths/LUNs visible to the system.

By using the features of the QLogic qla2300 driver, you can manually loadbalance LUNs over the different existing paths without having all LUNs multiple times available to the system.

This program totally removes the need for the qlremote and graphical MSJ client and allows to distribute the configuration to different nodes that are using the same SAN storage.

driver : either 'qla2200' or 'qla2300'
pref : list of LUN preference mask for each path
prio : list of priority ids for each path (for failover)
visiblepaths : list of path-numbers to be visible
wwns : list of WWNs with device name

[dag@emyn ~]# qla-autoconf -h
usage: qla-autoconf [-lwir] [-k version] [-n] [-o file] [-s] [-t dir]

  -l, --list          list configuration
  -w, --write         write configuration
  -i, --initrd        write and (re)create initrd, implies -w
  -r, --reload        write and reload modules, implies -w

  -k, --kernel=ver    use specified kernel version
  -n, --numeric       show World Wide Names (WWNs) instead of aliases
  -o, --output=file   specify file to save (default: /etc/qla2300.conf)
  -s, --shorten       use shorten output (driver v7)
  -t, --test=dir      test using proc-files in dir (no qlogic needed)

[dag@emyn ~]# qla-autoconf -l
IBM FAStT Host Bus Adapter 2x00 auto configuration:

  Number of HBAs:           2
  Number of paths per HBA:  8      Firmware:     3.03.01
  Total number of paths:   16      Driver:    7.01.01-fo

Config 2/2 used for node emyn

Adapter 1/2 Node 1 HBA 1:

  Path 1/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 5 (lores) port A/2
  ^^^^          Visible (00) with failover priority 0, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 2/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 5 (lores) port B/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 2, prefered bitmask: aaaa..
  Path 3/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 2 (hires) port A/2
  ^^^^          Visible (00) with failover priority 0, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 4/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 2 (hires) port B/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 2, prefered bitmask: aaaa..
  Path 5/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 4 (lores) port A/2
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 0, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 6/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 4 (lores) port B/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 2, prefered bitmask: aaaa..
  Path 7/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 3 (hires) port A/2
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 0, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 8/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 3 (hires) port B/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 2, prefered bitmask: aaaa..

Adapter 2/2 Node 1 HBA 2:

  Path 9/16:    Device IBM FAStT 600T 5 (lores) port A/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 3, prefered bitmask: 5555..
  Path 10/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 5 (lores) port B/2
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 1, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 11/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 2 (hires) port A/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 3, prefered bitmask: 5555..
  Path 12/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 2 (hires) port B/2
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 1, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 13/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 4 (lores) port A/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 3, prefered bitmask: 5555..
  Path 14/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 4 (lores) port B/2
  ^^^^          Visible (00) with failover priority 1, prefered bitmask: 0000..
  Path 15/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 3 (hires) port A/1
                Hidden (80) with failover priority 3, prefered bitmask: 5555..
  Path 16/16:   Device IBM FAStT 600T 3 (hires) port B/2
  ^^^^          Visible (00) with failover priority 1, prefered bitmask: 0000..

When run as qla-autoconf -r, the following actions are taken:

The proc-interface is scanned for available paths/devices
A new configuration is being written to /etc/qla2300.conf
A new qla2300_conf.o kernel module is being created using qla_opts
A new initrd is being created as /boot/initrd-$(uname -r).img
The current driver is unloaded
The new driver and config is being loaded with the configured module parameters (not the ones from /etc/modules.conf)

Here are some common issues that people have reported:

When using your own QLogic driver, people often are confused when Red Hat's driver is still being used. Please remove Red Hat's qlogic drivers prior to experimenting with your own. (rm -f /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/addon/*/qla2300*)
Please copy the qla_opts utility that is build together with the driver, to /usr/local/sbin. qla-autoconf expects it there. I've had segmentation faults with the v6 qla_opts utility, so you may have to use the v7 one even when you're using the v6 driver.
When using lilo, it may be necessary (and generally safe) to run lilo after running qla-autoconf -r, this is because your initrd may be using another inode than lilo thinks. If you don't do this, your system may not boot the next time.
You should use the LINUX hosttype on the FAStT storage (AVT enabled), not the LNXCL hosttype. Failure to do so may have the FAStT report an incorrect number of LUNs or problems with LUNs.
It's best to experiment with qla-autoconf with zoning disabled. Problems accessing LUNs over specific paths can occur if the zoning is incorrect.

Although it allows to do everything it was designed for, there are some things I would love to implement if I have the time.

Allow to choose from different predefined schemes and automatically execute
Load the driver automatically (with a stub config or max_scsi_luns=0) if it's not already loaded (to prevent LUN transfers)
Add sysv scripts to make boot-up and shutdown do special things (prepare next boot, etc...)
Make the configuration external (not necessary, but may be handy nonetheless ?)
Manage /etc/modules.conf and /etc/modprobe.conf options
Add a Makefile, ChangeLog and SPEC file
Make it work (better) with the v8 Qlogic driver and the 2.6 kernel changes (.ko extension, location of /proc, /sys)

The documentation and configuration is done inside the script. Several examples are included in the tarball that allow you to experiment without having a Qlogic device. Inside the script are several examples to show how you can configure it for each of these cases. Here's my current release. Let me know if you made any improvements.

A list of links to related materials

explains some of the issues regarding Linux and the qla2300 driver
(for Solaris driver only ?)