Is the HP Smart Array B320i, B140i, B120i, B110i controller supported by RHEL or RHELOSP?

Updated -

Issue: Some of the HP Gen8 and Gen9 systems are shipping with either a Smart Array B320i, B140i, B120i, B110i, or other Bxxxi controller that requires a closed source (proprietary) hpdsa, hpvsa or similar named driver to make RAID functionality available to the OS.

Disclaimer: The following information has been provided by Red Hat, but is outside the scope of the posted Service Level Agreements and support coverage as it involves software not provided by Red Hat.. The information is provided as-is and any configuration settings or installed applications made from the information in this article could make the Operating System unsupported by Red Hat Global Support Services. The intent of this article is to provide information to accomplish the system's needs. Use of the information in this article at your own risk.

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Environment:

  • RHEL5u7+
  • RHEL6u1+
  • RHEL7
  • RHELOSP 3.0
  • RHELOSP 4.0
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 5
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 7
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 8
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 9
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 10
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 11
  • HP Smart Array controller:
    • HP Smart Array B320i RAID
    • HP Smart Array B140i RAID
    • HP Smart Array B120i RAID
    • HP Smart Array B110i RAID
  • HP server
    • SL140s Gen8
    • DL320e Gen8
    • DL360e Gen8
    • DL380e Gen8
    • BL420c Gen8
    • ML350e Gen 8
    • ML310e Gen 8
    • SL4540 Gen 8
    • BL460c Gen9

Resolution: Systems with these controllers will ship from HP with the Software RAID mode enabled by default.

  • Contact vendor HPE for latest driver including setup and configuration steps.
  • These model Smart Array cards, when using RAID capability, require a closed source driver that is not shipped nor supported by Red Hat.
  • In order to install RHEL or RHELOSP on these systems without the closed source driver and RAID support, the Software RAID mode must either be disabled (B320i controller) or switched to SATA AHCI support mode (B120i SATA controller).

  • In order to switch modes from RAID to non-RAID (ahci) on this controller follow the steps below (contact vendor to further information or for other controller models):

    • For systems with the B320i SAS controller:

      1. Boot the server into System Options
2. Navigate to HP Smart Array B320i Raid Configuration
3. Change to DISABLED

    • For systems with the B120i SATA controller:

      1. Boot the server into System Options.
2. Navigate to SATA Controller Options -> Embedded SATA Configuration
3. Change it to ENABLE SATA AHCI SUPPORT

  • Please note that the use of the HP drivers to enable RAID support on these controllers falls under Red Hat's third-party modules policy.

  • To load the 3rd party driver for Bxxxi Smart Array models so that RAID functionality is supported, see vendor for specific instructions.

    • for example: "HP ProLiant Servers - How to Load Driver Disk and Install RHEL on ProLiant Servers with Smart Array B110i SATA RAID Controller"
    • a general outline of the instructions follows:
      • Obtain the appropriate driver from the hardware vendor for you model Bxxxi controller.
      • Load the third-party provided RAID drivers onto USB stick drive, or floppy disk.
      • Disable ahci within the server's BIOS for the Smart Array card (that is, enable RAID mode for the card).
        1. Connect the driver disk, whether its a USB or CD, to the system first.
        2. Insert the RHEL installation DVD and start the OS installation.
        3. Once got the initial installation option press 'Esc' key.
        4. Over here run the command "linux dd blacklist=ahci"
        5. Now OS will detect different disks attached to the system. You have to select one by one until the driver disk is selected.
        6. After proper detection of driver disk the drivers should get installed and then you can move further with normal installation.

  • NOTE: It is possible to run AHCI mode from the BIOS, which works with no closed source driver. The disks will show up as individual disks and you can use software raid via Red Hat Enterprise Linux to create the RAID array if needed. This should serve as a workaround on any B320i, B140i, B120i, B110i, or other Bxxxi system. However, Red Hat has only tested this on a small number of systems, so for further details on this option, HPE can be contacted.

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