SCSI error with Sense Key: Illegal Request - return code = 0x08000002

Root Cause

• Sense Keys are messages generated by the storage target
• These messages indicate that the server successfully submitted the IO to the target, but the target REJECTED our IO request with an error message.
• This may indicate that the LUNS have been unpresented from the storage system, but the server was not aware of this change.

• From the SCSI specification's description of this sense key:

  Sense Key
  5h           ILLEGAL REQUEST.  Indicates that there was an illegal parameter in the 
               command descriptor block or in the additional parameters supplied as data 
               for some commands (FORMAT UNIT, SEARCH DATA, etc.).  If the target detects an 
               invalid parameter in the command descriptor block, then it shall terminate the
               command without altering the medium.  If the target detects an invalid parameter
               in the additional parameters supplied as data, then the target may have already
               altered the medium.  This sense key may also indicate that an invalid IDENTIFY
               message was received.
  

  • A common additional sense code/additional sense code qualifier (ASC/ASCQ) returned in conjunction with the above illegal request sense key is 25/xx, for example:
    • 25/00 LOGICAL UNIT NOT SUPPORTED (see "SCSI ASC/ASCQ Assignments")

• Contact the storage vendor to ascertain to why and under what circumstances storage is returning the Illegal Request sense to the server.

• Additional "Illegal Request" references:

  • "Access to SAN device failed with 'Add. Sense: Logical unit not supported' error messages"
  • "SCSI error: return code = 0x08000002 - Illegal Request on Hitachi Command Device"
  • "I/O hangs with 3PAR storage with SCSI error in "CDB: Unmap/Read...Sense Key: Illegal Request" in RHEL 6.3 and earlier"
  • "SAN disk IO errors ("Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]" with ASC/ASCQ of 25/01)"
  • "Illegal Request SCSI errors with ext4 "
  • "Why these messages were logged to /var/log/messages file?" Illegal Request 24/00
  • "Receiving Sense Key : Illegal Request in ghost paths during boot"
  • "Illegal request issues accessing a VTL when using lin_tape, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 and 6.4 and Emulex HBAs "
  • "Error messages "[RAIDarray.mpp]CPD1:1:0:8 Illegal Request ASC/ASCQ 0x24/0x0" and "[RAIDarray.mpp]CPD1:1:0:8 IO FAILURE" in the system log"
  • "Sense Key : Illegal Request [current], Add. Sense: Invalid field in cdb with Write Same commands" ASC/ASCQ 24/00
  • "Error messages when booting with locked self-encrypted drives." ASC/ASCQ 74/79
  • "Warning: block/blk-core.c:2656 blk_update_request" Illegal Request ASC/ASCQ 24/00
  • "Can not find tape drive ID using using 'mtx -f /dev/sg4 status' command"
  • "System crashed with the message `device-mapper: io: Unaligned struct io pointer" Illegal Request ASC.ASCQ 20/00
  • "I/O errors from unknown storage device after installing a new SAN network"
  • "Getting 'has check condition: unknown type: Sense: 0x5, ASC: 0x20, ASCQ: 0x0' error messages"
  • "Seeing message: "sd 2:0:0:0: rdac: LUN 0 (RDAC) (unowned)" in dmesg"
  • "Syslog error: 'hpsa 0000:02:00.0: cp ffff880037900000 has check condition: unknown type: Sense: 0x5, ASC: 0x20, ASCQ: 0x0, ...'"
  • "What does the message "lin_taped [xxxx] sense key 05 asc 24 ascq 00" mean?"