Device file name /dev/sd? changes across reboots with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and above.

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • On a system with multiple types of HBAs, it is possible for the device file name /dev/sd? to change across reboots.
  • This could be reproducible, but depends on configuration. Seems to happen often when mixing SAN storage, but could also occur on MegaRAID+SATA environments.
  • If /dev/sd? name is used to specify the drive, it may lead to data loss (mkfs wrong drive), or information leaks (using wrong drive in virtual machines) and other critical problems.

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 and above.
  • kernel-2.6.32-71.el6 or later

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