Storage device names, such as /dev/sdX, are inconsistent between boots
Issue
- The
/dev/sdx
name associated with SAN devices changes if the path is failed and restored back. - The system had assigned
/dev/sdn
device name to the SAN LUN, but after a reboot this name was changed to/dev/sdk
, is this expected behavior? - I am unable to rename the
/dev/dm-XX
device on the server. - The
/dev/sdx
name associated with a virtual disk change assigned order upon repeated booting cycles. - The
/dev/sdx
name associated with a storage disk changed the assigned value across reboots. - The device names associated with a storage disk are non-persistent across boots. The same name references different physical disks on different boot up sessions.
- On a system with multiple types of HBAs, it is possible for the device file name /dev/sdN to change across reboots. Seems to happen more often when mixing SAN storage and/or with other types of storage.
- Using /dev/sdN names is leading to data loss (mkfs wrong drive), or information leaks (using wrong drive in virtual machines) and other critical problems.
Environment
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
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