Ubuntu Manpage: smp_* - invoke a SAS Serial Management Protocol (SMP) function

NAME

       smp_* - invoke a SAS Serial Management Protocol (SMP) function

SYNOPSIS

       smp_*   [--expected=EX]  [--help]  [--hex]  [--interface=PARAMS]  [--raw]  [--sa=SAS_ADDR]
       [--verbose] [--version] SMP_DEVICE[,N]

DESCRIPTION

       Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a transport (also known as a interconnect) used  by  storage
       systems.  A  SAS  system  is  made up of Host Bus Adapters (HBAs typically containing SCSI
       initiators), disks (referred to in SCSI as both targets and logical units) and  optionally
       some  switching  hardware  called  "expanders".  Expanders  are  not SCSI devices so a new
       protocol was required to control and monitor  them.  Its  full  name  is  the  SAS  Serial
       Management Protocol which is abbreviated to SMP.

       smp_utils  is  a  package  of  utilities.  Each utility sends an SMP function request to a
       SMP_DEVICE (an SMP target). Some utilities may invoke the same function more than once. If
       an  error occurs then an error message is sent to stderr. If no error occurs, the response
       is decoded (the default), output in ASCII hex (when --hex is given) or output in binary to
       stdout (when the --raw option is given).

       If SMP_DEVICE[,N] is not given then the value in the environment variable SMP_UTILS_DEVICE
       is used.

       This package was originally written for Linux and has been ported to FreeBSD and Solaris.

LINUX INTERFACE

Currently there are multiple interfaces that allow SMP functions to be passed through to
an SMP target.

One method is to have a SMP_DEVICE which is actually the SMP initiator (e.g.
'/dev/mptctl,0'). In this case the SMP target's SAS address must be supplied with the
--sa=SAS_ADDR option.

Another method is to have a SMP_DEVICE which represents the SMP target. In this case no
SAS_ADDRESS needs to be given (since it is implicit).

Each utility in smp_utils attempts to work out which interface it has been given by
examining the SMP_DEVICE file. There are three interfaces supported currently:

aac This specifies the aacraid SAS pass-through associated with Adaptec/PMC RAID
products. The SMP_DEVICE[,N] argument takes the form /dev/aac[N[,E_ID]] where "N"
is the raid controller number (typically 0) and "E_ID" is the expander identifier
(typically 0); both default to 0 so /dev/aac is equivalent to /dev/aac0 and
/dev/aac0,0 . The "N" is the unique_id found in /sys/class/scsi_host<HN>/unique_id
. The "HN" is the host number which is the first number to appear on each line in
the lsscsi utility which by default uses one line to list each accessible SCSI
device (typically SCSI or ATA disks). The "E_ID" is the expander identifier which
can be found with the Adaptec/PMC arcconf utility using the form "arcconf
expanderlist <ControllerNum>". The <ControllerNum>s start at 1 . If an aac RAID
controller is present then the /dev/acc device node will be created by the first
smp utility to use this interface.

mpt This specifies the MPT fusion SAS pass-through. The mptsas driver uses the
'/dev/mptctl' device node (character device major 10, minor 220) while the mpt2sas
driver uses '/dev/mpt2ctl' device node (major 10, minor 221). For the mpt3sas
driver the corresponding device node is '/dev/mpt3ctl'. The 'modprobe mptctl' or
'modprobe mpt2ctl' command may be needed. If there are multiple mpt fusion
controllers (HBAs) in the computer, then the user will need to specify which one to
use with the syntax: '/dev/mptctl,<n>' where <n> is the "ioc_num". This number can
be found with dmesg after the mptsas driver is registered and appears as a suffix
to the driver name (e.g. mpt2sas0). It can also be found in
'/sys/class/scsi_host/host<n>/unique_id'. When this interface is used the
--sa=SAS_ADDR option must be given to specify the SAS address of the SMP target.

sgv4 (sg)
This interface is more generic and supported by several SAS HBA drivers including
mptsas (and mpt2sas). It was introduced in the Linux 2.6.24 kernel. The SMP
functions are passed to the kernel via the bsg driver using a format known as "SCSI
Generic Version 4" which gives this interface its name: "sgv4" or just "sg". The
SAS transport layer within the SCSI sub-system unpacks the SMP requests and
forwards them to SAS low level drivers that support this interface. The SMP_DEVICE
is either a member of the '/sys/class/bsg' directory (e.g.
/sys/class/bsg/expander-6:0 ) or a device node made for the bsg driver (e.g.
/dev/bsg/expander-6:0 ). Such device nodes are dynamic (i.e. they don't have fixed
major and minor numbers) and should correspond to the major and minor numbers found
in the 'sys/class/bsg/<smp_target_device>/dev' file.

FREEBSD INTERFACE

       The CAM subsystem has been enhanced in FreeBSD 9 to pass-through SMP requests  and  return
       the corresponding responses. However CAM does not directly access expander devices because
       they are not SCSI devices.  It  makes  the  assumption  that  each  SAS  expander  has  an
       integrated  SES (enclosure) device and that is addressed. This assumption seems to be true
       for SAS-2 expanders but not some SAS-1 expanders. Thus invocations look like this:

         # smp_discover /dev/ses0

       where /dev/ses0 is a SES device associated with a SAS expander.

SOLARIS INTERFACE

       The USMP pass-through mechanism is used. Invocations look like this:

         # smp_rep_manufacturer /dev/smp/expd0

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       If the device name is not given then the SMP_UTILS_DEVICE environment variable is  checked
       and if present its contents are used as the device name.

       If  the  SAS  address (of the SMP target) is not given and it is required (i.e.  it is not
       implicit in the device name) then the SMP_UTILS_SAS_ADDR environment variable  is  checked
       and  if  present its contents are used as the SAS address. SAS addresses are usually given
       in hex indicated by a leading '0x' or trailing 'h'.

       If either or both environment variables and the corresponding  command  line  options  are
       given, then the command line options take precedence.

COMMON OPTIONS

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well. If an option
takes a numeric argument then that argument is assumed to be decimal unless otherwise
indicated (e.g. with a leading "0x" or a trailing "h").

-E, --expected=EX
revision 4a of the SAS-2 draft introduced an 'expected expander change count' field
in some SMP requests. The idea is to detect other SMP initiators trying to change
the state of an expander. The value EX is from 0 to 65535 inclusive with 0 being
the default value. When EX is greater than zero then if the value doesn't match the
expander change count of the SMP target (i.e. the expander) when the request
arrives then the target ignores the request and sets a function result of "invalid
expander change count" in the response.

-h, --help
output the usage message for the utility then exit.

-H, --hex
output the response in hexadecimal. This does not include the trailing CRC field.

-I, --interface=PARAMS
interface specific parameters. This option is usually not needed since the
interface type is guessed by a utility based on the characteristics of the given
SMP_DEVICE argument or what is in the corresponding environment variables. PARAMS
is of the form: INTF[,force]. If the guess doesn't work then the interface can be
specified by giving a INTF of either 'mpt' or 'sgv4'. Sanity checks are still
performed and a utility may refuse if it doesn't agree with the given INTF. If the
user is really sure then adding a ',force' will force the utility to use the given
interface.

-r, --raw
send the response to stdout in binary. This does not include the trailing CRC
field. All error messages are sent to stderr.

-s, --sa=SAS_ADDR
specifies the SAS address of the SMP target device. Typically this is an expander.
This option may not be needed if the SMP_DEVICE has the target's SAS address
associated with it. The SAS_ADDR is in decimal but most SAS addresses are shown in
hexadecimal. To give a number in hexadecimal either prefix it with '0x' or put a
trailing 'h' on it. If this option is not given then the value in the environment
variable SMP_UTILS_SAS_ADDR is used.

-v, --verbose
increase the verbosity of the output. Can be used multiple times.

-V, --version
print the version string and then exit.

EXIT STATUS

       To aid scripts that call these utilities, the exit status is set to indicate  success  (0)
       or failure (1 or more):

       0      success

       1 - 63 reserved  for  SMP  function  result  codes. See the SAS-2 (or later) draft, in the
              section on the application layer, drilling  down  further:  management  application
              layer  then  SMP  functions. Here are some common function result codes: 1 [unknown
              SMP function], 2 [SMP function failed], 16 [phy does not exist], 17 [index does not
              exist], 18 [phy does not support SATA], 19 [unknown phy operation], 22 [phy vacant]
              and 35 [zone lock violation].

       91     syntax error. Either illegal options, options with bad arguments or  a  combination
              of options that is not permitted.

       92     the  utility  is unable to open, close or use the given SMP_DEVICE.  The given file
              name could be incorrect or there  may  be  file  permission  problems.  Adding  the
              --verbose option may give more information.

       97     the response to an SMP function failed sanity checks.

       99     any error that can't be categorized into values 1 to 97 may yield this value.  This
              includes transport and operating system errors.

NOTES

Finding the SAS address of an expander can be a challenge in some environments. An
enclosure containing one or more expanders may have the expander SAS address(es) printed
on the back of the device, a bit like Ethernet MAC addresses.

In the Linux 2.6 kernel series the expander SAS address may well be in the sysfs tree but
it is not always easy to find. Doing this search may help:

# find /sys -name "*expander*"

That should show the suffix on any expanders that have been detected. Then a command like
'cat /sys/class/sas_device/expander-6:0/sas_address' should show its SAS address.

Another approach is to work backwards from SCSI devices (i.e. logical units). The protocol
specific port log page (log page 18h) contains fields for the "attached SAS address". The
sg_logs utility from the sg3_utils package could be used like this:

# sg_logs --page=18h /dev/sdb

Any given "attached SAS address" is either a HBA, an expander or 0 indicating that port is
not connected. An expander is indicated by "attached device type: expander device". A SAS
disk's target port identifiers (also known as SAS addresses), device name and logical unit
name (all NAA 5 format) can be found with the sg_vpd utility (e.g. 'sg_vpd -i
<disk_dev>'). The sdparm utility can provide the same information (e.g. 'sdparm -i
<disk_dev>').

A SAS expander is often associated with a SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) device sometimes
on the same silicon attached via a virtual phy to the expander. That SES device may be
able to access and control an attached enclosure or backplane via SGPIO or I2C on sideband
signals (e.g. in a SFF-8087 cable). To interact with a SES device, see the sg_ses utility.

Often expander phys are grouped in fours on the same connector (e.g. SFF-8088). Care
needs to be taken when multiple expanders are interconnected. An enclosure universal port
is one in which the "table to table supported" attribute is set (in the REPORT GENERAL
response) and the associated phys have the table routing attribute (in the DISCOVER
response). Enclosure universal ports were introduced in SAS-2 and have few restrictions
when used to interconnect expanders or connect SAS or SATA devices. An enclosure out port
is one in which the "table to table supported" attribute is clear and the associated phys
have the table routing attribute. An enclosure in port is one in which the associated phys
have the subtractive routing attribute. When universal ports are not available, an
expander interconnect should be between an in port and an out port.

EXAMPLES

       See "Examples" section in http://sg.danny.cz/sg/smp_utils.html .

CONFORMING TO

SAS has multiple generations. The early standards are: the original SAS (ANSI INCITS
376-2003), SAS 1.1 (INCITS 417-2006) and SAS-2 (ANSI INCITS 457-2010) . SAS-2.1 work was
split into an electrical and physical layers document (standardized as SAS-2.1 ANSI INCITS
478-2011) with the upper level layers placed in a document called the SAS Protocol Layer
and it was standardized as SPL ANSI INCITS 476-2011. Next came SPL-2 which was
standardized as SPL-2 ANSI INCITS 505-2013. SPL-3 is near standardization and its most
recent draft is spl3r07.pdf. To avoid confusion, the multiple generations of SAS will be
referred to in these man pages as SAS 1, 1.1, 2, 2.1 (SPL) and 3 (SPL-2 and SPL-3).
Roughly speaking SAS-1 runs at 3 Gbps, SAS-2 at 6 Gbps and SAS-3 at 12 Gbps. Drafts,
including those just prior to standardization can be found at the http://www.t10.org site
(e.g. spl-r07.pdf and spl2r04c.pdf). INCITS policy now requires a registration to view
these drafts, a break from t10.org tradition.

The two utilities for reading and writing to GPIO registers, smp_read_gpio and
smp_write_gpio, are defined in the Small Form Factor document SFF-8485 found at
http://www.sffcommittee.com . "Enhanced" versions of the corresponding SMP functions have
been mentioned in some drafts but no definitions have been published and the references
have been removed in more recent drafts.

In this section of each utility's man page is the first standard in which the associated
SMP function appeared and whether there have been significant additions in later
standards.

The COVERAGE file in the smp_utils source tarball shows a table of all SMP function names
defined in the drafts, the versions of those standards in which those SMP functions first
appeared and the corresponding smp_utils utility names. A lot of extra SMP functions have
been added in SAS-2 associated with zoning.

AUTHORS

       Written by Douglas Gilbert.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2006-2014 Douglas Gilbert
       This  software  is distributed under a FreeBSD license. There is NO warranty; not even for
       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.