topic Re: Volume(s) not on preferred Path- Netapp E2712 in EF & E-Series, SANtricity, and Related Plug-ins

Volume(s) not on preferred Path- Netapp E2712

JuanCarlosrl — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:18:30 GMT

Hi Guys,

I am trying to update the firmware storage and when I do the prechecks I find this error. "volume not on preferred path" what does it mean? What do i have to do to solve this problem?

Volume(s) not on preferred path: Details

Storage array:E2712

Preferred owner: Controller in slot B

Current owner: Controller in slot A

Affected volume gruou: volume

Volume(s): vol1, vol2, vol3 ...

I can give you more data, the storage has 2 controllers and distributes the volumes by ISCSI, currently it has a single cable connected from controller A, which has an associated IP, and controller B has nothing connected, no cable or anything configured , Is this the problem?

I do not manage this storage, I have had to review it from now on and I do not understand this behavior ...

I have seen a kb of netapp that does not recommend updating without solving this problem, I am aware that if I update I will lose production during this process, but I am afraid that I will not solve this problem and that later after updating some added problem will arise.

Thanks!

Re: Volume(s) not on preferred Path- Netapp E2712

NetApp_AU — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 10:14:59 GMT

Hello,

If Controller B has no connections to the hosts, then the volumes that belong to Controller B will fail over to Controller A. This will cause the "Volume(s) not on preferred path".

During the upgrade, each controller reboots one at a time so your hosts will lose access to all volumes if you are only using a connection to Controller A.

I recommend connecting Controller B to your hosts so that you have redundant paths.

See this guide (Page 6) for instructions on the physical cabling. You can refer to the Documentation Center for host-specific configuration changes that might be needed after connecting the extra path.

Re: Volume(s) not on preferred Path- Netapp E2712

JuanCarlosrl — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 12:31:02 GMT

in my case, if I want to add another iscsi initiator of controller B that currently has no other path, is there a manual on how to connect another initiator to a Windows server?

That is, if I connect another initiator to have redundancy, in the windows server I will see the duplicate disk, I will need to install the mpio (multipath), but now that I have installed it, when executing it it asks me for a hardware id to recognize the storage , I don't know what to put there .. I can't find that hardware id anywhere, and I don't know how I should configure the iscsi initiator to see the disk without being duplicated, is there a manual?

Thank you,

Re: Volume(s) not on preferred Path- Netapp E2712

MitchBlackburn — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 14:04:46 GMT

Here is the link to the E2700 documentation, Introduction to NetApp E-Series E2700 with SANtricity 11.25. Note that you do not need the management port connected on the second controller, but you must have a connection from the B-controller host ports to the host HBA for a volume to be seen by the B-controller. If there are no cables from the B-controller at all, then it is not being used and that is your problem.

-Mitch

Re: Volume(s) not on preferred Path- Netapp E2712

JuanCarlosrl — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 07:11:48 GMT

Finally I have been able to "solve" that warning, connecting a service port of controller B.
Thank you very much for your help!