🟠 High   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 20 May 2026
Affected versions: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

After a SAN reconfiguration, `multipath -ll` shows missing or failed paths for production LUNs.

Environment & Reproduction

Happens on SLES 16 hosts using open-iscsi with multiple targets through dual NICs.

Root Cause Analysis

WWID or target portal changes were not refreshed in `/etc/multipath.conf` or initiator DB.

Quick Triage

Run `iscsiadm -m session` to enumerate active sessions vs expected paths.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Compare `multipath -ll` output against `/etc/multipath/wwids` and storage array view.

Illustrative mockup for sles-16 — multipath_iscsi-paths_terminal
Terminal diagnostics for multipathd misroutes iSCSI paths after fabric change — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Update `/etc/multipath.conf`, run `multipath -r` and `multipathd reconfigure`.

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Illustrative mockup for sles-16 — multipath_iscsi-paths_logs
Logs and evidence for multipathd misroutes iSCSI paths after fabric change — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Log out and back into the iSCSI portal via `iscsiadm –mode node –logoutall` to refresh sessions.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

All expected paths report `active ready running` in `multipath -ll`.

Rollback Plan

Roll back `/etc/multipath.conf` from snapper if new WWID aliases break I/O.

Prevention & Hardening

Monitor multipath state with Prometheus and alert on path count drops.

Frequently paired with `iscsid` connection failure messages.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for sles-16.

View all sles-16 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

SUSE multipath I/O and iSCSI administration guides.

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