Install Xsan software and Reboot. This will install a bin, config, debug, examples, man and ras folder into your /Library/FileSystems/Xsan folder. The bin folder will contain the Xsan command line binary files that allow you to do all of what you can do within Xsan Admin (and more). The config folder will begin with only a uuid file. Once you setup the SAN it will fill in with more information.
Next you will want to place the Xsan Admin application in your dock and open it for the first time. Once open, you will be faced with the Introduction screen.
Xsan 2.0 Introduction Screen
Here you will click Continue. In the resultant Initial SAN Setup screen you will have the opportunity to Configure a new SAN or Connect to existing SAN.
If this is not the first MDC you will be installing then click on the Connect button; however if it is the first MDC then click Configure new SAN and click on Continue. At the next screen, name the SAN.
SAN Settings
The SAN name is not the same as the volume(s) name. In this screen you can enter an Administrator Name and Email. If you do this is purely for the purpose of providing administrator contact information to Xsan users and not used for other purposes. When you are satisfied with the information you have entered click Continue.
Next, at the Add Computers screen, click Select None and check the box for the MDC you are currently working on.
Add Computers screen
Then click on Continue. Next, at the Authenticate SAN Computers screen type the User Name and Password for the MDC you are working on and click on Continue. The system will briefly present an Authenticating window and then allow you to enter your Serial Numbers into the Serial Numbers screen.
Serial Number Screen
You will no longer need to associate a serial number to a client, but rather build a pool. Apple will often distribute Serial Numbers in email form. In this case you can lasso the serial numbers and drag them into the License area of this screen. Xsan 2 will dynamically allocate licenses to clients when needed. Otherwise you can use the Add Serial Number Screen to type each one in manually.
Next you will see the SAN Metadata Network screen.
SAN Metadata
Xsan requires (per best practices) a dedicated Metadata network. This network should have no other devices attached and be solely used for Xsan traffic. This network should have a good switch (no LinkSys, DLink, etc) to keep any dropped packets/collisions at a minimum and as such should also not be a VLAN from a bigger switch or have any managed switching services (such as link aggregation or spanning tree protocol) enabled. You will have two Network Interfaces. The first should be used for your standard network, and thus be able to provide directory services, Internet access, file server access, etc. The second, the Metadata interface should be dedicated to Xsan traffic and not routable or running any DHCP services (therefore clients will need static IP addresses on the Metadata interface. At the SAN Metadata Network choose the network your metadata will run on and click on the Continue button.
Finally, you will be presented with a Summary screen.
Summary
Review these settings carefully and if they are correct click on the Continue button. At this point you will see a screen that the SAN is creating. When it is finished you will be placed into the Create Volume screen. Here you can click Create One or more Volumes later and go into the main Xsan Admin Screen. At this point if you look into your config folder you will now see the following files:
* Config.plist – XML file with licenses, SAN name, controller settings, etc
* Fsnameservers – Listing of Metadata Controllers
* Notifications.plist – XML parsed data of Email notifications
Later, other files will be added as volumes, etc. are created (each volume will have it’s own cfg file and an accompanying fsm process spawned by xsand). You can now move on to creating a Volume.