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docs: DHCHAP kernel requirement and the enforcement parameter - #211

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docs: DHCHAP kernel requirement and the enforcement parameter#211
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Two things a customer configuring DHCHAP had no way to find out.

The initiator kernel has to be built for it. Not a kernel version requirement: a RHEL 9.6 kernel (5.14) supports
DH-HMAC-CHAP, a Talos 1.12 kernel (6.18) does not. The option is CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH since kernel 6.7 and
CONFIG_NVME_AUTH before that, and on 6.7+ the older name refers to the shared library that target-side support also
selects, so finding it set means nothing for an initiator. Documents the /dev/nvme-fabrics probe, which answers the
question without knowing any of that, and the option "dhchap_secret" ignored failure it produces when missing.

dhchap_node_label is what enforces the allowed nodes. A hand-written StorageClass that names a DHCHAP pool but
omits the parameter provisions volumes with no nodeAffinity, so no node restriction applies while the pool still
reports DHCHAP as enabled.

Kernel detail sits once on the NVMe-oF Security concepts page; the two security pages state the requirement and link
to it. Additive only, no existing text rewritten.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

…meter

DH-HMAC-CHAP needs an initiator kernel built for it, which is a build option
and not a kernel version: a RHEL 9.6 kernel (5.14) carries in-band
authentication, a Talos 1.12 kernel (6.18) does not. The option is
CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH since kernel 6.7 and CONFIG_NVME_AUTH before it, and on a
6.7 or later kernel the older name refers to the shared library that
target-side support also selects, so it does not imply initiator support.
Documents the /dev/nvme-fabrics probe as the check that avoids the question.

dhchap_node_label is what carries the allowed-node restriction onto a volume,
so a hand-written StorageClass that omits it provisions volumes with no
nodeAffinity while the pool still reports DHCHAP as enabled.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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github-actions Bot commented Sep 4, 2026

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🤖: Deployment available as https://docstest.simplyblock.io/docs-dhchap-kernel-requirements

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