VERITAS Volume Manager™ 4.

User’s Guide - VERITAS Enterprise

Administrator
Linux

N10392H

August 2004
Disclaimer
The information contained in this publication is subject to change without notice. VERITAS Software
Corporation makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this manual, including, but not limited to,
the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. VERITAS Software
Corporation shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages
in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this manual.

VERITAS Legal Notice

Copyright © 2001-2004 VERITAS Software Corporation. All rights reserved. VERITAS, the VERITAS
Logo, and all other VERITAS product names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of
VERITAS Software Corporation in the US and/or other countries. VERITAS and the VERITAS Logo
are Registered U.S. Patents & Trademarks. Other product names and/or slogans mentioned herein
may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
VERITAS Software Corporation
350 Ellis Street
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA
Phone 650–527–8000
Fax 650–527–2908
http://www.veritas.com

Third-Party Copyrights

Data Encryption Standard (DES) Copyright

Copyright © 1990 Dennis Ferguson. All rights reserved.

Commercial use is permitted only if products that are derived from or include this software are made
available for purchase and/or use in Canada. Otherwise, redistribution and use in source and binary
forms are permitted.
Copyright 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights
reserved.
Export of this software from the United States of America may require a specific license from the
United States Government. It is the responsibility of any person or organization contemplating export
to obtain such a license before exporting.
WITHIN THAT CONSTRAINT, permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright
notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
supporting documentation, and that the name of M.I.T. not be used in advertising or publicity
pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. M.I.T. makes no
representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided as is without
express or implied warranty.
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
What’s In This Manual? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
How to Use This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
VERITAS Volume Manager Manuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxii
Unique Message Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Using VRTSexplorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiv
Comment on the Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxv

Chapter 1. Introducing the VEA GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

VxVM Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Object Tree and Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Customizing Table Headers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Status Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Setup Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Maintenance Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Repair/Recovery Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chapter 2. Getting Started with VxVM VEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Setting Up Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Contents iii
 Starting VEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Viewing Objects and Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Tree and Grid View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Disk Usage Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Displaying Disk Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Disk View Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Moving Disks in the Disk View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Mapping Disks to Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Displaying Volume Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Volume View Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Volume Layout Details Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Volume to Disk Mapping Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Navigating the Volume to Disk Mapping Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Mapping Volumes to Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Dissociated Plex View Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Object Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Navigating the Object Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Multiple Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Accessing Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Viewing Task History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Task Throttling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Clearing Finished Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Viewing Task Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Command Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Using the Search Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Set Up a Search Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Use a Saved Query to Search and Display Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
View the Results of a Previously Saved Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Edit and Remove Search Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Performance Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

iv VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 Real-time Statistics Collection and Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Select Data Gathering Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Viewing Real-Time Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Disk Failure or Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Disk Phaseout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Setting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Show Dialog Top Information Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Launch Task Dialogs as Modal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Show Rules Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Show Display Name of Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 3. Disk Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Managing Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Managing Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Disk Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Adding a Disk to VxVM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Adding a Disk to a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Scanning Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Reserving a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Renaming a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Onlining a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Mirroring a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Evacuating a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Disconnecting a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Replacing a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Recovering Volumes on a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Removing a Disk from a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Forcing Initialization of a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Resizing Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Contents v
 Setting Disk Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Viewing the Table of Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Viewing Disk Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Disabling a Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Enabling a Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Renaming an Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Creating a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Upgrading a Disk Group Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Renaming Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Deporting Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Importing Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Commands for Hot Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
About Hot Spare and Hot Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Undo Hot Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Clear Hot Relocation Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Customize Disks for Hot Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Destroying a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Moving Objects Between Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Splitting A Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Joining Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Activating Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Viewing the Table of Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Viewing Disk Group Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Organizing Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 4. Volume Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Volume Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
VxVM Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Creating Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

vi VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 Creating a VxVM Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Selecting Your Own Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
VxVM Selecting the Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Creating a VxVM ISP Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Create a VxVM ISP Volume Using a New Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Create a VxVM ISP Volume from an Existing User Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Concatenated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Striped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
RAID-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Mirrored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Resizing a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Resizing and Deleting Multiple VxVM ISP Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Renaming a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Transforming an ISP Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Adding and Removing Columns in a VxVM ISP Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Changing the VxVM ISP Column Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Setting Volume Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Changing a VxVM Volume Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Adding a Mirror to a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Adding a Log to a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Stopping and Recovering a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Recovering a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Removing a Mirror From a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Removing a Log From a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Deleting a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Attaching Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Detaching a Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Moving, Splitting, and Joining Subdisks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Moving a Subdisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Contents vii
 Sub-disk Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Splitting a Subdisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Joining a Subdisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Viewing Volume Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Chapter 5. Volume Set Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Volume Set Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
VxVM Volume Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Displaying Volume Set Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Creating a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Adding a Volume to a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Renaming a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Recovering a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Deleting a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Removing a Volume from a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Chapter 6. Using Volume Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Volume Snapshots Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Using the Volume Snapshot Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Taking Snapshots of Volume Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Using the Instant Snapshot Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Using the FastResync Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Enabling FastResync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Creating Instant Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
If FastResync is not Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
VxVM Selecting the Disk for FastResync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Selecting Your Own Disks for FastResync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Creating a Full-sized Instant Snapshot of a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Creating a Volume for Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Creating Space-Optimized Snapshots of a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Creating an Instant Snapshot of an ISP Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

viii VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 Creating an Instant Snapshot of an ISP Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Creating a Full-sized Instant Snapshot of a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Creating Space-Optimized Snapshots of a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Creating Break-Off Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Disabling FastResync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Refreshing an Instant Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Reattaching an Instant Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Restoring a Volume from an Instant Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Dissociating an Instant Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Splitting an Instant Snapshot Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Start Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Adding Snapshot Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Selecting Your Own Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
VxVM Selecting the Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Removing Snapshot Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Adding Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Selecting Your Own Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
VxVM Selecting the Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Using Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Creating a Snapshot Copy of a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Creating the New Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Merging a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snapback) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Dissociating a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snap Clear) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Aborting a Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Displaying the Snapshots for a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Displaying Cache Volume Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Backing up a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Contents ix
 Chapter 7. File System Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
File System task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Creating a New File System on a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Adding a New File System to an Existing Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Mount File System Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Mounting a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Creating a New File System on a Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Unmounting a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Removing a File System from the File System Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Defragmenting a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Creating a Snapshot Copy of a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Removing a Snapshot Copy of a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Checking a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Monitoring File System Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Viewing File System Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Mounting a File System on Other Cluster Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Unmounting a File System from a Cluster Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Removing Resource Information for a Cluster File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Maintaining File Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Maintaining Storage Checkpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Create a Checkpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Remove a Checkpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Mount a Checkpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Unmount a Checkpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Enable Checkpoint Quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Disable Checkpoint Quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Using Multi-Component File Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Setting up an MDS System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Mounting the Volume Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Adding Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

x VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 Removing Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Encapsulating Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Set Intent Log Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Setting the Primary Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Maintaining Primary Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Setting the Primary Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Clearing the Primary Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Chapter 8. Using Quality of Storage Service Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

QoSS Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Configuring Relocation Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Viewing Relocation Policies and Modifying Policy Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Creating and Modifying Relocation Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Analyzing a File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Relocating Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Selecting Files Based on Maximum Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Chapter 9. Device-Related Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Device Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Displaying Lists of Supported Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Enabling and Disabling Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Maintaining Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Display Information for a Foreign Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Add Foreign Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Remove Foreign Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Chapter 10. Using Intelligent Storage Provisioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Benefits of Using ISP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
ISP Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Managing User Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Contents xi
 Application Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Template Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
User Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Create a User Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Create the User Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Select Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Set Configuration Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Storage Selection Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Summary Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Edit a User Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Delete a User Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Managing Storage Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Data Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Clone Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Storage Pool Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Storage Pool Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Creating a Storage Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Deleting a Storage Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Adding and Removing Storage Pool Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Renaming a Storage Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Associating a Template Set with Storage Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Disassociating a Template Set from a Storage Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Annotating a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Storage Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Launch the Annotate Service Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Add a New User Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Modify a User Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

xii VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 Remove a User Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Sort Disks by Attribute Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Create a User Attribute Short-cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Delete a User Attribute Short-cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Chapter 11. Cluster Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Cluster Task Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Working with Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Creating a Shared Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Importing a Shared Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Maintaining Primary Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Setting the Primary Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Clearing the Primary Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Setting the Primary Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Chapter 12. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Client Java Exceptions and Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Disk Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Disk State: Imported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Disk State: Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Disk State: Not Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Disk State: Import Failed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Disk State: Disconnected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Disk State: Deported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Disk State: Offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Disk State: Not Initialized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Disk State: Locked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Disk State: Inactive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Disk State: Foreign Owned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Volume Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Contents xiii
 Volume State: Stopped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Volume State: Uninitialized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Volume State: Degraded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Volume State: Failed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
General Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Client/Server Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
User is not authorized to connect to the server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
There is no such server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Unable to connect to the server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Possible client/server versions mismatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Server connection lost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
The server seems to have multiple addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
VEA version of plug-in component is not compatible. Cannot load plug-in . 275
Configuration Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Appendix A. Storage Selection Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Appendix B. Available ISP Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Template Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
ConfineVolume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
DataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
DataMirroringPrefabricatedRaid5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
DataMirroringPrefabricatedStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
DataMirrorStripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
DataStripeMirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
InstantSnapshottable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
MultipathingThroughMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
PrefabricatedDataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
PrefabricatedRaid5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
PrefabricatedStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

xiv VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 Raid5Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Striping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
StripingPrefabricatedDataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Volume Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ArrayProductId . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ColumnsOnSeparateComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ConcatVolumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ConfineToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ConfineToSpecificStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
DataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
DataMirrorStripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
DataStripeMirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
DCOLogMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
DCOLogStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
ExcludeSpecificStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
InstantSnapshottable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
LogsOnSeparateComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
MultipathingThroughMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
PrefabricatedDataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
PrefabricatedRaid5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
PrefabricatedStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Raid5LogStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Raid5Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Striping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Contents xv
 ArrayProductId . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
ColumnsOnSeparateComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
ConcatVolumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
ConfineToSimilarStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
ConfineToSpecificStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
DataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
DataMirrorStripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
DataRedundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
DataStripeMirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
DCOLogMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
DCOLogStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
ExcludeSpecificStorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
InstantSnapshottable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
LogsOnSeparateComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Multipathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
PrefabricatedDataMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
PrefabricatedDataRedundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
PrefabricatedRaid5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
PrefabricatedStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Raid5Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Raid5LogMirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Raid5LogStriping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Snapshottable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Striping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Storage Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

xvi VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 any_volume_type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
mirror_stripe_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
mirrored_prefab_raid5_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
mirrored_prefab_striped_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
mirrored_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
prefab_mirrored_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
prefab_raid5_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
prefab_striped_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
raid5_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
stripe_mirror_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
striped_prefab_mirrored_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
striped_volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Storage Pool Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
mirrored_data_striped_clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
mirrored_prefab_raid5_data_mirrored_clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
mirrored_prefab_stripe_data_striped_clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
prefab_mirrored_data_prefab_striped_clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
stripe_mirrored_data_striped_clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
striped_prefab_mirrored_data_striped_clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309

Contents xvii
xviii VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide
Preface
The VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide — VEA provides information on how to use
VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM) from the VEA Graphical User Interface (GUI).
This manual is intended for system administrators responsible for installing, configuring,
and maintaining systems under the control of VERITAS Volume Manager.
The purpose of this manual is to provide the system administrator with a thorough
knowledge of the procedures involved with volume management and system
administration using VERITAS Volume Manager GUI.
This manual assumes that you have a:
◆ working knowledge of the Linux operating system
◆ basic understanding of Linux system administration
◆ basic understanding of storage management

xix
What’s In This Manual?

What’s In This Manual?

This manual is organized as follows:
◆ Introducing the VEA GUI
◆ Getting Started with VxVM VEA
◆ Disk Tasks
◆ Volume Tasks
◆ Volume Set Tasks
◆ Using Volume Snapshots
◆ File System Tasks
◆ Using Quality of Storage Service Feature
◆ Device-Related Tasks
◆ Using Intelligent Storage Provisioning
◆ Cluster Tasks
◆ Troubleshooting
◆ Storage Selection Rules
◆ Available ISP Definitions
◆ Glossary

xx VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide

 How to Use This Manual

How to Use This Manual

This manual contains instructions for performing VxVM system administration tasks
through the VERITAS Enterprise Administrator GUI.
Details on how to use the VERITAS Volume Manager command line interface can be
found in the VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide. Detailed descriptions of the
VxVM commands and utilities, their options, and details on their use are located in the
VxVM manual pages.

Note Most VxVM tasks require superuser or other appropriate privileges.

VERITAS Volume Manager Manuals

The following documents provide related information:
◆ Cross-platform Data Sharing for VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager Hardware Notes
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager Installation Guide
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager Intelligent Storage Provisioning Administrator’s Guide
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager Release Notes
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager Troubleshooting Guide
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager manual pages
◆ VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide

Preface xxi
Getting Help

Getting Help
VERITAS offers you a variety of support options.

Accessing the VERITAS Support Web Site

The VERITAS Support Web site allows you to:
◆ contact the VERITAS Support staff and post questions to them
◆ get the latest patches, upgrades, and utilities
◆ view the VERITAS Volume Manager Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page
◆ search the knowledge base for answers to technical support questions
◆ receive automatic notice of product updates
◆ find out about VERITAS Volume Manager training
◆ read current white papers related to VERITAS Volume Manager
The address for the VERITAS Support Web site is:
◆ http://support.veritas.com

Subscribing to VERITAS Email Notification Service

Subscribe to the VERITAS Email notification service to be informed of software alerts,
newly published documentation, Beta programs, and other services.
Go to http://support.veritas.com. Select a product and click “E-mail Notifications” on the
right side of the page. Your customer profile ensures you receive the latest VERITAS
technical information pertaining to your specific interests.

Accessing VERITAS Telephone and Fax Support

Telephone support for VERITAS Volume Manager is only available with a valid support
contract. To contact VERITAS for technical support, dial the appropriate phone number
listed on the Support Guide included in the product box and have your product license
information ready for quick navigation to the proper support group.
The address for the VERITAS telephone support directory is:
◆ http://support.veritas.com

Contacting VERITAS Licensing

For license information (U.S. and Canadian Customers):
◆ For license information call 1-800-634-4747 option 3

xxii VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide

 Getting Help

◆ Fax: 1-650-527-0952
◆ Email: amercustomercare@veritas.com

Additional Information
For additional information about VERITAS and VERITAS products, visit the Web site at:
◆ http://www.veritas.com
For software updates:
◆ Email: swupdate@veritas.com
For information on purchasing VERITAS products:
◆ Phone: 1-800-327-2232
◆ Email: sales.mail@veritas.com

Unique Message Number

If you encounter a product error message, record the unique message number preceding
the text of the message. When contacting VERITAS Technical Support, either by telephone
or by visiting the VERITAS Technical Support website, be sure to provide the relevant
message number. VERITAS Technical Support will use this message number to quickly
determine if there are TechNotes or other information available for you.
A unique message number is an alpha-numeric string beginning with the letter “V”. For
example, in the message number:
V-5-732-8018 At least one disk must be specified
the “V” indicates that this is a VERITAS product error message. The text of the error
message follows the unique message number.

Using VRTSexplorer
The VRTSexplorer program can help VERITAS Technical Support engineers diagnose
the cause of technical problems associated with VERITAS products. You can download
this program from the VERITAS FTP site. For more information, consult the VERITAS
Volume Manager Release Notes and the README file.

Preface xxiii
Conventions

Conventions
The following table describes the typographic conventions used in this manual.

Typeface Usage Examples

monospace Computer output, file contents, Read tunables from the
files, directories, software /etc/vx/tunefstab file.
elements such as command See the vxtunefs(1M) manual page
options, function names, and for more information.
parameters
monospace User input; the “#” symbol # mount -t vxfs /h/filesys
(bold) indicates a command prompt
monospace Variables to be replaced by a # mount -t fstype mount_point
(bold and italic) name or value in user input
italic New terms, book titles, See the User’s Guide for details.
emphasis, variables to be The variable ncsize determines the
replaced by a name or value value of...

Symbol Usage Examples

# Superuser prompt (all shells)
\ Continued input on the # mount -t vxfs \
following line /h/filesys
[] In a command synopsis, brackets ls [ -a ]
indicates an optional argument
| In a command synopsis, a mount [suid | nosuid ]
vertical bar separates mutually
exclusive arguments
blue text Indicates an active hypertext link In PDF and HTML files, click on links
to move to the specified location.

Tips, notes, and cautions are used to emphasize information.

Tip Used for nice-to-know information, like a shortcut.

Note Used for important information that you should know, but that shouldn’t cause any
damage to your data or your system if you choose to ignore it.

Caution Used for information that will prevent a problem. Ignore a caution at your own
risk.

xxiv VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide

 Comment on the Documentation

Comment on the Documentation

Let us know what you like and dislike about the documentation. Were you able to find the
information you needed quickly? Was the information clearly presented? Report errors
and omissions, or tell us what you would find useful in future versions of our manuals
and online help.
Please include the following information with your comment:
◆ The title and product version of the manual you are commenting on
◆ The topic (if relevant) you are commenting on
◆ Your comment
◆ Your name
Email your comment to the following address:
◆ foundation_docs@veritas.com
Please only use this address to comment on product documentation. See “Getting Help”
on page xxii for how to contact Technical Support about our software.
We appreciate your feedback.

Preface xxv
Comment on the Documentation

xxvi VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide

Introducing the VEA GUI 1
Before using the VERITAS Volume Manager VEA GUI, you should familiarize yourself
with the following introductory topics:
◆ VxVM Features
◆ Main Window
◆ Task Roadmap

VxVM Features
You use the VxVM to administer disks, volumes, and file systems on local or remote
machines.
VxVM consists of a server and a client. The server runs on a UNIX machine that is running
VxVM. The client runs on Windows, HP, Linux, Solaris, and AIX machines that support
the Java Runtime Environment.
VxVM provides the following features:
◆ Accessibility - Using the Mouse and Keyboard
Accelerators and mnemonics are provided as alternatives to using the mouse (refer to
the VEA online help for more information).
◆ Ease of Use
The task-based user interface provides access to tasks through menus or a task list.
Administrators can easily navigate and configure their systems, and browse through
all of the objects on the system or view detailed information about a specific object.
◆ Remote Administration
Administrators can perform VxVM administration remotely or locally. The VEA client
runs on UNIX or Windows machines.
◆ Java-based Interface
A pure Java-based interface is used. Administrators can run VxVM as a Java
application.

1
Main Window

◆ Scalability
VxVM can handle systems containing large numbers of disks. Administrators can
view all of the objects on the system, or focus on a specific object or set of objects.
◆ Security
Please refer to the VEA online help for information on communication between the
client and server across a firewall.
◆ Multiple VEA Support
The VxVM client can provide simultaneous access to multiple host machines. The
administrator can use a single client session to connect to multiple hosts, view the
objects on each host, and perform administrative tasks on each host. Each host
machine must be running the VxVM server.
◆ Multiple Views of Objects
VxVM provides multiple views of objects:
◆ The main window tree and grid view lists objects on the system.
◆ The Disk View window displays a graphical view of volumes, disks, and other
objects in a disk group.
◆ The Volume View window displays a graphical view of the volumes on a host.
◆ The Volume to Disk Mapping window shows the relationships between volumes
and their underlying disks.

Main Window
The VxVM Main Window consists of:
◆ Object Tree and Grid
◆ Menu Bar
◆ Toolbar
◆ Status Area
◆ Help Menu

2 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Main Window

Main Window

The toolbar can be separated from and reattached to the main window (this is known as
docking). The grid can be replicated in a separate window.

Object Tree and Grid

The VxVM main window is divided into two main panes:
◆ Left Pane (Object Tree)
The following object groups typically appear as nodes in the object tree:
◆ Hosts – Any host machines connected to the current VxVM client session.
◆ Controllers – All controllers on the system.

Chapter 1, Introducing the VEA GUI 3

Main Window

◆ Disk Groups – All disk groups on the system.

◆ Disks – All disks on the system.
◆ Enclosures – All enclosures (disk arrays) on the system.
◆ File Systems – All mounted file systems on the system.
◆ Volumes – All volumes on the system.
◆ Right Pane (Grid)
The right pane contains a grid, which is a tabular display of objects and their
properties. The grid displays objects that belong to the group icon that is currently
selected in the object tree (left pane).
The splitter is the vertical bar that separates the object tree from the grid. You can resize
the left and right panes by pressing and holding the mouse button over the splitter and
dragging the splitter to the left or right.

Menu Bar
The menu bar at the top of the main window contains the following menus:
◆ File
The File menu establishes new host connections, disconnects current host sessions,
provides access to an object Properties window, handles page setup, executes print
and print preview functions, or exits VEA.
◆ Tools
The Tools menu allows you to:
◆ Initiate the Setting Preferences dialog
◆ Manage User Profiles
◆ Maintain the VEA Error Console
◆ Customize table headers (Customizing Table Headers)
◆ Initiate the Scan Disks function
◆ Invoke the Set Up a Search Query feature
◆ Actions
The Actions menu is a context-sensitive menu that launches tasks on a selected object.
It is inactive until you connect to a host. The Actions menu is dynamic and changes its
options based on the type of object that is selected. When an object is selected, the
Actions menu provides access to tasks appropriate for the selected object.
◆ Window

4 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Main Window

The Window menu gives you access to the Tear off feature. This allows you to view
several different object types at the same time, and to correlate relationships between
them.
Window -> Tear off

Customizing Table Headers

You can use the Tools menu to customize table headers, that is, reorder, remove, or add,
any of the table headings and associated columns.

▼ To customize table headers

1. Choose Tools > Customize Table Headers. The Customize Columns dialog box is
displayed.

2. Select the table to be modified from the Type: drop-down menu. The columns
applicable to that table are then displayed under Show columns: (those columns that
are currently shown) and Free columns: (those columns that are currently hidden).

3. You can now customize your tables by reordering (Move Up, Move Down),
displaying (Add), and hiding (Remove) headers and columns.

4. Click OK to complete the changes.

Toolbar
The toolbar provides quick access for performing some of the program’s most common
tasks.
The toolbar handle is the thin bar next to the toolbar. You can use the toolbar handle to
separate the toolbar from the main window or move the toolbar to the bottom, side, or top
of the main window. To reposition the toolbar, press and hold the mouse button over the
toolbar handle and drag the toolbar to its new location.

Note The toolbar handle is not visible when running on UNIX clients.

Status Area
The status area is at the bottom of the main window. When an object fails or experiences
an error, an alert (error) icon appears in the status area. The Alert Monitor window
provides details about the error. You can access the Alert Monitor window by
double-clicking on the alert icon in the status area.

Chapter 1, Introducing the VEA GUI 5

Task Roadmap

Help Menu
The Help menu provides access to online help for VEA.

Task Roadmap
VxVM tasks are grouped into:
◆ Setup Tasks
◆ Maintenance Tasks
◆ Repair/Recovery Tasks

Setup Tasks
If you are using VxVM and VEA for the first time, you need to install both products, place
your disks under VxVM control, and create volumes.

▼ To set up your system

◆ Install and initialize VxVM.
◆ Install VEA.
◆ Start VEA.
These tasks are described in the VERITAS Volume Manager Installation Guide.

▼ To set up disks
◆ Place disks under VxVM control.
◆ Create additional disk groups for the new disks (optional).
◆ Designate one or more disks as hot-relocation spares (optional).
These tasks are described in “Disk Tasks” on page 37.

▼ To set up volumes
◆ Create volumes.
◆ Create mirrors for any volumes that need to be redundant.
These tasks are described in “Volume Tasks” on page 79.

▼ To set up file systems

◆ Placing file systems on volumes.

6 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Task Roadmap

◆ Mounting a file system.

These tasks are described in “File System Tasks” on page 167.

Maintenance Tasks
After you have set up your disks and volumes, you need to perform some or all of the
following maintenance tasks.

▼ Monitor objects
◆ Use the Main Window tree (left pane) and grid (right pane) to view disks, volumes,
file systems, and other objects on the system.
◆ Use the Disk View Window to display a graphical view of disks, volumes, and other
objects in a particular disk group.
◆ Use the Volume View window to display a graphical view of the volumes for a host.
◆ Use the Volume to Disk Mapping Window to view the relationships between volumes
and their underlying disks.
◆ Use the Object Properties Window to view detailed information about a selected
object.
◆ Use the Alert Tab to view information about errors or failures associated with objects
that are marked with alert icons.
(Windows are described in “Getting Started with VxVM VEA” on page 9.)

▼ Maintain disks
◆ Adding a Disk to VxVM.
◆ Creating a Disk Group.
◆ Upgrading a Disk Group Version.
These tasks are described in “Disk Tasks” on page 37.

▼ Maintain volumes
◆ Renaming a Volume as users and applications require more space.
◆ Changing the VxVM ISP Column Count.
◆ Adding a Mirror to a Volume to any unmirrored volume that should be redundant.
These tasks are described in “Volume Tasks” on page 79.

Chapter 1, Introducing the VEA GUI 7

Task Roadmap

▼ Maintain file systems

◆ Creating a New File System on a Volume Set.
◆ Increase the size of file systems as users and applications require more space.
◆ Create snapshot copies of file systems and then back up the file systems.
These tasks are described in “File System Tasks” on page 167.

Repair/Recovery Tasks
If disk and/or system failures occur, VxVM generally performs any necessary recovery
operations automatically. However, depending on the circumstances, you may need to
attempt to recover from the situation as follows.

▼ Protect volumes from disk failure

◆ Adding a Disk to VxVM.
◆ Replacing a Disk.
These tasks are described in “Disk Tasks” on page 37.

▼ Repair/recover volumes
◆ Recovering a Volume.
◆ Recover all volumes on a failed disk.
◆ Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups.
◆ If a volume is not recoverable, restore the volume from backup.
These tasks are described in “Disk Tasks” on page 37 and “Volume Tasks” on page 79.

▼ Repair/recover file systems

◆ Perform a file system consistency check on any file systems that may be damaged.
(Refer to “File System Tasks” on page 167.)

8 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

Getting Started with VxVM VEA 2
Before using VEA, you need to familiarize yourself with the following:
◆ Setting Up Your System
◆ Starting VEA
◆ Viewing Objects and Object Properties
◆ Tree and Grid View
◆ Displaying Disk Information
◆ Volume View Window
◆ Displaying Volume Information
◆ Volume View Window
◆ Volume Layout Details Window
◆ Volume to Disk Mapping Window
◆ Viewing Task History
◆ Dissociated Plex View Window
◆ Command Log
◆ Using the Search Feature
◆ Edit and Remove Search Queries
◆ Using the Search Feature
◆ Performance Tuning
◆ Load Balancing
◆ Setting Preferences
◆ Disk Failure or Removal

9
Setting Up Your System

Setting Up Your System

VEA consists of a server (vxsvc) and a client (vea). You must install and run the VEA
server on a UNIX machine running VxVM. You can install and run the VEA client on any
Windows, HP, Linux, Solaris, or AIX machine that supports the Java Runtime
Environment.
Before you can use VEA, you need to:

1. Install VxVM on the machine to be administered.

2. Install the VEA server and client on the machine to be administered.

3. If users other than root need to access VEA, set up security to specify which users can
run VEA.

4. If you plan to run the VEA client from a machine other than the machine to be
administered, install the VEA client on the machine where the client will run.

5. Start the VEA server on the machine to be administered.

6. Start the VEA client.

Refer to the VERITAS Volume Manager Installation Guide for details on how to install and
set up VEA.

Starting VEA
Only users with appropriate privileges can run VEA. (Refer to VERITAS Volume Manager
Installation Guide for information on security and access permissions.)
You can use VEA to administer the local machine or a remote machine. The VxVM
daemon (vxconfigd) and the VEA server (vxsvc) must be running on the machine to be
administered. Once VEA is installed, the VEA server starts up automatically at system
startup.

Viewing Objects and Object Properties

VEA provides the following views of objects and their properties:
◆ Tree and Grid View

10 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Objects and Object Properties

The main window tree and grid view displays volumes, disks, file systems, and other
objects on the system. The grid also displays a limited set of properties for listed
objects.
◆ Disk View Window
The Disk View window displays a graphical view of disks, volumes, and other objects
in a particular disk group.
◆ Volume View Window
The Volume Layout Details window displays a close-up graphical view of a single
volume and its components (mirrors/plexes and subdisks).
◆ Volume to Disk Mapping Window
The Volume to Disk Mapping window shows the relationships between volumes and
their underlying disks.
◆ Object Properties Window
The object Properties window contains detailed information about a specific object.

Tree and Grid View

The main window tree and grid view displays volumes, disks, file systems, and other
objects on the system. The object tree is a hierarchical display of object groups. The grid is
a tabular display of objects and a limited set of properties. VEA constantly monitors
objects on the system and makes appropriate changes to the tree and grid displays.

Disk Usage Legend

The disk usage legend is displayed at the bottom of the right pane; and shows how to
interpret the colors with respect to Disk Usage (Normal Usage, High Usage, and Critical
Usage).

Displaying Disk Information

Click on a disk to display information about that disk. An appropriate subset of tabs is
also provided from the following:
◆ Disk Attributes
◆ Disk View
◆ Volume Manager Alerts
◆ Disk Regions

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 11

Viewing Objects and Object Properties

◆ Volumes
◆ Controllers
◆ Paths

Disk View Window

The Disk View window displays a graphical view of disks. It is dynamic, so the objects
displayed in this window are automatically updated when their properties change. You
can select objects or perform tasks on objects in the Disk View window.
The Disk View window can be accessed by clicking on a disk and selecting Actions > Disk
View.

Disk View Window

Using the Menu Bar

The menu bar at the top of the Disk View window contains the following menus:
◆ File
The File menu enables you to:
◆ Open the disk group in which the selected disk resides
◆ Access to the page setup menu
◆ Print the Disk View
◆ Access the Properties window
◆ Close the Disk View window
◆ Options

12 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Objects and Object Properties

The Options menu provides you with the following selections:

◆ Refresh View
◆ Expand/Collapse—provides detailed information for all disks in the view
◆ Vol Details—basic volume information
◆ Full Volume Display—volume objects also display the volume size, free space,
and state of the volume
◆ Projection—highlights associated objects
With the exception of Refresh View and Full Volume Display, these options are also
available from the icons under the Disk View menu bar.
◆ Action
The Action menu provides all the tasks available on the corresponding object in the
main window.

Using the Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the Disk View window has the following set of buttons:
◆ Expand
The Expand button shows more detailed information about all disks in the Disk View,
including subdisks and free space. This button toggles back and forth between objects
in layout mode or detailed mode, depending on the previous mode.

Using the Expand button - Layout Mode

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 13

Viewing Objects and Object Properties

Using the Expand button - Detailed Mode

.

◆ Projection
The Projection button highlights objects associated with the selected subdisk or
volume.

14 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Objects and Object Properties

Projection shows the relationships between objects by highlighting objects that are
related to or part of a specific object. When disks are in layout mode or detailed mode,
clicking on a subdisk highlights the location of the subdisk on the corresponding disk.
◆ Print
The Print button prints the Disk View.
The Disk View window displays plexes and subdisks that are associated with volumes. To
view Volume Manager objects that are not associated with volumes (such as dissociated
plexes), open the Dissociated Object View window (see Dissociated Plex View Window).

Moving Disks in the Disk View

In the Disk View, you can move subdisks by dragging the subdisk icons to their new
locations. You can drag a subdisk to another disk or a gap on the same disk. To move a
subdisk, place the pointer over the subdisk and then press and hold the mouse button to
drag the subdisk to another location.
Dragging and Dropping of subdisks can be enabled and disabled (see Setting Preferences
for details).

Caution Moving subdisks reorganizes volume disk space and must be done with care.

Mapping Disks to Volumes

You can map a disk to the associated volume by bringing up both the Disk View and the
Volume View (see Volume View Window). When you click on the disk in the Disk View,
the corresponding plex in the Volume View is highlighted.

Displaying Volume Information

Click on a volume to display information about that volume. An appropriate subset of
tabs is also provided from the following:
◆ Data Change Object (DCO)
◆ Disk View
◆ Volume Manager Alerts
◆ Disks
◆ Mirrors
◆ Subdisks
◆ Snapshot Volumes

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 15

Viewing Objects and Object Properties

◆ Logs

Volume View Window

The Volume View window gives the characteristics of the volumes on the disks.
The Volume View window can be accessed by clicking on a volume and selecting
Actions > Volume View.
The menu bar at the top of the Volume View window contains the following menus:
◆ File
The File menu prints the properties of a selected object, closes the Volume View
window, and provides access to the Properties window.
◆ Action
The Action menu provides access to all the tasks available on the corresponding
object in the main window.
The toolbar at the top of the Volume View window has the following set of buttons:
◆ Expand all volumes
The Expand Volume button shows more detailed information about all disks in the
Volume View. This button displays objects in layout mode or detailed mode,
depending on the previous mode.
◆ New volume
The New Volume button brings up the create volume dialog box.

Volume Layout Details Window

The Volume Layout Details window displays a graphical view of the selected volume’s
layout, components, and properties. You can select objects or perform tasks on objects in
the Volume Layout Details window. The Volume Layout Details window is dynamic, so
the objects displayed in this window are automatically updated when the volume’s
properties change.
The View menu changes the way objects are displayed in this window. To access the
popup menu for an object, right-click on the object, or use the Actions menu.

16 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Objects and Object Properties

Volume Layout Details Window

You can view objects in the Volume Layout Details window in the following ways:
◆ To display the Volume Layout Details window for a volume, click on the volume (in
the main window grid) and then choose Actions > Layout View.
◆ To view a different volume, go back to the main window and select the required
volume.
◆ To access the popup menu for an object, right-click on the object.
Use the File menu to close the window.

Volume to Disk Mapping Window

The Volume to Disk Mapping Window displays a tabular view of volumes and their
underlying disks. Volumes are listed in the top row of the table and disks are listed in the
left column of the table. Each circle icon in the table indicates that part of the
corresponding volume is located on the corresponding disk.
This window can also display details such as the subdisks on each disk. Each subdisk or
gap is listed with its disk offset and length. When subdisks are shown, circles show the
relationship between volumes and subdisks.
The Volume to Disk Mapping window is dynamic, so the contents of this window are
automatically updated when objects are added, removed, or changed. For instructions on
navigating the Volume to Disk Mapping window, see “Navigating the Volume to Disk
Mapping Window” on page 18.
◆ To display the Volume to Disk Mapping window, click on the disk group (in the main
window grid) and then choose Actions > Disk/Volume Map.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 17

Viewing Objects and Object Properties

The File menu displays volume and disk property information, or closes the window.
The View menu changes the way objects appear in the Volume to Disk Mapping window,
and allows you to set up collection of statistics for the disk group.
The context-sensitive Actions menu allows you to perform tasks for a selected object. To
access the popup menu for an object, right-click on the object.
The Volume to Disk Mapping window has a performance monitoring feature that ranks
volume response time. When performance monitoring is turned on, the icons in the table
change. The volumes with the slowest reads/writes are shown as red icons. Volumes with
relatively slow response time are shown as yellow icons. All other volumes are shown as
green icons. For instructions on viewing real-time statistics, see “Viewing Real-Time
Statistics” on page 32.
“Volume to Disk Mapping Window” on page 18 shows the relationships between
volumes and disks.

Volume to Disk Mapping Window

Navigating the Volume to Disk Mapping Window

You can view volumes and their associated disks using the following procedures:

18 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Objects and Object Properties

◆ To display the Volume to Disk Mapping window for all volumes in a disk group, click
on the particular disk group you want to view under the Disk Groups tree (in the
main window grid) and then choose Actions > Disk/Volume Map.
◆ To display all of the subdisks on a particular disk, click the arrow to the left of the disk
name. Any subdisks are listed below the disk name. To hide the subdisks, click the
arrow again.
◆ To display all of the subdisks on all disks, choose View > Expand All. To hide all of
the subdisks on all disks, choose View > Collapse All.
◆ To use the statistics collection feature, see Viewing Real-Time Statistics.
◆ To highlight a disk row, click on the disk name. To highlight a volume column, click
on the volume name. To highlight both the disk and volume associated with a
particular circle, click on the circle.
◆ Volumes with relatively slow read/write performance are shown as circular red icons.
◆ To print the map then choose File > Print and complete the Print dialog box.

Mapping Volumes to Disks

You can map a plex to the associated disk by bringing up both the Volume View and the
Disk View. When you click on the plex in the Volume View, the corresponding disk in the
Disk View is highlighted.

Dissociated Plex View Window

The Dissociated Plex View window shows the dissociated plexes for a particular disk
group.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 19

Viewing Objects and Object Properties

Dissociated Plex View Window

The Dissociated Plex View window can be displayed by clicking on a disk group and
selecting Actions > Dissociated Plex View.

Object Properties Window

The Object Properties window contains detailed information about the selected object.
The Properties window contains a set of tabbed pages, each of which contains information
about the object and related objects. The tab labels and page contents vary, depending on
the type of object selected. You can display a different page by clicking on the appropriate
tab label. Some object properties can be changed through the Properties window for the
object. For instructions on navigating the Object Properties window, see “Navigating the
Object Properties Window” on page 21.
Volume Properties Window shows how a volume appears in the Volume Properties
window.

20 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Objects and Object Properties

Volume Properties Window

Navigating the Object Properties Window

You can view object properties using the following procedures:
◆ To view the properties of an object, click on the object (in the main window grid) and
then choose Properties from the popup menu.
Example:
To display volume properties, click on a volume and then choose Volumes >
Properties.
◆ To go to a tab in a properties window, click the appropriate tab label.
◆ To change any of the editable items in the Properties window, make the appropriate
changes and then click OK. This changes the settings for all properties tabs in the
Properties window.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 21

Multiple Selections

Multiple Selections
You can select more than one object from a list (for example, when you need to add several
disks into a disk group) using the SHIFT and CONTROL keys in conjunction with the left
mouse button.
Use the SHIFT key to select a range of objects.
Use the CONTROL key to select individual objects.

Accessing Tasks
Most VEA tasks are performed by selecting objects and/or tasks and then completing the
resulting dialog boxes. With VEA, you can access tasks from the menu bar and from a
context-sensitive popup menu.

Viewing Task History

VEA logs all task requests. You can view the task history (including tasks in progress)
using the Task History window, or the Command Log file.
The Task History window displays a history of tasks performed in the current session
(and any other sessions running on the machine). Each task is listed with properties such
as task name, task status, and start time.
To display the Task History window, click on Tasks at the bottom of the main window.

22 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Task History

Task History Window

For a selected task, you can use the popup menu options: Abort Task to cancel the task;
Pause Task to temporarily stop a task, Resume Task to continue the task; and Throttle
Task to throttle a task.

Task Throttling
Task Throttling causes an operation to pause for the allowed amount of time whenever a
disk I/O is performed, allowing the CPU and disks to perform other tasks.
Select the popup menu option Throttle Task to change the task priority. You can change
the priority for a single task, or select Throttle All Tasks to apply the priority to all
Volume Manager Tasks. Click Ok to complete your selection.

Clearing Finished Tasks

Tasks are persistent in the Tasks console. To remove completed tasks from the window,
select Clear All Finished Tasks from the popup menu.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 23

Command Log

Viewing Task Properties

To view task properties and the low-level commands used to perform a task, select the
task and choose Properties from the popup menu.

Command Log
The command log file (veacmdlog) contains a history of VEA, VxVM, and VxFS tasks
performed in the current session and previous sessions. It contains a description of each
task, along with properties such as the start/finish times and the low-level commands
used to perform the task. For failed tasks, the command log includes any relevant error
messages. The command log file resides, and can be viewed, at
/var/adm/vx/veacmdlog.
The following example shows a sample command log file entry:
Description: Add Log to Volume
Date: Wed April 17 4:36:11 2002
Command: /usr/sbin/vxassist -g datadg addlog data vol
Output: vxvm:vxassist: ERROR: Volume datavol-L01: Volume’s logging
type not supported
Exit Code: 20

Using the Search Feature

The Search feature allows you to search and display information for objects on the system
running VxVM. You can:
◆ Set Up a Search Query
◆ Use a Saved Query to Search and Display Information
◆ View the Results of a Previously Saved Query
◆ Edit and Remove Search Queries

Set Up a Search Query

The Search feature allows you to search and display information for objects on the system
running VxVM.

24 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Using the Search Feature

▼ To set up a new query

1. Choose Tools > Search. This brings up the “Search” dialog.

2. Click New Query.

3. In order to find an object, you must first select the object type (under Look for:).
Object types include:
◆ Volumes
◆ Volume Sets
◆ Disks
◆ Disk Groups
◆ Controllers
◆ Enclosures
◆ File systems

4. Once you have chosen the object type, you define the search criteria (under Define
Criteria):
The criteria menu selection is based on the object type you have selected.
If you chose Volumes, the available Attributes are:
◆ Name
◆ Disk group name
◆ Size
◆ Status
◆ Disk
◆ Device
◆ # Mirrors
◆ Layout
◆ Usage
If you chose Volumes sets, the available Attributes are:
◆ Name
◆ Disk group name
If you chose Disks, the available Attributes are:

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 25

Using the Search Feature

◆ Name
◆ Disk group name
◆ Controller name
◆ Device name
◆ Status
◆ Size
◆ Free Space
If you chose Disk Group, the available Attributes are:
◆ Name
◆ Imported
◆ Size
◆ Free space
◆ # Volumes
◆ # Disks
If you chose Controllers (only shown if DMP is installed), the available Attributes are:
◆ Physical name
◆ Logical name
If you chose Enclosures (only shown if DMP is installed), the available Attributes are:
◆ Name
◆ Type
◆ Connected
If you chose File Systems, the available Attributes are:
◆ Mount point
◆ Type (vxfs, ufs, hfs, ext2, jfs)
◆ Free space
◆ Capacity

5. Once you have chosen an Attribute, you must choose how to compare the object.
The possible ways to compare the object change with your previous selections, and
are limited to:
◆ Any

26 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Using the Search Feature

◆ Contains
◆ At least
◆ At most
◆ Is
◆ Is not
◆ True
◆ False

6. If you did not select the Usage, Status or Imported attribute, you must enter a number
into the value box. The attribute of the object type you selected will be compared with
the value you enter in the way you selected. If you selected the Status attribute, you
will need to select a value from Unitialized, Healthy, Stopped, Degraded, and Failed.

7. If you selected the Size or Free space attribute, you will also need to define the unit of
measurement (Sectors, KB, MB, GB, TB).

8. If you selected the Usage attribute, you will also need to define the type: Cache, Data
Change Object, Volume Set Component, Volume, or Data (regular volume).

9. Use the Add and Remove buttons to add and remove search statements.

Note You can construct an ‘or’ statement for exact matches (‘Is’ criteria) by clicking
Add after entering a value; then entering a new value and again clicking Add.
Similarly, you can construct an ‘and’ statement for ‘Is not’ and ‘contains’
criteria.

10. If you wish to save the query data, click the Save Query button.
◆ The Save Query dialog box appears. Select the name for the saved query (Name:),
and, if you want, supply a description of the query (Description:). You can
display the saved queries in the Main Window by selecting the Active checkbox.
◆ Click OK to save the query and close the dialog box.

11. Click the Search Now button to perform the search.

Example:
The following screen shows the results for a search for a Volume (object type), with Name
(attribute) containing “gj,” and Usage (attribute) for “Data Change Object.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 27

Using the Search Feature

Volume Search

12. If you wish to save the search results, click the Save Results button.
◆ The Save Dialog box appears. Select the path or folder you want the file to save to.
◆ Enter a name for the file into the File Name: field.
◆ Click Save to save the file and close the dialog box.

Use a Saved Query to Search and Display Information

You can perform a search using a previously saved query.

▼ To search and display information

1. Choose Tools > Search. This brings up the Search dialog.

2. Click Saved Queries.

3. Select an already saved query from the Query drop-down list.

4. Click Search Now. The information is displayed at the bottom of the dialog.

5. Click Close when you have finished.

28 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Using the Search Feature

View the Results of a Previously Saved Query

Queries are saved in the Saved Queries node in the left pane. You can display the
information from a previously saved query by expanding the appropriate query.

Edit and Remove Search Queries

You can edit a saved query description, or remove existing queries.

▼ To edit a saved query

1. Select the query to be edited from the Saved Queries node, then choose Actions >
Edit. This brings up the Edit Query dialog.

2. You can now edit the name and description of the query.

3. Select the Active if you want to display the results in the main window.

4. Click OK.

▼ To remove a query

1. Select the query to be removed from the Queries, then choose Actions > Remove.
This brings up the Remove Query dialog.

2. Click Yes to confirm removal.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 29

Performance Tuning

Performance Tuning
When a program or device uses too much disk I/O, bottlenecks can occur, creating a hot
spot and degrading performance. You can make adjustments by moving subdisks from an
area of high I/O usage to another disk that has lower usage.
The VxVM statistics function provides I/O statistics to allow you to do performance
tuning to improve overall disk and system performance.
You can improve disk and system performance by identifying I/O bottlenecks, or hot
spots; then moving data among physical drives to evenly balance the I/O load among the
disk drives. This is known as load balancing.
See also:
◆ Real-time Statistics Collection and Display
◆ Load Balancing
◆ Disk Failure or Removal
◆ Disk Phaseout

Real-time Statistics Collection and Display

To set up real-time statistics collection and display, you need to Select Data Gathering
Options.

Select Data Gathering Options

Use the following procedure to set the display options.

▼ To select the online data gathering options:

1. Select a disk group to be monitored.

2. Choose Actions > Statistics View> to bring up the Volume to Disk Mapping window.

3. Choose View > Data Gathering Options… to bring up the data gathering options
dialog box.

30 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Performance Tuning

Data Gathering Options dialog box

4. Select the pulldown menu for the Hot spot indicator based on categories.

Note Each time you select an indicator and “Set Refresh Interval,” , you must click
OK and move onto the next category you wish to set up by Choose View >
Data Gathering Options…

◆ Read Requests/Second
The number of read requests per second for selected storage objects.
◆ Write Requests/Second
The number of write requests per second for selected storage objects.
◆ Read Blocks/Second
The amount of read request data (in blocks per second) that is processed for
selected storage objects. It is the throughput on the read requests made.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 31

Performance Tuning

◆ Write Blocks/Second
The amount of write request data (in blocks per second) that is processed for
selected storage objects. It is the throughput on the write requests made.
◆ Avg Time (microseconds)/Read Block
The average time in microseconds that it takes to process a read block from the
time a request is made until the data is returned.
◆ Avg Time (microseconds)/Write Block
The average time in microseconds that it takes to process a write block from the
time a request is made until the write status is returned.
◆ Read and Write Requests/Second
The number of read and write requests per second for selected storage objects
◆ Read and Write Blocks/Second
The amount of read and write request data (in blocks per second) that is
processed for selected storage objects. It is the throughput on the read and write
requests made.
By default, all the statistical parameters will be enabled.

5. Set Refresh Interval

This sets the time interval (in seconds) for refreshing the data collection screen
display. The program continuously runs the actual statistics in the background, but
changes their display on the Online Monitoring according to the refresh rate you set.
The default threshold is 15. The threshold is the minimum amount of I/O per second
that a disk or subdisk has to have in order to be categorized with an I/O activity
higher than average.

6. When you are finished with your changes, click OK.

Viewing Real-Time Statistics

You can view real-time statistics in the Volume to Disk Mapping Window. By default, the
Volume to Disk Mapping Window comes up with statistics collection switched off. To turn
it on, you need to:
◆ Select the disk group to be monitored from VEA.
◆ Select Actions > Disk/Volume Map
◆ From the Volume to Disk Mapping window, select:
◆ View > Collect Statistics

32 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Load Balancing

Statistics are accumulated from when they were reset (usually they are reset when
the system boots/reboots, or at object creation, whichever is most recent).
◆ View > Compare on Refresh
Each statistic request is compared with the last one to determine where the
current high I/O activity is occurring.

Load Balancing
If disk activities are heavily concentrated on one or a small number of disks in the storage
subsystem, it may create bottlenecks. You can use the Moving a Subdisk and possibly the
Splitting a Subdisk features to spread out disk accesses more evenly across all the disks
to balance the load.
If a disk has High or Critical I/O activity (shown by a red or yellow pie symbol), you may
consider moving one or more of its subdisks to another disk that shows below average
I/O activity (shown by a blue pie symbol). The idea is to move just enough activity to
achieve balance. A careful study of the statistics for the disk with Critical activity may
identify the best subdisks to move. You should move subdisks only when a disk has High
or Critical I/O activity over a prolonged period of time and performance is affected.
Moving a subdisk to another disk has an effect on I/O as well, but it should be
compensated for by the other disk having much lower I/O activity. You would need to
look at the statistics after the subdisk move to see whether the move was effective in
balancing the load.

Disk Failure or Removal

Moving a subdisk for redundant volumes (mirrored or RAID-5) will use the redundant
data to recreate the subdisk on the healthy disk. However, for nonredundant volumes
(concatenated or striped), the data cannot be recreated and doing subdisk move will
therefore lose data, which could be recovered if the disk can be repaired. Thus, when you
attempt to move a subdisk from a failed or missing disk that has nonredundant data, a
dialog box comes up that asks you if you want to force the move. You may want to force
the move if you do not need the data anymore or you can no longer recover the data. By
doing so, you will retain the volume structure but there is no guarantee that the data will
be recoverable.
Use the “Moving a Subdisk” on page 117 feature to move the part of a volume that is on a
failed or missing disk to a healthy one.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 33

Setting Preferences

Disk Phaseout
When a disk starts getting intermittent I/O errors and shows signs of hardware fatigue,
you can use the Moving a Subdisk feature to move all its subdisks to healthier disks. The
benefit of moving subdisks instead of copying the volumes is that you need only enough
space on the receiving disks for the subdisks on the one failed disk, not for entire volumes
that may span multiple disks. Another advantage is that there is no interruption in I/O.
Moving subdisks provides you a flexible means of making adjustments in your storage
system while it is up and running.

Setting Preferences
To set VxVM view and dialog preferences, select Tools > Preferences > to display the
Preferences window. Then select the Volume Manager General tab to show the
Preferences. When you have made your changes:
◆ Press Apply to apply the changes.
◆ Press Reset to revert back the changes.
◆ Press OK to apply and dispose the Preference window.
◆ Press Cancel to discard and close the Preference window.

Note In VxVM releases prior to VxVM 4.0, you could disable the wizards for certain
functions by deselecting the Enable Wizard Mode. In this release of VxVM, you can
no longer disable wizards.

Show Dialog Top Information Panel

Check this box if you want to show information about an object selected in the tree while
you are viewing its related objects in the table.

Launch Task Dialogs as Modal

Check this box if you want to prevent access to other dialogs until the task dialog box is
closed.

34 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Setting Preferences

Show Rules Page

Check the Show rules page box if you want to enable the rules page. By default, the rules
page is disabled, and ISP applies the default rules for volume and template creation, and
snapshot and transform wizards. (Refer to Set Configuration Rules.)
If you prefer to set the rules yourself, check the box to enable the rules page.

Show Display Name of Capability

Check this box to show the capability display names (shown by default). (Refer to the
Select Capabilities for more information on Capability settings.)

Chapter 2, Getting Started with VxVM VEA 35

Setting Preferences

36 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

Disk Tasks 3
VxVM VEA provides you with easy-to-use interfaces for performing tasks and procedures
associated with:
◆ Managing Disks
◆ Managing Disk Groups
The Disk Task Roadmap summarizes these tasks.

Managing Disks
The following tasks are associated with disk management:
◆ Adding a Disk to VxVM
◆ Scanning Disks
◆ Commands for Hot Relocation
◆ Reserving a Disk
◆ Renaming a Disk
◆ Onlining a Disk
◆ Mirroring a Disk
◆ Evacuating a Disk
◆ Disconnecting a Disk
◆ Replacing a Disk
◆ Recovering Volumes on a Disk
◆ Removing a Disk from a Disk Group
◆ Forcing Initialization of a Disk
◆ Viewing Disk Properties
◆ Disabling a Controller

37
Managing Disk Groups

◆ Enabling a Controller
◆ Renaming an Enclosure
◆ Resizing Disks
◆ Setting Disk Usage

Managing Disk Groups

The following tasks are associated with disk group management:
◆ Creating a Disk Group
◆ Upgrading a Disk Group Version
◆ Renaming Disk Groups
◆ Deporting Disk Groups
◆ Importing Disk Groups
◆ Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups
◆ Clear Hot Relocation Info
◆ Destroying a Disk Group
◆ Moving Objects Between Disk Groups
◆ Splitting A Disk Group
◆ Joining Disk Groups
◆ Viewing Disk Group Properties
◆ Organizing Disk Groups

38 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Disk Task Roadmap

Disk Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common VxVM disk and disk group tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Disk Setup Tasks:
Place new disks under VERITAS Volume Adding a Disk to VxVM
Manager (VxVM) control
Set up new disk groups Creating a Disk Group
Precautionary Tasks:
Place the boot (root) disk under Volume Adding a Disk to VxVM
Manager control
Make an alternate boot (root) disk Mirroring a Disk
Maintenance Tasks:
Place additional disks under VxVM control Adding a Disk to VxVM
Add more disk space to a disk group Adding a Disk to VxVM
Create additional disk groups Creating a Disk Group
Upgrade a disk group Upgrading a Disk Group Version
Recovery Tasks:
Move volumes off failing disks Evacuating a Disk
Replace failed disks To replace a disk drive
Attempt to recover all volumes on a disk Recovering Volumes on a Disk
Attempt to recover all volumes in a disk group Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups
Other Tasks:
Display the table of disks Viewing the Table of Disks
Display the table of disk groups Viewing the Table of Disk Groups
Change a disk name Renaming a Disk
Change a disk group name Renaming Disk Groups
Move objects between disk groups Moving Objects Between Disk Groups
Split a disk group Splitting A Disk Group
Join disk groups Joining Disk Groups
Restore access to an offline disk Onlining a Disk

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 39

Adding a Disk to VxVM

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Temporarily prevent access to a disk group Deporting Disk Groups
Restore access to a deported disk group Importing Disk Groups
Remove a disk from VxVM control Removing a Disk from a Disk Group
Destroy a disk group (permanently) Destroying a Disk Group
Create an organized disk group Organizing Disk Groups

Adding a Disk to VxVM

New disks must be set up on the system, placed under VxVM control, then added to a
disk group before they can be used for volumes. The Actions > Rescan task scans for
new devices.
When you place a disk under VxVM control, the disk is either encapsulated or initialized.
Encapsulation preserves any existing data on the disk in volumes. Initialization destroys
any existing data on the disk. (See the VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide for
more information on disk encapsulation and initialization.)
This task assigns a default VxVM disk name to the disk. Once the disk is under VxVM
control, you can use the Rename Disk task (Renaming a Disk) to change the VxVM disk
name (see “Renaming a Disk” on page 43).

Adding a Disk to a Disk Group

Select the uninitialized disk to be placed under VxVM control.

1. Choose Actions > Add Disk to Disk Group. The Add Disk to Disk Group wizard
appears. Click Next to continue.

2. Complete the Add Disk to Disk Group wizard as follows:

Disk group name: Select the disk group into which the disks will be added.
To add the disk(s) to a new disk group, select New disk group, and
enter the name of the new disk group in the new dialog box.

Available disks: Move the disks to be added from Available disks to Selected disks.
Selected disks:

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next.

40 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Scanning Disks

3. When the confirmation dialog box appears, click Yes to confirm your selection.

4. Click Finish to add the disk to the selected group.

5. You now indicate whether the disk should be initialized or encapsulated. (It is
necessary to reboot the system before encapsulation takes effect.)

Notes:

◆ The Add Disk to Disk Group task sets up disks for VxVM use. Disks must be under
VxVM control and in a disk group before they can be used to create volumes.
◆ Disks must be online before they can be added to a disk group.
◆ Disks that already belong to a disk group cannot be added to another disk group.
◆ Disks cannot be added to deported disk groups.

Scanning Disks
When VxVM rescans disks, it scans all attached disks for disk configuration changes. It
also updates information on all removable media.
Rescanning disks can take several minutes, depending on the number of hardware
devices installed.
◆ You should rescan disks when you remove disks from or add disks to a computer.
◆ From the Actions menu, select Rescan.
A dialog box comes up with the message “Getting hardware configuration. Please
wait.” The box also displays a progress bar showing the percentage of completion
for the rescan process.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 41

Reserving a Disk

Reserving a Disk
The Set Disk Usage feature can be used to designate a disk as a reserved disk. A reserved
disk is not considered part of the free space pool. If you perform a task that requires disk
space and you do not specify a disk, VxVM VEA allocates space from disks other than the
reserved disk.

▼ To reserve a disk

1. Follow the instructions in Adding a Disk to VxVM to place the disk under VxVM
control and in a disk group.

2. Select the disk to be reserved.

3. Choose Actions > Set Disk Usage.

4. In the Set Disk Usage window, check the Reserve Disk option. Click OK.
(To cancel the disk reservation, open the Set Usage window, and uncheck the Reserve
Disk option.)

Notes:

◆ Before you select the Reserve Disk option, make sure the disk is under VxVM control
and in a disk group.
◆ A reserved disk is not available for general use.
◆ A reserved disk can only be used if you specify the reserved disk when you perform a
task.

42 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Renaming a Disk

Renaming a Disk
The Rename Disk procedure changes the VxVM name assigned to a disk. The VxVM disk
name is the name given to the disk by the administrator or VxVM. This procedure does
not change the physical disk name (device name).

▼ To rename a disk

1. Select the disk to be renamed.

2. Choose Actions > Rename Disk.

3. Complete the Rename Disk dialog box as follows:

Disk Name: If the correct disk name does not already display in this field, enter
the disk name to be changed.

New Name: Enter the new VxVM disk name.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Rename Disk task requires the current disk name and a new disk name.
◆ The new disk name must be unique within the disk group.
◆ The disk must be in an imported disk group.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 43

Onlining a Disk

Onlining a Disk
The Online Disk procedure restores access to a disk that has been taken offline. The disk is
made accessible to VxVM again. After bringing a disk back online, the disk must be added
to a disk group before it can be used for volumes (see “Adding a Disk to VxVM,” ).

▼ To bring a disk online

1. Select the disk to be brought online.

2. Choose Actions > Online Disk.

3. Click Yes when the confirmation message appears.

Notes:

◆ When a disk is brought online, the disk is accessible again.

◆ Only disks in the offline state can be brought online.

44 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Mirroring a Disk

Mirroring a Disk
The Mirror Disk procedure mirrors (copies) all concatenated and striped volumes on a
disk onto another disk. You can use this procedure to mirror any disk that contains
concatenated or striped volumes.

▼ To mirror all volumes on a disk

1. Select the disk that contains the volumes to be mirrored onto another disk.

2. Choose Actions > Mirror Disk.

3. Enter the target disk name in the Mirror Disk. Click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Disk Mirror task requires a disk name.

◆ Only concatenated and striped volumes that reside on a single disk are mirrored onto the
other disk. Any RAID-5 or spanned volumes on the disk are ignored.
◆ Only disks in the same disk group can be used to create the new mirrors.
◆ The target disk must contain sufficient space to accommodate the mirrors.
◆ A new mirror cannot be created on a disk that already contains a copy of the volume.
◆ If no disks are assigned, VxVM uses available disk space to create the mirrors.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 45

Evacuating a Disk

Evacuating a Disk
This feature is similar to disk replacement, but it involves moving the contents of the
volumes on one disk to another disk. If a disk begins to fail, you can attempt to
protect/preserve the volumes on that disk by evacuating the disk. You can also evacuate a
disk if you plan to remove the disk or use the disk elsewhere. The other disk does not have
to be empty. The active redundant volumes on the replacement disk will be synchronized
automatically.

To Evacuate a disk:

1. Right click on the disk you wish to evacuate.

2. Select Evacuate Disk.

3. The Evacuate Disk dialog will appear. Select either “Auto Assign destinations disks”
or “Manually assign destination disks”.

a. If you chose “Manually assign destination disks” add the destination disks by
clicking on the disk and clicking the Add button.
Remove disks from the selected destination disks by clicking on the disk and
clicking the Remove button.

4. Click the OK button to evacuate the disk.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The contents of a disk must be evacuated/moved to another disk in the same disk group
with sufficient free space.
◆ If no target disk is specified, VxVM uses an available disk with sufficient free space.
◆ If the disk being evacuated contains part of a mirrored, striped, or RAID-5 volume, do not
move the contents of the disk to another disk containing a copy of the mirrored volume or
part of the striped/RAID-5 volume.

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 Disconnecting a Disk

Disconnecting a Disk
The Disconnect Disk procedure disconnects a VxVM disk from its underlying physical
disk. You can disconnect a disk in preparation for the replacement of a physical disk. After
disconnecting a disk, you can use the Replacing a Disk task to reconnect the disk (see
“Replacing a Disk” on page 48).

▼ To disconnect a disk

1. Select the disk to be disconnected.

2. Choose Actions > Disconnect Disk.

3. Press OK to confirm disconnection.

Notes:

◆ Disconnecting a disk that contains volumes can result in loss of data or redundancy.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 47

Replacing a Disk

Replacing a Disk
Disks most often need replacing when they fail or start to behave strangely. A failed or
removed disk can be replaced, and active redundant volumes (mirrored and RAID-5) on
the replaced disk will be resynchronized automatically after disk replacement.
Failed volumes on the replaced disk, however, will stay failed after disk replacement
because no valid data is available for copy. These underlying steps are handled
automatically when the disk replacement is performed using VxVM VEA.

Caution This operation alters the partitioning of a disk.

The disk replacement procedure can only be performed on a disk that has failed or is
disconnected. VxVM VEA indicates a failed disk by renaming it “Missing Disk”. If the
disk replacement is successful, the replacement disk will take on the attributes of the
failed disk, including the Disk Name.

Note This option is available only on missing or disconnected disks.

To replace a disk drive

1. Right click on the missing disk.

2. Select Replace Disk.

A Dialog box appears containing a list of new disks for replacement.

3. Select (click on) the disk you wish to use to replace the missing disk.

4. Click OK to perform the Disk Replacement.

Notes:

◆ The Replace Disk task requires the name of the disk to be replaced and the replacement
disk name.
◆ The disk to be replaced must be disconnected or removed from its disk group. If the disk
has not failed, remove the disk from its disk group before you replace the disk.
◆ The new disk can be a disk in the free disk pool or an uninitialized disk. If the new disk is
uninitialized, the Replace Disk task places the disk under Volume Manager control.
◆ The new disk is placed in the disk group of the old disk.

48 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Recovering Volumes on a Disk

Recovering Volumes on a Disk

The Recover Disk procedure performs any necessary volume recovery operations on the
volumes on a given disk. The recovery operations depend on the types of volumes on the
disk and include starting disabled volumes, resynchronizing mirrors in mirrored
volumes, and resynchronizing parity in RAID-5 volumes. After successful recovery, the
volumes are again available for use.
Alert icons and the Alert Monitor window may provide clues to let you know that volume
recovery is needed.

▼ To recover all volumes on a disk

1. Select the disk containing the volumes to be recovered.

2. Choose Actions > Recover Disk.

3. Click OK to complete the recover disk procedure.

Note:

In some cases, recovery is not possible. If the volume recovery fails, you can attempt to
restore the volume from backup.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 49

Removing a Disk from a Disk Group

Removing a Disk from a Disk Group

You can remove a disk from a disk group if there are no volumes on the disk. If volumes
exist, you must delete or evacuate them before you can revert the disk. Disks shown in
Volume Manager to be Unreadable (inaccessible due to corruption) as well as Foreign (a
disk that has moved to another machine) can be removed, but doing so causes you to lose
all existing data on the disk that is removed from the group. If a disk has failed and is
marked as Missing, you can also remove it from the disk group.
To remove a disk from a disk group, use the Remove Disk from Disk Group command.

The steps for removing a disk from a disk group are as follows:

1. Right-click on the selected disk or on the Disk Group and select Remove Disk from
Disk Group.

2. Make sure the proper disk or disks that you want to remove are showing in the right
pane of the window and click Next to continue.
The Remove Disk from Disk Group procedure removes the disk from VxVM control. If
the disk to be removed contains volumes, you must evacuate the disk before you remove
the disk.
When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ If the disk contains a volume that has only one mirror and either has a mounted file
system or is used as a swap area, you must evacuate the disk before you remove it.
◆ When a disk is removed from a disk group or VxVM control, the disk cannot be accessed.
◆ A disk that is in use (that is., contains volumes) must not be removed. Removing a disk
with volumes can result in loss of data or data redundancy. If volumes exist on the disk to
be removed, use the Evacuate Disks task to move the volumes to another disk.
◆ Any non-redundant volumes on the removed disk become disabled.

50 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Forcing Initialization of a Disk

Forcing Initialization of a Disk

Caution Forcing the initialization or reinitialization of a disk can result in data loss.

The Initialize Disk procedure forces the initialization of a disk. This task is intended for
use in troubleshooting disks that have already been placed under VxVM control. To
initialize a disk for VxVM use, use the Add Disks task instead (see Adding a Disk to
VxVM).

▼ To (re)initialize a disk

1. Select the disk to be initialized.

2. Choose Actions > Initialize Disk.

3. Complete the Initialize Disk dialog box as follows:

Disk Name: If the correct disk name does not already display in this field, enter
the disk name .

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Initialize Disk task forces the (re)initialization of a disk and can result in data loss.
◆ The Initialize Disk task overwrites existing disk header and configuration information
on the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk are not accessible after you
reinitialize the disk.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 51

Resizing Disks

Resizing Disks
You can resize (shrink, or grow) a virtual disk device with a SCSI interface presented by a
smart switch, smart array or RAID controller. The device must be online in an imported
disk group. The resize function can be performed only on a host licensed for the Dynamic
LUN Expansion option.
The data is preserved. Only sectors at the end of device can be added or removed.

Note You must ensure that this operation is only invoked for storage devices that
preserve the data while resizing.

To resize a disk:

1. Select the disk you wish to resize.

2. Choose Actions -> Resize Disk.... The Resize Disk dialog appears.

Resize Disk Dialog

52 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Setting Disk Usage

3. Complete the Resize Disk Dialog Box as follows:

Disk group: You can select a disk group other than the one originally chosen.

Current disk size: The current size of the selected disk.

New disk size: If the new size is smaller than the current disk size, then this is a
shrink request and the subdisks fall outside the new disk size need
to be preserved.

Select a Disk to Resize: Select the disk to be resized (from the selected disk group)

Force Before reducing the size of a device, any volumes on the device
should first be reduced in size or moved off the device. By default,
the resize fails if any subdisks would be disabled. Selecting the
Force checkbox overrides this behavior, but this can result in loss of
data.

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Setting Disk Usage

Use the Set Disk Usage feature to exclude a disk from certain operations by marking it as a
spare, excluding it from Hot Relocation, or marking it as a reserved disk, or as a disk
reserved for ISP use only.

To set disk usage:

1. Select the disk you wish to modify.

2. Choose Actions -> Set Disk Usage....

3. The Set Disk Usage dialog appears. Select the options you wish to implement.
Spare: (to be used as a spare disk in case it’s needed)
No Hot use: (cannot be used as a Hot Spare or for Hot Relocation)
Reserved: (reserved for other needs)
Reserved for Allocator: (reserved for ISP use only)

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 53

Viewing the Table of Disks

Viewing the Table of Disks

You can display the table of disks under VxVM control by clicking on the Disk node.
The following information is displayed.

Field Description

Device Lists the disks under VxVM control, by device name, for this
host. You can also use this field to:
◆ Change the fields displayed.
◆ Sort devices in ascending or descending order.

Internal Name The name you have defined for the disk, or the default name
allocated to the disk by VxVM.

Group Name The name of the group to which the disk is added.

Pool Name The name of the storage pool in which a system allocator disk
resides.

Status Disk status can be Imported, Deported, Not Initialized.

Size Size of disk.

Type Disk type.

% Used The percentage of the disk space already used. This is

color-coded, according to whether it shows Normal Usage,
High Usage, or Critical Usage.

Spare Indicates whether or not the disk has been designated as a

spare for use with hot relocation. (Not supported.)

Unallocated Space Amount of free space available to create a partition or volume.

Reserved Indicates whether the disk is reserved Not to be used as a disk.

Hot Use Indicates whether the disk is not to be used as a hot spare or to
receive volumes from the Hot Relocation procedure.

UDID Indicates the Unique Disk Identifier (UDID) of the disk.

WWN .Indicates the World Wide Name of the disk.

54 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Viewing Disk Properties

Viewing Disk Properties

The Disk Properties window contains detailed information about the selected disk. The
following information is displayed.

Category Description

Internal Name Name of disk in VxVM (default name is groupnamexx).

Pool Name Name of the Storage Pool (data pool or clone pool).

CDS Yes: CDS disk;

No: Not CDS.

Status Fields values can be Imported, Deported, Not Initialized.

Capacity Size.

Unallocated Space Amount of free space that is available to create a partition or

volume.

UDID Unique disk identifier. This is a DDL-related property. DDL is

the Device Discovery Layer that handles all disk discovery
related functions needed for the VxVM/DMP operation.

WWN This is the World Wide Name of the disk. This is a DDI-related
property. DDI properties are device driver properties primarily
used in Solaris OS.

Spare Indicates whether (Yes) or not (No) the disk has been
designated as a hot spare.

Reserved Indicates whether the disk is reserved Not to be used as a disk.

Hot Use Indicates whether the disk is not to be used as a hot spare or to
receive volumes from the Hot Relocation procedure.

Allocator Use Indicates an ISP disk.

Comment You can enter up to 40 characters of comment in this area.

Spare Indicates whether (Yes) or not (No) the disk has been
designated as a hot spare.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 55

Disabling a Controller

Disabling a Controller
The controller Disable procedure disables I/O to a controller.

Caution If your system supports the Dynamic Multipathing (DMP) feature; it should be
noted that performing the controller Disable procedure will prevent DMP from
accessing the paths associated with a controller.

You can disable access to a controller in preparation for hardware maintenance.

▼ To disable a controller

1. Select the controller to be disabled.

2. Choose Actions > Disable.

3. When you have checked the information in the dialog box, click OK.

Enabling a Controller
The controller Enable procedure enables I/O to a controller. (If your system supports the
DMP feature, and if DMP is enabled, then the Enable procedure also restores access to the
paths associated with a controller.)

▼ To enable a controller

1. Select the controller to be enabled.

2. Choose Actions > Enable.

3. When you have checked the information in the dialog box, click OK.

56 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Renaming an Enclosure

Renaming an Enclosure
The Enclosure Rename procedure changes the name of an enclosure (disk array).

▼ To rename an enclosure

1. Select the enclosure to be renamed.

2. Choose Actions > Enclosure Rename.

3. Complete the Rename Enclosure dialog box as follows:

Enclosure Name: If the correct enclosure name does not already display in this field,
enter the name.

New Name: Enter the new enclosure name.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Enclosure Rename task requires the current enclosure name and a new enclosure
name.
◆ The new enclosure name must be unique within the disk group.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 57

Creating a Disk Group

Creating a Disk Group

Disks must be placed in disk groups before they can be used by VxVM. You can create
disk groups to organize your disks into logical sets of disks.
When you place a disk under VxVM control, the disk is initialized. Initialization destroys
any existing data on the disk.

▼ To create a disk group

1. Select the Disk Groups folder.

2. Select Actions > New Disk Group. The New Disk Group Wizard welcome screen
appears.

3. You can suppress the Welcome to Create New Disk Group page by selecting the Do
not show this page next time checkbox.

4. Click Next to continue.

5. The New Disk Group Wizard appears. Provide information as described in the
following table.

Group name: Enter a new disk group name in the Group Name field.

Create cluster group If the cluster feature is available, you can select the Create cluster
group checkbox if the new disk group is to be used with clusters.

Available disks: Select which disks (from Available disks:) you want to include in
Selected disks: the group. Make sure the disks you want to include are in the right
pane of the window (Selected disks:).
(Normally, you would add all the disks you want in the group at
this point. However, you can always add more disks later with the
Add Disk to Disk Group procedure.)

Disk names: Type in the names of any disks to be added that do not appear
under Selected disks:

6. When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>.

58 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Creating a Disk Group

7. If the disks are not empty, you now need to indicate whether the disk should be
initialized or encapsulated. The initialize option is not available for disks with
mounted partitions or swap areas. If you initialize the disk, any existing data on the
disk will be destroyed. If you encapsulate the disk, any existing data will be preserved
in volumes.

8. If you chose to encapsulate the disk, the disk needs to be rebooted before
encapsulation can take effect. You have the option of rebooting the system now, or
later.

9. Click Next to add the disks to the New Disk Group.

10. The Organization principle screen now appears.

11. Click None, if you do not want to organize the disk group. Otherwise, click any of the
other organization categories under Organize DiskGroup By to create an ISP disk
group (refer to Organizing Disk Groups).

12. If you choose an organization principle other than None, the Specify Pool Names
screen appears. Specify the names for the Data pool and the Clone pool and click
Next. You must specify the pool names in order to create the first storage pool for an
ISP disk group.

13. The next screen confirms the disks you have selected. Click Finish to continue if you
are satisfied with the disk selection. If you are not satisfied, you can click the <Back
button to go back to the previous screen in order to modify your selections.

14. After clicking Finish, the new disk group will then appear under the Disks Groups
node.

Notes:

◆ The disk group name must be unique.

◆ The new disk group must contain at least one disk.
◆ Only disks that are online and do not belong to a disk group can be used to create a disk
group.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 59

Upgrading a Disk Group Version

Upgrading a Disk Group Version

The Disk Group Upgrade procedure upgrades a disk group to the disk group version
that is compatible with the current VxVM release. Some new features and tasks only work
on disk groups with the current disk group version, so you must upgrade existing disk
groups before you perform these tasks. However, after you upgrade a disk group, you
cannot access that disk group from machines running earlier releases of VxVM that do not
support a higher current disk group version.
To determine if a disk group needs to be upgraded, select the disk group and open the
Disk Group Properties window. The Current Version field of the Properties window
indicates whether the disk group has been upgraded to the current disk group version
(No indicates that disk group needs to be upgraded).

▼ To upgrade a disk group

1. Select the disk group to be upgraded to the current version.

2. Choose Actions > Upgrade Disk Group Version.

3. Confirm the upgrade by clicking OK

.

Notes:

◆ If you have disk groups created with earlier releases of VxVM, these must be upgraded
before they can take advantage of new features and tasks in the current release.
◆ If a disk group is upgraded to the current disk group version, you cannot import that disk
group on a machine running an earlier VxVM release. Disk groups that must remain
backward compatible with earlier releases of VxVM must not be upgraded.

60 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Renaming Disk Groups

Renaming Disk Groups

The Rename Disk Group procedure changes the name of an existing disk group. You can
rename a disk group to provide a more appropriate name or to avoid a name conflict with
a disk group to be imported.

▼ To rename a disk group

1. Select the disk group to be renamed.

2. Choose Actions > Rename Disk Group.

3. Complete the Rename Disk Group dialog box.

4. When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Rename Disk Group task requires the current disk group name and a new disk
group name.
◆ The new disk group name must be unique.
◆ The Rename Disk Group task deports and re-imports the disk group. If volumes in the
disk group are in use, the deport fails and the disk group is not renamed.
◆ The Rename Disk Group task updates the file system table file, if necessary.
◆ If the disk group contains volumes with mounted file systems, you may need to unmount
the file systems.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 61

Deporting Disk Groups

Deporting Disk Groups

The Deport Disk Group procedure makes a disk group and its volumes inaccessible.
Once deported, a disk group cannot be used until it is imported. You can deport a disk
group to make the disk group temporarily unavailable.
While a disk group is deported, you cannot remove and reuse any of its disks. To remove
disks, you must import the disk group and then either destroy the disk group (to remove
all of its disks) or remove selected disks from the disk group.

▼ To deport a disk group

1. Select the disk group to be deported.

2. Choose Actions > Deport Disk Group.

3. If you want to change the disk name and define a new host, then check Deport
options and complete the New name and New host fields - type in the name of the
new name of the disk group and the name of the host you are deporting the disk
group to.

4. Click OK to complete the deportation.

Notes:

◆ A deported disk group cannot be accessed. To access a deported disk group, the disk
group must be imported.
◆ A disk group cannot be deported if any volumes in that disk group are in use (open).
◆ When a disk group is deported, the host ID (the name of the machine where the disk
group currently resides) stored on all disks in the disk group is cleared and the disk group
is not re-imported automatically when the system is rebooted. However, if you specify a
host in New host option, the specified host imports the disk group at reboot.

62 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Importing Disk Groups

Importing Disk Groups

The Import Disk Group procedure makes a deported (inaccessible) disk group and its
volumes accessible again. To import a deported disk group, you must know the former
name of the disk group, and this name must not be in use. In addition, at least one disk
name formerly assigned to the deported disk group must not be in use.

▼ To import a disk group

1. Select the appropriate host machine node.

2. Select the disk group for which the group is to be imported.

3. Choose Actions > Import Disk Group.

4. Complete the Import Disk Group dialog box as follows:

New Name: Enter a new disk group name in the New Name field. to change the
name of the disk group at import.

Clear host ID Select Clear host ID to clear the existing host ID stamp (name of
the host machine that currently “owns” the disk group) on all disks
in the disk group at import. Do not use this option if another host is
using any disks in the disk group.

Force Select Force to force the disk group import when the host cannot
access all disks in the disk group This option can be used to import
a disk group that contains a failed disk, but can lead to disk group
inconsistency if all disks are still usable.

Start all volumes Select Start all volumes checkbox to start all volumes associated
with the disk group on import.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 63

Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ Only deported disk groups can be imported.

◆ A deported disk group cannot be imported if another disk group with the same name has
been created since the disk group was deported.
◆ When a disk group is imported, the system stamps its host ID (machine name) on all disks
in the disk group. A disk group import fails if one of the disks is stamped with a host ID
that does not match the others. This ensures that dual-ported disks cannot be managed
(and possibly corrupted) by two systems at the same time. If you are sure that the disk
group is not in use by another host, you can clear the host IDs and import the disk group
by selecting the Clear host ID option.

Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups

The Recover Disk Group procedure performs any necessary volume recovery operations
on the volumes in a given disk group. The recovery operations depend on the types of
volumes in the group and include starting disabled volumes, resynchronizing mirrors in
mirrored volumes, and resynchronizing parity in RAID-5 volumes. After successful
recovery, the volumes are again available for use.
Alert icons and the Alert Monitor window may provide clues to let you know that volume
recovery is needed.

▼ To recover all volumes in a disk group

1. Select the disk group containing the volumes to be recovered.

2. Enter the disk group name if the correct disk group name is not shown in the dialog
box.

3. Choose Actions > Recover Disk Group.

4. Click OK.

Note:

In some cases, recovery is not possible. If the volume recovery fails, you can attempt to
restore the volume from backup.

64 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Commands for Hot Relocation

Commands for Hot Relocation

The Hot Spare and Hot Relocation procedures enable a system to automatically react to
I/O failures on redundant (mirrored or RAID-5) volumes, and to restore redundancy and
access to those volumes. The following commands can be used to perform relocation
tasks:
◆ Undo Hot Relocation
◆ Clear Hot Relocation Info
◆ Customize Disks for Hot Relocation

Note The Hot Relocation and Hot Spare operations are only performed for redundant
(mirrored or RAID-5) subdisks on a failed disk. Non-redundant subdisks on a failed
disk are not relocated, but the system administrator is notified of their failure.

About Hot Spare and Hot Relocation

One or more disks in each disk group can be designated as hot spares by using the “set
disk usage” command. These hot spare disks provide a location where data can be moved
from failed disks or volumes.
In Hot Spare mode, all subdisks containing redundant volumes will be moved together
from a failed disk to a spare disk. In order for the Hot Spare operation to occur, there must
be enough free space on the spare disk for all the redundant volumes from the original
disk.
When a disk fails, hot relocation automatically moves all subdisks containing redundant
volumes from the failed disk to hot spare disks. If no disks have been designated as spares
or there is not enough spare disk space, a combination of spare space and free space is
used. Depending on available disk space, the subdisks are not always all moved to the
same disk, but may be scattered within the disk group.
When a partial disk failure occurs (that is, a failure affecting only some subdisks on a
disk), redundant data on the failed portion of the disk is relocated and the existing
volumes comprised of the unaffected portions of the disk remain accessible.
When selecting space for relocation, hot relocation preserves the redundancy
characteristics of the Volume Manager object that the relocated subdisk belongs to. For
example, hot relocation ensures that subdisks from a failed plex are not relocated to a disk
containing a mirror of the failed plex. If redundancy cannot be preserved using any
available spare disks or free space, hot-relocation does not take place. If relocation is not
possible, the system administrator is notified and no further action is taken.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 65

Undo Hot Relocation

When hot relocation takes place, the failed subdisk is removed from the configuration
database and Volume Manager takes precautions to ensure that the disk space used by the
failed subdisk is not recycled as free space.

Undo Hot Relocation

The Undo Hot Relocation procedure relocates subdisks back to their repaired original
disk or replacement disk and restores a system to its original configuration. If hot
relocation scattered subdisks from a failed disk to several disks within a disk group, the
undo hot relocation command will summon all of them back to a single disk without you
having to find and move each one individually.

Note The Undo Hot Relocation procedure is only available after a hot relocation or hot
sparing procedure has occurred.

1. Right-click on the disk group that contains the hot relocated volumes.

2. Select Actions > Undo Hot Relocation.

A window appears showing the disks that failed and from which subdisks were hot
relocated.

3. Select the disks you wish to unrelocate by clicking on the corresponding circle in the
column under the check mark.

4. Click OK. The hot relocated subdisks will return to the original disk.

66 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Clear Hot Relocation Info

Clear Hot Relocation Info

The Clear Hot Relocation Info command for disk groups deletes the information that
describes the original location of any subdisks that have been hot relocated. Use this
command if you do not plan to move the subdisks back to their original configuration.

1. Right-click on a disk group that contains hot relocated subdisks.

2. Select Actions > Clear Hot Relocation Info.

3. A dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to clear the relocation
information on the disk group. Click Yes if you want to clear the hot relocation
information.

Caution Once you clear the Hot Relocation Information, you will not be able to perform
an Undo Hot Relocation on that disk group.

Notes:

◆ The Clear the Relocation Info procedure requires the name of the original disk (even
if an alternate disk is specified).
◆ When a disk fails, the hot-relocation feature attempts to move subdisks from the failed
disk to other disks. The Undo Relocation Info procedure can be used to return the
relocated subdisks to their original disk locations after the original disk is repaired or
replaced.
◆ It is not possible to return relocated subdisks to their original disks after their disk group
relocation information has been cleared with the Clear the Relocation Info task.

Customize Disks for Hot Relocation

You can customize your disks in the following ways:
◆ Specify individual disks to act as Hot Spares
◆ Prevent a disk from being used for Hot Relocation or Hot Spare
◆ Mark a disk as Reserved
◆ Mark a disk as Reserved for Allocator
Each disk must be customized individually, you cannot set disk usage for a group of
disks:

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 67

Customize Disks for Hot Relocation

1. Click on the disk to be customized.

2. Choose Actions > Set Disk Usage.

A window appears offering the customization options. By default, no options are
selected.
The reserved disk option (Reserved or Reserved for Allocator) allows a disk to be
marked so that it will not be used in automatic selection operations. For example, if a
disk is marked as reserved during the create new volume wizard using the default
option to auto select disks, the volume would not be created on the reserved disk.
However, if you wish to create a volume on that specific disk, you could choose the
option to manually select the disks for the new volume and then select that disk.

3. A disk can be marked for use for spare only (Spare), or for neither hot spare or hot
relocation (No hot use). When you are satisfied with your selection, click OK.
You can review the settings for all your disks by selecting the Disks folder in the tree pane
and then viewing Disks tab in the right pane. The settings for each disk are listed in the
Spare, Reserved, Reserved for Allocator, and Hot Use columns.

68 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Destroying a Disk Group

Destroying a Disk Group

Caution Destroying a disk group can result in data loss.

The Destroy Disk Group procedure permanently removes a disk group from VxVM
control. This procedure also reinitializes all of the disks in the disk group as empty disks
and places them in the free disk pool for reuse.
Destroy a disk group only if you are sure that you no longer need the volumes and data in
the disk group.

▼ To destroy a disk group

1. Right-click on the disk group to be destroyed.

2. Choose Destroy Disk Group.

3. When the warning prompt appears; select Yes to confirm that you want all volumes
and disks removed from the disk group.

4. The disk group is then destroyed.

Notes:

◆ Use the Destroy Disk Group task with caution. Destroying a disk group permanently
removes the disk group from VxVM control and can result in data loss.
◆ When a disk group is destroyed, its disks are returned to the free disk pool. Any volumes
in the disk group are removed.
◆ A disk group cannot be destroyed if any volumes in that disk group are in use (open)
and/or contain mounted file systems.

Chapter 3, Disk Tasks 69

Moving Objects Between Disk Groups

Moving Objects Between Disk Groups

The following procedure moves a self-contained set of VxVM VEA objects between
imported disk groups. This operation is performed on VxVM VEA objects such as disks or
top-level volumes, and includes all component objects such as sub-volumes, plexes and
subdisks.

▼ To perform a disk group move operation:

1. Right-click on the disk group to be moved.

2. Select Move Disk Group.

3. Complete the Move Disk Group Dialog Box as follows:

Disk Group Name: Select the name of the disk group from which objects are to be
moved from the Disk Group Name pulldown menu.

Target Disk Group Enter the name of the disk group into which objects are to be
Name: moved.

Select Objects to move: Enter the objects to be moved.

◆ To select volumes to move, click Move disk group by
volumes. To select all of the listed volumes, click Add All.
◆ To select disks to move, click Move disk group by disks. To
select all of the listed disks, click Add All.
◆ To select storage pools to move, click Move disk group by
storage pool. To select all of the listed storage pools, click Add
All.
Click on OK.

Expand: Click Expand to specify that the objects to be moved should

include all other disks that contain subdisks that are associated
with the specified objects or with objects that they contain. For
example, if you specify that disk01 should be moved and disk01
contains vol1 which is also located on disk02, then by using the
Expand button, you ensure that disk02 will also be moved.

Show Dependencies: Click Show Dependencies to display the objects affected by the
move.

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 Moving Objects Between Disk Groups

Notes:

◆ Before moving volumes between disk groups, stop all applications that are accessing the
volumes, and unmount all file systems that are configured in the volumes.
◆ The objects to be moved must be self-contained, meaning that the disks that are moved
must not contain any other objects that are not intended for the move.
◆ This operation fails if it would remove all the disks from the source disk group.
◆ Volume states are preserved across the move.
◆ The reconfiguration must involve an integral number of physical disks.
◆ Objects to be moved must not contain open volumes.
◆ Data change objects (DCOs) and snap objects that have been dissociated by Persistent
FastResync cannot be moved between disk groups.
◆ If your system supports VERITAS Volume Replicator (VVR), then it should be noted that
VVR objects cannot be moved between disk groups.
◆ For a disk group move to succeed, the source disk group must contain at least one disk
that can store copies of the configuration database after the move.
◆ For a disk group move to succeed, the configuration database in the target disk group
must be able to accommodate information about all the objects in the enlarged disk group.
◆ The operation can only be performed on the master node of a cluster if either the source
disk group or the target disk group is shared.

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Splitting A Disk Group

Splitting A Disk Group

The disk group split operation involves splitting the contents of an imported disk group
and creating a new disk group (the target disk group) with the objects defined in the
dialog box. This operation is performed on VxVM VEA objects such as disks or top-level
volumes, and includes all component objects such as sub-volumes, plexes and subdisks.

▼ To perform a disk group split operation:

1. Select the disk group to be split.

2. Select Actions > Split Disk Group.

3. Complete the Split Disk Group Dialog Box as follows:

Disk Group Name: Enter the name of the disk group from which objects are to be split.

Target Disk Group Enter the name of the target disk group which will consist of the
Name: objects to be split.

Select Objects to move: ◆ To select disks to move, click the checkbox Split disk group
by disk, and choose from the displayed list.
◆ To select volumes to move, click the checkbox Split disk
group by volume, and choose from the displayed list.
◆ To select volumes sets to move, click the checkbox Split disk
group by volume sets, and choose from the displayed list.
◆ To select storage pools to move, click the checkbox next to Split
disk group by storage pool, and choose from the display
list.

Expand: Click Expand to specify that the objects to be split should include
all other disks that contain subdisks that are associated with the
specified objects or with objects that they contain. For example, if
you specify that disk01 should be split off and disk01 contains vol1
which is also located on disk02, then by using the Expand button,
you ensure that disk02 will also be split off.

Show Dependencies Select the Show Dependencies checkbox to show any other disks
that would be dragged to the new disk group along with the
selected disks.

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 Splitting A Disk Group

Notes:

◆ Before carrying out the split operation, stop all applications that are accessing the
volumes, and unmount all file systems that are configured in the volumes.
◆ The objects to be split off must be self-contained, meaning that the disks that are split
must not contain any other objects that are not intended for the move.
◆ This operation fails if it would remove all the disks from the source disk group.
◆ Volume states are preserved across the split.
◆ An existing deported disk group is destroyed if it has the same name as the target disk
group.
◆ The reconfiguration must involve an integral number of physical disks.
◆ Objects to be split off must not contain open volumes.
◆ Data change objects (DCOs) and snap objects that have been dissociated by Persistent
FastResync cannot be moved between disk groups.
◆ If your system supports VVR, then it should be noted that VVR objects cannot be moved
between disk groups.

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Joining Disk Groups

Joining Disk Groups

This procedure joins two disk groups by moving all VxVM objects from an imported
source disk group to an imported target disk group. The source disk group is removed
when the join is complete. This operation is performed on VxVM VEA objects such as
disks or top-level volumes, and includes all component objects such as sub-volumes,
plexes and subdisks.

▼ To perform a disk group join operation:

1. Select the disk group to be joined.

2. Select Actions > Join Disk Group.

3. Use the source disk group name shown or replace it with one from the pull-down
menu.

4. Use the target disk group name shown, or replace it with one from the pull-down
menu.

5. Click OK.

Note:

◆ Before performing a join operation, stop all applications that are accessing the volumes,
and unmount all file systems that are configured in the volumes.
◆ The reconfiguration must involve an integral number of physical disks.
◆ Objects to be joined must not contain open volumes.
◆ Data change objects (DCOs) and snap objects that have been dissociated by Persistent
FastResync cannot be moved between disk groups.
◆ If your system supports VVR, then it should be noted that VVR objects cannot be moved
between disk groups.
◆ For a disk group join to succeed, both the source and target disk groups must contain at
least one disk that can store copies of the configuration database after the split.

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 Activating Disk Groups

Activating Disk Groups

If supported on your platform, the Disk Group Activation procedure sets the activation
mode for a disk group. The disk group activation mode controls read and write access to
volumes in the specified disk group.

▼ To activate a disk group

1. Select the disk group to be activated.

2. Choose Disk Groups > Activation or Disk Group Activate/Deactivate (Command

Launcher).

3. Complete the Activate Disk Group dialog box as follows:

Disk Group Name: Enter the name of the disk group to be activated.

Activation Mode: Select one of the following disk group activation modes:
◆ To disallow read and write access for volumes in the disk
group, select Off.
◆ To allow read and write access for volumes in the disk group,
select Read Write.
◆ To allow read only access for volumes in the disk group, select
Read Only.
If your system supports a cluster environment, you can select one
of the following additional options for shared disk groups:
◆ To give the current node exclusive write access for volumes in
the shared disk group, select Exclusive Write. No other
nodes in the cluster can have write access to the disk group.
◆ To give the current node write access for volumes in the shared
disk group, select Shared Write. Other nodes in the cluster
can share write access to this disk group.
◆ To give the current node read access for volumes in the shared
disk group, select Shared Read. The current node cannot
have write access to the disk group, but other nodes in the
cluster may have write access.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

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Activating Disk Groups

Notes:

◆ The Disk Group Activation task requires a disk group name.

◆ In a cluster environment, you must specify the disk group activation mode on a per-node
basis.
◆ If your system supports a cluster environment, then the Exclusive Write, Shared
Write, and Shared Read modes are also applicable. The Read Write mode is not
available for shared disk groups.
◆ For shared disk groups, the default activation mode is Off. For non-shared disk groups,
the default activation mode is Read Write.
◆ Disk group activation settings are not persistent, so you may need to reset the activation
mode after rebooting the machine.

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 Viewing the Table of Disk Groups

Viewing the Table of Disk Groups

You can display the table of disks groups under VxVM control by clicking on the Disk
Group node.
The following information is displayed.

Field Description

Name Lists the disk groups under VxVM control, by name, for this
host. You can also use this field to:
◆ Change the fields displayed.
◆ Sort disk groups in ascending or descending order.

Status Group status can be Imported, Deported, Not Initialized.

Size Size of disk group.

Unallocated Amount of free space available to create a disk group.

CDS Cross platform data sharing. Sharing data between

heterogeneous systems (e.g., SUN and HP) where each system
has direct access to the physical devices used to hold the data.

Type Disk Group type.

# Disks Number of disks in the group.

# Volumes Number of volumes in the group.

Current Version Indicates whether the disk group has been upgraded to the
current disk group version. (No indicates that disk group needs
to be upgraded.)

Version Indicates the disk group version number.

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Viewing Disk Group Properties

Viewing Disk Group Properties

The Disk Group Properties window contains detailed information about the selected disk
group.
◆ To view the properties of a disk group, select the disk group and then choose
Properties from the popup menu.

Organizing Disk Groups

Use the Organize Disk Group feature to create a disk group that can have only ISP-style
volumes.

▼ To organize a disk group

1. Select the disk group to apply the organization principle.

2. Choose Actions > Organize Diskgroup.

3. If the Welcome screen appears, click Next. You can suppress the Welcome Screen by
checking the Do Not Show This Page Again checkbox.

4. The organize principle selection screen appears. You can select a different disk group,
at this point, if you wish.

5. Select the Organize Principle option to be applied to the disk group. Each option has
a descriptor associated with it. To view the descriptor for each option, simply click on
the option you wish to see the descriptor for and a definition will expand below the
descriptor. Once you choose a specific option, you are confined to the specified
capabilities within that option.

6. Click Next to go to the Name Storage Pools page. The data pool and clone pool fields
show the corresponding names from the selected Organized Principle. You can
modify the names, if you wish.

7. Click Next to go to the Summary Page. This displays the organize principle selected,
the disk group to which the principle is applied, and a description of the disk group.

8. Click Finish to apply the organization principle to the selected disk group.

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Volume Tasks 4
VxVM Volumes tasks include:
◆ Creating Volumes
◆ Creating a VxVM Volume
◆ Creating a VxVM ISP Volume
◆ Resizing a Volume
◆ Renaming a Volume
◆ Adding and Removing Columns in a VxVM ISP Volume
◆ Changing a VxVM Volume Layout
◆ Changing the VxVM ISP Column Count
◆ Adding a Mirror to a Volume
◆ Adding a Log to a Volume
◆ Stopping and Recovering a Volume
◆ Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup
◆ Recovering a Volume
◆ Removing a Mirror From a Volume
◆ Removing a Log From a Volume
◆ Deleting a Volume
◆ Attaching Mirrors
◆ Moving, Splitting, and Joining Subdisks
◆ Viewing Volume Properties

79
Volume Task Roadmap

Volume Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common VxVM volume tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Volume Setup Tasks:
Create new volumes Creating Volumes
Precautionary Tasks:
Mirror (copy) volumes onto other disks for Adding a Mirror to a Volume
redundancy
Create mirrored volumes Mirrored
Add a log to a volume Adding a Log to a Volume
Maintenance Tasks:
Changing the space associated with a volume Resizing a Volume
Resizing volumes Resizing a Volume
Change volume layouts Changing a VxVM Volume Layout
Change an ISP volume layouts Changing the VxVM ISP Column Count
Add mirrors to volumes that should be Adding a Mirror to a Volume
redundant
Move portions of volumes to other disk space Moving a Subdisk
Recovery Tasks:
Attempt to recover a volume Recovering a Volume
Attempt to recover all volumes on a disk Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups (see “Disk
Tasks” on page 37)
Attempt to recover all volumes in a disk group Recovering Volumes in Disk Groups (see “Disk
Tasks” on page 37)
Prepare to restore a volume from backup Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup

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 Volume Task Roadmap

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Other Tasks:
Change a volume name Renaming a Volume
Restore access to a stopped volume Recovering a Volume
Remove a mirror from a volume Removing a Mirror From a Volume
Remove a DRL log from a volume Removing a Log From a Volume
Remove a RAID-5 log from a volume Removing a Log From a Volume
Remove a volume Deleting a Volume
Starting a volume Recovering a Volume
Temporarily prevent access to a volume Stopping and Recovering a Volume
Temporarily prevent access to a volume mirror Removing a Mirror From a Volume

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VxVM Volumes

VxVM Volumes
VxVM uses logical volumes to organize and manage disk space. A volume is made up of
portions of one or more physical disks, so it does not have the physical limitations of a
physical disk.
A volume can provide greater capacity and better availability and performance than a
single physical disk. A volume can be extended (grown) across multiple disks to increase
capacity, mirrored (copied) on another disk to provide data redundancy, and/or striped
across multiple disks to improve I/O performance.
You can use VEA to create the following types of volumes:
◆ Concatenated Volume
A concatenated volume is made up of one or more disk regions that are linked
together (concatenated) in a linear fashion. A concatenated volume can consist of disk
regions on multiple disks; a concatenated volume that extends across two or more
disks is also known as a spanned volume.

Note Data in this type of volume cannot be recovered if the underlying disk fails.
However, a concatenated volume can be mirrored (copied) onto other disks to
protect its data against disk failure.

◆ Striped Volume
Striped volume data is interleaved (striped) across two or more physical disks.
Striped volume data is spread across the disks alternately and evenly in small,
equal-sized portions of data called stripe units. Striping improves performance.

Note Data in this type of volume cannot be recovered if one of the underlying disks fails.
However, a striped volume can be mirrored (copied) onto other disks to protect its
data against disk failure.

◆ RAID-5 Volume
RAID-5 volume data is interleaved (striped) across three or more physical disks.
Within each stripe across the set of disks, the data on one of the disks is parity data. If
one of the physical disks fails, the parity data can be used to reconstruct and recover
the lost data.

Note RAID-5 volumes cannot be mirrored.

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 VxVM Volumes

◆ Mirrored Volume
Volumes with concatenated or striped layouts can be mirrored to increase data
availability. All of the data in a mirrored volume is duplicated on at least one other
physical disk. If one of the disks fails, the data can still be accessed from one of the
remaining disks.
The plexes in a mirrored volume typically have the same layout, but a volume can
consist of plexes with different layouts. A mirrored volume has a “mixed” layout if
the plexes in the volume have different layouts.
◆ Layered Volume
A layered volume is built on one or more other volumes. The underlying volumes are
typically mirrored. In layered volumes, mirroring is done at a lower level and with
smaller granularity than with non-layered volumes, so each mirror covers a relatively
small storage region.
Layered volumes tolerate disk failure better than non-layered volumes and provide
improved data redundancy. If a disk in a layered volume fails, only a portion of the
redundancy is lost and recovery time is usually quicker than it would be for a
non-layered volume. Layered volumes also reduce the chance that two disk failures
will result in lost data.
The underlying volumes in a layered volume are used exclusively by VxVM and are
not intended for user manipulation.
With VEA, you can create the following types of layered volumes:
◆ Concatenated Mirrored Volume
A concatenated mirrored volume is a layered volume that concatenates several
underlying mirror volumes.
◆ Striped Mirrored Volume
A striped mirrored volume is a layered volume that stripes several underlying
mirror volumes.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 83

VxVM Volumes

The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each volume
layout.

Layout Comparison

Layout Advantages Disadvantages

Concatenated ◆ The volume can consist of disk ◆ There is a risk of data loss if the
regions that are not adjacent. volume is not mirrored.
◆ The volume can span multiple ◆ Spanning a volume across multiple
disks. A spanned volume can disks increases the chance that a
have a greater capacity than a disk failure will result in the failure
single disk. of the volume.
◆ The volume can be mirrored to ◆ Concatenation does not improve
protect data against disk failure I/O performance.
and reduce the risk of data loss.
Striped ◆ Striping provides improved ◆ There is a risk of data loss if the
read and write performance. volume is not mirrored.
◆ Striping can help to balance the ◆ Striping a volume across multiple
I/O load from multi-user disks increases the chance that a
applications across multiple disk failure will result in the failure
disks. of the volume.
◆ The volume can be mirrored to ◆ A striped volume requires at least
protect data against disk failure. two disks.
RAID-5 ◆ RAID-5 provides protection ◆ RAID-5 provides relatively slow
against disk failure and reduces write performance.
the risk of data loss. ◆ RAID-5 volumes cannot be
◆ RAID-5 provides data mirrored.
redundancy by storing parity (a ◆ A RAID-5 volume requires at least
calculated value) on the disks. If three disks. If logging is enabled, a
a disk fails, the parity is used to RAID-5 volume requires at least
reconstruct the missing data. four disks.
◆ RAID-5 requires less storage ◆ A RAID-5 volume cannot survive
space than mirroring. multiple disk failures. However,
◆ RAID-5 provides improved read optional RAID-5 logs reduce this
performance. risk.
◆ If one of the volume disks is
inaccessible, performance is
degraded.

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Layout Comparison

Layout Advantages Disadvantages

Mirrored ◆ Mirroring provides protection ◆ A mirrored volume requires extra
against disk failure and reduces disk space. Each mirror requires
the risk of data loss. enough disk space to contain a
◆ Mirroring provides data complete copy of the volume.
redundancy by maintaining
multiple complete copies of
volume data on different disks.
◆ Mirroring provides improved
read performance.
Concatenated ◆ The volume is layered, and ◆ A concatenated mirrored volume
Mirrored concatenates several underlying requires at least two disks.
mirror volumes. This provides ◆ Concatenation does not improve
improved data redundancy and I/O performance.
reduces the impact of disk
◆ Layered volumes consist of more
failures. This type of volume is
VxVM objects than non-layered
also known as a
volumes and are likely to fill up the
concatenated-mirrored volume.
disk group configuration database
◆ Recovery time is quicker than sooner. When the configuration
with regular concatenated database is full, you cannot create
volumes that are mirrored. more volumes in the disk group.
◆ The volume can consist of disk
regions that are not adjacent.
◆ The volume can span multiple
disks. A spanned volume can
have a greater capacity than a
single disk.
Striped Mirrored ◆ The volume is layered, and ◆ A striped mirrored volume requires
stripes several underlying at least four disks.
mirror volumes. This provides ◆ Layered volumes consist of more
improved data redundancy and VxVM objects than non-layered
reduces the impact of disk volumes and are likely to fill up the
failures. This type of volume is disk group configuration database
also known as a striped sooner. When the configuration
mirrored volume. database is full, you cannot create
◆ Recovery time is quicker than more volumes in the disk group.
with regular striped volumes
that are mirrored.
◆ Striping provides improved
read and write performance.
◆ Striping can help to balance the
I/O load from multi-user
applications across multiple
disks.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 85

Creating Volumes

Note The total volume size you indicate for the volume in the Create Volume Wizard is
the usable size for storing the data. Depending on the layout type, the volume can
take more space on the disk. The size shown in the Wizard for simple, striped, and
spanned volumes is the actual volume size on the disk. A RAID-5 volume requires
additional space for parity information, and a mirrored volume is a multiple of the
space taken by the original plex of the volume. The Wizard provides a Query Max
Size button to determine the size of the volume. Again, this is the usable size of the
volume rather than the actual size taken by the volume on the disk.

Creating Volumes
You can create new volumes on disks under Volume Manager control. When you invoke
the new volume wizard, it asks you for information on the disks to use, the required
layout, size, mirrors, logging, and file system options.

▼ To create a volume

1. Click on the volume node.

2. Choose Actions > New Volume. The new volume wizard appears.

3. You can suppress the Welcome to New Volume Wizard page by selecting the Do not
show this page next time checkbox.

4. Click Next> to continue.

Note To reinstate the Welcome page, you need to launch the wizard, click on the <Back
button, then uncheck the checkbox.

You can create a VxVM volume (see Creating a VxVM Volume), or VxVM ISP volumes
(see Creating a VxVM ISP Volume).

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 Creating Volumes

Creating a VxVM Volume

Note You can create a VxVM volume by first selecting the disk group; then selecting New
Volume, or by invoking New Volume from the Volume node. If you select from the
Volume node; you will then need to select a disk group. This section describes how
to create a VxVM volume by first selecting the disk group. Both methods are
identical once the disk group has been selected.

When you create a VxVM volume, you can either select your own disks, or let VxVM
select the disks for you:
Selecting Your Own Disks
VxVM Selecting the Disks

Selecting Your Own Disks

(Refer to VxVM Selecting the Disks, if you want to VxVM to select the disks.)
Use the following procedure to create your volume in a selected disk group:

▼ To create a volume

1. Click on the disk group to be used to create the volume under Disk Groups under the
selected host in the left pane. (The selected disk group must not have been organized
using ISP.)

2. Choose Actions > New Volume.

3. You are now asked if you want Volume Manager to select the disks to use; or, if you
want to select them manually.

4. Click the Manually select disks to use with this Volume radio button, click Next>.

5. The Select Disks to use for Volume screen appears. You can now:
◆ Select disks to be used by VxVM when creating the volume. (Move to Included:
area.)
◆ Select disks not to be used by VxVM when creating the volume. (Move to
Excluded: area.)
◆ Specify that the volume is to be mirrored across (Mirror Across:) or striped across
(Stripe Across:) controllers, trays, targets, or enclosures.

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Creating Volumes

Note For ISP Volumes the layout (Mirror Across: and Strip Across:) cannot be
specified.

◆ Specify ordered allocation (Ordered). Ordered allocation uses the specified

storage to first concatenate disks, then to form columns, and finally to form
mirrors.

6. Click Next>. The Select the attributes for this volume screen appears.

7. Type in the Volume Name. This is a Volume Manager-specific name that is used in
some VxVM commands. It is different from the volume label for the file system.

8. Specify the volume size, or select Maxsize.

If you click the Maxsize button, a number appears in the volume size box that
represents the maximum size for a spanned volume that spans all the disks in the
group. You can also click on another volume layout and then click the Maxsize button
to get the maximum size for that layout that involves unallocated space on all disks in
the group.
If you choose Striped or RAID-5, then Number of Columns and Stripe Unit Size need
to have an entry. Defaults are provided.

9. Select the required layout:

◆ Concatenated (Concatenated and Concatenated Mirrored)
◆ Striped (Striped and Striped Mirrored)
◆ RAID-5
◆ Mirrored

10. Select the required options

Option Notes

Mirror Info: ◆ To mirror the volume, select Mirrored. In the Total Number of
Mirrors field, enter the total number of mirrors for the volume.
Note Concatenated mirrored volumes are mirrored by default.

Initialize zero: ◆ To clear the volume before enabling it for general use, select
Initialize Zero.

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No layered volumes: ◆ To prevent the creation of a layered volume, select No Layered

Volumes. In cases where a layered volume layout is
appropriate, VxVM can create a layered volume when a
non-layered layout is specified. This option ensures that the
volume has a non-layered layout. If a layered layout is selected,
this option is ignored.

Enable FastResync ◆ If the Enable FastResync box is checked; then Enable Logging
is an option only if the volume is mirrored.
(The reason it is only enabled when Enable FastResync is
Enable logging
checked is to ensure that a new style DRL is created.)

11. Click Next> to continue. You are now asked if you want to create a File System.

12. If you want to create file system, select Create a File System (see “Creating a New File
System on a Volume Set” on page 174,).
If you do not want to create a file system, select No File System, then click Next>.

13. A summary of your selections appears. Click <Back to make changes, otherwise, click
Finish.

VxVM Selecting the Disks

(Refer to Selecting Your Own Disks, if you want to select your own disks.)
Use the following procedure to create the volume:

▼ To create a volume

1. Click on the disk group to be used to create the volume under Disk Groups under the
selected host in the left pane.

2. Choose Actions > New Volume. You are now asked if you want Volume Manager to
select the disks to use; or, if you want to select them manually.

3. Select Let Volume Manager decide which disks to use for this volume, then click
Next> to bring up the Select the attributes for this volume screen.

4. Type an alphanumeric string in the Volume Name field. The total number of
characters must be less than 32. This is a Volume Manager-specific name that is used
in some VxVM commands. It is different from the volume label for the file system.

5. Specify the volume size, or select Maxsize.

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Creating Volumes

If you click on a volume type and also click the Maxsize button, a size appears in the
volume size box that represents the maximum volume for that layout for all disks in
the group.
If you choose Striped or RAID-5, Number of Columns and Stripe Unit Size need to
have an entry. Defaults are provided.

6. Select the required layout:

◆ Concatenated (Concatenated and Concatenated Mirrored)
◆ Striped (Striped and Striped Mirrored)
◆ RAID-5
◆ Mirrored

7. Select the required options

Option Notes

Mirror Info: To mirror the volume, select Mirrored. In the Total Number of
Mirrors field, enter the total number of mirrors for the volume.
Note Concatenated mirrored volumes are mirrored by default.

Initialize zero: To clear the volume before enabling it for general use, select
Initialize Zero.

No layered volumes: To prevent the creation of a layered volume, select No Layered

Volumes. In cases where a layered volume layout is appropriate,
VxVM can create a layered volume when a non-layered layout is
specified. This option ensures that the volume has a non-layered
layout. If a layered layout is selected, this option is ignored.

Enable FastResync ◆ If the Enable FastResync box is checked; then Enable Logging
is an option only if the volume is mirrored.
(The reason it is only enabled when Enable FastResync is
Enable logging
checked is to ensure that a new style DRL is created.)

8. Click Next> to continue. You are now asked if you want to create a File System.

9. If you want to create file system, select Create a File System and proceed to Creating
File Systems.
If you do not want to create a file system, select No File System, then click Next>.

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 Creating Volumes

10. A summary of your selections appears. Click <Back to make changes, otherwise, click
Finish.

Creating a VxVM ISP Volume

Use the following procedure to create your VxVM ISP volume in a selected disk group:

▼ To create a VxVM ISP volume

1. Click on the disk group to be used to create the volume under Disk Groups under the
selected host in the left pane. The selected disk group must have been organized using
ISP.

2. Choose Actions > New Volume. You are now asked if you want to create the volume
from an existing template (Create a VxVM ISP Volume from an Existing User
Template), or if you want to define a new template (Create a VxVM ISP Volume Using
a New Template).

Create a VxVM ISP Volume Using a New Template

Use the following procedure to create your VxVM ISP volume using a newly created
template:

▼ To create a VxVM ISP volume using a new template

1. From the Organized Disk Group (Organizing Disk Groups) that you want to create
your ISP-style volume with, select Actions > New Volume.

2. Press the Blank User Template button in the Select User Template dialog, then click
Next>. The Select Capabilities dialog appears.

3. Select the capabilities you want. (Refer to Select Capabilities, Using Intelligent Storage
Provisioning.) Click Next>. The Rule configuration dialog appears.

4. Select the rules you want. (Refer to Set Configuration Rules, Using Intelligent Storage
Provisioning.) Click Next>. The Select Disks dialog appears.

5. You can either select the disks yourself, or let VxVM select the disks for you.

6. If you want to select the disks yourself, select the disks which can be used for the new
volume (move to Include). You can also select those disks you want to exclude from
creating the new volume (move to Exclude).

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 91

Creating Volumes

7. Click Next>. The Volume Attributes wizard appears.

8. Type an alphanumeric string in the Volume Name field. The total number of
characters must be less than 32. This is a Volume Manager-specific name that is used
in some Volume Manager commands. It is different from the volume label for the file
system.

9. Specify the volume size, or select Maxsize.

Note If you select Maxsize, a size appears in the volume size box that represents the
maximum value for the selected capabilities and rules.

10. Click Next> . You are now asked if you want to create a File System.

11. If you want to create file system, select Create a File System and proceed to Creating
File Systems.
If you do not want to create a file system, select No File System, then click Next>.

12. Click on Finish when you are satisfied with all the settings displayed on the summary
page. Use the <Back button to make any changes to the earlier pages.

Create a VxVM ISP Volume from an Existing User Template

If you choose to use the existing configuration (user template), then you have the option
to skip the capability and rules page, and you are taken directly to the disk selection page
by selecting the Skip Wizard Pages. (The volume attributes screen is always shown.)
Use the following procedure to create your VxVM ISP volume:

▼ To create a VxVM ISP volume using an existing template

1. From the Organized Disk Group (Organizing Disk Groups) that you want to create
your ISP-style volume with, select Actions > New Volume.

2. Select the Existing User Templates button in the Select User Template dialog, then
click Next>.

3. Select a template listed under Available User Templates column.

4. If you do not want to modify the capabilities and rules for the selected existing
template, select the Skip Capabilities check box, then click Next>. The Select Disks
dialog box appears.

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5. To manually select the disks, move the disks to the Include or Exclude areas. Click
Next>. The Volume Attributes screen appears.

6. Type an alphanumeric string in the Volume Name field. The total number of
characters must be less than 32. This is a Volume Manager-specific name that is used
in some Volume Manager commands. It is different from the volume label for the file
system.

7. Specify the volume size, or select Maxsize.

Note If you select Maxsize, a size appears in the volume size box that represents the
maximum value for the selected capabilities and rules.

8. Click Next> . You are now asked if you want to create a File System.

9. If you want to create file system, select Create a File System and proceed to Creating
File Systems.
If you do not want to create a file system, select No File System, then click Next>.

10. A summary of your selections appears. Click <Back to make changes, otherwise, click
Finish.

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Creating Volumes

Concatenated
A concatenated volume consists of one or more regions of the specified disks. You have
the option of placing a file system on the new volume or mirroring the volume. You can
create a regular concatenated volume or a concatenated mirrored volume. A concatenated
mirrored volume is layered and mirrored.

Layout: Choose Concatenated or Concatenated Mirrored for the volume

layout.

Options: ◆ To mirror the volume, select Mirrored. In the Total Number of Mirrors
field, enter the total number of mirrors for the volume.
Note Concatenated mirrored volumes are mirrored by default.
To enable logging for a mirrored volume, select Enable Logging.
◆ To clear the volume before enabling it for general use, select Initialize
Zero.
◆ To prevent the creation of a layered volume, select No Layered
Volumes. In cases where a layered volume layout is appropriate,
VxVM can create a layered volume when a non-layered layout is
specified. This option ensures that the volume has a non-layered
layout. If a layered layout is selected, this option is ignored.

Notes:

◆ If no disks are assigned, VxVM uses available space on disks in the selected disk group.
◆ The data in a concatenated volume is not protected against disk failure unless the volume
is mirrored. At least one additional disk is required to mirror a concatenated volume.
◆ Concatenated mirrored volumes are mirrored by default, so a concatenated mirrored
volume requires more disks than an unmirrored concatenated volume.
◆ If your system supports root volumes, then it should be noted that you cannot use a
concatenated mirrored volume for a root volume.
◆ You cannot use a concatenated mirrored volume for a swap volume.
◆ If a file system is placed on the volume and the Mount at Boot option is selected, the file
system table file automatically updates.
◆ The Enable FastResync option is available only for VxVM 4.0 data groups, and if the
FastResync license is present.

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Striped
A striped volume spreads across two or more disks. You have the option of placing a file
system on the new volume or mirroring the volume. You can create a regular striped
volume or a striped mirrored volume. A striped mirrored volume is layered and mirrored.

Layout: Choose Striped or Striped Mirrored for the volume layout.

In the Number of Columns field, specify the number of columns (disks)
across which the volume should be striped. A striped volume requires at
least two disks.
Specify a stripe unit size (sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes) in
the drop-down menu.

Options: ◆ To mirror the volume, select Mirrored. In the Total Number of Mirrors
field, enter the total number of mirrors for the volume.
Note Striped mirrored volumes are mirrored by default.
To enable logging for a mirrored volume, select Enable Logging.
◆ To clear the volume before enabling it for general use, select Initialize
Zero.
◆ To prevent the creation of a layered volume, select No Layered
Volumes. In cases where a layered volume layout is appropriate,
VxVM can create a layered volume when a non-layered layout is
specified. This option ensures that the volume has a non-layered
layout. If a layered layout is selected, this option is ignored.

Notes:

◆ If no disks are assigned, VxVM uses available space on disks in the selected disk group.
◆ The data in a striped volume is not protected against disk failure unless the volume is
mirrored. At least one additional disk is required to mirror a striped volume.
◆ Striped mirrored volumes are mirrored by default, so a striped mirrored volume requires
more disks than an unmirrored striped volume.
◆ If your system supports root volumes, then it should be noted that you cannot use a
striped mirrored volume for a root volume.
◆ You cannot use a striped mirrored volume for a swap volume.
◆ If a file system is placed on the volume and the Mount at Boot option is selected, the file
system table file is automatically updated.
◆ The Enable FastResync option is available only for VxVM 4.0 data groups, and if the
FMR3 license is present.

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Creating Volumes

RAID-5
A RAID-5 volume spreads across two or more disks, and contains parity information. You
have the option of placing a file system on the new volume.

Layout: Choose RAID-5 for the volume layout.

In the Number of Columns field, specify the number of columns (disks)
across which the volume should be striped. A RAID-5 volume requires at
least three disks (or four disks if logging is enabled).
To specify a stripe unit size other than the default, enter the stripe unit size
in the Stripe Unit Size field. To specify a size unit, attach s (sectors), k
(kilobytes), m (megabytes), or g (gigabytes) to the size.

Options: ◆ To enable RAID-5 logging for the volume, select Enable Logging.
VxVM adds an appropriate number of logs to the volume.
◆ To clear the volume before enabling it for general use, select Initialize
Zero.

Notes:

◆ A RAID-5 volume requires at least three disks. If logging is enabled, a RAID-5 volume
requires at least four disks.
◆ RAID-5 volumes cannot be mirrored.
◆ For a RAID-5 volume, the size specified in the Size field is the usable space in the volume.
Volume Manager allocates additional space for the volume parity information. The disks
across which the RAID-5 volume is striped must, therefore, contain additional free space
for the volume parity information.
◆ If no disks are assigned, VxVM uses available space on disks in the selected disk group.
◆ If a file system is placed on the volume and the Mount at Boot option is selected, the file
system table file is automatically updated.
◆ The Enable FastResync option is available only for VxVM 4.0 data groups, and if the
FMR3 license is present.

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Mirrored
A concatenated or striped volume is mirrored (copied) on at least one other disk. If one of
the disks fails, data on the volume can be accessed from the surviving disks. Concatenated
mirrored and striped mirrored volumes are layered and mirrored by default.

Layout: Choose Concatenated, Striped, Concatenated Mirrored , or Striped

Mirrored for the volume layout.
For a striped or striped mirrored volume, provide the following
information:
◆ In the Number of Columns field, specify the number of columns
(disks) across which the volume should be striped. A striped volume
requires at least two disks.
◆ To specify a stripe unit size other than the default, enter the stripe unit
size in the Stripe Unit Size field. To specify a size unit, attach an s
(sectors), k (kilobytes), m (megabytes), or g (gigabytes) to the size.

Mirror Info: Select Mirrored. In the Total Number of Mirrors field, enter the total
number of mirrors for the volume.

Options: ◆ To enable Dirty Region Logging (DRL) for the volume, select Enable
Logging. VxVM adds an appropriate number of logs to the volume.
◆ To clear the volume before enabling it for general use, select Initialize
Zero.
◆ To prevent the creation of a layered volume, select No Layered
Volumes. In cases where a layered volume layout is appropriate,
VxVM can create a layered volume when a non-layered layout is
specified. This option ensures that the volume has a non-layered
layout. If a layered layout is selected, this option is ignored.

Notes:

◆ A mirrored volume requires at least two disks. If logging is enabled, the volume requires
at least one additional disk.
◆ Only concatenated or striped volumes can be mirrored.
◆ The Prepare for Instant Snapshot option is available only for VxVM 4.0 data groups, and if
the

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 97

Resizing a Volume

Resizing a Volume
You can change the size of a VxVM volume. If users require more space on a volume, you
can use this procedure to increase the size of the volume. If a volume contains unused
space that you need to use elsewhere, you can use this procedure to shrink the volume. If
the volume contains a file system, this procedure also resizes the file system.

▼ To resize a VxVM volume

1. Select the volume to be resized.

2. Choose Actions > Resize Volume. The Resize Volume dialog appears, displaying the
name of the volume name its current size.

3. You can find out the maximum size of the volume by selecting Max Size.

4. Choose one of the following actions:

◆ Specify the size which the volume should grow (in the Add By: field). The new
size is displayed in New volume size: field.
◆ Specify the size which the volume should reduce (in the Subtract By: field). The
new size is displayed in New volume Size: field.
◆ Specify the required size in the New volume size: field.
◆ Specify that the volume should grow to the maximum size available, by selecting
Max Size.

5. You can force the resize, if the size is being reduced and the volume is active, by
selecting the Force checkbox.

6. To use a specific disk for the additional space, click Manually select disks for use by
this volume, then use the buttons for adding and removing disks to move the disk or
disks you want assigned as a destination disk to the right pane of the window.

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7. If you select the disks manually, you can specify the layout, select Mirror Across or
Stripe Across; then select the device (Controller, Tray, Target, Enclosure). Click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Resize Volume task requires either the desired size or the amount of space to add to
or subtract from the volume size.
◆ A volume containing a file system other than VxFS cannot be reduced in size.
◆ Shrinking a volume with an unmounted file system can result in data loss, so a volume
containing an unmounted file system cannot be reduced in size.
◆ When the size of volume is reduced, the resulting extra space is freed for use.
◆ When the volume size is increased, sufficient disk space must be available. When
increasing the size of a volume, VxVM assigns the necessary new space from available
disks..
◆ You cannot Mirror Across or Stripe Across ISP Volumes when you choose to select the
disks manually.

Resizing and Deleting Multiple VxVM ISP Volumes

To resize or delete multiple volumes, do the following:

1. Select the volumes to be resized or deleted

2. Right click on the selected items

3. Select and perform the appropriate action

The changes will be applied to the selected volumes.

❖ In case of error
If there is an error on any of the selected volumes, the changes are not applied to this
volume and an error message specific to the volume is displayed. The changes are
successful on the rest of the selected volumes.

Renaming a Volume
The Rename Volume procedure changes the name of a volume. If the volume has a file
system, this procedure also makes the necessary changes to the file system table file and
allows you to specify a new mount point for the file system.

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Renaming a Volume

▼ To rename a volume

1. Select the volume to be renamed.

2. Choose Actions > Rename Volume.

3. Complete the Rename Volume dialog box as follows:

Volume Name: If the correct volume name does not already display in this field,
enter the volume name.

New Name: Enter the new name for the volume.

After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Rename Volume task requires the current volume name and a new volume name.
◆ The new volume name must be unique within the disk group.
◆ If the volume contains a file system, the file system table file is automatically updated (if
necessary).
◆ The Rename Volume task requires umount file system if a file system is mounted.

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 Transforming an ISP Volume

Transforming an ISP Volume

Use Transform Volume option to modify a volume’s capabilities and rules. Select and
right click the volume that you want to modify. Select the Transform Volume option.
The wizard that is displayed guides you through the Volume Attributes, Capabilities,
Rules, and Disk Selection pages. Change the volumes intent to suit your current
requirements.

▼ To Transform an ISP Volume

1. Select the ISP volume to transform.

2. Choose Actions > Transform Volume. The Transform Volume Wizard appears. Click
Next.

3. The Volume Attribute dialog appears. This dialog displays the volume to be
transformed and the size of the volume. In this dialog a comment about the volume
can be added.

4. Click Next. You are now asked if you want select existing template (Create a VxVM
ISP Volume from an Existing User Template), or if you want to define a new template
(Create a VxVM ISP Volume Using a New Template). Once you have chosen the
template you wish to use, click Next.

5. Select the capabilities you want. (Refer to Select Capabilities, Using Intelligent Storage
Provisioning.) Click Next>.

6. If asked, select the rules you want. (Refer to Set Configuration Rules, Using Intelligent
Storage Provisioning.) Click Next>.

7. A summary of your selections appears. Click <Back to make changes, otherwise, click
Finish.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 101

Adding and Removing Columns in a VxVM ISP Volume

Adding and Removing Columns in a VxVM ISP Volume

You can change the number of columns in a VxVM ISP volume using the Add/Remove
Column menu item.

▼ To change the number of columns in a VxVM ISP volume

1. Select the volume to be changed.

2. Choose Actions > Add/Remove Column. The Add/Remove Column dialog appears.
This displays the number of columns and the stripe size on the selected volume.
Complete options for changing the layout as follows:

Columns Increase or decrease the number of columns to Add or Remove

columns for the volume.

Stripe Width Change the stripe width of the columns in the Stripe Width field.

Changing the VxVM ISP Column Count

The volume Change Column Count procedure changes the column count and strip unit
size of a volume without interfering with the performance of a volume.

▼ To change an ISP column count

1. Select the volume to be changed to a different column count.

2. Choose Actions > Change Column Count. The Change Column Count dialog
appears. This displays the number of columns and the stripe size on the selected
volume. Complete options for changing the layout as follows:

Columns Increase or decrease the number of columns to Add or Remove

columns for the volume.

Stripe Unit Size Change the stripe unit size of the columns in the Stripe Unit Size
field.

3. Click OK to apply the changes.

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Setting Volume Usage

The volume Set Volume Usage procedure enables you to set the read policy for a
volume.

▼ To set volume usage

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Set Volume Usage.

Changing a VxVM Volume Layout

The volume Change Layout procedure changes the layout of a VxVM volume without
interrupting access to data. You can use this task to change the redundancy or
performance characteristics of an existing volume.
You can view the progress of the relayout task through the Relayout Status Monitor
window. You can also use the Relayout Status Monitor window to pause, abort, continue,
or reverse the relayout task. The Relayout Status Monitor appears automatically when a
relayout task begins.

▼ To change a volume layout

1. Select the volume to be changed to a different layout.

2. Choose Actions > Change Layout.

3. Complete the Change Volume Layout dialog box as follows:

Volume Name: If the correct volume name does not already display in this field, enter the
volume name.

Layout: Choose the new volume layout (Concatenated, Striped, RAID-5,

Concatenated Mirrored , or Striped Mirrored.)
For a striped, RAID-5, or striped mirrored volume, provide the following
information:
◆ In the Number of Columns field, specify the number of columns
(disks) across which the volume should be striped.
◆ The stripe unit size (sectors) in the Stripe Unit Size field.

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Changing a VxVM Volume Layout

Options: Click Show Options to access the optional settings for this task.
◆ To retain the original volume size when the volume layout changes,
click Retain volume size at completion.
◆ To specify the size of the pieces of data that are copied to temporary
space during the volume relayout, enter the size in the Temp space
size field.
◆ To specify additional disk space to be used for the new volume layout
(if needed), specify the disk in the disk(s) field.
◆ To specify the temporary disk space to be used during the volume
layout change, specify the disk in the temp disk(s) field.
◆ If the volume contains plexes with different layouts, specify the plex to
be changed to the new layout in the Target Plex field.

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK. The
Relayout Status Monitor window appears. This window provides you with the
following information:

Volume Name: The name of the volume that is undergoing a layout change.

Initial Layout: The original layout of the volume.

Desired Layout: The new layout for the volume.

Status: The status of the relayout task.

% Complete: The progress of the relayout task.

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If you need to pause, abort, or continue a relayout task after you close the Relayout
Status Monitor window, you can access the relayout task through the popup menu at
the bottom of the main window, see Accessing Tasks for more information. You can
use the popup menu to abort, pause, or resume the task.

Notes:

◆ The Volume Change Layout task requires a volume name and a different volume
layout.
◆ Volumes remain accessible during online relayout.
◆ This task may take a long time, depending on the volume size and other factors. The
Relayout Status Monitor shows the progress of the layout change and allows you to abort,
pause, or reverse the task.
◆ If no disk space is specified, VxVM uses available space on disks in the current disk
group.
◆ If the temporary space size is not specified, VxVM uses an appropriate size. Specifying a
larger temporary space size speeds up the layout change process because larger pieces of
data are copied at a time. If the specified temporary space size is too small, VxVM uses a
larger size.
◆ If all of the plexes in the volume have identical layouts, VxVM changes all plexes (except
log plexes) to the new layout. If the volume contains plexes with different layouts, a target
plex must be specified. When a target plex is specified, VxVM changes the layout of the
target plex and leaves the other plexes in the volume alone.
◆ Log plex layouts do not change. VxVM removes and/or replaces log plexes, depending
on the new layout.
◆ If the volume length changes as a result of the layout change and the volume contains a
file system, the file system length is automatically adjusted (if possible).
◆ A volume cannot undergo multiple relayouts at the same time.
◆ This task cannot be used to change the layout of a volume with a sparse plex.
◆ This task may fail for volumes that were not created by VEA or the vxassist command.
◆ If the relayout is reversed, the volume returns to its original layout. However, data in the
volume may not return to its original storage location.
◆ During a relayout, many other tasks are unavailable for the volume.
◆ A mirrored or striped volume requires at least two disks.
◆ A RAID-5 volume requires at least three disks.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 105

Adding a Mirror to a Volume

Adding a Mirror to a Volume

The volume Add Mirror procedure creates a mirror (copy) of a volume on a disk that is not
already being used by the volume. If one of the disks fails, the volume data can be
accessed from the surviving disks. A volume can have multiple mirrors.
(To create a new mirrored volume, use the New Volume procedure. You select a mirrored
layout when you create the volume. See “VxVM Volumes.” )

Note The mirroring process is disabled if the volume cannot be mirrored or if there is no
unallocated space on another disk large enough to mirror the volume. A RAID-5
volume cannot be mirrored.

▼ To add a mirror to an existing volume

1. Select the volume to be mirrored. You can view the mirrors on a volume by selecting
the Mirrors tab from the volume’s detail view.

2. Choose Actions > Mirror > Add.

3. Complete the Add Mirror dialog box as follows:

Options: ◆ To add more than one mirror, enter the number of mirrors in
the Number of Mirrors to Add field.
◆ To place the mirror on a specific disk, select Manually select
disks for use by this volume, and assign the destination
disks for the mirrors.
◆ To specify the layout for the mirror, select Mirror Across or
Stripe Across. For a striped mirror, specify the number of
columns and stripe unit size.
Note The layout does not need to be specified for an ISP Volume.
Also, Option 3 (Mirror Across/Stripe Across) is not
applicable to ISP volumes.
◆ To let VxVM assign the disks, select Let Volume Manager
decide what disks to use for this volume.

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After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.
Adding a mirror requires resynchronization, so this task may take some time.

Notes:

◆ Once mirrored, the data in the volume is redundant. If a disk fails, the data remains
available on the surviving mirror (on another disk).
◆ The new mirror cannot be created on a disk that already contains a copy of the volume.
Each mirror must reside on a separate disk.
◆ Sufficient disk space must be available to accommodate the additional mirrors.
◆ Only disks in the same disk group as the volume can be used to create the new mirror.
◆ If no disks are assigned, VxVM uses available disk space to create the mirror.
◆ A RAID-5 volume cannot be mirrored.
◆ A volume can contain up to 32 plexes (mirrors).
◆ If you create more than one mirror at a time, you may see inconsistent information on the
progress bar. Also, the generation of multiple mirrors does affect system resources. After
creating a mirror, you may want to wait until it has finished generating before creating
another mirror.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 107

Adding a Log to a Volume

Adding a Log to a Volume

The volume Add Log procedure adds the appropriate type of log to a mirrored or RAID-5
volume.
When used to add a Dirty Region Logging (DRL) log to a mirrored volume, DRL uses this
log to track the regions of the volume that change due to I/O writes. If a system failure
occurs, DRL uses the information in the log to recover only the portions of the volume that
need recovery. This speeds up recovery time for mirrored volumes.
For DRL to be in effect, a mirrored volume must have at least one DRL log. You can create
additional DRL logs (on different disks) to mirror the DRL information.
When used to add a log to a RAID-5 volume, the log speeds up the resynchronization time
for RAID-5 volumes after a system failure. A RAID-5 log maintains a copy of the data and
parity being written to the volume at any given time. If a system failure occurs, VxVM can
“replay” the RAID-5 log to resynchronize the volume. This copies the data and parity that
was being written at the time of failure from the log to the appropriate areas of the RAID-5
volume. You can create multiple RAID-5 logs (on different disks) to mirror the log
information. Ideally, each RAID-5 volume has at least two logs.

1. Select the mirrored volume or RAID-5 volume to contain the log.

2. Select Actions > Log > Add.

3. In the Number of Logs to Add field, select the number of logs you wish to add to this
volume.

Note This field is only available if you are adding logs to an ISP Volume.

4. By default the Auto select disks option will be selected. To manually assign the
destination disks, select the Manually select disks option.
Available disks will appear in the left window. To add destination disks, select them
in the left window and click the Add button. To add all of the available disks, click the
Add All button.
To remove destination disks, select them in the right window and then click the
Remove button. To remove all of the destination disks, click the Remove All button.

5. Click Apply to create the Log then OK.

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Notes:

◆ When a log is added to a mirrored volume, DRL is activated for that volume.
◆ You cannot add a DRL log to an ISP Volume. ISP Volumes can only contain DCO logs.
◆ RAID5 volume users can add either a DCO log or a RAID5 log.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 109

Stopping and Recovering a Volume

Stopping and Recovering a Volume

The Stop Volume procedure disables a volume. When a volume is stopped, it is not
available for use until it is recovered. ((refer to Recovering a Volume). Stopping a volume
is a safe way of temporarily preventing access to a volume.

▼ To stop a volume

1. Select the volume to be stopped.

2. Choose Actions > Stop Volume.

3. In reply to the message “Are you sure you want to stop the volume...,” click OK. The
volume state changes to STOPPED.

Note:

◆ A volume cannot be stopped if it is in use (open) or it has a mounted file system.

Recovering a Volume
The Recover Volume procedure performs any necessary volume recovery operations on
a volume. The recovery operations depend on the type of volume and include starting
disabled volumes, resynchronizing mirrors in mirrored volumes, and resynchronizing
parity in RAID-5 volumes. After successful recovery, the volume is again available for use.

▼ To recover a failed volume

1. Select the volume to be recovered.

2. Choose Actions > Recover Volume.

3. In reply to the message “Are you sure you want to recover volume...,” click OK.

Note:

In some cases, recovery is not possible. If the volume recovery fails, you can attempt to
restore the volume from backup.

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 Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup

Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup

The Volume Prepare Restore procedure stops the volume, sets the volume to an
uninitialized state, and restarts the volume (without resynchronizing the volume mirrors).
The volume can then be reloaded from backup (refer also to Merging a Snapshot Volume
(Volume Snapback)).
This procedure is intended for raw image backups and is not appropriate for file system
backups. This procedure is useful for disaster recovery. If the data on a volume is
corrupted and you know that you need to restore the volume from backup, you can use
this procedure to prepare the volume for restoration.

▼ To prepare a volume for a restore from backup

1. Select the volume to be restored from backup.

2. Choose Volumes > Restore Volume. When asked, “Are you sure you want to
restore this volume?,” click OK.

Note:

If the volume contains a mounted file system, the file system must be unmounted before
this task can proceed. This task does not remount the file system.

Chapter 4, Volume Tasks 111

Removing a Mirror From a Volume

Removing a Mirror From a Volume

Caution Removing a mirror can result in loss of data redundancy.

The Mirror Remove procedure removes a mirror from its volume. This procedure breaks
the link between the mirror and its volume and returns the mirror disk space to the free
space pool for reuse. You can remove an extra mirror from a volume to make the
underlying disk space available for use elsewhere. However, this may leave the volume
unmirrored and unprotected against disk failure.

▼ To remove a mirror from a volume

1. Select the volume that contains the mirror to be removed.

2. Choose Actions > Mirror > Remove.

3. Complete the Remove Mirror dialog box as follows:

Volume Name: If the correct volume name does not already display in this field,
enter the volume name or select the volume from the drop-down
menu.

Removal Method: Specify the mirrors and/or number of mirrors to be removed:

◆ To specify how many mirrors should be removed, select By
Quantity/Disk. Enter the number of mirrors to be removed in
the Mirror quantity field.
◆ To specify the disks on which mirrors should be preserved,
select By quantity/disk.
◆ Specify the names of disks or mirrors to be removed from the
list of available disks or mirrors.

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After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Mirror Remove task requires a volume name. This task also requires the number of
mirrors to remove, a disk name, or a mirror name.
◆ If a volume only has two mirrors and one mirror is removed, the volume is no longer
redundant.
◆ The last mirror (plex) cannot be removed from a volume.
◆ When a mirror is removed, the space occupied by that mirror is returned to the free space
pool.

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Removing a Log From a Volume

Removing a Log From a Volume

The Log Remove procedure removes a log from a mirrored, ISP-type, or RAID-5 volume.
For a mirrored volume, this removes a DRL log from the volume. For an ISP-type volume,
this removes the DCO log from the volume. For a RAID-5 volume, this removes a RAID-5
log from the volume.

▼ To remove a log from a volume

1. Select the volume that contains the RAID-5, DRL, or DCO log to be removed.

2. Select Actions > Log > Remove.

3. Complete the Remove Log dialog box as follows:

Volume Name: If the correct volume name does not already display in this field,
select the volume name from the drop-down menu.

Removal Method: Specify the logs and/or number of logs to be removed:

◆ To specify how many logs should be removed, select By
Quantity/Disk. Enter the number of logs to be removed in the
Log quantity field.
◆ To specify the disks on which logs should be preserved, select
By Quantity/Disk. Select the disk names from the list of
available disks.
◆ To specify the name of the log to be removed, select Log, then
select the log names from the list of available logs.

After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ If the only log is removed from a volume, then logging (either dirty region logging, DCO
logging, or RAID-5 logging) is no longer in effect for that volume. When logging is
disabled, recovery time increases.

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Deleting a Volume
Caution Deleting a volume can result in data loss.

This procedure permanently removes a volume and all of its data. You should only
remove a volume if you are sure that you do not need the data in the volume (or the data
is backed up elsewhere). You can remove a volume to make the underlying disk space
available for use elsewhere.

▼ To delete a volume

1. You can select the volume to be deleted in one of two ways:

Select the disk group containing the volume to be deleted. The disk group table is
displayed in the right pane. Click on the Volumes tag. The volumes in the disk group
are displayed.
or
Select the Volumes node.

2. Select the volume to be deleted.

3. Choose Actions > Delete Volume.

4. Respond Yes when the Delete Volume confirmation dialog appears.

Notes:

◆ Removing a volume destroys all of the data in that volume.

◆ When a volume is removed, the space it occupied is available as free space.

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Attaching Mirrors

Attaching Mirrors
The Attach Mirror procedure attaches a mirror to a volume. This involves copying data
from an active mirror on the volume to the mirror.

▼ To attach a mirror

1. Select the volume containing the mirror. The volume table appears in the right pane.

2. Click on the Mirrors tab in the right pane. The list of mirrors for that volume appears.

3. Select mirror to be attached. Click Attach Mirror.

Detaching a Mirror
The Detach Mirror procedure dissociates a mirror from its volume. This disconnects the
mirror from its volume and reduces volume data redundancy.

▼ To detach a mirror

1. Select the volume containing the mirror. The volume table appears in the right pane.

2. Click on the Mirrors tab in the right pane. The list of mirrors for that volume appears.

3. Select mirror to be detached. Click Detach Mirror.

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Moving, Splitting, and Joining Subdisks

The Subdisk Move, Subdisk Split, and Subdisk Join, procedures enable you to move
subdisks to other locations within the group, split subdisks, and join them back together.
The flexibility of moving subdisks, splitting them, and joining them lets you make best
use of your disk space.
◆ Moving a Subdisk
◆ Splitting a Subdisk
◆ Joining a Subdisk
After selecting the disk group, you can then use the Disk View window (Actions > Disk
View) or the Volume to Disk Mapping window (Actions > Disk/Volume Map) to view
the subdisks and gaps on disks in a disk group. You can use the Volume Layout Details
window (Actions > Layout View) to view subdisks in a specific volume.

Moving a Subdisk
Note You are not allowed to move a subdisk that is part of a boot or system volume.

The Subdisk Move procedure moves the contents of a volume subdisk from one disk to
another. This is useful for moving portions of a volume to a different disk for improved
performance.
If disk activities are heavily concentrated on one or a small number of disks in the storage
subsystem, it may create bottlenecks. You can use the Subdisk Move and possibly the
Subdisk Split procedure to spread out disk accesses more evenly across all the disks to
balance the load.
You can use the Subdisk Move procedure to move all subdisks to healthier disks. The
benefit of moving subdisks instead of copying the volumes is that you need only enough
space on the receiving disks for the subdisks on the one failed disk, not for entire volumes
that may span multiple disks. Another advantage is that there is no interruption in I/O.
Moving subdisks provides you with a flexible means of making adjustments in your
storage system while it is up and running.
In the Disk View window, you can move a subdisk by placing the pointer over the subdisk
and then pressing and holding the mouse button to drag the subdisk to another location.
To display the subdisk in the right pane, click on its volume in the tree view, and then click
on the Subdisks tab in the right pane. The subdisks for that volume will display. You can
use the Sub-disk Properties menu selection to further identify the characteristics of a
volume’s subdisks.

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Moving, Splitting, and Joining Subdisks

▼ To perform a subdisk move operation:

1. Select the volume containing the subdisk to be moved.

2. Choose Actions > Disk View. Then select the Subdisks tab.

3. Select the subdisk to be moved.

4. Choose Actions > Move Subdisk. The Move Subdisk dialog is displayed.

5. Choose Auto assign destination disks, if you want VxVM to assign a destination disk
for you. Choose Manually assign destination disks is you want to select the
destination disk.

6. If you select manual assignment of the destination disk, you need to select the
destination disks. You also need to set the disk offset and its units (Sectors, KB, MB,
GB, or TB).

7. Click OK to start the move operation.

Note VEA automatically checks the state of the data before beginning the subdisk move.
If the data is degraded, the subdisk can still be moved. After moving, you will need
to reactivate the disk to clear the degraded setting.

8. Click Finish when the final screen appears to complete the command.

Notes:

◆ Subdisks are typically moved to reorganize disk space.

◆ The disk space occupied by the original subdisk is returned to the free space pool.
◆ A subdisk in a mirrored, striped, or RAID-5 volume should not be moved to a disk that
already contains a copy or part of that volume.
◆ If the Subdisk Move task fails and leaves some unused subdisks (that is, subdisks that are
not associated with a volume) on the system, you can use the Subdisk Remove task to
free the space occupied by the unused subdisks.

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Sub-disk Properties

Property Description
Name Subdisks on a disk are assigned numbers in a sequence, such as 1-01, 1-02, 1-03 or
12-01, 12-02, 12-03. The subdisk number is an internal number generated by the
program. There is no particular significance to the one or two digits before the dash
except that, for any one disk, the first one or two numbers identifying its subdisks
must be the same. The numbers after the dash represent a number for the subdisk
within the disk. Thus, if the subdisk was the first one created for a particular disk, it
would have 01 after the dash, the second disk created would have 02 after the dash,
and so on.
Size This field displays the size of the subdisk.
Column Column displays the column that the subdisk occupies in the volume. Striped and
RAID-5 volumes have multiple columns.
Disk Offset This is the offset where the subdisk starts on the disk. The reason this is included in
the Properties window is because for a subdisk to be split, it must be a contiguous to
the subdisk next to it. By looking at the offsets, you can determine which subdisks
are contiguous.
Plex Offset This is the offset of a subdisk within a plex. It shows the distance from the start of a
plex to the start of a specific subdisk. The first subdisk within a plex will have an
offset of "0." The second subdisk will be offset by the size of the first subdisk.

Splitting a Subdisk
Use the Subdisk Split procedure to split a subdisk. After the subdisk is split, the resulting
two subdisks will reside on the same section of the same disk. You can then use the
Subdisk Move procedure to move one or both subdisks to other disks. You may want to
split and move a subdisk to make the best use of your disk space. A split subdisk can be
joined back together again with the Subdisk Join command.

▼ To split a subdisk into multiple subdisks

1. Select the volume containing the subdisk to be split.

2. Choose Actions > Disk View. Then select the Subdisks tab.

3. Select the subdisk to be split.

4. Select Actions > Split Subdisk.

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Moving, Splitting, and Joining Subdisks

5. In the next screen that comes up, specify the subdisk size for the first of the two
subdisks and Click Next.
The remaining space left over will be assigned to the second subdisk. For example, if
the original subdisk was 100 MB and you assigned 40 MB to the first subdisk, the
other subdisk will be 60 MB.

6. The final screen of the Subdisk Split wizard appears. Click Finish to complete the
command.
After a few moments, two subdisks will appear in the right pane of the Volume
Manager GUI.

Notes:

◆ The name of the first subdisk remains the same as the selected subdisk. Other subdisks are
automatically named by VxVM.
◆ The new, smaller subdisks occupy the same regions of the disk that the original subdisk
occupied.
◆ The original subdisk must contain a sufficient number of sectors for the specified split to
work.
◆ A Dirty Region Logging log subdisk cannot be split.

Joining a Subdisk
The Subdisk Join procedure joins two or more subdisks together to form a single larger
subdisk. Subdisks can only be joined together if they belong to the same volume and
occupy adjacent regions of the same disk and mirror. You can join two subdisks that had
been one subdisk but that were split by the Subdisk Split command. You cannot split a
subdisk and join it back to another subdisk that it was not split from. There also has to be
room on the disk for the two subdisks.

▼ To join subdisks

1. Select the volume containing the subdisks to be joined.

2. Choose Actions > Disk View. Then select the Subdisks tab.

3. Select one of the subdisks to be joined.

4. Select Actions > Join Subdisk.

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5. The welcome screen of the Subdisk Join wizard appears. Click Next to continue.

6. In the screen that comes up next, select the subdisks to be joined together and click
Next.

7. The final screen of the Subdisk Join wizard appears. Click Finish to complete the
operation.
Within a short time, the two subdisks will be replaced in the right pane of the Volume
Manager GUI with one subdisk.
After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The Subdisk Join task requires two or more existing subdisk names and a new (joined)
subdisk name.
◆ Only contiguous subdisks on the same disk can be joined.
◆ The subdisks to be joined must belong to the same volume and mirror.
◆ For a striped volume, the subdisks must be in the same column.
◆ The joined subdisk name can be the name of one of the subdisks being joined.

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Viewing Volume Properties

Viewing Volume Properties

The Volume Properties window contains detailed information about the selected volume.
◆ To view the properties of a standard VxVM volume or a VxVM ISP Volume, select the
volume and then choose Properties from the popup menu.
The following information is displayed.

Category Description

Layout Concatenated, striped, RAID-5, mirrored, or striped

Status The normal status is “Healthy,” which means that volume is accessible
and has no known problems. Please refer to Troubleshooting for a
complete description of other condition states.

Copies Number of copies of the volume

Log Indicates if logging is enabled. (Shows “FastResync” if enabled with

instant snapshot.)

Read policy Indicates the mode in which the device (or volume) is read.

Group name The name of the disk group in which the volume was created.

FastResync Indicates if FastResync is disabled, or is ready for instant snapshot

Region size Space within the volume used for the policies enabled.

Pool name Name of the storage pool within the disk group

Set name Name of template set associated with the disk group

Raw device path Location of the disk device associated with VxVM.

Block device path Exact location of the device associated with VxVM.

Size Size of volume.

Note Any changes made to the units field will not be preserved on
leaving the dialog.

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 Viewing Volume Properties

Category Description

Capabilities A capability is a simple name used to indicate what the capability means
for an ISP volume. Storage is allocated according to your request. For
example, you can ask for a volume to be Performant and Reliable. These
are capabilities have parameters such as the number of striped columns
or number of mirrors.

Rules: Rules specify the storage allocation criteria for ISP volumes. These define
storage selection and storage layout. Rules are simple sentences written
in the ISP language.

Comment You can insert comments in this field. The text will be preserved by
clicking OK. (This is the only field that is preserved on leaving the
dialog.)

User Name of the user for this version of VxVM.

Group Name of the group that “owns” the user managing this version of
VxVM.

Mode The means by which this instance of VxVM is operating.

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Viewing Volume Properties

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Volume Set Tasks 5
VxVM Volume Sets tasks include:
◆ Creating a Volume Set
◆ Adding a Volume to a Volume Set
◆ Renaming a Volume Set
◆ Removing a Volume from a Volume Set
◆ Recovering a Volume Set
◆ Deleting a Volume Set

Volume Set Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common VxVM volume set tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Create new volume sets Creating a Volume Set
Change a volume name Renaming a Volume Set
Remove a volume to a volume set Removing a Volume from a Volume Set
Remove a volume set Deleting a Volume Set
Renaming a volume set Renaming a Volume Set
Add a volume to a volume set Adding a Volume to a Volume Set

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VxVM Volume Sets

VxVM Volume Sets

The volume set feature of VxVM allows several volumes to be treated as a single object
with one logical I/O interface. The following procedures are provided for maintaining
volume sets:
◆ Displaying Volume Set Information
◆ Creating a Volume Set
◆ Adding a Volume to a Volume Set
◆ Removing a Volume from a Volume Set
◆ Renaming a Volume Set
◆ Deleting a Volume Set

Displaying Volume Set Information

The VxVM “Volume Sets” feature allows for several volumes to be treated as a single
object with one logical I/O interface. I/O to and from “Volume Sets” is directed to the
underlying volumes through the logical I/O interface. This feature only provides support
for VxFS Multi-Component file systems.
A “Volume Sets” folder is displayed if you have already created volume sets on your
system.
Under the “Volume” folder, then, if a volume is part of a volume set:
◆ The set name for a volume is shown in the volume table.
◆ The volume set table displays:
◆ The associated disk group
◆ The associated volumes
Volume sets information is also displayed with the disk group table. A Volume Sets tab
appears in the disk group table when you select a disk group with at least one volume set.
The volume property sheet lists the volume sets of which a volume is a member. You can
also use the volume set property sheet to record your own comments about your volume
sets.

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 Creating a Volume Set

Creating a Volume Set

Use the following procedure to create a volume set:

▼ To create a volume set

1. Click on a volume to be included in the volume set.

2. Choose Actions > Volume Set > Create Volume Set. The Create Volume Set display
appears.

3. You can now change the disk group, or continue with the selected disk group and
volume.

4. Enter the name to be given to the volume set.

5. Move the volumes to be included in the volume set from the Available volumes
column to the Selected volumes column.

6. Click OK.

Adding a Volume to a Volume Set

Use the following procedure to add a volume to an existing volume set:

▼ To add a volume

1. Click on a volume to be included in the volume set.

2. Choose Actions > Volume Set > Add Volume to Volume Set. The Add Volume to
Volume Set display appears.

3. Select the volume set to which the volume is to be added.

4. Move the volumes to be added to the volume set from the Available Volumes column
to the Selected Volumes column.

5. Is a file system is present on the volume set, you can select the Add Volume to
Multi-Component File System checkbox to also add the volume to the MDS.

6. Click OK.

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Renaming a Volume Set

Renaming a Volume Set

Use the following procedure to rename an existing volume set:

▼ To rename a volume set

1. Click on the volume set to be renamed.

2. Choose Actions > Volume Set > Rename Volume Set. The Rename Volume Set
display appears.

3. Enter the new name for the volume set.

4. Click OK.

Recovering a Volume Set

The Recover Volume Set procedure performs any necessary volume set recovery
operations on a volume set. The recovery operations depend on the type of volume set
and include starting disabled volumes, resynchronizing mirrors in mirrored volumes, and
resynchronizing parity in RAID-5 volumes. After successful recovery, the volume set is
again available for use.

▼ To recover a failed volume set

1. Select the volume set to be recovered.

2. Choose Actions > Recover Volume Set.

3. In reply to the message “Are you sure you want to recover volume set...,” click OK.

Note:

In some cases, recovery is not possible. If the volume set recovery fails, you can attempt to
restore the volume set from backup.

Deleting a Volume Set

Use the following procedure to delete an existing volume set:

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▼ To delete a volume set

1. Click on the volume set to be deleted.

2. Choose Actions > Volume Set > Delete Volume Set. The Delete Volume Set
confirmation message appears.

3. Click Yes to confirm deletion.

Removing a Volume from a Volume Set

Use the following procedure to remove a volume from a existing volume set:

▼ To remove a volume

1. Click on the volume set folder, then click on the volume to be removed.

2. Choose Actions > Volume Set > Remove Volume from Volume Set. The Remove
Volume from Volume Set display appears.

3. You can now select a new volume set, or continue with the already selected volume
set.

4. Move the volumes to be removed from the volume set from the Available Volumes
column to the Selected Volumes column.

5. Click OK.

Note A volume with index 0 cannot be removed while other volumes exist in the volume
set. Removing a volume with index 0 can lead to data corruption if it is removed
before all other volumes in the volume set have been removed.

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Using Volume Snapshots 6
VEA provides you with easy-to-use interfaces for performing tasks associated with
volume snapshots:
◆ Using the Instant Snapshot Feature
◆ Creating Instant Snapshots
◆ Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature
◆ Displaying the Snapshots for a Volume
◆ Displaying Cache Volume Information

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Volume Snapshots Task Roadmap

Volume Snapshots Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common volume snapshot tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Instant Snapshot Tasks:
Enabling FastResync: Enabling FastResync
Disabling FastResync: Disabling FastResync
Create new instant snapshots Using the Instant Snapshot Feature
Start Synchronization Start Synchronization
Refreshing an instant snapshot Refreshing an Instant Snapshot
Reattaching an instant snapshot Reattaching an Instant Snapshot
Restoring a volume from an instant snapshots Restoring a Volume from an Instant Snapshot
Disassociating an instant snapshot Dissociating an Instant Snapshot
Splitting an instant snapshot hierarchy Splitting an Instant Snapshot Hierarchy
Full Snapshot Tasks:
Backing up a volume Backing up a Volume
Preparing to restore a volume from backup Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup
Create a snapshot copy of a volume for backup Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature
Merge a snapshot copy of a volume with the Merging a Snapshot Volume (Volume
original volume Snapback)
Permanently break the association between a Dissociating a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snap
snapshot and its original volume Clear)
Abort the taking of a snapshot Aborting a Snapshot
Attempt to recover all volumes on a disk Recovering Volumes on a Disk (see “Disk
Tasks” on page 37)

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 Using the Volume Snapshot Features

Using the Volume Snapshot Features

VEA provides the capability for taking an image of a volume at a given point in time. Such
an image is referred to as a volume snapshot.
Volume snapshots allow you to make backup copies of your volumes online with minimal
interruption to users. You can then use the backup copies to restore data that has been lost
due to disk failure, software errors or human mistakes, or to create replica volumes for
purposes of report generation, application development, or testing.

Note To take a snapshot of a volume, you must have an empty disk in the volume’s disk
group.

Snapshot creates a snapshot image of a volume, which can be detached from the volume.
The detached snapshot image can be used for backup, or other purposes, while the
original volume remains in service. The snapshot can then be quickly reattached and
resynchronized with the volume. The snapshot volume can also be permanently
disconnected from the original volume.
You can attach a snapshot to either the original volume or the snapshot volume.
The following sections describe how to create and administer volume snapshots:
◆ Using the Instant Snapshot Feature describes how to create and administer
third-mirror break-off and space-optimized snapshots of 4.0 (version 110) disk group
volumes.
◆ Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature describes how to create and administer
traditional third-mirror break-off snapshots of pre-4.0 (pre-version 110) disk group
volumes.

Note Please refer to the VERITAS Volume Manager Administration Guide for a full
description of third-mirror snapshots.

Note Instant snapshots are the preferred mechanism for implementing online and
off-host point-in-time copy solutions in VEA. Support for traditional third-mirror
snapshots may be removed in a future release.

Taking Snapshots of Volume Sets

Please note the following limitation when creating full snapshots from volume sets:
A snapshot of a volume set must itself be a volume set. A volume set can be formed by
breaking off existing plexes and must be created from a prepared volume set.

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Using the Volume Snapshot Features

Using the Instant Snapshot Feature

The instant snapshot feature allows you to create snapshots of 4.0 (version 110) disk group
volumes.
(Refer to Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature for information on creating snapshots of
pre-4.0 (pre-version 110) disk group volumes.)

Note The information in this section also applies to RAID-5 volumes converted to a
special layered volume layout by the addition of a DCO (Data Change Object) and
DCO volume.

The Create procedure creates an instant snapshot that is immediately available for making
a backup. Read requests for data in the original volume at the point in time that the
snapshot was taken are satisfied by reading either from a non-updated region of the
original volume, or from the copy of the original contents of an updated region that have
been recorded by the snapshot.

Note The information in this section also applies to creating snapshots from volume sets.

Using the FastResync Feature

If you have already enabled FastResync using a previous version of VxVM (for example,
you might have used FMR2 with VxVM 3.5), you need to remove any DCOs from the disk
groups to be upgraded to 4.0 (version 110).

Enabling FastResync
The Enable FastResync procedure gives you the option of preparing a volume for
snapshot in advance of using the create instant snapshot feature. This makes a volume
ready for instant snapshot and space-optimized snapshot operations. It can also prepare it
for Dirty region Logging (DRL), if required.

Note If you have enabled FastResync on a previous version of VxVM, you need to
remove any old DCOs from the volumes to be used for instant snapshot.

▼ To enable FastResync on a volume prior to instant snapshot

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Enable FastResync. The Enable FastResync
dialog appears.

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3. If DCOs are already present as a result of enabling FastResync on a previous version

of VxVM, you are now given the option of removing them proceeding. Failure to do
so will result in the following message:
The removal of the previous version of FastResync has
failed.Cannot proceed to using instant snapshot feature.

4. Provided that there are no existing DCOs, you can now elect the options you require:

FastResync (DCO) Provide the number of DCO volumes to be created.

Mirrors:

Region Size (KB): Size of region (in kilobytes).

Enable Dirty Region Check this box if you require DRL.

Logging

Let Volume Manager Check this box if you do not wish to manually select disks for the
decide which disks to volume.
use for this volume

Manually select disks Check this box to manually select disks for use by the volume.
for use by this volume

5. Select OK

6. You can now create an instant snapshot. To create instant snapshots, see “Creating
Instant Snapshots” on page 136.

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Creating Instant Snapshots

Creating Instant Snapshots

You can create three types of instant snapshot:
◆ Full sized; a full sized snapshot is a copy of the original volume. These snapshots are
similar to the traditional third-mirror snapshots, but are available as soon as the
plexes have been created.

Note A plex in an instant (copy-on-write) full-sized snapshot requires as much space

as the original volume. If you instead make an instant space-optimized
snapshot of a volume, this only requires enough storage to record the original
contents of the parent volume as they are changed during the life of the
snapshot.

◆ Break off; equivalent to the traditional third-mirror snapshot (where the snapshot plex
can be detached from the original volume into a new disk group).

Note Please refer to the VERITAS Volume Manager Administration Guide for a full
description of break-off snapshots.

◆ Space optimized; uses a storage cache to reduce the size of the snapshot volume.

If FastResync is not Enabled

If FastResync is not enabled, you must first enable FastResync before you can create an
instant snapshot.

▼ To enable FastResync

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. In the Choose the method by which to select Disks for FastResync dialog, you can
either let VxVM select the disks for you (Let Volume Manager decide what disks to
use for FastResync), refer to VxVM Selecting the Disk for FastResync, or select your
own disks (Manually select disks to use for FastResync), refer to Selecting Your Own
Disks for FastResync.

VxVM Selecting the Disk for FastResync

(Refer to Selecting Your Own Disks for FastResync, if you want to select disks yourself.)

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 Creating Instant Snapshots

1. Select Let Volume Manager decide which disks to use for FastResync, then click
Next > to bring up the FastResync options dialog.

2. You can now elect the options you require:

FastResync (DCO) Provide the number of DCO volumes to be created.

Mirrors:

Region Size (KB): Size of region (in kilobytes).

Enable Dirty Region Check this box if you require DRL.

Logging

3. Click Next>. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

Creating a Full Sized Snapshot

1. Select the type (Full sized). The Full Sized Options dialog appears.

2. Select Create volume for snapshot (refer to Creating a Volume for Snapshot) if you
want to create a new volume; otherwise, select Specify existing volume for snapshot
(refer to Specifying an Existing Volume for Snapshot).

Note The Specify existing volume for snapshot option will not be available (that is,
it is grayed-out) if no existing volumes match the criteria for use as a snapshot
(same size, started, no file system, not a current snap, instant ready, or if they
are in the same disk group).

3. Check Syncing if you want the contents of the instant snapshot to be fully
synchronized with the contents of the original volume at the point the snapshot is
taken.

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Creating Instant Snapshots

Creating a Space Optimized Snapshot

1. Select the type (Space optimized). Click Next >. The Space Optimized Options dialog
appears.

2. Complete options for the cache object as follows:

Create a new cache Select this option if you want to create a new cache object.
object

Size Define the size and select the unit for the new cache object.

Mirrors Define the number of mirrors for the new cache object.

Autogrow Select Autogrow if you require VxVM to automatically enlarge the

cache if it is danger of overflowing.
If Autogrow is enabled, but the cache cannot be extended; then
VxVM disables the oldest and largest snapshot in the cache and
releases the space to the cache.

Choose an existing Select this option if you want to use an existing cache object.
cache object

Cache objects Select the existing cache object from the list provided.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next >.
The Snapshot options dialog appears.

3. Define a name for the snapshot, and add a comment if you want. Click Finish.

4. The summary page is displayed.

Volume name
Name of new snapshot volume
Snapshot type (Space optimized)
Create cache (Yes or No)
Cache size

5. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections. Otherwise, click < Back to make
changes.

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Selecting Your Own Disks for FastResync

(Refer to VxVM Selecting the Disk for FastResync, if you want to VxVM to select the
disks.)

1. Select Manually select disks to use for FastResync to bring up the Select disks to use
for FastResync wizard.

2. Make your selections. The disks that you select should be in the right pane when you
eventually click Next >.

3. You can now elect the options you require:

FastResync (DCO) Provide the number of DCO volumes to be created.

Mirrors:

Region Size (KB): Size of region (in kilobytes).

Enable Dirty Region Check this box if you require DRL.

Logging

4. Click Next >. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

Creating a Full Sized Snapshot

1. Select the type (Full sized). The Full Sized Options dialog appears.

2. Check Syncing if you want the contents of the instant snapshot to be fully
synchronized with the contents of the original volume at the point the snapshot is
taken.

3. Select Create volume for snapshot (refer to Creating a Volume for Snapshot) if you
want to create a new volume; otherwise, select Specify existing volume for snapshot
Volume (refer to Specifying an Existing Volume for Snapshot).

Note The Specify existing volume for snapshot Volume option will not be available
(that is, it is grayed-out) if no existing volumes match the criteria for use as a
snapshot (same size, started, no file system, not a current snap, instant ready, or
if they are in the same disk group).

4. Click Next > when the confirmation window appears, and click Finish to create the
instant snapshot.

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Creating a Space Optimized Snapshot

1. Select the type (Space optimized). Click Next >. The Space Optimized Options dialog
appears.

2. Complete options for the cache object as follows:

Create a new cache Select this option if you want to create a new cache object.
object

Size Define the size and select the unit for the new cache object.

Mirrors Define the number of mirrors for the new cache object.

Autogrow Select Autogrow if you require VxVM to automatically enlarge the

cache if it is danger of overflowing.
If Autogrow is enabled, but the cache cannot be extended; then
VxVM disables the oldest and largest snapshot in the cache and
releases the space to the cache.

Choose an existing Select this option if you want to use an existing cache object.
cache object Note The option to specify an existing cache object is greyed-out if
there are no existing caches.

Cache objects Select the existing cache object from the list provided.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next >.
The Snapshot options dialog appears.

3. Define a name for the snapshot, and add a comment if you want. Click Finish.

4. The summary page is displayed.

Volume name
Name of new snapshot volume
Snapshot type (Space optimized)
Create cache (Yes or No)
Cache size

5. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections. Otherwise, click < Back to make
changes.

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Creating a Full-sized Instant Snapshot of a Volume

▼ To create an instant full-sized snapshot of a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next >. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

4. Select the type (Full sized). The Full Sized Options dialog appears.

5. Check Syncing if you want the contents of the instant snapshot to be fully
synchronized with the contents of the original volume at the point the snapshot is
taken.

6. Select Create volume for snapshot (refer to Creating a Volume for Snapshot) if you
want to create a new volume; otherwise, select Specify existing volume for snapshot
Volume (refer to Specifying an Existing Volume for Snapshot).

Note The Specify existing volume for snapshot Volume option will not be available
(that is, it is grayed-out) if no existing volumes match the criteria for use as a
snapshot (same size, started, no file system, not a current snap, instant ready, in
the same disk group, and so on).

7. Click OK.

Creating a Volume for Snapshot

In the Choose the method by which to select Disks for this Volume dialog, you can
either let VxVM select the disks for you (Let Volume Manager decide what disks to use
for this volume), refer to VxVM Selecting the Disks, or select your own disks (Manually
select disks to use for this volume), refer to Selecting Your Own Disks.

VxVM Selecting the Disks

(Refer to Selecting Your Own Disks, if you want to select disks yourself.)

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1. Select Let Volume Manager decide which disks to use for this volume, then click
Next> to bring up the Select the attributes for this volume dialog.

2. Type an alphanumeric string in the Volume Name field. The total number of
characters must be less than 32. This is a Volume Manager-specific name that is used
in some Volume Manager commands. It is different from the volume label for the file
system.

3. Select the volume type and attributes:

◆ Concatenated (refer to Concatenated for a full description and corresponding
attributes)
◆ Striped (refer to Striped for a full description and corresponding attributes)
◆ RAID-5 (refer to RAID-5 for a full description and corresponding attributes)
◆ Mirrored (refer to Mirrored for a full description and corresponding attributes)
If you choose Striped or RAID-5, Number of Columns and Stripe Unit Size need to
have an entry. Defaults are provided.

4. Click Next> to continue. A summary of your selections appears. Click <Back to make
changes; otherwise, click Finish.

Selecting Your Own Disks

(Refer to VxVM Selecting the Disks, if you want to VxVM to select the disks.)

1. Select Manually select disks to use for this volume to bring up the Select disks to
use for this volume wizard. Then click Next> to bring up the Select Disks to use
with volume dialog.

2. Make your selections. The disks that you select should be in the right pane when you
eventually click Next>.

3. Specify the layout, select Mirror Across or Stripe Across; then select the device
(Controller, Tray, Target, Enclosure). Select Ordered to use the specified storage to first
concatenate the disks, then to form columns, and finally to form mirrors.

4. The Select the attributes for this volume screen appears.

5. Select the volume type and attributes:

◆ Concatenated (refer to Concatenated for a full description and corresponding
attributes)
◆ Striped (refer to Striped for a full description and corresponding attributes)

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◆ RAID-5 (refer to RAID-5 for a full description and corresponding attributes)

◆ Mirrored (refer to Mirrored for a full description and corresponding attributes)
If you choose Striped or RAID-5, Number of Columns and Stripe Unit Size need to
have an entry. Defaults are provided.

6. Click Next> to continue. A summary of your selections appears:

Volume name
Snapshot type (Full sized)
Syncing (Yes or No)
Name of new snapshot volume
Disk selection
Volume type

7. Click <Back to make changes, otherwise, click Finish.

Specifying an Existing Volume for Snapshot

The existing volume must match the criteria (same size, started, no file system, not a
current snap, instant ready, in the same disk group, and so on).

1. Select the volume to be used, then click Next>. A summary of the volume attributes
appears.

2. Click Finish to accept the selection.

Creating Space-Optimized Snapshots of a Volume

▼ To create an instant space-optimized snapshot of a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next>. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

4. Select the type (Space optimized).

5. Click Next>. The Space Optimized Options dialog appears.

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6. Complete options for the cache object as follows:

Create a new cache Select this option if you want to create a new cache object.
object

Size Define the size and select the unit for the new cache object.

Mirrors Define the number of mirrors for the new cache object.

Autogrow Select Autogrow if you require VxVM to automatically enlarge the

cache if it is danger of overflowing.
If Autogrow is enabled, but the cache cannot be extended; then
VxVM disables the oldest and largest snapshot in the cache and
releases the space to the cache.

Choose an existing Select this option if you want to use an existing cache object.
cache object

Cache objects Select the existing cache object from the list provided.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>. The
Snapshot options dialog appears.

7. Define a name for the snapshot, and add a comment if you want. Click Finish.

8. The summary page is displayed.

Volume name
Name of new snapshot volume
Snapshot type (Space optimized)
Create cache (Yes or No)
Cache size

9. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections. Otherwise, click <Back to make
changes.

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Creating an Instant Snapshot of an ISP Volume

▼ To create an instant snapshot of an Intelligent Storage Provisioning (ISP) Volume

1. Select the ISP volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next>. The Snapshot Information window appears. The ISP Volume name and
the ISP disk group name are listed.
◆ Select a name for the snapshot and type it into the Snapshot Name: field.
◆ Select the snapshot type: Full-sized or Space Optimized. Refer to Creating
Space-Optimized Snapshots of a Volume or Creating a Full-sized Instant Snapshot
of a Volume.
◆ Select the Pool Name: from the pool name pull-down menu.

4. Click Next>. If you chose a space optimized instant snapshot, complete options for
the cache object as follows:

Create a new cache Select this option if you want to create a new cache object.
object

Size Define the size and select the unit for the new cache object.

Mirrors Define the number of mirrors for the new cache object.

Autogrow Select Autogrow if you require VxVM to automatically enlarge the

cache if it is danger of overflowing.
If Autogrow is enabled, but the cache cannot be extended; then
VxVM disables the oldest and largest snapshot in the cache and
releases the space to the cache.

Choose an existing Select this option if you want to use an existing cache object.
cache object

Cache objects Select the existing cache object from the list provided.

5. When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>. The
Select User Template dialog box appears.

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6. You are now asked to select an existing user template, or if you want to define a new
template (Create the User Template).

7. Select the capabilities you want. (Refer to Select Capabilities, Using Intelligent Storage
Provisioning.) Click Next>.

8. The summary page is displayed.

Volume name
Name of new snapshot volume set
Snapshot type (Space optimized)
Create cache (Yes or No)
Cache size

9. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections. Otherwise, click <Back to make
changes.

Creating an Instant Snapshot of an ISP Volume Set

▼ To create an instant snapshot of an Intelligent Storage Provisioning (ISP) Volume
Set

1. Select the ISP volume set.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Volume Set Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next>. The Volume Set Snapshot dialog appears. You can choose to create a
New Volume Set Snapshot (space optimized), or Create a Snapshot using an existing
volume set.

4. Click Next>.If you chose a space optimized instant snapshot, complete options for the
cache object as follows:

Choose an existing Select this option if you want to use an existing cache object.
cache object

Cache objects Select the existing cache object from the list provided.

Create a new cache Select this option if you want to create a new cache object.
object

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Size Define the size and select the unit for the new cache object.

High Water Mark When cache usage reaches this value, and the new required cache
size would exceed the value of Max Grow, the oldest snapshot in
the cache is deleted. If there are several snapshots with the same
age, the largest of these is deleted.

Max Grow Limits the maximum size to which a cache can grow. To estimate
this size, consider how much the contents of each source volume
are likely to change between snapshot refreshes, and allow some
additional space for contingency.

Add by Value by which the cache is increased in size.

Autogrow Select Autogrow if you require VxVM to automatically enlarge the

cache if it is danger of overflowing.

5. When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>. The
Select User Template dialog box appears.

6. You are now asked to select an existing user template, or if you want to define a new
template (Create the User Template).

7. When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>. The
Select Capabilities dialog box appears.

8. When you have selected all of the capabilities you need for this volume set, click
Next>. The Set Configuration Rules dialog appears.

9. When you have selected all of the configuration rules you need for this volume set,
click Next>. The Volume Set Information dialog appears.

10. Enter the name of the volume set of which you are creating a snapshot, add comments
and names to all volumes within the volume set, and then click Next>.

11. The summary page is displayed.

Volume set name
Disk group name
Storage pool name
Snapshot Volume Set name
Selected Capabilities
Selected Rules

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12. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections. Otherwise, click <Back to make
changes.

Creating a Full-sized Instant Snapshot of a Volume Set

▼ To create an instant full-sized snapshot of a volume set

1. Select the volume set.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next>. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

4. Select the type (Full sized). The Full Sized Options dialog appears.

5. Select the volume sets you where you want the instant snapshot to reside.

6. Check Syncing if you want the contents of the instant snapshot to be fully
synchronized with the contents of the original volume at the point the snapshot is
taken.

7. Click Next>.

Creating Space-Optimized Snapshots of a Volume Set

▼ To create an instant space-optimized snapshot of a volume set

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next>. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

4. Select the type (Space optimized). Click Next>. The Space Optimized Options dialog
appears.

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5. Complete options for the cache object as follows:

Create a new cache Select this option if you want to create a new cache object.
object

Size Define the size and select the unit for the new cache object.

Mirrors Define the number of mirrors for the new cache object.

Autogrow Select Autogrow if you require VxVM to automatically enlarge the

cache if it is danger of overflowing.
If Autogrow is enabled, but the cache cannot be extended; then
VxVM disables the oldest and largest snapshot in the cache and
releases the space to the cache.

Choose an existing Select this option if you want to use an existing cache object.
cache object

Cache objects Select the existing cache object from the list provided.

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>. The
Snapshot options dialog appears.

6. Define a name for the snapshot, and add a comment if you want. Click Finsh.

7. The summary page is displayed.

Volume name
Name of new snapshot volume set
Snapshot type (Space optimized)
Create cache (Yes or No)
Cache size

8. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections. Otherwise, click <Back to make
changes.

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Notes:

◆ A Volume Set must be identical in size and layout as well as enabled for FastResync in
order to be used as a new volume set snapshot.
◆ Volume sets for breaking off snapshots must have the same limitations as volume set
full-sized snapshots.
◆ You cannot add or delete volumes in a volume set snapshot and you cannot add snapshot
volumes to a volume set.

Creating Break-Off Snapshots

You can create traditional third-mirror snapshots.

▼ To create a third-mirror snapshot

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Create. The Create Instant Snapshot wizard
appears.

3. Click Next>. The Snapshot Type dialog appears.

4. Select the type (Break off). Click Next>. The Full Sized Break Off Options dialog
appears.

5. Complete the Full Sized Break Off Options dialog as follows:

Specify number of Number of mirrors to be broken off.

mirrors:

Specify mirror objects Select the mirrors from the available mirrors.
Note This option is greyed-out unless the plex state is
SNAPDONE.

Selected Mirrors Move the mirrors to be added from Available mirrors to Selected
mirrors.

6. When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Next>.

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7. The summary page is displayed. Click Finish if you are satisfied with your selections.
Otherwise, click <Back to make changes.

Disabling FastResync
Use the following procedure to disable FastResync:

▼ To disable FastResync for a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Disable FastResync.

3. When the confirmation dialog appears (Are you sure you want to disable
FastResync for SNAP_volume?), click Yes to confirm.

4. FastResync is then disabled. This removes the Disk Change Object (DCO) and DRLs,
if any.

Note This option is disabled if the volume is in a snapshot chain.

Refreshing an Instant Snapshot

You can immediately retake an instant snapshot or instant space-optimized snapshot at
any time by using the Refresh procedure. If a fully synchronized instant snapshot is
required, you must wait for the new resynchronization to complete.
Refreshing an instant snapshot replaces it with another point-in-time copy of a parent
volume.
If the source volume is not specified, the immediate parent of the snapshot is used.

Note The snapshot being refreshed must not be open to any application. For example,
any file system configured on the volume must first be unmounted.

▼ To refresh a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Refresh

3. Select Yes from the Refresh confirmation message.

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Reattaching an Instant Snapshot

Note This operation is not supported for instant space-optimized snapshots.

Use the Reattach procedure to reattach the plexes of an instant snapshot volume to the
specified volume in a snapshot hierarchy, and synchronizes them from that volume.

▼ To reattach a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Reattach. The Snapshot Reattach dialog
appears.

3. Specify the volume to which the snapshot is to be reattached.

4. Specify the number of mirrors to reattach.

5. Select OK to confirm the reattachment.

Note The snapshot being reattached must not be open to any application. For example,
any file system configured on the snapshot volume must first be unmounted.

Restoring a Volume from an Instant Snapshot

On occasion, it may be desirable to reinstate the contents of a volume from a backup or
modified replica within a snapshot volume. You can use the Restore procedure to achieve
this.
For a full instant snapshot, some or all of its plexes may be reattached to the parent
volume or to a specified source volume in the snapshot hierarchy above the snapshot
volume. If the Destroy checkbox is checked, all the plexes of the snapshot are reattached
and the snapshot volume is removed.
For an instant space-optimized snapshot, the cached data is used to restore the contents of
the specified volume. The snapshot itself remains unchanged by the operation.

Note For this operation to succeed, the volume that is being restored and the snapshot
volume must not be open to any application. For example, any file systems that are
configured on either volume must first be unmounted.

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▼ To restore a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Restore. The Snapshot Restore dialog appears.

3. Specify the snapshot to be restored.

4. Check the Synchronize box to initiate volume synchronization.

5. Attach the snapshot plexes to the parent upon completion of the volume
synchronization.

6. Check Destroy if the snapshot volume is to be removed after reattaching all the
plexes.

7. Select OK to confirm the restore.

Dissociating an Instant Snapshot

Note This operation is not supported for instant space-optimized snapshots.

Use the Dissociate procedure to dissociate an instant snapshot from its parent volume or
volume set in the snapshot hierarchy. If the snapshot has a dependent snapshot hierarchy
below it, this hierarchy is adopted by the parent volume.

Note The snapshot volume or volume set and any snapshots in the hierarchy must have
been fully synchronized for this procedure to succeed.

▼ To dissociate a snapshot from a volume

1. Select the snapshot.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Dissociate. The Snapshot Confirm Dissociate
dialog appears.

3. Select Yes to confirm the dissociate.

▼ To dissociate a snapshot from a volume set

Note Dissociating a volume set can cause inconsistencies in the snapshot hierarchy in the
unlikely event of a failure.

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1. Select the snapshot from the volume set.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Dissociate.

3. When the Snapshot Confirm Dissociate dialog appears, (Are you sure you want
to dissociate SNAP_volume)? Click Yes to confirm.

Splitting an Instant Snapshot Hierarchy

Note This operation is not supported for instant space-optimized snapshots.

The topmost snapshot volume in the hierarchy must have been fully synchronized for this
task to succeed. Snapshots that are lower down in the hierarchy need not have been fully
resynchronized.
Use the Split procedure to split the snapshot hierarchy into two independent hierarchies.

▼ To split a snapshot hierarchy

1. Select the snapshot.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Split. The Snapshot Confirm Split dialog
appears.

3. Select Yes to confirm the split.

▼ To split a snapshot hierarchy of a volume set

1. Select the snapshot of the volume set.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Split.

3. When the Snapshot Confirm Split appears, (Are you sure you want to split
THIS_VSET?) click Yes to confirm.

Note Splitting a volume set can cause inconsistencies in the snapshot hierarchy in the
unlikely event of a failure.

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Start Synchronization
The Start Synchronization procedure synchronizes the contents of an instant snapshot
with the contents of the original volume at the point in time that the snapshot was taken.
If you wish to move an instant snapshot volume to another disk group for export to
another machine for off-host processing, you must ensure that the snapshot volume has
been completely synchronized.
If synchronization of an instant snapshot was not started when the snapshot was created,
or synchronization was paused, you can start synchronization.

Note Synchronization of the contents of a snapshot with its original volume is not
possible for instant space-optimized snapshots.

Use the Start Synchronization procedure to start synchronization.

▼ To start synchronization

1. Select the snapshot.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Start Synchronization. The Start
Synchronization Confirm dialog appears.

3. Select Yes to confirm synchronization.

Note You can pause, restart, or abort synchronization from the Task View. (Select the task,
then right click).

Adding Snapshot Mirrors

You can create a special snap plex (in the same style as FMR2 snapstart) on volumes
and volume vsets that have FastResync enabled. You can either select your own disks, or
let VxVM select the disks for you:
◆ Selecting Your Own Disks
◆ VxVM Selecting the Disks

Selecting Your Own Disks

(Refer to VxVM Selecting the Disks, if you want to VxVM to select the disks.)
Use the following procedure to add a snapshot mirror to a volume, selecting your own
disks:

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▼ To add a snapshot mirror to a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Add Snapshot Mirror. The Add Snapshot
Mirror dialog appears.

3. Choose Manually select disks for use by this volume. Then move the disks to be
included (to Included:) or excluded (to Excluded:).

4. Click OK to complete the operation.

VxVM Selecting the Disks

(Refer to Selecting Your Own Disks, if you want to select the disks yourself.)
Use the following procedure to add a snapshot mirror to a volume, letting VxVM select
the disks.:

▼ To add a snapshot mirror to a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Add Snapshot Mirror. The Add Snapshot
Mirror dialog appears.

3. Choose Let Volume Manager decide what disks to use for this volume. Click OK to
complete the operation.

Removing Snapshot Mirrors

You can remove a snap plex from volumes or volume sets containing snap plexes; either
letting Volume Manager select the mirrors to be removed, or selecting the mirrors
yourself.

▼ To remove a snapshot mirror from a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Remove Snapshot Mirror. The Remove
Snapshot Mirror dialog appears.

3. Choose Automatic Mirror Selection to allow Volume Manager to select the mirrors to
be removed; or, select Manual Mirror Selection to select the mirrors yourself.

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4. Select the mirrors to be removed if you chose to select them yourself.

5. Click OK to complete the operation.

Adding Maps
You can add a map to a volume that has already been prepared for instant snapshot.
When you add a map to volume, you can either select your own disks, or let VxVM select
the disks for you:
◆ Selecting Your Own Disks
◆ VxVM Selecting the Disks

Selecting Your Own Disks

(Refer to VxVM Selecting the Disks, if you want to VxVM to select the disks.)
Use the following procedure to add a map to a volume, selecting your own disks:

▼ To add a map to a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Add map. The Add map dialog appears.

3. Choose the number of maps to add.

4. Choose Manually select disks. Then move the required disks from Available disks:
list to the Selected disks: list.

5. Click OK to complete the operation.

VxVM Selecting the Disks

(Refer to Selecting Your Own Disks, if you want to select the disks yourself.)
Use the following procedure to add a map to a volume, letting VxVM select the disks.:

▼ To add a map to a volume

1. Select the volume.

2. Choose Actions > Instant Snapshot > Add map. The Add map dialog appears.

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3. Choose the number of maps to add.

4. Choose Auto select disks. Click OK to complete the operation.

Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature

The following five snapshot procedures are supported by VEA for creating snapshots of
pre-4.0 (pre-110) disk group volumes. These procedures are accessed through the Volume
context menu:
◆ Snap Start - Creating a Snapshot Copy of a Volume
Attaches the snapshot mirror to the original volume.
◆ Snap Shot - Creating the New Volume
Detaches the snapshot mirror from the original volume and creates a snapshot
volume that is associated with the snapshot mirror.
◆ Snap Back - Merging a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snapback)
Reattaches the snapshot mirror to the original volume.
◆ Snap Clear - Dissociating a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snap Clear)
Permanently removes the snapshot mirror from the original volume and releases
its space.
◆ Snap Abort - Aborting a Snapshot
Aborts the snapshot operation after issuing the Snap Start command. Snap
Abort permanently removes the snapshot mirror from the volume and releases its
space.
The five snapshot commands are subcommands of the Snap command on the Volume
context menu.
(Refer to Using the Instant Snapshot Feature for information on creating snapshots of 4.0
(version 110) disk group volumes.)

Using Snapshot
In summary, the snapshot procedure consists of three steps:

1. Attaching a snapshot mirror to a volume, using Snap Start.

2. Detaching the snapshot mirror and creating the snapshot volume that is associated
with the snapshot mirror. The Snap Shot command is used for this step.

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3. Either reattaching the snapshot to the volume after you are done using it, or
permanently disconnecting it from the volume. Snap Back reattaches the snapshot
mirror; Snap Clear permanently disconnects the snapshot mirror from the volume,
removing the association between the snapshot volume and the original volume.

Creating a Snapshot Copy of a Volume

Snap Start creates a snap mirror or plex, which is attached to and synchronized with a
volume. Once the snap mirror is synchronized, its status, as displayed on the Mirrors tab
of the GUI, changes to Snap Ready.
After the snap mirror is synchronized with the volume, it can be used as a snapshot
mirror. The synchronization process can take a while, but it does not interfere with use of
the volume. If the Snap Start process fails, the snapshot mirror is removed and its space is
released. After the mirror is synchronized, it continues to be updated until it is detached.

Note To create a snapshot mirror on a volume, you must have an empty disk in the disk
group of that volume.

▼ To create a snapshot mirror, do the following:

1. Right-click on the volume that you want to take a snapshot of.

A context menu is displayed.

2. Select Snap > Snap Start.

A new snapshot mirror is attached to the volume.
The new mirror is added to the Mirrors tab for the volume. The mirror is identified as
a Snapshot plex and is identified with the Snapshot icon. After the mirror is
synchronized with the volume, its status becomes Snap Ready.
The DCO volume is created to track the regions on a volume that are changed while a
mirror is detached. The DCO volume is not included in the tree view of the Volume
Manager GUI. To view the DCO volume, you must use the Disk View. To access the
Disk View, click the Disk View tab in the right pane or select Disk View from a disk’s
context menu.

Note The Break Mirror and Remove Mirror features do not work with the snapshot
mirror.

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Creating the New Volume

Snap Shot detaches the snapshot mirror and creates a new volume that is associated with
that mirror. This process takes a relatively short time, typically less than a minute, during
which users can be requested to not access the original volume. After the snapshot
volume is detached, it can be used for backup or other purposes.

▼ To take a snapshot, do the following:

1. Right-click on the volume with the snapshot mirror.

A context menu is displayed.

2. Select Snap > Snap Shot.

The Snapshot Volume dialog box is displayed. You are asked to select the snapshot
mirror to be used to create the snapshot volume.

3. Select the mirror and click OK.

When there is only one snapshot mirror, “Automatic select mirror to add snapshot”
will be highlighted. If there are multiple mirrors and you want to select the mirror to
be used, click to select “Manual select which mirror to add snapshot.” You then can
select the mirror from the list on the screen.
Click OK.
The snapshot mirror is detached from the original volume and a new volume is
created that is associated with the snapshot mirror.

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 Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature

The snapshot mirror is no longer displayed on the Mirrors tab for the original volume.
The new snapshot volume is displayed under the Volumes folder in the tree view. The
program assigns it the next available drive letter. You can now use the snapshot
volume for backup or other purposes.

Notes:

◆ The Snapshot Volume dialog requires a volume name and a snapshot name.
◆ The snapshot volume is an exact copy of the original volume at the time the snapshot
phase of the procedure starts.
◆ After you create the snapshot copy of the volume, remember to back it up to tape or some
other media. Remove the snapshot volume when it is no longer needed.
◆ The snapstart phase of this task may take a long time, depending on the size of the
volume.
◆ If you remove the snapshot mirror, you cannot create a snapshot volume until you repeat
the snapstart phase of the procedure.

Merging a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snapback)

The volume Snap Back procedure merges a snapshot copy of a volume with the original
volume. The snapshot plex is detached from the snapshot volume and attached to the
original volume. The snapshot volume is removed. This task resynchronizes the data in
the volume so that the plexes are consistent. By default, the data in the original plex is
used for the merged volume.

▼ To reattach a snapshot mirror to the original volume, do the following:

1. Right-click the volume whose snapshot you want to reattach.

A context menu is displayed.

2. Select Snap > Snap Back.

3. Specify whether the snapshot volume is resynchronized with the original volume, or
the original volume is synchronized to the snapshot volume and click OK.

Note One situation where you might want to resynchronize to the snapshot volume
rather than the original volume is the case where something has happened to the
original volume so that its data integrity is no longer sound.

Chapter 6, Using Volume Snapshots 161

Using the Full Volume Snapshot Feature

The snapshot mirror is reattached to the original volume and the snapshot volume is
deleted if it is the last plex of the volume. (If the snapshot volume has other mirrors
associated with it, it is not deleted.)

Dissociating a Snapshot Volume (Volume Snap Clear)

The volume Snap Clear procedure permanently breaks the association between a
snapshot and its original volume. The snapshot volume becomes an independent volume.
Snap Clear permanently removes a snapshot mirror from a volume. Snap Clear can be
specified only after the snapshot command has been issued.

▼ To permanently remove a snapshot mirror from a volume, do the following:

1. Right-click on the volume, whose snapshot mirror you are removing.

A context mirror is displayed.

2. Select Snap > Snap Clear.

A message box is displayed asking you to confirm the snap clear operation for the
specified volume.

3. Click Yes.
The snapshot mirror is permanently disconnected from the original volume and is no
longer displayed on the Volume Manager console.

Aborting a Snapshot
The volume Snap Abort procedure allows you to abort the snapshot procedure before it
completes. If you have started the procedure, through Snap Start, but have not yet
clicked on Snap Shot to complete the procedure, you can select Snap Abort to abort the
procedure.

▼ To abort a snapshot operation begun with snap start, do the following:

1. Right-click on the volume that you want to abort the snapshot operation on.
A context menu is displayed.

2. Select Snap > Snap Abort.

A message box is displayed asking you to confirm the snap abort operation for the
specified volume.

3. Click OK.

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 Displaying the Snapshots for a Volume

The snapshot process is aborted.

Displaying the Snapshots for a Volume

You can list the direct snapshots belonging to a volume

▼ Listing the Snapshots for a Volume

1. Left-click on the volume. The volume details are displayed.

2. If the volume has direct snapshots, the Snapshot Volumes tab is displayed.

3. Click on the Shapshot Volumes tab.

4. The snapshots belonging to the volume are displayed in the volume table.

Displaying Cache Volume Information

You can display the backing cache volume information for space optimized volumes.

▼ Listing Backing Cache Information

1. Left-click on the volume. The volume details are displayed.

2. If the volume is space optimized, the Cache Objects tab is displayed.

3. Click on the Cache Objects tab.

4. Cache information for the volume is displayed in the volume table.

Chapter 6, Using Volume Snapshots 163

Backing up a Volume

Backing up a Volume
To back up a volume, use the following procedure:

▼ Backing up a volume using a space-optimized snapshot

1. If you intend to take an instant space-optimized snapshot of the volume, you may
wish to consider first setting up a shared cache object in the same disk group as the
volume. If you intend to split the volume and snapshot into separate disk groups (for
example, to perform off-host processing), you must use a fully synchronized
full-sized snapshot (which does not require a cache object). You cannot use a
space-optimized snapshot for this purpose.

2. If you have not already done so, enable FastResync on the volume. Click:
Actions > Instant Snapshot > Enable FastResync
The Create task creates an instant snapshot that is immediately available for making a
backup. Read requests for data in the original volume at the point in time that the
snapshot was taken are satisfied by reading either from a non-updated region of the
original volume, or from the copy of the original contents of an updated region that have
been recorded by the snapshot.

Note Unless you perform the Start Synchronization procedure, the contents of an instant
snapshot are unlikely ever to become fully synchronized with the contents of the
original volume at the point in time that the snapshot was taken. If you wish to
move an instant snapshot volume to another disk group for export to another
machine for off-host processing, you must ensure that the snapshot volume has
been completely synchronized.

For instant space-optimized snapshots that share a cache object, the specified region
size must be greater than or equal to the region size specified for the cache object.

3. Use the Create task create an instant snapshot that is immediately available for
making a backup. If you specify a name and size for a storage cache, a
space-optimized snapshot is created that requires less space than does a full-sized
snapshot volume.

Note By default, VEA attempts to avoid placing snapshot plexes on a disk that already
holds any plexes of a data volume. However, this may be impossible if insufficient
space is available in the disk group. In this case, VEA uses any available space on
other disks in the disk group. If the snapshot plexes are placed on disks which are
used to hold the plexes of other volumes, this may cause problems when you
subsequently attempt to move a snapshot volume into another disk group.

You have the following choices for what to do with an instant snapshot:

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 Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup

◆ Refresh the contents of the snapshot. This effectively creates a new snapshot of the
original volume ready for another backup. If synchronization was already in progress
on the snapshot, this operation may result in large portions of the snapshot having to
be resynchronized.
◆ Restore the contents of the original volume from the snapshot volume. An instant
space-optimized snapshot always remains intact at the end of the operation.

▼ Backing up a volume using a full-sized snapshot

1. For full-sized instant snapshots, you must create a volume that is to be used as the
snapshot volume. This must be the same size as the volume for which the snapshot is
being created, and it must also have the same region size. Alternatively, if there is a
sufficient number of suitable plexes available in the volume, you can break these off
and use them to create a full-sized instant snapshot.

Note To turn one or more existing plexes in a volume into a break-off instant snapshot
volume, the volume must be a non-layered volume with a mirror or
mirror-stripe layout, or a RAID-5 volume that you have converted to a special
layered volume The volume must have a sufficiently number of available plexes
that are in the ACTIVE state. The plexes in a volume with a stripe-mirror
layout are mirrored at the sub-volume level, and cannot be broken off.

2. Reattach some or all of the plexes of the snapshot volume with the original volume.

3. Restore the contents of the original volume from the snapshot volume. You can choose
whether none, a subset, or all of the plexes of the snapshot volume are returned to the
original volume as a result of the operation.

4. Dissociate the snapshot volume entirely from the original volume. This may be useful
if you want to use the copy for other purposes such as testing or report generation. If
desired, you can delete the dissociated volume.

5. If the snapshot is part of a snapshot hierarchy, you can also choose to dissociate this
hierarchy from its parent volumes.

Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup

The Volume Prepare Restore procedure stops the volume, sets the volume to an
uninitialized state, and restarts the volume (without resynchronizing the volume mirrors).
The volume can then be reloaded from backup (refer also to Merging a Snapshot Volume
(Volume Snapback)).

Chapter 6, Using Volume Snapshots 165

Preparing to Restore a Volume From Backup

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File System Tasks 7
File system Tasks include:
◆ Creating a New File System on a Volume
◆ Creating a New File System on a Volume Set
◆ Mounting a File System
◆ Unmounting a File System
◆ Removing a File System from the File System Table
◆ Defragmenting a File System
◆ Creating a Snapshot Copy of a File System
◆ Removing a Snapshot Copy of a File System
◆ Checking a File System
◆ Viewing File System Properties
◆ Mounting a File System on Other Cluster Nodes
◆ Unmounting a File System from a Cluster Node
◆ Removing Resource Information for a Cluster File System
◆ Maintaining Storage Checkpoints
◆ Using Multi-Component File Systems
◆ Set Intent Log Options

167
File System task Roadmap

File System task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common VEA file system tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

File System Setup Tasks:
Add a new file system to a volume Creating a New File System on a Volume
Add a new file system to a volume set Creating a New File System on a Volume Set
Mount a file system Mounting a File System
Maintenance Tasks:
Defragment a file system Defragmenting a File System
Create a snapshot copy of a file system for Creating a Snapshot Copy of a File System
backup
Remove a snapshot copy of a file system Removing a Snapshot Copy of a File System
Maintaining Storage Checkpoints Maintaining Storage Checkpoints
Recovery Tasks:
Perform a file system consistency check Checking a File System
Other Tasks:
Unmount a file system Unmounting a File System
Cluster mounting a file system Mounting a File System on Other Cluster Nodes
Unmount a file system from a cluster node Unmounting a File System from a Cluster Node
Remove cluster file system resource Removing Resource Information for a Cluster
information File System

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 Creating a New File System on a Volume

Creating a New File System on a Volume

You can use the Volume Manager New File System procedure to place a file system onto
an existing volume and mount the file system. This also updates the file system table file,
if necessary.

Adding a New File System to an Existing Volume

▼ To add a new file system to an existing volume

1. Select the volume to contain the file system.

2. Choose Actions > File System > New File System.

3. Complete the New File System dialog box as follows:

File system type: Select the file system type from the options shown.

Create Options: ◆ See Allocation unit/Block size for allocation and block and
settings.
◆ To specify other create details, click New File System
Details and specify any additional options in the New File
System Details dialog box.

Compress (checkbox) ◆ If your platform supports file compression, then you can select
Compress to compress the files on your file system.

Mount Options: ◆ Enter the mount point for the file system, if you want the file
system mounted at system startup.
◆ Select the Create mount point checkbox if you want the
system to create the mount point if it does not already exist.
◆ Select the Read only and Honor setuid checkboxes, as
required.
◆ Select the Add to file system table and Mount at boot
checkboxes to update the system table file and mount the file
system at system startup.
◆ Select the Add to file system table checkbox, and leave the
Mount at boot checkbox unselected to update the system
table file, and not mount the file system at system startup.
◆ To specify mount details, click Mount File System Details
and specify any additional options using the checkboxes and
Extra Options entry in the Mount Details dialog box.

Chapter 7, File System Tasks 169

Creating a New File System on a Volume

After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The New File System task requires a file system type.

◆ If the file system is to be mounted at startup, a file system mount point is required.
◆ If the Add to file system table checkbox is selected, then the file system table is
automatically updated when the file system is mounted.
◆ The mount point must be an absolute pathname (that is, it must begin with /).
◆ In VxFS 4.0 default disk layout is version 6. However older layouts 4 and 5 are supported.

Allocation unit/Block size

File System Allocation Unit Values Block Size Values

vxfs same as block size 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192

ext2, ext3 1024, 2048, 4096 1024, 2048, 4096

reiserfs Not Applicable 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384

New File System Details

Option File Systems Description

Checkbox - Support vxfs, jfs (Journalled File System) Check if file system contains
large file size (Greater files greater than 2 GBytes.
than 2 GB)

Checkbox - Specify vxfs Check if you want to specify

activity logging area the activity logging area size.
size If checked, you need to
provide a value for the log size
(value must be expressed as
the number of blocks, in the
range 256 to 262144,
inclusive).

Extra options vxfs See mkfs(1) and mount(1)

manual pages for option
details.

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 Creating a New File System on a Volume

Mount File System Details

The Mount File System Details dialog box contains the following sections:
◆ Support large file sizes checkbox - available only with vxfs file systems. Check this
box if the file system contains files greater than 2 GBytes.
◆ Cluster Options Area
◆ Permissions/Ownership Area
◆ Advanced Options Area
Cluster Options Area

Option File Systems Description

Checkbox - Cluster mount. This vxfs Mounts the file system in shared mode.
is present only if the optional Select the nodes to be mounted.
cluster functionality is available.

Once the Cluster mount vxfs Mounts the file system in shared mode.
checkbox is selected, you can set Select the nodes to be mounted, and
the Node mount information, their mode (Read Only).
primary node, and Service group
Select the Service group (cfs, by
information.
default). This defines the vcs service
group that the mount resources will go
into. You can select an existing group,
or type in a new one.

Note If you do not specify a service group, a new service group name is created. The
name of the generated service group takes the form vrts_vea_cfs_xx where xx is
a running serial number. If you specify a service group which does not exist, a new
service group is created. If the service group does exist, it checks the node lists
specified in the command with the existing node lists in the group. If the node lists
do not match the service group selection operation will fail.

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Creating a New File System on a Volume

Permissions/Ownership Area

Option File Systems Description

(applies only to local file Note To set ownership, both group and
systems) user must be specified; and the
user must belong in the group.
vxfs

Advanced Options Area

Option File Systems Description

Intent logging jfs, jfs2 Controls intent logging

(log/delaylog/tmplog). To maintain
file system integrity after a system
failure, logging must be enabled.

Checkbox - Clear all data extents vxfs Clears all data extents before file
before file allocation. allocation.

Checkbox - File system caching vxfs Note that, while the tmpcache option to
policy mincache improves performance, it
reduces integrity.

Checkbox - Disable access time vxfs Disables access time recording.

recording

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 Mounting a File System

Mounting a File System

The Mount File System procedure mounts a file system and updates the file system table
file, if necessary.

▼ To mount a file system on an existing volume

1. Select the volume that contains the file system to be mounted.

2. Choose Actions > File System > Mount File System.

3. Complete the Mount File System dialog box

▼ To mount any file system

1. Select the file system to be mounted.

2. Choose Actions > Mount File System.

3. Complete the Mount File System dialog box as follows:

FS Type: Select the file system type.

Mount Options: ◆ If you want the system to use the mount options defined in the
system table, check Mount using options in the file
(refer to Creating a New
File System on a
system table.
Volume for available ◆ Enter the mount point for the file system, if you want the file
options) system mounted at system startup.
◆ Select the Create mount point checkbox if you want the
system to create the mount point if it does not already exist.
◆ Select the Read only and Honor setuid checkboxes, as
required.
◆ To specify mount details, click Mount File System Details
and specify any additional options using the checkboxes and
Extra Options entry in the Mount Details dialog box (see
Advanced Options Area).

After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ The mount point must be an absolute pathname (that is, it must begin with /).

Chapter 7, File System Tasks 173

Creating a New File System on a Volume Set

Creating a New File System on a Volume Set

You can use the Volume Manager New File System procedure to place a file system onto
an existing volume set and mount the file system. This also updates the file system table
file, if necessary.

▼ To add a new file system to an existing volume set

1. Select the volume set to contain the file system.

2. Choose Actions > File System > New File System.

3. Proceed as for creating a new file system on a volume (Creating a New File System on
a Volume).

Note The volume set device will be shown as a child of the file system instance in the tree.

Unmounting a File System

The Unmounting File System procedure unmounts a file system.

▼ To unmount a file system on a volume

1. Select the volume containing the file system to be unmounted.

2. Choose Actions > File System > Unmount File System.

3. Click Yes in the Unmount File System dialog to confirm that you want the file system
unmounted.

4. If an entry exists for this file system in the file system table, a Remove File System
dialog appears. Click Yes in the Remove File System dialog if you want the file system
table entry removed.

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 Removing a File System from the File System Table

Removing a File System from the File System Table

The file systems Remove from File System Table procedure removes its resource
information from the file system table.

▼ To remove file system information from the file system table

1. Select the file system to be removed.

2. Choose Actions > Remove from File System Table.

3. Click Yes in the Remove File System dialog to confirm that you want the file system
information removed.

Defragmenting a File System

The Defrag File System procedure defragments a file system and the underlying volume,
removing disjointed extents, and so on.

▼ To defragment a file system on a volume

1. Select the volume containing the file system to be defragmented.

2. Choose Actions > File System > Defrag File System.

3. Select Yes in the displayed dialog box

▼ To defragment any file system

1. Select the file system to be defragmented.

2. Choose Actions > Defrag File System.

3. Select Yes in the displayed dialog box.

Chapter 7, File System Tasks 175

Creating a Snapshot Copy of a File System

Creating a Snapshot Copy of a File System

The File System Snapshot procedure prepares VxFS for online backup by creating a
snapshot copy of the file system. This is done by creating a new volume, mounting a
snapshot file system on the new volume, and copying the contents of the original file
system to the snapshot file system. The snapshot file system is a consistent copy of the
original file system at the time the snapshot was made. You can use the snapshot file
system to make a backup of the original file system at a convenient time. After the backup
is made, you can remove the snapshot file system by removing the underlying snapshot
volume.

▼ To create a snapshot copy of file system data

1. Select the file system to be backed up.

2. Choose Actions > Snapshot > Create...

3. Complete the Snapshot File System dialog box as follows:

New Volume Name: By default, the new volume name displayed is composed of the
name of the file system to be backed up and the suffix _vxfssnap
(for example, Vol5_vxfssnap). You can replace the default name
with the volume name of your choice.

Snapshot Mount Point: By default, the new snapshot mount point displayed is composed
of the mount point of the file system to be backed up and the suffix
_vxfssnap (for example, /Vol5_vxfssnap). You can replace the
default name with the mount point of your choice.

Snapshot Size: Enter the size of the snapshot copy of the file system.

Cluster node (displayed If your node is part of a cluster, you can now select the node in the
only if your node is part cluster to contain the file system.
of a cluster): If the node you select is not displayed in the current window, then
it resides on a remote node. In order to remove this snapshot, you
will have to open the remote node and display the created file
system before removing it.

Select disks to use for Select the disks for Volume screen.
the volume: The default setting is for Volume Manager to assign the disks for
you. To manually select the disks, click the “Manually select which
disks to use for volume” radio button. The disks that you select
should be in the right pane when you click Apply or let VxVM
decide which disks to use for the volume.

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 Removing a Snapshot Copy of a File System

After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ Snapshots are shown in the left pane tree view as children of the file system they are based
on. They are shown in the right pane of the table view of the File Systems at the same level
as the file system they are based on.
◆ In the case of creating a snapshot of a cluster file system, snapshot creation can be run
only on the master node
◆ Snapshots cannot be made of Multi-component file systems.
◆ The File System Snapshot task is only available for VxFS file systems.
◆ The snapshot file system is an exact copy of the original file system at the time the
snapshot was created.
◆ After you create the snapshot copy of the file system, remember to back it up to tape or
some other media. Remove the snapshot file system when it is no longer needed.
◆ Users can continue to use the original file system during this snapshot backup procedure.
◆ Refer to the VERITAS File System Administrator’s Guide for guidelines on choosing the
snapshot file system size.

Removing a Snapshot Copy of a File System

The removal of a snapshot file system is performed in two steps:

1. The system first unmounts the snapshot file system and, in the case of a cluster file
system, deletes the snapshot mount point from the cluster configuration.

2. The system then deletes the volume that was created for the snapshot file system. This
step must be executed on the master node in the case of a cluster file system.
Use the following procedure to remove a snapshot copy of a file system.

▼ To remove a snapshot copy of file system data

1. Select the snapshot file system to be removed.

2. Choose Actions > Snapshot > Remove

3. Click Yes in the Remove Snapshot File System dialog to confirm that you want the
snapshot deleted.

Chapter 7, File System Tasks 177

Checking a File System

Note If you are removing the snapshot on a slave node. The message “Error
V-40-49408-40 VxVM exedit ERROR V-5-1-0 operation must be
executed on master” may appear. In this case, you need to go to the master
node and delete the snapshot volume after the snapshot has been unmounted on
the slave.

Checking a File System

The Check File System procedure checks an unmounted file system for consistency
(using the fsck command). See the fsck_vxfs(1M) manual page for more information
on file system checking.

▼ To check a file system on a volume

1. Select the volume containing the file system to be checked.

2. Choose Actions > File System > Check File System.

3. Click Yes in the Check File System dialog to confirm that you want the file system
checked.

▼ To check any file system

1. Select the file system to be checked.

2. Choose Actions > Check File System.

3. Click Yes in the Check File System dialog to confirm that you want the file system
checked.

Notes:

◆ The file system must be unmounted.

◆ VEA assumes that fsck does not require user input. If user input is required, this task
fails and fsck must be run at the command line.

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 Monitoring File System Capacity

Monitoring File System Capacity

The Set Usage Threshold procedure enables you to monitor the capacity of a file system
on a mounted volume.

▼ To monitor the capacity of a file system

1. Select the file system to be monitored.

2. Choose Actions > Set Usage Threshold.

3. Complete the Set Usage Threshold dialog box as follows:

Monitor Capacity Select the Monitor Capacity checkbox to initiate capacity

monitoring on the file system. The File Systems Tabular View
indicates if capacity monitoring is Enabled or Disabled.

Threshold Percentage Select the Threshold Percentage value. When usage crosses this
value, an alert will be logged.

Notes:

For systems other than vxfs, alert thresholds are not persistent (that is, the information is lost
when the server restarts). This means that:
◆ File system objects on the bus reflect the threshold and enabled status for alerts.
◆ Once an alert is fired, the status on the bus is disabled so that the alert is not refired at
every periodic rescan.
(This can be avoided by allocating a low value to Threshold Percentage.)

Viewing File System Properties

The File System Properties window contains detailed information about the selected file
system. Select File Systems then Properties.
You can also view the properties associated with each mount point under the file systems.
◆ To view the properties of a particular file system mount point, select File Systems,
then choose the mount point and Properties from the popup menu.

Chapter 7, File System Tasks 179

Mounting a File System on Other Cluster Nodes

Mounting a File System on Other Cluster Nodes

You can use the Mount File System procedure to mount an already mounted cluster VxFS
file system onto other nodes in the cluster.

▼ To mount a cluster file system on other nodes

1. Select the File Systems node; then select the cluster file system to be mounted.

2. Choose Actions > File System -> Mount File System...

3. Select the nodes to be mounted from the Mount File System dialog box. You can chose
the filesystem to be Read only by selecting the appropriate checkbox.

4. Click OK when you have identified all nodes on which the file system is to be
mounted.

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 Unmounting a File System from a Cluster Node

Unmounting a File System from a Cluster Node

Use the Unmount File System procedure to unmount a VxFS file system on a selected
volume in cluster (shared) mode.

▼ To unmount a cluster file system from a particular volume

1. Select the volume containing the cluster file system to be unmounted.

2. Choose Actions > File System > Unmount File System...

3. Select the nodes to be unmounted from the Unmount Cluster File System dialog box.

4. Click Yes in the Unmount File System dialog to confirm that you want the file system
unmounted.

▼ To unmount any cluster file system

1. Select the File Systems node; then select the cluster file system to be unmounted.

2. Choose Actions > Unmount File System...

3. Select the nodes to be unmounted from the Unmount Cluster File System dialog box.

4. Click Yes in the Unmount File System dialog to confirm that you want the file system
unmounted.

Chapter 7, File System Tasks 181

Removing Resource Information for a Cluster File System

Removing Resource Information for a Cluster File System

The Remove Cluster Mount procedure removes cluster file system resource information
from the cluster configuration file.

▼ To remove a cluster file system resource information

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Remove Cluster Mount.

3. Click Yes to remove the cluster file system resource information from the cluster
configuration file and dissociate the shared volume from the mount point.

Notes:

◆ The cluster file system must be unmounted before performing the Remove Cluster
Mount procedure.
◆ The Remove Cluster Mount procedure must be performed before changing any mount
options. When remounting a previously unmounted shared volume with different mount
options, the mount options will not be changed if the cluster mount point was not
removed with Remove Cluster Mount.

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 Maintaining File Change Log

Maintaining File Change Log

You can:
◆ Enable file change log on a mounted file system. (See tTo enable file change log.)
◆ Disable file change log on a mounted file system. (See tTo disable file change log.)
◆ Aynchronize file change log on a mounted file system. (See tTo synchronize the file
change log.)
◆ Tune file change log on a mounted file system. (See tTo tune the file change log.)

▼ To enable file change log

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Change Log > Enable.

3. Click Yes when the Confirmation message is displayed.

▼ To disable file change log

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Change Log > Diable.

3. Click Yes when the Confirmation message is displayed.

▼ To synchronize the file change log

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Change Log > Synchronize.

File Change Log usually logs changes only at pre-assigned intervals. This operation forces
the next structural change to the file system to be logged irrespective of the interval, and
resets the time interval.

▼ To tune the file change log.

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Change Log > Tune. The Tune File Change Log dialog is displayed.

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Maintaining File Change Log

3. Complete the Tune File Change Log dialog box as follows:

Maximum size of log Maximum size of log. (Optional)

(bytes):

Keep record (seconds): Log keep time. (Optional)

Write interval Logging interval. (Optional)

(seconds):

NetBackup is the only Use a prolonged logging interval.

user for this log

Note At least one of the parameters must be defined.

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Apply then
OK, or OK.

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 Maintaining Storage Checkpoints

Maintaining Storage Checkpoints

You can:
Disable Checkpoint Quota
Remove a Checkpoint
Mount a Checkpoint
Unmount a Checkpoint
Enable Checkpoint Quota
Create a Checkpoint

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Maintaining Storage Checkpoints

Create a Checkpoint
▼ To create a checkpoint

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Storage Checkpoint > Create. The Create Storage Checkpoint dialog is
displayed.

3. Complete the Create Storage checkpoint dialog box as follows:

Checkpoint name: A default checkpoint name is constructed using time zone

information. You can specify your own checkpoint name, if
desired.

Removable: Default is for a removable checkpoint.

Mount: Select this checkbox if you want the checkpoint mounted.

Mount point: If you check Mount:, then you need to supply a mount point.

Mount details: If you check Mount:, then mount details (Read Only, and Add to
file system table) can be defined. If you are creating a checkpoint
for a cluster file system, then mount details Mount and Read only
can be selected for each cluster node

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Yes.

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Remove a Checkpoint
You can remove existing checkpoint; provided that it is unmounted.

▼ To remove a checkpoint

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Storage Checkpoint > Remove. The remove Storage Checkpoint dialog is
displayed.

3. Move the checkpoints to be removed from All checkpoints to Checkpoints to

remove. (Only the checkpoints that have been unmounted are listed under All
checkpoints.)

4. Click OK to remove the selected checkpoints.

Note A checkpoint must be unmounted before it can be removed. To unmount a

checkpoint, select the checkpoint under the file system it is based on. Then,
unmount the selected checkpoint by selecting Actions > Unmount File Systems.

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Maintaining Storage Checkpoints

Mount a Checkpoint
You can mount an existing checkpoint.

▼ To mount a checkpoint

1. Select the file system to provide the checkpoint.

2. Choose Storage Checkpoint > Mount. The Mount Storage Checkpoint dialog is
displayed.

3. Complete the Mount Storage checkpoint dialog box as follows:

Checkpoint name: A default checkpoint name is constructed using time zone

information. You can specify your own checkpoint name, if
desired.

Mount point: Verify the mount point displayed is the one you need.

Mount details: Check the required mount options (Mount and Read only for
mounting checkpoint of a cluster file system; Read Only and Add
to file system table for mounting checkpoint of a local file system).

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Yes.

Note Mounted Checkpoints are shown as children of the file system they are based on.

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Unmount a Checkpoint
You can unmount an existing checkpoint.

▼ To unmount a checkpoint

1. Select the file system containing the checkpoint to be unmounted.

2. Choose Storage Checkpoint > Unmount. The Unmount Storage Checkpoint dialog is
displayed.

3. Complete the Unmount Storage checkpoint dialog box as follows:

Checkpoint name: Select the checkpoint to be unmounted.

Nodes to Unmount Select the nodes on which the checkpoint is to be unmounted.

(Move nodes from Mounted on Nodes to Nodes to Unmount.)

Remove cluster mount: Check this checkbox to remove cluster mount from file system
table.

Remove storage Check this checkbox to remove storage checkpoint from file system
checkpoint table.

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

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Maintaining Storage Checkpoints

Enable Checkpoint Quota

You can enable a checkpoint quota on a mounted file system or its hosting device
(provided that the client has access to the device).

▼ To enable a checkpoint quota

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Storage Checkpoint > Enable Checkpoint Quotas. The Enable Checkpoint
Quotas dialog is displayed.

3. Complete the Enable Checkpoint Quotas dialog box as follows:

Hard limit: Define the hard limit - the point at which removable checkpoints
are lost.
If you want, you can check the box Reuse space occupied by
removable checkpoints when hard limit is reached.

Soft limit: Define the soft limit - the point at which an alert is raised.
If you want, you can check the box Allow new checkpont creation
when soft limit is reached.

Note The hard limit for the checkpoint cannot be less than the soft limit.

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Yes.

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Disable Checkpoint Quota

You can disable a checkpoint quota on a mounted file system or its hosting device
(provided that the client has access to the device).

▼ To disable a checkpoint quota

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Storage Checkpoint > Disable Checkpoint Quotas. The Disable Checkpoint
Quotas confirmation dialog is displayed.

3. Click Yes to confirm

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Using Multi-Component File Systems

Using Multi-Component File Systems

VxFS supports file systems spanning multiple devices (Multi-Component Support, or
MDS). Such systems are called MDS file systems, and can be regarded as residing on a
VxVM device - a VxVM volume set.
◆ Setting up an MDS System
◆ Adding Volumes
◆ Removing Volumes
◆ Encapsulating Volumes

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Setting up an MDS System

Typically setting up an MDS file system involves:
◆ Creating a Volume Set (see Chapter 5)
◆ Creating the MDS File System (see Creating a New File System on a Volume Set)
◆ Mounting the Volume Set

Note If an MDF is selected, the sub file system objects are show in a tab view in the table.

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Using Multi-Component File Systems

Mounting the Volume Set

You can mount the file system on the volume set as follows:

▼ To mount a file system

1. Select the volume set.

2. Choose Actions > File System > Mount File System. The Mount File System dialog
appears (see Mounting a File System).

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Adding Volumes
Note Before adding a volume to an MDS file system, the volume must already have been
added into volume set.

▼ To add volumes to an MDS file system

1. Select the MDS file system.

2. Choose Actions > Multi-Component File System > Add Volume. The Add Volume
to File System dialog appears.

3. Move the required volumes from the Volumes not in File System area to the Selected
volumes area.

4. Click OK.

Note When adding a volume to a volume set, the volume is also added to an existing
MDS file system.

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Using Multi-Component File Systems

Removing Volumes
Note You must remove sub file systems manually. This operation can take a long time to
complete (it is asynchronous). The data needs to be moved off the subvolume to
another volume in the volume set.

▼ To remove a volume from an MDS file system

1. Select the MDS file system.

2. Choose Actions > Multi-Component File System > Remove Volume. The Remove
Volume dialog appears.

3. Select the volume to be removed.

4. Click OK.

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 Set Intent Log Options

Encapsulating Volumes
▼ To encapsulate a volume in an MDS file system

1. Select the MDS file system.

2. Choose Actions > Multi-Component File System > Encapsulate Volume. The
Encapsulate Volume dialog appears.

3. Select the volume to be encapsulated.

4. You can define a new file name, if you want (default file name is same as volume
name).

5. Click Yes.

Set Intent Log Options

Intent log is available on VxFS layout version 6.

Note VxFS layout version 6 is the default when a file system is created using the GUI.

▼ To set intent log options

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Set Intent Log Options. The Intent Log Options dialog is displayed.

3. Complete the Intent Log Options dialog box as follows:

Intent log size: Size of the intent log. It must be greater than 256K bytes, and less
than 262144K bytes.

Device to use: Name of volume set to use for intent logging.

4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click Yes.

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Setting the Primary Node

Setting the Primary Node

To set the primary node for a file system, use the following procedure:

▼ To set the primary node

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Select Primary Node. The Set Primary Node dialog is
displayed.

3. Select the primary node from the drop-down menu.

4. Click OK to complete the setting.

Maintaining Primary Policies

You maintain primary policies by:
◆ Setting the Primary Policy
◆ Clearing the Primary Policy

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 Maintaining Primary Policies

Setting the Primary Policy

To set the primary policy for a file system, use the following procedure:

▼ To set the primary policy

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Select Primary Policy. The Set Primary Policy dialog is
displayed.

3. Move the required primary nodes from the All Cluster Nodes: list to the Primary
Policy Nodes: list.

4. Click OK to complete the setting.

Note This operation cannot be performed on clones or snapshots.

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Maintaining Primary Policies

Clearing the Primary Policy

To clear the primary policy for a file system, use the following procedure:

▼ To clear the primary policy

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Clear Primary Policy. The confirmation dialog is
displayed.

3. Click OK.

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Using Quality of Storage Service Feature 8
The VERITAS File System Quality of Storage Service (QoSS) feature allows you to map
more than one device into a single file system. (Refer to the VERITAS File System
Administrator’s Guide for background information on how configure file relocation
policies, and how to use QoSS command-line utilities.)

Note VERITAS Quality of Storage Service is a licensed feature. You must purchase a
separate license key to use QoSS, and the VRTSfppm package must be installed for
the VERITAS Quality of Storage Service feature to operate. (See the VERITAS File
System Release Notes for current product information.)

QoSS Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common QoSS tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure …

Configure Relocation Policies Configuring Relocation Policies
Analyze a file system Analyzing a File System
Relocate files Relocating Files
Select Files Selecting Files Based on Maximum Age

201
Configuring Relocation Policies

Configuring Relocation Policies

If a file system has multiple component devices, you must configure relocation policies to
define the files to move and the physical devices on which to locate the files. Policies for a
file are based on the following criteria:
◆ Age, which is the time since it was last accessed or last modified
◆ Size
◆ Location in a directory structure
◆ Name pattern, such as the similarly named output files of an application or a common
extension such as *.gif
◆ Source component volume
◆ Destination component volume

Viewing Relocation Policies and Modifying Policy Rules

▼ To view relocation policies or modify policy rules

1. Right-click one or more file systems that have multiple component devices.

2. Select Relocation Policies from the popup menu.

Selecting Relocation Policies

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 Configuring Relocation Policies

The Relocation Policies Configuration dialog appears.

The top left pane displays all the policies that have been configured for the file system.
The bottom left pane displays all the rules for the relocation policy selected in the top
list. The panes on the right display the disk space available and used for the
component volumes in the file system.

Relocation Policies Configuration Dialog

All configured
policies

Add, modify,
or delete policies

Display effect of
relocation on volumes

Relocate files on
demand

All configured
rules for
selected policy

Add, modify,
or delete rules

3. From the Relocation Policies Configuration screen, you can do any of the following:

a. Click New relocation policy to launch the Relocation Policy Wizard and use it to
create a new policy.

b. Click Modify relocation policy to launch the Relocation Policy Wizard and use it
to modify an existing policy. You can add rules to a policy, delete source or
destination component volumes from a policy, and so on.

c. Click Delete relocation policy to remove the selected policy. You must confirm
your choice before the policy will be deleted.

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Configuring Relocation Policies

d. Click Analyze to display the effect of relocation policies on a volume. The results
are displayed in the pie chart on the far right. Clicking this button does not
relocate files; it only displays how disk space would change if files were relocated
according to a specific policy. For detailed information, see “To experiment with
relocation policies using the Analyze button” on page 212.

e. Click Relocate files to relocate all eligible files immediately. Usually files are
relocated according to a predetermined schedule. For more information, see “To
relocate files immediately” on page 215.

f. Click New rule to create a new rule that will be associated with an existing policy
that is selected from the list in the top pane.

g. Click Modify selected rule to modify a rule associated with an existing policy
that is selected in list in the top pane.

h. Click Delete selected rule to delete a rule that is associated with an existing
policy that is selected in list in the top pane

Note The Default rule can not be deleted because it is always associated with the
policy.

i. Click the Apply button to save your changes and leave the dialog open for further
modifications.

j. Click the Close button and confirm your choice to save your changes and close
the dialog.

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Creating and Modifying Relocation Policies

▼ To create or modify a relocation policy

1. Right-click one or more file systems that have multiple component devices.

2. Select Relocation Policies from the popup menu.

3. From the Relocation Policies Configuration dialog, click the New relocation policy
button to launch the Relocation Policy Wizard.
To modify an existing policy, select it and click the Modify relocation policy button.
You cannot modify the name of a policy using the wizard.

Relocation Policy Configuration Wizard

The Relocation Policy Wizard launches.

4. After reading the Welcome screen, click Next.

The Source Component Volume screen appears.

5. On the Source Component Volume screen, specify the policy name and select the
source component volume or volumes the policy will manage.

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Configuring Relocation Policies

Source Component Volume Screen

The source component volume has files that you want to manage by relocating them
when they match relocation policy rules. By selecting a volume, you configure the file
system sweeping utility to search it for files that can be relocated based on your
configuration.
Click Next.

6. On the Destination Component Volume screen, select the component volume or

volumes to which the data will be moved from the source component volume or
volumes.

Destination Component Volume Screen

The destination component volume is the location for files selected for relocation. By
choosing a volume, you configure the file system sweeping utility to relocate files it
selects to that component volume.
Click Next.

7. On the Relocation Rules screen you can add, modify, and remove rules for a relocation
policy.

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Relocation Rules Screen

Column
headings

Arrow
buttons

You can use the column headings to sort the information on this screen. Click a
column heading to organize the information by that criteria. For example, to display
all of the files from the same source component volume together in the list, click the
Source Volume heading.
Use the arrow buttons to move a selected row up or down.
Click the Delete Selected Rule button to delete the selected rule (you must confirm
your choice).

Note The Default rule can not be deleted because it is always associated with the
policy. You can change the name Default through the language-dependent Java
properties file for the GUI extension.

Click the New Rule button to create a new rule. The Relocation Rules dialog appears.

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Configuring Relocation Policies

Relocation Rules Dialog

a. The only required criteria for a rule is a name that is unique among the other rules
for relocation policies. The relocation rule you name will use the criteria you
select to determine which files to select for relocation.

Note A file must meet all of the criteria you specify in a rule in order to be eligible for
relocation. For example, if you select both a directory path and file pattern, the
sweep of the file system will consider only files that meet both conditions.

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b. Specify a directory path for files to which the rule will apply.
To select a directory from the source component volume or volumes from a list of
possible directories, click Browse. The Select Directory dialog appears.

Select Directory Dialog

Select a directory or directories for this rule and click OK.

c. Specify the destination component volume to which this rule will apply. This is
the component volume to which files will be relocated.
To select a destination component volume or volumes from a list of possible
volumes, click Select Destination. The Select Volume dialog appears.

Select Volume Dialog

Select a component volume or volumes for this rule and click OK.

d. After returning to the Relocation Rules dialog, you can specify how the rule will
be used:
◆ Exclude files when the rule is applied
◆ Include files when the rule is applied

Specifying how a Rule is to be Applied

e. To apply this rule to all subdirectories under those the rule causes to be selected,
select Apply rule to subdirectories.

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Configuring Relocation Policies

f. To add, modify or remove file selection criteria from the rule, toggle the
checkmark next to the criterion either on or off, as appropriate. If you remove a
checkmark, the criterion is not considered in selecting files to relocate.

Adding, Modifying or Removing File Selection Criteria

You can set criteria in the following areas:

File size
◆ The Files larger than or equal to field specifies that files of the given size and
greater can be relocated. To set the criteria, click the checkbox and enter a
value to the right.
◆ The Files smaller than or equal to field specifies that files of the given size
and smaller can be relocated. To set the criteria, click the checkbox and enter a
value on the right.
File age
◆ The Files not accessed in field specifies that files accessed in the given period
of time are not relocated.
◆ The Files not modified in field specifies that files modified in the given
period of time are not relocated.
Click Next.
The Policy Configuration Summary screen appears.

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Policy Configuration Summary Screen

8. If the screen summarizes the policy as you want o configure it, click Finish to
configure the policy.
If you wish to make changes, click Back, modify the appropriate rules or policies, and
click Next until you return to the Policy Configuration Summary screen. Click Finish
to configure the policy.

Chapter 8, Using Quality of Storage Service Feature 211

Analyzing a File System

Analyzing a File System

One method for learning how relocation policies affect a file system is to experiment with
scenarios based on different policies, such as how configurations affect the disk space on
volumes in a file system.

▼ To experiment with relocation policies using the Analyze button

1. In VEA, right-click one or more file systems that have multiple component devices.

2. Select Relocation Policies from the popup menu.

Selecting Relocation Policies

The Relocation Policies Configuration dialog appears.

3. Determine the relocation policy that you want to test and select it from the Relocation
policies pane. You can also test how relocating files according to all policies will affect
the disk space on component volumes.

4. To display the effect of relocation policies on a volume, click Analyze. The results are
displayed in the pie chart on the far right.

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Relocation Policy Analysis Screen

5. A confirmation dialog prompts you to confirm whether you want to analyze the file
system based on the policy that is selected in the Relocation policies pane or based on
all policies. Click the appropriate radio button and OK.

6. After you have confirmed your choice of policies, an Analysis Status window appears
that shows the total number of files that will be analyzed, how many have been
processed so far, how long the analysis is expected to take, and how much time it has
taken.

Analysis Status Window

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Analyzing a File System

7. After the status bar at the top of the Analysis Status window has reached 100%, click
Close and examine the Component Volume(s) Status to see where files will move
within the file system.
Clicking the Analyze button does not relocate files; it only displays how disk space would
change if files were relocated according to a specific policy.
After you have analyzed a policy, you can relocate files based on the results by click
Relocate files and confirming your choice when prompted.
You can select different policies and see corresponding results.

Relocation Policy Results Screen

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 Relocating Files

Relocating Files
After you have configured policies, you can use them to select and relocate files.

▼ To relocate files immediately

1. Right-click one or more file systems that have multiple component devices.

2. Select Start Relocations from the popup menu.

Selecting Files Based on Maximum Age

The Configuration Policy Wizard lets you relocate files based on minimum file size and
maximum file size, but only on minimum file age.
It is useful to select files based on maximum age, that is, files that were recently accessed
or modified. For example, you can add a new component volume to an existing volume
set, and the newest component volume is on more modern hardware with improved
performance. You may want to relocate the most recently accessed files to this new
component volume.
To select files on the basis of a maximum age, use two rules within one policy. The first
policy rule can have any file size or name criteria, but it has no age criteria at all. The
second rule has no file size or name criteria, but it does have a minimum age and is
marked in the Relocation Rules dialog to Exclude matching files.
When QoSS evaluates files, it considers all policies and rules. If a file meets the criteria of a
rule, it is relocated until all other rules have been evaluated. If one rule includes a file, but
another rule excludes the same file, the file is not relocated.
So in this example, one rule selects files of any age, possibly constrained by criteria other
than age. The second rule selects files older than a minimum age and excludes them from
relocation. Because the first rule is inclusive and the second rule is exclusive, the effect is
to stop relocation of older files and to relocate recent files.

Chapter 8, Using Quality of Storage Service Feature 215

Selecting Files Based on Maximum Age

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Device-Related Tasks 9
Device-related tasks are handled by the Device Discovery layer (DDL). It supports device
discovery and allows dynamic addition of support for disk arrays for multipathing.
Procedures are provided for:
◆ Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices
◆ Maintaining Disks
◆ Enabling and Disabling Paths
◆ Displaying Lists of Supported Arrays
The Device Task Roadmap shows a summary of common DDL tasks.

217
Device Task Roadmap

Device Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common device tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure…

Maintaining Foreign Device List
Add a foreign device entry to the Add Foreign Devices
/etc/vx/darecs file.
Remove a foreign device entry, or directory, Remove Foreign Devices
from the /etc/vx/darecs file.
List information about a foreign device. Display Information for a Foreign Device
Maintaining Paths
Enable/Disable a path Enabling and Disabling Paths
Maintaining Disks
Display a list of supported arrays for a host. Displaying Lists of Supported Arrays

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 Displaying Lists of Supported Arrays

Displaying Lists of Supported Arrays

Use the following procedure to display a list of supported arrays for a host.

▼ To display a list of supported arrays

1. Right-click on the host for which the supported arrays are to be displayed.

2. Choose Properties from the displayed sub-menu.

3. Click on the Arrays tab

4. The arrays supported by this host is displayed.

5. OK to exit.

List of Supported Arrays

Chapter 9, Device-Related Tasks 219

Enabling and Disabling Paths

Enabling and Disabling Paths

Use the following procedure to enable or disable a path to a controller.

▼ To enable or disable a path

1. Select the controller node in the left pane. The controller table view appears.

2. Select the controller containing the paths to be enabled or disabled.

3. Select the Paths tab from the table view in the right pane. The path name and status
(enabled/disabled) is displayed.

4. Select the paths to be enabled or disabled.

5. To enable a path, select Actions > Enable Path , to disable a path, select Actions >
Disable Path. A confirmation message is displayed.

6. Choose OK to confirm that you want to enable or disable the paths shown.

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Maintaining Disks
You can initiate a rescanning of the devices in the device tree. Use the following procedure
to scan devices in the operating system device tree and to trigger a Dynamic MultiPathing
(DMP) reconfiguration.

Note This operation will take a long time to complete.

▼ To scan disks

1. Select the disks node in the left pane.

2. Select Actions > Scan Disks, a Scan Disk dialog box is displayed. You can now choose
to:
◆ Scan all devices
◆ Perform a partial discovery of devices (Scan new devices)
◆ Scan by controllers

Scan Disks Dialog

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Maintaining Disks

3. If you choose to scan by controllers, you need to select at least one controller to scan
(move from Available controllers: to Selected controllers:).

4. Select OK; then choose Yes to confirm that you want to continue with the disk scan.

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 Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices

Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices

Procedures are provided for you to maintain the list of foreign devices - those devices that
are not auto configurable by VxVM. You can:
◆ Display Information for a Foreign Device
◆ Add Foreign Devices
◆ Remove Foreign Devices

Display Information for a Foreign Device

Use the following procedure to list information about the device and option information
for the list of foreign devices in the /etc/vx/darecs file.

▼ To display information for a foreign device

1. Select the host for which the devices are to be displayed.

2. Choose Actions > Foreign Device > List. The List Foreign Device information
appears.

3. OK to exit.

Add Foreign Devices

Use the following procedures to add a specific device, or a set of devices, to the list of
devices in the /etc/vx/darecs file.

▼ To add a specific device

1. Select the host where the devices are to be added.

2. Choose Actions > Foreign Device > Add. The Add Foreign Devices dialog appears.

Chapter 9, Device-Related Tasks 223

Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices

Add Foreign Devices Dialog

3. Type the absolute device path name in the Device Directory/Path field.

4. Select the type (Block and char path or Path), as appropriate.

Block and char path If you use block path, then you also have to specify character path;
for example, /dev/dsk/c2t0d0s2 /dev/rdsk/c2t0d0s2

Path Example: /dev/dsk/c2t0d0s2

5. Select the options for suppressing duplicate disks

Suppress autoconfig Suppress the auto discovered entries in case of duplicates (that is,
disks keep the foreign disk entries)

Suppress foreign disks Suppress the foreign entries in case of duplicates (that is, keep the
auto discovered entries)

Do not suppress any Duplicate entries are not suppressed.

disk

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6. Select OK. The device is now added to the /etc/vx/darecs file.

▼ To add a set of devices

1. Choose Actions > Foreign Device > Add. The Add Foreign Devices dialog appears.

2. Type the name of the directory containing the set of devices to be added in the Device
Directory/Path field.

3. Select the type (Block and char directory or Directory), as appropriate.

Block and char If you specify a block directory, then you also have to specify a
directory character directory; for example, /dev/dsk /dev/rdsk

Directory Example: /dev/dsk

4. Select the options for suppressing duplicate disks

Suppress autoconfig Suppress the auto discovered entries in case of duplicates (that is,
disks keep the foreign disk entries)

Suppress foreign disks Suppress the foreign entries in case of duplicates (that is, keep the
auto discovered entries)

Do not suppress any Duplicate entries are not suppressed.

disk

5. Select Apply then Cancel. The device is now added to the /etc/vx/darecs file.

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Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices

Remove Foreign Devices

Use the following procedure to remove a specific device, or a directory from the list of
devices in the /etc/vx/darecs file.

▼ To remove foreign devices

1. Select the host from where the devices are to be removed.

2. Choose Actions > Foreign Device > Remove. The Remove Foreign Device dialog
appears.

3. Select the directory or device path to be removed.

4. Click OK to apply the changes. The confirmation message is then displayed.

5. Choose Yes to confirm removal.

6. Click OK to exit if you are making no more changes. If you clicked Apply in step 4,
then click Cancel to exit if you are making no more changes.

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Remove Foreign Devices Dialog

Chapter 9, Device-Related Tasks 227

Maintaining the List of Foreign Devices

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Using Intelligent Storage Provisioning 10
The VERITAS Intelligent Storage Provisioning (ISP) option allows you to create virtual
storage devices (application volumes) for use in organizing and managing physical storage.
ISP uses the requirements (capabilities) and rules that you specify for the application
volumes to create volumes from the available storage. You then use these application
volumes with VEA in the same way as you would traditional volumes.
ISP also interacts with other VERITAS components, where these are available, such as the
VERITAS Array Integration Layer (VAIL) and the SAN Access Layer (SAL), to take
appropriate actions; as for example, when configuring intelligent storage in a SAN
environment.

Benefits of Using ISP

The following list summarizes the main benefits that ISP provides over the existing
storage allocation features:
◆ Storage is automatically allocated based on abstract requirements such as the desired
capabilities of a volume.
◆ Prefabricated capabilities that are provided by vendor-specific features of intelligent
storage arrays can be encoded as storage attributes, and used to allocate storage.
◆ All ISP operations preserve the original intent of the volumes. There is no possibility
that operations such as grow, evacuate, add mirror, or add column can accidentally
degrade the reliability or performance capabilities of a volume.
◆ ISP is SAN-aware and understands SAN attributes. It is also capable of using VAIL to
learn the capabilities of LUNs.
ISP provides you with GUI interfaces for:

◆ Managing User Templates

◆ Managing Storage Pools
◆ Annotating a Disk
The ISP Task Roadmap shows a summary of common ISP tasks.

229
ISP Task Roadmap

ISP Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common ISP tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure…

Manage User Templates
Create user templates Create a User Template
Delete user templates Delete a User Template
Modifying user templates Edit a User Template
Manage Storage Pools
Organize storage by grouping into storage Creating a Storage Pool
pools
Create storage pool Creating a Storage Pool
Add or remove storage pool disks Adding and Removing Storage Pool Disks
Annotate Disks
Adding user attributes Add a New User Attribute
Editing user attributes Modify a User Attribute
Removing user attributes Remove a User Attribute
Sorting user attributes Sort Disks by Attribute Name

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Managing User Templates

A volume template (or template) is a meaningful collection of rules that provide a
capability. A template can specify one or more capabilities that a volume created using the
template may have, and consists of a collection of storage selection and layout rules. For
example, a template may allow you to create a volume that is able to tolerate the failure of
a certain number of controllers, or that has a certain number of copies of the volume data.
When creating a volume, it is easier to specify its desired capabilities than to specify the
precise layout of the volume on the available storage. ISP selects the appropriate
templates and uses them to create a volume with the desired capabilities.
If you specify parameter values for a volume’s capabilities, the rules that are defined
within the chosen template use these values when selecting and laying out storage. If not
specified, the default parameter values for a volume’s capabilities are assumed by the
template.
When using ISP to create an application volume with a specified set of capabilities, you
can usually enter values for the parameters that modify these capabilities. For example,
you can select the degree of redundancy, fault tolerance, or performance that you require
from the volume. For convenience in creating volumes, you can set up user templates to
store commonly used sets of capabilities and parameter values. You can then specify the
name of a user template instead of the name of a capability when creating an application
volume.

Application Volumes
An application volume is created by ISP, and then exported for use by an application such
as a database or file system.

Intent
The intent of a volume is a conceptualization of its purpose as defined by its
characteristics and implemented by a template. ISP attempts to preserve the intent of a
volume whenever the volume is reconfigured, resized, or relocated. Intent preservation
automatically conserves capabilities such as reliability and performance, and observes
additional rules such as allocating storage based on confinement and exclusion
specifications.

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Template Set
A template set consists of related capabilities and templates that have been collected
together for convenience. Associating a template set with a storage pool is equivalent to
associating each of its member templates separately with the storage pool. See Template
Sets, in Appendix B, for details of the template sets that are provided.

User Template
A user template (or user-defined template) defines an arbitrary collection of capabilities,
templates and rules to which you want volumes of a certain type to conform. For example,
you might want all volumes that you create to store database tables to share the same
reliability and performance capabilities, and also that they only be allocated from a
restricted set of storage.
It is useful to create user templates if you regularly create volumes with similar
capabilities.
A user template consists of a list of capabilities and rules. Associated with each capability
is a list of parameter-value pairs that define default parameter values for the capability. If
a parameter is defined as a constant, you cannot override this value. Otherwise, you can
change the value of the parameter when creating a volume.
You can recreate the same type of ISP volume (a volume having the same capabilities,
parameters and rules) by storing its configuration as a user template. The user template can
then be used in subsequent volume creations.
Use the User Template Management feature to:
◆ Create a User Template
◆ Delete a User Template
◆ Edit a User Template

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Create a User Template

To create a user template, you:
◆ Create the User Template
◆ Select Capabilities
◆ Set Configuration Rules
◆ Check your selections on the Summary Page

Create the User Template

Use the following procedure to create a user template:

▼ To create a user template

1. Select User Template from the left pane of the VEA interface.

2. Select Actions > New User Template. There is a short interval while status
information is downloaded. The User Template Creation Wizard then appears.

3. Click Next> to continue. The User Template Creation Wizard dialog box appears.

4. Complete the User Template Creation Wizard dialog box as follows:

User Template Name: Enter the name for the user template. The name must begin
with either underscore or an alphabetic character.

User Template Description: Enter descriptive information (optional).

5. Click Next> to continue. The Select Capabilities dialog box appears.

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Create a User Template

Select Capabilities
A capability is a feature that is provided by a volume. For example, a volume may exhibit
capabilities such as performance and reliability to various degrees. Each type of capability
is defined as a set of rules.
You can select the capabilities for your template and define the parameter values for these
capabilities.

Note To create application volumes successfully, the appropriate licenses must be present
on your system. For example, you need a full VERITAS Volume ManagerTM license
and a VERITAS FlashSnapTM license to use the instant snapshot feature. Vendors of
disk arrays may also provide capabilities that require special licenses for certain
features of their hardware.

▼ To select a capability

1. Click on the required top-level capability (the root capability) in the left pane. The tree
displays a capability tree derived from the root capability. A description of the selected
root capability is also displayed, beneath the capability tree.

2. Select a capability.

3. Define the ISP parameters (select name and define a value) for the selected capability
in the right pane.

4. Repeat step 2 and step 3 until you have selected and defined parameters for all the
capabilities you need.

5. You can restore the original values by clicking Restore Defaults.

Note If the Show rules page preference (refer to Show Rules Page) is set, the Set
Configuration Rules dialog box appears.

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Set Configuration Rules

A rule is a statement that specifies how a volume is to be created. A rule can define
selection of storage. Rules are usually gathered together as templates for creating
volumes, rather than being specified individually.

Storage Selection Rules

Storage selection rules specify what storage can be used to create volumes. The
Preferences Show rules page box (refer to Setting Preferences in Chapter 2) must be
checked if you want to enable the rules page. By default, the rules page is disabled, and
ISP applies the default rules for volume and template creation, and snapshot and
transform wizards.
Use the Rule Configuration Dialog box to add or remove rules defining the devices to be
selected.

▼ To configure rules

1. Click on the rule cell in the left column. The Storage Selection Rules are then shown.

2. Select the appropriate rule from the list.

3. Click on the attribute cell in the right column. A button with ellipsis appears on the
right side of this cell.

4. Click on the ellipsis button. The Enter Operands window is displayed.

Enter Operands Window

5. Click on Attributes. The Select Attributes dialog appears.

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Select Attributes Dialog

.

6. Select the attribute (Attribute Name) and value (Attribute Value) for this rule.

7. Click on OK. You are returned to the Enter Operands dialog.

8. Click on the Add button to select another attribute for the rule. (You can delete a
selected attribute by clicking on Remove.)

9. Click OK to return to the rules page.

10. To specify a new rule, click on the Add button in the Rule Configuration Dialog box.

11. When you have finished defining the rules, press Next> to bring up the Summary
Page.
(To delete a rule, click Remove in the Rules Configuration Dialog box.)

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Summary Page
The Summary page displays information on the name and description of the user
template, and its selected capabilities and rules.
Click Finish. If the user template creation is successful, the message User template
created successfully, is displayed and the wizard exits. If an error occurs while
creating the user template, a message along with the error string from the provider is
displayed and the wizard exits.

Performance
Performance specifies the capabilities of a volume based on factors such as number of
columns in striped volumes, stripe unit size, preferred characteristics of storage such as
using prefabricated disks that are configured in hardware.

Reliability
Reliability specifies the level of redundancy that is required from a volume as a capability.
Very reliable volumes have a high degree of redundancy. For example, a very reliable
volume could be configured as a software mirrored volume built upon underlying
prefabricated RAID-5 capable LUNs that are configured in the enclosure hardware. A
medium-level redundant volume could be a simple 2-way mirror or RAID-5 volume
configured either in software or on a suitable LUN within a single enclosure.

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Edit a User Template

Use the following procedure to change the settings on an existing user template:

▼ To modify a user template

1. Select User Template from the left pane of the VEA interface.

2. Right click the user template you want to edit from the right pane.

3. Select Edit. There is a short interval while status information is downloaded. The Edit
User Template Wizard then appears.

4. Click Next> to continue. The User Template Information dialog is displayed. Enter a
description of the new template under User Template Description:.

5. Click Next> to continue. The Select Capabilities dialog is displayed. Even if a user
template doesn't have any capabilities defined the capability page appears. Only if
there are no capabilities defined in the configuration database will the capability page
not appear.

6. Modify the selection of capabilities, if necessary. Click on the required top-level

capability (the root capability) in the left pane. A description of the selected root
capability is displayed beneath the capability tree.

7. Define the ISP parameters for the selected capability in the right pane.

8. Repeat step 6 and step 7 until you have selected and defined parameters for all the
capabilities you need.

9. Click Next> to continue. The Select Rules dialog is displayed. See Storage Selection
Rules for more information.

10. Click Finish to continue.

11. The Summary page appears.

12. Check your changes.

13. Click Finish. If the user template was edited successfully, a message User template
edited successfully, is displayed and wizard exits. If an error occurs while
editing the user template, a message along with the error string from the provider is
displayed and the wizard exits.

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Delete a User Template

Use the following procedure to delete a user template:

▼ To delete a user template

1. Select User Template from the left pane of the VEA interface.

2. Right click the user template you want to delete from the right pane. A dialog box
appears asking if you are sure you want to delete the selected user template.

3. Click Yes to delete the user template.

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Managing Storage Pools

Managing Storage Pools

Storage pools provide a means for organizing storage in groups, so that storage with
similar characteristics is grouped for creating application volumes. A storage pool is
defined within a disk group in VEA for use by ISP, and is characterized by the volume
templates and LUNs it contains, and policies defined on them.

Note The disks that you assign to a storage pool must have already been initialized for
use, and must belong to the disk group in which you are creating the storage pool.

The first storage pool that you create in a disk group is a Data Pool that contains
application volumes. Any storage pools that you subsequently create in the disk
group are Clone Pools that can be used to hold full-sized instant snapshots of the
volumes in the data storage pool. You need only place such snapshots in a separate
clone storage pool if they need to be created using different templates from their
parent volumes, or if they are to be moved into a different disk group.

For convenience, storage pool definitions are provided that include a number of
associated templates that can be used for different purposes. See “Storage Pools” on
page 295 for details of the storage pool definitions that are provided.

Note Only full-sized and space-optimized instant snapshots are supported for use with
ISP. Third-mirror break-off volume snapshots are not supported.

You can:
◆ Create a storage pool (Creating a Storage Pool)
◆ Delete a storage pool (Deleting a Storage Pool)
◆ Add and delete storage pool disks (Adding and Removing Storage Pool Disks)
◆ Rename a storage pool (Renaming a Storage Pool)

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Data Pool
The data pool is the first storage pool created within a disk group. All other storage pools
that are subsequently created within a disk group are clone pools.

Note Only one data pool can be created within a disk group.

Clone Pools
A clone pool is a storage pool that contains one or more full-sized instant volume
snapshot replicas of volumes within a data pool. (A volume snapshot is an image of a
volume’s contents at the moment in time that the snapshot was taken. See the VERITAS
Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide for more information about volume snapshots.)

Note A clone pool can be moved into another disk group but an individual snapshot
volume cannot. If you want to move a clone pool into a different disk group in order
to perform off-host processing, you must ensure that the clone pool contains only
those snapshots that you require for this purpose.

Storage Pool Policy

A storage pool’s policies define how it behaves when more storage is required, and when
you try to create volumes whose capabilities are not permitted by the current templates.

Note A LUN, or logical unit, can either correspond to a single physical disk, or to a
collection of disks that are exported as a single logical entity, or virtual disk, by a
device driver or by an intelligent disk array’s hardware. VEA and other VERITAS
software modules may be capable of automatically discovering the special
characteristics of LUNs, or you can use the Annotation Service to define new
storage attributes.

The two policies that are associated with a storage pool are:
◆ AutoGrowDefines how a storage pool uses LUNs. This policy can take the following
level values:
◆ poolUse storage that has been manually assigned to the storage pool.
◆ diskgroupUse storage that has been assigned to the disk group.
◆ SelfSufficientDefines how a storage pool uses templates. This policy can take the
following level values:
◆ poolUse templates that have been manually assigned to the storage pool.

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◆ diskgroupUse templates that have been manually assigned to the disk group.
◆ hostUse templates that have been installed in the ISP repository on this host.
These values of these two policies can be combined to suit how the storage pool is to be
used.

Storage Pool Set

A storage pool set is a bundled definition of the capabilities of a data pool and its clone
pools. For convenience, you can use a storage pool set definition to define both pools in a
single operation. See “Storage Pool Sets” on page 299 for details of the storage pools sets
that are provided.

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Creating a Storage Pool

Storage pools are associated with disk groups. Use the following procedure to create a
storage pool using the templates provided with ISP. (You create new storage pools only by
using existing pools as templates.)

Note If you do not want to use the provided templates to create your storage pool, then
you need to create a disk group (see Creating a Disk Group) using the Organize
Diskgroup option (refer also to Organizing Disk Groups).

▼ To create a storage pool

1. Select an ISP disk group.

2. Choose Actions > New Storage Pool. There is a short interval while the required data
is downloaded from the server to launch the wizard.

3. When the Storage Pool Wizard appears, click Next>. The Storage Pool Information
dialog box appears.

4. Complete the Storage Pool Information dialog box as follows:

Pool Name: Enter the name for the storage pool. The name must be less
than 31 characters.

DiskGroup: Confirm the disk group, or select another disk group, to contain
the storage pool.

Storage Pool Description: If you want, you can enter a brief description for the new
storage pool.

5. Click Next>. The Select Storage Pool dialog is displayed.

6. Select an existing storage pool or storage pool definitions to be used as a reference

while creating the new storage pool. The new storage pool will have characteristics
(policies, templates and capabilities) similar to the selected storage pool or storage
pool definition. Storage pool definitions are listed at the bottom of storage pool list.

7. Click Next>. The Select Disks dialog is displayed.

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Managing Storage Pools

8. The Select Disk dialog has two panes. The left pane (Available Disks:) shows the
names and sizes of all available disks - those disks in the disk group that are not
already part of any storage pool. Move the selected disks to the right pane (Selected
Disks:).

9. Click Next. The summary page displays information you have entered. If you want to
make changes, click <Back. Otherwise, click Finish.

10. If the storage pool is successfully created, the following message appear:
Storage Pool Created Successfully

Deleting a Storage Pool

Use the following procedure to delete an existing storage pool:

▼ To delete a storage pool

1. Select the ISP disk group containing the storage pool. The Disk Group view is
displayed in the right pane.

2. Click on the Storage Pools tag. The storage pools are listed in the right pane.

3. Select the storage pool to be deleted.

4. Choose Actions > Delete Storage Pool.

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Adding and Removing Storage Pool Disks

Use the following procedure to add or remove one or more storage pool disks:

▼ To add or remove storage pool disks

1. Select the ISP disk group containing the storage pool. The Disk Group view is
displayed in the right pane.

2. Click on the Storage Pools tag. The storage pools are listed in the right pane.

3. Select the storage pool containing the disks to be added or removed.

4. Choose Actions > Add/Remove Disks. There is a short interval while status
information is downloaded. The Add/Remove disks wizard is displayed.

5. Select the Disk Group associated with the storage pool from the pulldown menu.

6. Select the Pool Name from which you want to remove disks from the pulldown
menu.

7. The Add/Remove disks dialog appears. The Add/Remove Disks dialog has two
panes. The left pane shows the names and sizes of all available disks. The right pane
shows the selected disks.

8. Select the disks to be added or removed. To add disks to the pool, select the disks from
the Available Disks and Add> them to the Selected Disk list. To remove disks from the
pool, select the disks from the Selected Disks and Remove< them to the Available
Disks pane.

9. Click Next. The summary page displays information you have entered. If you want to
make changes, click <Back. Otherwise, click Finish.

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Renaming a Storage Pool

Use the following procedure to rename an existing storage pool:

▼ To rename a storage pool

1. Select the ISP disk group containing the storage pool to be renamed. The Disk Group
view is displayed in the right pane.

2. Click on the Storage Pools tag. The storage pools are listed in the right pane.

3. Select the storage pool to be renamed, then choose Actions > Rename Storage Pool.
The Rename Storage Pool dialog appears

4. Type in the new name; then click OK.

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Associating a Template Set with Storage Pool

A template set is a logical collection of related templates. Associating a template set to a
storage pool allows to change organization of storage pool. You can associate a template
set with a storage pool.

▼ To associate a template set with a storage pool

1. Right click the storage pool, and select Associate Template Set. The Associate
Template Set wizard appears.

2. Click Next>. The Select template sets dialog appears.

3. You can now change the storage pool, if you wish.

4. Select one or more template sets to associate with the storage pool by checking the
appropriate checkboxes underneath Template sets.

Note For each template set you select to associate with a storage pool, a definition of
that particular template set is located at the bottom of the Select template sets
dialog box.

5. Click Next>.

6. The Summary Page displays the storage pool and the list of associated template sets.

7. Click Finish to complete the operation.

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Disassociating a Template Set from a Storage Pool

Disassociating a Template Set from a Storage Pool

A template set is a logical collection of related templates. Disassociating a template set to a
storage pool allows to change organization of storage pool. You can disassociate a
template set from a storage pool.

▼ To disassociate a template set from a storage pool

1. Right click the storage pool, and select Disassociate Template Set. The Disassociate
Template Set wizard appears.

2. Click Next>. The Select template sets dialog appears.

3. You can now change the storage pool, if you wish.

4. Select one or more template sets to disassociate with the storage pool by checking the
appropriate checkboxes underneath Template sets.

Note For each template set you select to disassociate with a storage pool, a definition
of that particular template set is located at the bottom of the Select template
sets dialog box.

5. Click Next>.

6. The Summary Page displays the storage pool and the list of disassociated template
sets.

7. Click Finish to complete the operation.

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 Annotating a Disk

Annotating a Disk
The Annotate Disks feature enables you to administer disk storage attributes.

Storage Attributes
A storage attribute allows the properties of a LUN to be defined in an arbitrary conceptual
space. For example, attributes can describe properties such as:
◆ Manufacturer.
◆ Model type.
◆ Physical location, such as rack number, frame number, floor, building, or site.
◆ Hardware RAID configuration.
◆ Failover properties.
◆ Performance properties.
Attributes may be used to capture information about special features that storage
possesses, such as:
◆ Hardware-supported cloning, such as EMC Business Continuity Volumes (BCV).
◆ Hardware-supported replication, such as the EMC Symmetrix Remote Data Facility
(SRDF).
◆ Hardware redundancy, such as mirrored parity, and caching.
It should only be necessary to enter such information manually if VEA cannot discover it
automatically. An example of a user-defined attribute is physical location.

Note Attribute names and their string values are case sensitive.

In order to administer storage attributes, you must first Launch the Annotate Service
Dialog. You can then:
◆ Add a New User Attribute
◆ Modify a User Attribute
◆ Remove a User Attribute
◆ Sort Disks by Attribute Name
◆ Create a User Attribute Short-cut
◆ Remove a User Attribute

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Note There are four discovered attributes: name, enclosure, disk group and vendor. These
attriubutes are always present, and cannot be deleted.

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Launch the Annotate Service Dialog

Use the following procedure to launch the Annotate Service dialog:

▼ To launch the Annotate Service Dialog

1. Select the Disks node.

2. Choose Actions > Annotate Disks. There is a short interval while status information
is downloaded. The Annotate Service dialog appears.
The left pane lists all the disks available under the Volume Manager control. The right
pane lists the name and values of both discovered attributes and user set attributes.

Annotate Service Dialog

3. Click on one of the shortcuts in the left pane to display the required disk set. The
disks shown are grouped according to their attribute names and values represented
by the shortcut information.

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4. Choose one or more disks to which you want to annotate. (The existing attributes are
shown in the attribute/value table.)

Note If you select multiple disks, only those attributes common to the selected disks are
displayed.

Add a New User Attribute

Use the following procedure to add new user attributes:

▼ To add a new user attribute

1. Launch the Annotate Service Dialog and select the disks to be annotated.

2. Click on the Name cell, and enter the name of the attribute to be added.

3. Click on the Value cell, and enter a value for the attribute. (If you want to enter more
than one value, separate the values with commas.

4. )Click on the Add button alongside the lower attribute/value table. A new row
appears at the bottom of the attribute table.
Repeat step 4 to step 3 until all attributes have been added; or, click the Add button for the
number of attributes you want to set.

5. Choose Save or Save and Exit.

Note The Reset button will discard the unsaved changes to the disk attributes and return
the original values

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Modify a User Attribute

Use the following procedure to modify user attributes:

▼ To modify a user attribute

1. Launch the Annotate Service Dialog and select the disks to be annotated from the box
underneath the attribute selection fields.

2. Click on the Value cell to enter new values for the attribute. If you want to enter more
than one value, separate the values by a comma.

3. Repeat step 4 until you have completed all the changes.

4. Click Modify.

Remove a User Attribute

You can remove only the user set attributes.
Use the following procedure to remove user attributes:

▼ To remove a user attribute

1. Launch the Annotate Service Dialog and select the disks to be annotated.

2. Click on the attributes to be removed.

3. Click on the Remove button alongside the lower attribute/value table.

4. Choose Save or Save and Exit.

Note Use the Reset button to discard unsaved changes and return the original values.
Use the Cancel button discard the changes and close the window.

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Sort Disks by Attribute Name

You can display the disks having the same attributes. You can either view using a
short-cut (Create a User Attribute Short-cut), or by using the following procedure to sort
by attribute name:

▼ To sort disks by attribute

1. Launch the Annotate Service Dialog.

2. Select the attribute from the combo box. The tree structure then changes to display the
attribute followed by the attribute value and then the disks that have these values.
Those disks that do not have the selected attribute, are listed under Others.

Attribute Tree

Attribute (Example: Disk group)

Attribute Value1 (Example: rootdg)
disk1
disk2
Attribute Value2 (Example: testdg)
disk3
disk4
Others
disk5
disk6

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Create a User Attribute Short-cut

Short-cuts are specific to client machines. Short-cuts you create will stay in the annotation
service window even after you disconnect from the server. If you connect to another
server, these shortcuts will be effective. If the new server does not have a property for
which the client machine has a short-cut, a message will be displayed.
User attribute short-cuts are created in the left pane. (Discovered attributes also have
short-cuts here.) You can add the user set attributes or the discovered attributes to this list.
Use the following procedure to create a user attribute short-cut:

▼ To create a user attribute short-cut

1. Launch the Annotate Service Dialog.

2. From the drop-down list above the disk tree view, select the attribute you want to
create a short-cut for. The tree displays a list of all disks that have the selected
attribute.

3. Select Tools>Save Shortcut.

This creates a new shortcut icon in the left panel for the selected attribute.

Delete a User Attribute Short-cut

You can remove user-created short-cuts.

▼ To remove a user attribute short-cut

1. Launch the Annotate Service Dialog.

2. Right click the user attribute short-cut from the left pane, then select Delete Shortcut.
The short-cut is removed.

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Cluster Tasks 11
VEA provides access to cluster-related features only if the optional cluster functionality is
present.
The following tasks are associated with clusters:
◆ Working with Clusters
◆ Creating a Shared Disk Group
◆ Importing a Shared Disk Group
◆ Maintaining Primary Policies
◆ Setting the Primary Node
The Cluster Task Roadmap shows a summary of common cluster tasks.

Cluster Task Roadmap

The following table provides a summary of common VxVM cluster tasks.

To perform this task … Use this procedure…

Setup Tasks:
Setting the primary policy Setting the Primary Policy
Clearing the primary policy Clearing the Primary Policy
Setting the primary node Setting the Primary Node
Set up a shared disk group Creating a Shared Disk Group
Other Tasks:
Access a deported disk group for cluster use Importing a Shared Disk Group

257
Working with Clusters

Working with Clusters

VxVM includes an optional cluster feature that enables VxVM to be used in a cluster
environment. To activate the cluster feature, you must obtain a license for the VxVM
cluster functionality.
After adding the cluster license to the machine, you must restart the VxVM server to
enable cluster support. When a cluster license is present on a machine, VEA displays a
Clusters icon in the object tree (even if the machine is not currently set up as a node in a
cluster). When a cluster is shown in the tree, all active/inactive nodes that are members of
the cluster are displayed in the tree. This is illustrated in the figure, “Tree/Grid View of a
Cluster.”

Tree/Grid View of a Cluster

◆ To display the objects in a cluster, expand the cluster hierarchy (by clicking on the plus
sign next to the Clusters icon).
◆ To determine which node is the master in a cluster, expand the cluster hierarchy for
the appropriate cluster and select Hosts from the cluster hierarchy. The grid displays
the names and properties of the nodes in the cluster. The Type column indicates which
node is the master.
The Cluster Properties window also indicates which node is the master. To access this
window, select a cluster and choose Properties from the Selected or popup window.

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 Creating a Shared Disk Group

Notes:

◆ When VEA is connected to a single host, that host is auto-expanded; that is, the hierarchy
of objects under that host is fully displayed in the dialog.
◆ If VEA is connected to more than one host, the hierarchy of objects is not auto-expanded.

Creating a Shared Disk Group

The New Disk Group procedure creates an additional disk group. Disks must be placed in
disk groups before they can be used by VxVM. You can create several disk groups to
organize your disks into logical sets. For example, the disks in each disk group may have
different performance or hardware characteristics, or they may be used for different
purposes.
When you place a disk under VxVM control, the disk is initialized. Initialization destroys
any existing data on the disk. (You can use encapsulation to preserve disk data.)
The steps for creating a new disk group are:

1. Right-click the Disk Groups folder, or right-click a disk.

2. Select Actions > New Disk Group. The New Disk Group wizard screen appears.

3. Click Next to continue. The New Disk Group dialog appears. Provide information as
described in the following table.

Group name: Enter a new disk group name in the Group Name field.

Create cluster group If the cluster feature is available, you can select the Create cluster
group checkbox if the new disk group is to be used with clusters.

Available disks: Select which disks (from Available disks:)you want to include in
Selected disks: the group. Make sure the disks you want to include are in the right
pane of the window (Selected disks:).
(Normally, you would add all the disks you want in the group at
this point. However, you can always add more disks later with the
Add Disk to Disk Group procedure.)

Disk names: Type in the names of any disks to be added that do not appear
under Selected disks:

Chapter 11, Cluster Tasks 259

Creating a Shared Disk Group

Create cluster group: Check this box to create a shared disk group.

4. If your system supports Activation Mode, then select Activation Mode and choose
the mode from the displayed submenu. Click OK.

5. The next screen confirms the disks you have selected. Choose Yes to continue if you
are satisfied with the disk selection. If you are not satisfied, you can click the No
button to go back to the previous screen in order to modify your disk choices.

6. Normally, you would add all the disks you want in the group at this point. You can
always add more disks later with the Add Disk to Disk Group command.

Notes:

◆ The disk group name must be unique.

◆ The new disk group must contain at least one disk.
◆ Only disks that are online and do not belong to a disk group can be used to create a disk
group.
◆ When a disk is placed under VxVM control, the disk is either initialized or encapsulated.
Encapsulation preserves any existing data on the disk in the form of volumes.
Initialization destroys any existing data on the disk. Encapsulation is recommended for
the root/boot disk and any other disks that contain valuable data.

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 Importing a Shared Disk Group

Importing a Shared Disk Group

The Import Disk Group procedure makes a deported (inaccessible) shared disk group
and its volumes accessible again. To import a deported disk group, you must know the
former name of the disk group, and this name must not be in use. In addition, at least one
disk name formerly assigned to the deported disk group must not be in use.

▼ To import a shared disk group

1. Select the appropriate host machine node.

2. Choose Actions > Import Disk Group.

3. Complete the Disk Group dialog box as follows:

New Name: Enter a new disk group name in the New Name field. to change the
name of the disk group at import.

Clear host ID Select Clear host ID to clear the existing host ID stamp on all
disks in the disk group at import, Do not use this option if another
host is using any disks in the disk group.

Force Select Force to force the disk group import when the host cannot
access all disks in the disk group This option can be used to import
a disk group that contains a failed disk, but can lead to disk group
inconsistency if all disks are still usable.

Import Shared Select Import Shared to import the disk group as a shared disk
group, This option is only applicable in a cluster environment.

Chapter 11, Cluster Tasks 261

Maintaining Primary Policies

When you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

Notes:

◆ Only deported disk groups can be imported.

◆ A deported disk group cannot be imported if another disk group with the same name has
been created since the disk group was deported.
◆ When a disk group is imported, the system stamps its host ID on all disks in the disk
group. A disk group import fails if one of the disks is stamped with a host ID that does not
match the others. This ensures that dual-ported disks cannot be managed (and possibly
corrupted) by two systems at the same time. If you are sure that the disk group is not in
use by another host, you can clear the host IDs and import the disk group by selecting the
Clear Host ID option.

Maintaining Primary Policies

You maintain primary policies by:
◆ Setting the Primary Policy
◆ Clearing the Primary Policy

Setting the Primary Policy

To set the primary policy for a file system, use the following procedure:

▼ To set the primary policy

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Select Primary Policy. The Set Primary Policy dialog is
displayed.

3. Move the required primary nodes from the All Cluster Nodes: list to the Primary
Policy Nodes: list.

4. Click OK to complete the setting.

Note This operation cannot be performed on clones or snapshots.

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 Setting the Primary Node

Clearing the Primary Policy

To clear the primary policy for a file system, use the following procedure:

▼ To clear the primary policy

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Clear Primary Policy. The confirmation dialog is
displayed.

3. Click OK.

Setting the Primary Node

To set the primary node for a file system, use the following procedure:

▼ To set the primary node

1. Select the file system.

2. Choose Actions > Cluster > Select Primary Node. The Set Primary Node dialog is
displayed.

3. Select the primary node from the drop-down menu.

4. Click OK to complete the setting.

Chapter 11, Cluster Tasks 263

Setting the Primary Node

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Troubleshooting 12
Select one of the following options for information on alerts, object states, and other
troubleshooting topics. If you are unable to resolve a problem by following the
instructions provided, please contact Customer Support for additional information.
◆ Alerts
◆ Disk Troubleshooting
◆ Volume Troubleshooting
◆ General Troubleshooting
◆ Client/Server Problems
◆ Configuration Changes

Alerts
When an object fails or experiences an error, an alert icon appears on the object and the
object state usually changes to an unhealthy state. When an object enters an unhealthy
state and has an alert, you should review the contents of the console window and then try
to correct the problem.

Client Java Exceptions and Errors

When a client Java exception or error occurs, an error alert icon is displayed on the bottom
of the main window.

265
Client Java Exceptions and Errors

Error Alert Icon

Click on this icon to display the Java console containing the text of the errors or
exceptions.

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 Client Java Exceptions and Errors

Java Console Containing Error or Exception Text

Chapter 12, Troubleshooting 267

Disk Troubleshooting

Disk Troubleshooting
The disk state indicates the current condition of a disk. The disk state appears in the state
column of the grid and in the Disk Properties window. When a disk is unhealthy, an alert
icon appears on the disk and the disk is listed in the Alert Monitor window. Disk states
can be one of the following:
◆ Disk State: Imported
◆ Disk State: Free
◆ Disk State: Not Setup
◆ Disk State: Import Failed
◆ Disk State: Disconnected
◆ Disk State: Deported
◆ Disk State: Offline
◆ Disk State: Not Initialized
◆ Disk State: Locked
◆ Disk State: Inactive
◆ Disk State: Foreign Owned

Disk State: Imported

The disk is accessible and has no known problems. The disk is under VxVM control and
belongs to a disk group. This is the normal disk state. No user action is required.

Disk State: Free

The disk is freely available. A disk that is freely available is under VxVM control, but does
not belong to a disk group.
◆ To make the disk available for VxVM use, add the disk to a disk group.

Disk State: Not Setup

The disk is not under VxVM control.
◆ To make the disk available for VxVM use, place the disk under VxVM control and add
the disk to a disk group.

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 Disk Troubleshooting

Disk State: Import Failed

The disk was previously under VxVM control, but VxVM cannot access the disk and/or
configuration information for the disk. The disk is not available for use. This can happen
after you upgrade VxVM. This can also happen if some disks are inaccessible at system
startup.
◆ Make sure that the physical disk is turned on, plugged in, and attached to the
computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system
(Actions > Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes all attached hardware. Try to
import the disk group for the disk.
◆ If the disk group is imported and the disk does not have a VxVM disk name, place the
disk under VxVM control and add the disk to a disk group.

Disk State: Disconnected

The connection between the VxVM disk and the underlying physical disk (device) is
broken. This can occur when a disk fails or when you disconnect a disk.
◆ Make sure that the physical disk is turned on, plugged in, and attached to the
computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system
(Actions > Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes any newly attached
hardware.
◆ Try to reconnect the disconnected VxVM disk to its physical disk (using the Replace
Disk task).
◆ If you cannot fix the problem, replace the disk with another physical disk.

Disk State: Deported

The disk belongs to a disk group that is currently deported. The disk is not available for
use in the deported disk group and cannot be added to a new disk group.
◆ To return the disk to a usable state, import the disk group for the disk.
◆ To move the disk to another disk group, import the current disk group, remove the
disk, and add the disk to a new disk group.
◆ If the disk group import fails and you want to free the disk space for use in other disk
groups, you can use the Initialize Disk task.

Caution This command overwrites the disk header and configuration information on
the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk are not accessible
after you reinitialize the disk.

Chapter 12, Troubleshooting 269

Disk Troubleshooting

Disk State: Offline

VxVM cannot access the disk.
◆ To return the disk to an accessible state, bring the disk online.

Disk State: Not Initialized

A configuration error prevents the disk from being used.
◆ To make the disk available for VxVM use, place the disk under VxVM control and add
the disk to a disk group.
◆ If the disk cannot be added to VxVM, it can be necessary to reinitialize the disk with
the Initialize Disk task.

Caution This command overwrites the disk header and configuration information on
the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk are not accessible
after you reinitialize the disk.

Disk State: Locked

The disk belongs to a disk group that is currently imported by another machine or was
last imported by another machine and was not deported cleanly. The disk is not currently
usable on the local machine.
◆ To make all of the disks in the disk group available for use on the local machine,
deport the disk group on the remote machine and then import the disk group on the
local machine.
◆ To make one disk available for use on the local machine, remove the disk from its disk
group (on the other machine) and add it to a disk group on the local machine.
◆ If the disk group is not imported on another machine, it can be necessary to re-import
the disk group and clear the host ID on all disks in the disk group. You can do this by
selecting the Clear Host ID option in the Import Disk Group dialog box.

Caution If any of the disks in the disk group are in use by another machine, this
command can cause the disks to be managed by two systems at the same time,
which can lead to corruption.

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 Disk Troubleshooting

Disk State: Inactive

The disk appears to belong to a disk group, but is not active in the disk group. The disk
may have become (temporarily) inaccessible. Alternatively, the disk may have been
inaccessible at disk group import, but may be accessible now.
◆ Make sure that the physical disk is turned on, plugged in, and attached to the
computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system
(Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes any newly attached hardware.
◆ It may be necessary to reattach the disk to its disk group with the Replace Disk task.
◆ After a successful reattach, volume recovery can be necessary.
◆ If the reattach fails and you want to free the disk space for use, you can use the
Initialize Disk task.

Caution This command overwrites the disk header and configuration information on
the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk is not accessible after
you reinitialize the disk.

Disk State: Foreign Owned

The disk is under the control of another disk management product. The disk is not
available for use with VxVM.
◆ To make the disk available for VxVM use, remove the disk from the other disk
management product control and place the disk under VxVM control.

Chapter 12, Troubleshooting 271

Volume Troubleshooting

Volume Troubleshooting
The volume state indicates the current condition of a volume. The volume state appears in
the state column of the grid and in the Volume Properties window. The normal state is
“Healthy,” which means that the volume is accessible and has no known problems.
When a volume is unhealthy, an alert icon appears on the volume and the volume is listed
in the Alert Monitor window. Unhealthy states include:
◆ Volume State: Stopped
◆ Volume State: Uninitialized
◆ Volume State: Degraded
◆ Volume State: Failed

Volume State: Stopped

The volume is disabled and is not available for use.
◆ To return the volume to a usable state, start the volume.

Volume State: Uninitialized

The volume is enabled, but is not initialized. If this state appears during volume creation,
no user action is necessary.
◆ To put the volume in a usable state, start the volume.

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 Volume Troubleshooting

Volume State: Degraded

The RAID-5 volume is in a degraded mode. This usually occurs when one or more
subdisks are unavailable and read requests require data reconstruction. An underlying
disk may have failed completely or there may be I/O errors on part of a disk.
Alternatively, an underlying disk may be disconnected.
◆ Make sure that the physical disks are turned on, plugged in, and attached to the
computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system
(Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes any newly attached hardware.
◆ To return the RAID-5 volume to a healthy state, recover the volume.
◆ If there has been a partial or complete disk failure, either replace the disk or move the
affected subdisks to another disk.

Volume State: Failed

The RAID-5 volume is unusable. This usually occurs when there is a double disk failure
(that is, when two subdisks in the same stripe or the parity and one subdisk in a stripe are
damaged or inaccessible). The underlying disks may have failed or become inaccessible.
◆ Make sure that the physical disks are turned on, plugged in, and attached to the
computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system
(Rescan) to ensure that VxVM recognizes any newly attached hardware.
Run the following command to reattach the disks to their disk group:
# /etc/vx/bin/vxreattach [device_name]
To return the RAID-5 volume to a healthy state, recover the volume.
◆ If two of the volume disks have failed, the RAID-5 volume data is unusable. Replace
the failed disks and then try to restart the volume by running the following command:
# vxvol -f start volume_name
Restore the volume from backup.
To prevent this problem in the future, enable logging for RAID-5 volumes.

Chapter 12, Troubleshooting 273

General Troubleshooting

General Troubleshooting
General troubleshooting includes:
◆ Client/Server Problems
◆ Configuration Changes

Client/Server Problems

User is not authorized to connect to the server.

This error can occur for the following reasons:
◆ The user name is incorrect.
◆ The password is incorrect.
◆ The user does not have an account on the machine.
◆ The password and group files or NIS tables do not contain entries for the user.
◆ The user is not listed in the vrtsadm group entry.
Enter the user name and password again. If the same error appears, ask the administrator
of the machine to make sure that your user name is included in the vrtsadm group entry
and your user name and password are entered correctly in the appropriate password and
group files or NIS tables.

There is no such server.

The specified host machine does not exist or is not in the Domain Name System (DNS).
◆ Check the machine name and enter the machine name again.

Unable to connect to the server.

The VEA system may not be running on the machine to be administered.
◆ Make sure the server is running and the client and server are properly configured. If
necessary, restart the VEA system.

Possible client/server versions mismatch.

The VEA client and server versions may be incompatible.
◆ Check the client and server versions using the following commands:

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 General Troubleshooting

# vxsvc -V
If necessary, upgrade the client or server.

Server connection lost.

The VEA service has been stopped.
◆ Restart the server.
◆ Use the following command to determine if the server connection is lost.
# vxsvc

The server seems to have multiple addresses.

The server (host) may be known by multiple addresses.
◆ Try to specify one of the server IP addresses as the server host name.

VEA version of plug-in component is not compatible. Cannot load

plug-in
Trying to connect from a pre 4.0 version of the VEA Console (such as, from a 3.5 client to a
4.0 server).
◆ Upgrade to a later VEA client.

Configuration Changes
VxVM is dynamic, so it automatically displays new objects or changes to existing objects
on the system. These changes or additions are usually reflected in VEA immediately (or
within a short time).
If you add objects (such as new disks) to the system and VxVM does not display these
objects within a short time, you can force VxVM to check for new objects in one of the
following ways:

1. Scan the disks on the system (Rescan Disks) to make sure that VxVM recognizes any
newly attached hardware.

2. Update the system configuration database.

Chapter 12, Troubleshooting 275

General Troubleshooting

276 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

Storage Selection Rules A
The following table lists the rules that are presented for storage selection in ISP.

Rules for Storage Selection Meaning

Don’t select the storage satisfying any of: Prevents the selected set of LUNs from
participating in the allocation rules.
Select the storage satisfying all of: Confines the storage to all of the specified set of
LUNs.
Select the storage satisfying any one of: Confines the storage to any one of the specified
set of LUNs.
Select the storage satisfying one or more of: Confines the storage to any (one or more) of the
specified set of LUNs.
Select the storage that is separated by: Confines the storage by the attributes specified.
This rule does not accept attribute values. It
does not support LUNs as operands. Only
attribute name is supported.

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Available ISP Definitions B
This appendix lists and describes the following types of pre-defined elements that are
available for use with VERITAS Intelligent Storage Provisioning (ISP):
◆ Template Sets
◆ Volume Templates
◆ Capabilities
◆ Storage Pools
◆ Storage Pool Sets
These elements are defined in /etc/vx/alloc/configuration_database.txt.
Before modifying this file, make a backup copy so that you can reverse any changes that
you make.

279
Template Sets

Template Sets

ConfineVolume
Ensures that a volume is confined to specified storage.
Provides capabilities: ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage.
Uses templates: ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage.

DataMirroring
Ensures that a volume has multiple copies of its data.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.

DataMirroringPrefabricatedRaid5
Ensures that a volume has multiple copies of data on prefabricated RAID-5 disks that are
exported by an array.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
PrefabricatedRaid5.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
PrefabricatedRaid5.

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 Template Sets

DataMirroringPrefabricatedStriping
Ensures that a volume has multiple copies of data on prefabricated striped disks that are
exported by an array.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
PrefabricatedStriping.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
PrefabricatedStriping.

DataMirrorStripe
Ensures that I/O from and to a volume is spread across multiple columns within mirrors.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirrorStripe, DCOLogMirroring,
DCOLogStriping, InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents,
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataMirrorStripe, DCOLogMirroring,
DCOLogStriping, InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents,
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.

DataStripeMirror
Ensures that I/O from and to a volume is spread across multiple columns, where each
column has multiple copies of the data.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataStripeMirror, DCOLogMirroring,
DCOLogStriping, InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents,
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 281

Template Sets

Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,

ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, DataStripeMirror, DCOLogMirroring,
DCOLogStriping, InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents,
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.

InstantSnapshottable
Ensures that a volume supports dirty region logging (DRL) and instant snapshots.
Provides capabilities: ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage, DCOLogMirroring,
DCOLogStriping, InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents.
Uses templates: ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents.

MultipathingThroughMirroring
Ensures that a volume can withstand the failure of a number of paths. The I/O from and
to a volume can potentially be spread across all the paths.
Provides capability: DataMirroring, Multipathing.
Uses template: MultipathingThroughMirroring.

MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths
Ensures that a volume can withstand the failure of a specified number of paths. The I/O
from and to the volume can potentially be spread across all these paths.
Provides capability: MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.
Uses template: MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

PrefabricatedDataMirroring
Ensures that a volume uses prefabricated data mirroring configured within the disks
exported by an array.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, PrefabricatedDataMirroring.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, PrefabricatedDataMirroring.

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 Template Sets

PrefabricatedRaid5
Ensures that a volume uses prefabricated RAID-5 disks that are exported by an array.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, PrefabricatedRaid5.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, PrefabricatedRaid5.

PrefabricatedStriping
Ensures that a volume uses prefabricated striped disks that are exported by an array.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, PrefabricatedStriping.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, PrefabricatedStriping.

Raid5Templates
Ensures that a volume uses parity to maintain redundant data.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
LogsOnSeparateComponents, Raid5Capability, Raid5LogMirroring, Raid5LogStriping.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
LogsOnSeparateComponents, Raid5LogStriping, Raid5Volume.

Striping
Ensures that I/O from and to a volume is spread across multiple columns.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, Striping.
Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, Striping.

StripingPrefabricatedDataMirroring
Ensures that I/O from and to a volume are spread across multiple columns, which are
configured on prefabricated data mirror disks that are exported by an array.
Provides capabilities: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, PrefabricatedDataMirroring, Striping.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 283

Template Sets

Uses templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,

ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, PrefabricatedDataMirroring, Striping.

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 Volume Templates

Volume Templates

ArrayProductId
Provides capability: ArrayProductId.

ColumnsOnSeparateComponents
Provides capability: ColumnsOnSeparateComponents.

ConcatVolumes
Provides capability: ConcatVolumes.

ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage
Provides capability: ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage.

ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage
Provides capability: ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage.

ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage
Provides capability: ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage.

ConfineToSimilarStorage
Provides capability: ConfineToSimilarStorage.

ConfineToSpecificStorage
Provides capability: ConfineToSpecificStorage.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 285

Volume Templates

DataMirroring
Provides capability: DataMirroring.
Variable: nmirs Number of mirrors.

DataMirrorStripe
Provides capability: DataMirrorStripe.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns.
nmaxcols Maximum number of columns.
nmirs Number of mirrors.

DataStripeMirror
Provides capability: DataStripeMirror.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns.
nmaxcols Maximum number of columns.
nmirs Number of mirrors.

DCOLogMirroring
Provides capability: DCOLogMirroring.

DCOLogStriping
Provides capability: DCOLogStriping.

ExcludeSpecificStorage
Provides capability: ExcludeSpecificStorage.

InstantSnapshottable
Provides capability: InstantSnapshottable.

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 Volume Templates

LogsOnSeparateComponents
Provides capability: LogsOnSeparateComponents.

MirrorsOnSeparateComponents
Provides capability: MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.

MultipathingThroughMirroring
Provides capabilities: DataMirroring, Multipathing.
Variable: nmirs Number of mirrors.

MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths
Provides capability: MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

PrefabricatedDataMirroring
Provides capability: PrefabricatedDataMirroring.

PrefabricatedRaid5
Provides capability: PrefabricatedRaid5.

PrefabricatedStriping
Provides capability: PrefabricatedStriping.

Raid5LogStriping
Provides capability: Raid5LogStriping.

Raid5Volume
Provides capabilities: Raid5Capability, Raid5LogMirroring.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 287

Volume Templates

nlogs Number of logs.

nmaxcols Maximum number of columns.

Striping
Provides capability: Striping.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns.
nmaxcols Maximum number of columns.

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 Capabilities

Capabilities

ArrayProductId
A volume uses storage of the same type (productid).
Provided by volume template: ArrayProductId.

ColumnsOnSeparateComponents
The columns of a volume are separated at the specified component level, such as
"Controller" or "Enclosure".
Provided by volume template: ColumnsOnSeparateComponents.
Variable: component Name of component (default value is "Controller").

ConcatVolumes
The volume is concatenated.
Provided by volume template: ConcatVolumes.

ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage
Each column uses only storage that has the same value for a specified attribute.
Provided by volume template: ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage.
Variable: name Name of storage attribute (default value is "Enclosure").

ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage
Each log uses only storage that has the same value for a specified attribute.
Provided by volume template: ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage.
Variable: name Name of storage attribute (default value is "Enclosure").

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 289

Capabilities

ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage
Each mirror uses only storage that has the same value for a specified attribute.
Provided by volume template: ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage.
Variable: name Name of storage attribute (default value is "Enclosure").

ConfineToSimilarStorage
A volume uses only storage that has the same value for a specified attribute.
Provided by volume template: ConfineToSimilarStorage.
Variable: name Name of storage attribute (default value is VendorName).

ConfineToSpecificStorage
A volume uses only storage that has the specified value for a specified attribute name.
Provided by volume template: ConfineToSpecificStorage.
Variables: name Name of storage attribute (no default).
value Value of storage attribute (no default).

DataMirroring
A mirrored volume maintains multiple copies of its data. This capability extends the
DataRedundancy capability.
Provided by volume template: DataMirroring.
Variable: nmirs Number of mirrors (default value is 2).

DataMirrorStripe
A mirrored-stripe volume distributes I/O across multiple columns within mirrors. This
capability extends the DataMirroring and Striping capabilities.
Provided by volume template: DataMirrorStripe.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns (default value is 8).
nmaxcols Maximum number of columns (default value is 20).
nmirs Number of mirrors (default value is 2).

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 Capabilities

DataRedundancy
A volume that maintains redundant data.
Extended by capability: Raid5Capability.
Extended by capability: DataMirroring.

DataStripeMirror
A striped-mirror volume distributes I/O across multiple columns, where each column has
multiple copies of data. This capability extends the DataMirroring and Striping
capabilities.
Provided by volume template: DataStripeMirror.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns (default value is 8).
nmaxcols Maximum number of columns (default value is 20).
nmirs Number of mirrors (default value is 2).

DCOLogMirroring
The number of DCO plexes (copies) to configure for a DCO volume.
Provided by volume template: DCOLogMirroring.
Variable: nlogs Number of DCO plexes (default value is 1).

DCOLogStriping
The number of columns to configure for a striped DCO volume.
Provided by volume template: DCOLogStriping.
Variables: ndcocols Minimum number of columns (default value is 4).
nmaxdcocols Maximum number of columns (default value is 10).

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 291

Capabilities

ExcludeSpecificStorage
A volume does not use storage that has the specified value for a specified attribute name.
Provided by volume template: ExcludeSpecificStorage.
Variables: name Name of storage attribute (no default).
value Value of storage attribute (no default).

InstantSnapshottable
A volume supports instant snapshots (full-sized or space-optimized). This capability
extends the Snapshottable capability.
Provided by volume template: InstantSnapshottable.

LogsOnSeparateComponents
The logs of a volume are separated at the specified component level, such as
"Controller" or "Enclosure".
Provided by volume template: LogsOnSeparateComponents.
Variable: component Name of component (default value is "Enclosure").

MirrorsOnSeparateComponents
The mirrors of a volume are separated at the specified component level, such as
"Controller" or "Enclosure".
Provided by volume template: MirrorsOnSeparateComponents.
Variable: component Name of component (default value is "Enclosure").

Multipathing
Multipathing allows a volume to withstand failure of a number of paths to the disks. The
I/O from and to the volume can potentially be spread across all the paths.
Extended by capability: MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

292 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide VEA

 Capabilities

MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths
Multipathing allows a volume to withstand failure of the specified number of paths to the
disks. The I/O from and to the volume can potentially be spread across all the paths. This
capability extends the Multipathing capability.
Provided by volume template: MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.
Variable: npaths Number of paths that are allowed to fail (default value is 2).

PrefabricatedDataMirroring
A volume uses prefabricated data mirroring that is configured on disks that are exported
by an array. This capability extends the PrefabricatedDataRedundancy capability.
Provided by volume template: PrefabricatedDataMirroring.
Variable: nmirs Number of prefabricated mirrors to use (default value is 2).

PrefabricatedDataRedundancy
A volume uses prefabricated redundant disks that are exported by an array.
Extended by capabilities: PrefabricatedDataMirroring, PrefabricatedRaid5.

PrefabricatedRaid5
A volume uses prefabricated RAID-5 disks that are exported by an array. This capability
extends the PrefabricatedDataRedundancy capability.
Provided by volume template: PrefabricatedRaid5.

PrefabricatedStriping
A volume uses prefabricated striped disks that are exported by an array.
Provided by volume template: PrefabricatedStriping.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 293

Capabilities

Raid5Capability
A RAID-5 volume uses parity to implement data redundancy. This capability extends the
DataRedundancy capability.
Provided by volume template: Raid5Volume.
Variable: ncols Minimum number of data columns (default value is 8).
nmaxcols Maximum number of data columns (default value is 20).

Note An additional virtual column is always allocated to store parity information. This
column is not included in the number of data columns that are specified.

Raid5LogMirroring
The number of RAID-5 log copies to configure for a RAID-5 volume.
Provided by volume template: Raid5Volume.
Variable: nlogs Number of RAID-5 log copies (default value is 1).

Raid5LogStriping
The number of columns to configure for striped RAID-5 logs.
Provided by volume template: Raid5LogStriping.
Variables: nraid5cols Minimum number of columns (default value is 4).
nmaxraid5cols Maximum number of columns (default value is 10).

Snapshottable
Volume snapshots of a volume may be taken.
Extended by capability: InstantSnapshottable.

Striping
A striped volume distributes I/O across multiple columns.
Provided by volume template: Striping.
Variables: ncols Minimum number of columns (default value is 8).
nmaxcols Maximum number of columns (default value is 20).

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 Storage Pools

Storage Pools

any_volume_type
Supports volumes using any template from the configuration database.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: none.

mirror_stripe_volumes
Supports distribution of I/O from and to volumes across multiple columns within
mirrors.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=1
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DataMirrorStripe, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

mirrored_prefab_raid5_volumes
Supports use by volumes of multiple copies of data configured on prefabricated Raid-5
disks that are exported by an array.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=1
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, PrefabricatedRaid5.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 295

Storage Pools

mirrored_prefab_striped_volumes
Supports use by volumes of multiple copies of data configured on prefabricated striped
disks that are exported by an array.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=1
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, PrefabricatedStriping.

mirrored_volumes
Supports volume with multiple copies of data.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DataMirroring, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

prefab_mirrored_volumes
Supports use by volumes of prefabricated data mirrors that are exported by an array.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineToSimilarStorage,
ConfineToSpecificStorage, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, PrefabricatedDataMirroring.

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 Storage Pools

prefab_raid5_volumes
Supports use by volumes of prefabricated RAID-5 disks that are exported by an array.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineToSimilarStorage,
ConfineToSpecificStorage, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, PrefabricatedRaid5.

prefab_striped_volumes
Supports use by volumes of prefabricated striped disks that are exported by an array.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ConfineToSimilarStorage,
ConfineToSpecificStorage, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, PrefabricatedStriping.

raid5_volumes
Supports volumes which use parity to maintain redundant data.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage, DCOLogStriping,
ExcludeSpecificStorage, InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents,
Raid5Volume, MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 297

Storage Pools

stripe_mirror_volumes
Supports distribution of I/O from and to volumes across multiple columns, where each
column has multiple copies of data.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage,
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DataStripeMirror, DCOLogMirroring, DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage,
InstantSnapshottable, LogsOnSeparateComponents, MirrorsOnSeparateComponents,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths.

striped_prefab_mirrored_volumes
Supports distribution of I/O from and to volumes across multiple columns that are
configured on prefabricated data mirrors exported by an array.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage, InstantSnapshottable,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, PrefabricatedDataMirroring, Striping.

striped_volumes
Supports distribution of I/O from and to volumes across multiple columns.
Default policies: autogrow=diskgroup
selfsufficient=host
Associates volume templates: ArrayProductId, ColumnsOnSeparateComponents,
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSimilarStorage, ConfineToSpecificStorage,
DCOLogStriping, ExcludeSpecificStorage, InstantSnapshottable,
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths, Striping.

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 Storage Pool Sets

Storage Pool Sets

mirrored_data_striped_clones
Supports data volumes with multiple copies of data, and snapshot volumes with I/O
distributed across multiple columns.
Data storage pool type: mirrored_volumes.
Clone storage pool type: striped_volumes.

mirrored_prefab_raid5_data_mirrored_clones
Supports data volumes with multiple copies of data created from RAID-5 storage, and
snapshot volumes with multiple copies of data.
Data storage pool type: mirrored_prefab_raid5_volumes.
Clone storage pool type: mirrored_volumes.

mirrored_prefab_stripe_data_striped_clones
Supports data volumes with multiple copies of data configured on prefabricated striped
storage, and snapshot volumes with I/O distributed across multiple columns.
Data storage pool type: mirrored_prefab_striped_volumes.
Clone storage pool type: striped_volumes.

prefab_mirrored_data_prefab_striped_clones
Supports data volumes with multiple copies of data configured on prefabricated striped
storage, and snapshot volumes with I/O distributed across multiple columns also
configured on prefabricated striped storage.
Data storage pool type: prefab_mirrored_volumes.
Clone storage pool type: prefab_striped_volumes.

Appendix B, Available ISP Definitions 299

Storage Pool Sets

stripe_mirrored_data_striped_clones
Supports I/O from and to data volumes that are distributed across multiple columns,
where each column has multiple copies of data, and snapshot volumes with I/O
distributed across multiple columns.
Data storage pool type: stripe_mirror_volumes.
Clone storage pool type: striped_volumes.

striped_prefab_mirrored_data_striped_clones
Supports I/O from and to data volumes distributed across multiple columns constructed
from mirrored storage, and snapshot volumes with I/O distributed across multiple
columns.
Data storage pool type: striped_prefab_mirrored_volumes.
Clone storage pool type: striped_volumes.

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Glossary

Action menu
A context-sensitive menu that changes its menu options to match the type of object that is
selected. By default, the Action menu is greyed out. When an object is selected, the Action
menu provides access to tasks appropriate for the selected object.

alert
An indication that an error or failure has occurred on an object on the system. When an
object fails or experiences an error, an alert icon appears.

alert icon
An icon that indicates that an error or failure has occurred on an object on the system.
Alert icons usually appear in the status area of the main window and on the group icon of
the affected object.

Alert Monitor
A window that provides information about objects that have failed or experienced errors.

Array Support Library

See ASL.

ASL
A dynamically loadable library to discover attributes of a disk array.

browse dialog box

A dialog box that is used to view and/or select existing objects on the system. Most
browse dialog boxes consist of a tree and grid.

301
button
A window control that the user clicks to initiate a task or display another object (such as a
window or menu).

capability
You can create volumes having specific capabilities. A capability is a simple name used to
indicate what the capability means. Storage is allocated according to your request. For
example, you can ask for a volume to be Performant and Reliable. These are capabilities
have parameters such as, number of striped columns or number of mirrors.

CFS
Cluster file system. A VxFS file system mounted on a selected volume in cluster (shared)
mode.

check box
A control button used to select optional settings. A check mark usually indicates that a
check box is selected.

children
Objects that belong to an object group.

cluster
A set of host machines (nodes) that shares a set of disks.

cluster file system

See CFS.

command log
A log file that contains a history of VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM) tasks performed in
the current session and previous sessions. Each task is listed with the task originator, the
start/finish times, the task status, and the low-level commands used to perform the task.

DCO Data Change Object

See DCO.

DCO
A Volume Manager object that keeps the Persistent FastResync tracking information

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DDI
DDI properties are device driver properties primarily used in Solaris OS.

DDL
Device Discovery Layer. A facility of VxVM for discovering disk attributes needed for
VxVM DMP operation.

Device Discovery Layer

See DDL

Dirty Region Logging

See DRL.

device name
The physical disk device name (or disk access name).

dialog box
A window in which the user submits information to VxVM. Dialog boxes can contain
selectable buttons and/or fields that accept information.

disk group
A set of disks that are under VxVM control and share a common configuration. A disk
group configuration is a set of records containing detailed information on existing
VERITAS Volume Manager objects (such as disk and volume attributes) and their
relationships. Each disk group has an administrator-assigned name. Volumes can only be
created on disks that belong to disk groups.

disk name
The VERITAS Volume Manager disk name (or disk media name). This is the logical name
given to the disk by VxVM or the administrator.

DMP
The VERITAS Volume Manager Dynamic Multipathing facility.

dock
To separate or attach the main window and a subwindow.

Glossary 303
DRL
A VxVM mechanism that tracks mirror write inconsistency which helps in fast
resynchronization of mirrors after system crash. Even though the term log is used,
internally DRL is implemented as a map.

Dynamic Multipathing
See DMP.

enclosure
A disk array.

FastResync
A VxVM feature for fast resynchronizing of stale mirrors at the time of reattach which
were earlier split off as a result of snapshot or detach operation.

gap
A disk region that does not contain VERITAS Volume Manager objects (subdisks).

graphical view
A window that displays a graphical view of objects. In VxVM, the graphical views include
the Object View window and the Volume Layout Details window.

grid
A tabular display of objects and their properties. The grid lists VERITAS Volume Manager
objects, disks, controllers, or file systems. The grid displays objects that belong to the
group icon that is currently selected in the object tree. The grid is dynamic and constantly
updates its contents to reflect changes to objects.

group icon
The icon that represents a specific object group.

GUI
Graphical User Interface.

host
A machine or system.

launch
To start a task or open a window.

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LUN
Logical Unit Number. Each disk in an array has a LUN. Disk partitions may also be
assigned a LUN.

main window
The main VERITAS Volume Manager window. This window contains a tree and grid that
display volumes, disks, and other objects on the system. The main window also has a
menu bar, a toolbar, and an optional Command Launcher.

menu
A list of options or tasks. A menu item is selected by pointing to the item and clicking the
mouse.

menu bar
A bar that contains a set of menus for the current window. The menu bar is typically
placed across the top of a window.

mirror
A copy of a volume and its data. There can be several mirrors per volume. The terms
mirror and plex are used synonymously.

node
In the VxVM tree, a node is an element attached to the tree.
In a cluster environment, a node is a host machine in a cluster.

object group
A group of objects of the same type. Each object group has a group icon and a group
name. In VxVM, object groups include disk groups, disks, volumes, controllers, free disk
pool disks, uninitialized disks, and file systems.

object tree
A dynamic hierarchical display of VERITAS Volume Manager objects and other objects on
the system. Each node in the tree represents a group of objects of the same type.

Object View Window

A window that displays a graphical view of the volumes, disks, and other objects in a
particular disk group. The objects displayed in this window are automatically updated
when object properties change. This window can display detailed or basic information
about volumes and disks.

Glossary 305
Organization principle for disk group
An organization principle is associated with a disk group. These disk groups have storage
pools present on them. Volumes created on such disk groups are maintained by ISP.
Traditional volumes cannot be created on these disk groups. You have the option of not
associating a organization principle to a disk group.

plex
A copy of a volume and its data. There can be several plexes per volume. The terms mirror
and plex are used synonymously.

popup menu
A context-sensitive menu that only appears when you click on a specific object or area.

properties window
A window that displays detailed information about a selected object.

radio buttons
A set of buttons used to select optional settings. Only one radio button in the set can be
selected at any given time. These buttons toggle on or off.

rules
Rules specify the storage allocation criteria. These define storage selection and storage
layout. Rules are simple sentences written in the ISP language.

scroll bar
A sliding control that is used to display different portions of the contents of a window.

Search window
The VERITAS Volume Manager search tool. The Search window provides a set of search
options that can be used to search for objects on the system.

splitter
A bar that separates two panes of a window (such as the object tree and the grid). A
splitter can be used to adjust the sizes of the panes.

status area
An area of the main window that displays an alert icon when an object fails or experiences
some other error.

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storage pool - data pool, clone pool
Storage pools are associated with disk groups. Storage pools are defined by templates,
capabilities and policies. Policies governing a storage pool decide
◆ to grow a storage pool to accommodate additional storage
◆ to use templates not currently associated with it.
There are two types of storage pools: data pools and clone pools. Data pools are created
first. All other storage pools that are created within a disk group are clone pools.

subdisk
A set of contiguous disk blocks that form a logical disk segment. Subdisks are associated
with plexes (mirrors) to form volumes.

task properties window

A window that displays detailed information about a task listed in the Task Request
Monitor window.

task request monitor

A window that displays a history of tasks performed in the current VERITAS Volume
Manager session. Each task is listed with the task originator, the task status, and the start/
finish times for the task.

toolbar
A set of buttons used to access VERITAS Volume Manager windows. These include
another main window, a task request monitor, an alert monitor, a search window, and a
customize window.

tree
A dynamic hierarchical display of objects on the system. Each node in the tree represents
a group of objects of the same type.

uninitialized disks
Disks that are not under VxVM control.

user templates
User templates are a collection of capabilities, templates and rules defined by the user to
simplify tasks. You can group the capabilities you want the volume to have, and save
these capabilities along with the rules as a user template.

Glossary 307
volume
A virtual disk or entity that is made up of portions of one or more physical disks.

Volume Layout Details Window

A window that displays a graphical view of a volume and its components. The objects
displayed in this window are not automatically updated when the volume properties
change.

Volume to Disk Mapping Window

A window that displays a tabular view of volumes and their underlying disks. This
window can also display details such as the subdisks and gaps on each disk.

volume set
The volume set feature provides support for the multi-device file system enhancement of
VERITAS File System (VxFS). A volume set allows several volumes to be treated as a
single object with one logical I/O interface.

VxFS
VERITAS File System.

VxVM
VERITAS Volume Manager.

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Index
Symbols backups
/etc/vx/alloc/configuration_database.txt creating for volumes 133
file 279 block size 170
boot disk
A
mirroring 45
activating disk groups 75
activation mode 260 C
add storage pool disks 245 capabilities
addby attribute 147 ArrayProductId 289
adding ColumnsOnSeparateComponents 289
disks 40 ConcatVolumes 289
file systems 169, 174 ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage 289
adding a foreign device 223 ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage 289
adding a mirror to a volume 106 ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage 290
adding a new attribute 252 ConfineToSimilarStorage 290
adding a volume to a volume set 127 ConfineToSpecificStorage 290
adding columns 102 DataMirroring 290
alerts DataMirrorStripe 290
icons 5 DataRedundancy 291
on disks 268 DataStripeMirror 291
on volumes 272 DCOLogMirroring 291
allocation unit 170 DCOLogStriping 291
annotating a disk 249 ExcludeSpecificStorage 292
annotation service InstantSnapshottable 292
adding attributes 252 LogsOnSeparateComponents 292
delete a short-cut 255 MirrorsOnSeparateComponents 292
modifying attributes 253 Multipathing 292
remove attribute 253 MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths 293
sorting by attribute 254 PrefabricatedDataMirroring 293
any_volume_type storage pool 295 PrefabricatedDataRedundancy 293
application volumes 231 PrefabricatedRaid5 293
ArrayProductId capability 289 PrefabricatedStriping 293
ArrayProductId volume template 285 Raid5Capability 294
associate template set 247 Raid5LogMirroring 294
attribute short-cut 255 Raid5LogStriping 294
attributes 249 Snapshottable 294
Striping 294
B
capabilities options 35
backing up file systems 176
capability selection page

309
 selecting a capability 234, 238 enabling 56
capability tree 234, 235 creating
changing volume layouts 103 disk groups 58
checking file systems 178 file systems 169, 174
checkpoint quotas instant snapshots on ISP volumes 155,
disabling 191 156, 157
enabling 190 shared disk groups 259
clearing primary policies 200, 263 storage volumes 92
client 10 volume sets 126
cluster file system volumes 82, 86, 89, 136, 141
mounting 180 creating a new user template 233
unmounting 181 creating a storage pool 243
cluster nodes critical usage 11
cluster mounting file system on 173 customizing table headers 5
clusters
D
creating shared disk groups 259
data management
importing disk groups 261
file relocation with QoSS 215
ColumnsOnSeparateComponents
data pools 241
capability 289
DataMirroring capability 290
ColumnsOnSeparateComponents volume
DataMirroring template set 280
template 285
DataMirroring volume template 286
command log 24
DataMirroringPrefabricatedRaid5 template
commands, viewing 22
set 280
concatenated volumes 82, 89, 136, 141
DataMirroringPrefabricatedStriping
ConcatVolumes capability 289
template set 281
ConcatVolumes volume template 285
DataMirrorStripe capability 290
configuration elements
DataMirrorStripe template set 281
provided in database 279
DataMirrorStripe volume template 286
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage
DataRedundancy capability 291
capability 289
DataStripeMirror capability 291
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage volume
DataStripeMirror template set 281
template 285
DataStripeMirror volume template 286
ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage
DCOLogMirroring capability 291
capability 289
DCOLogMirroring volume template 286
ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage volume
DCOLogStriping capability 291
template 285
DCOLogStriping volume template 286
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage
defragmenting file systems 175
capability 290
delete storage pool 244
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage volume
delete storage pool disk 246
template 285
delete user template 239
ConfineToSimilarStorage capability 290
deleting
ConfineToSimilarStorage volume
volume sets 128
template 285
deleting a short-cut 255
ConfineToSpecificStorage capability 290
deleting volume sets 128
ConfineToSpecificStorage volume
deleting volumes 115
template 285
deporting disk groups 62
ConfineVolume template set 280
destroying disk groups 69
controllers
dialog information panel 34
disabling 56

310 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 dialog preferences 34 names, changing 43
dirty region logging 108 new 40
disable path 220 online 44
disabling placing under Volume Manager
controllers 56 control 40
disabling checkpoint quotas 191 properties 20, 54, 55, 77
disassociate template set 248 recovering 49
disconnecting reinitializing 51
disks 47 removing 50
disk renaming 43
phaseout 34 restoring access 44
disk arrays, renaming 57 setup tasks 6
disk group name, changing 61 states 268
disk groups task roadmap 39
activating 75 troubleshooting 51, 268
adding disks 40 Volume Manager 40
clearing hot relocation information 67 volume mapping 11, 17
creating 58, 259 displaying
deporting 62 commands 22
destroying 69 disk group properties 78
importing 63, 261 disk properties 54, 55, 77
joining 74 dissociated objects 15
moving objects between 70 file system properties 179
organize 78 object properties 10
preventing access 62 Object Properties window 20
properties 78 objects 10
recovering volumes 64 volume properties 122
removing 69 displaying the rules page 35
removing disks 50 dissociated objects, displaying 15
renaming 61 dissociating instant snapshots 152
restoring access 63, 261 dissociating plexes 116
splitting 70, 72
E
task roadmap 39
enable path 220
upgrading 60
enabling checkpoint quotas 190
disk groups versions 60
enabling controllers 56
disk usage 11
encapsulating disks 41
disks
enclosures, renaming 57
adding 40
ExcludeSpecificStorage capability 292
adding to Volume Manager 40
ExcludeSpecificStorage volume
alternate boot disk 45
template 286
annotating 249
extend a volume 98
boot 45
changing names 57 F
disconnecting 47 file age
encapsulating 41 criteria for relocation
forced initialization 51 multiple-component file systems 210
initializing 41, 51 File menu 4
maintenance tasks 7 file relocation
mirroring 45 configuring 202

Index 311
 criteria I
file age 210 importing
file size 210 disk groups 63
criteria for shared disk groups 261
setup 207 initializing disks 41, 51
QoSS 215 instant snapshots
file size enabling FastResync 134
criteria for relocation InstantSnapshottable capability 292
multiple-component file systems 210 InstantSnapshottable template set 282
file system task roadmap 168, 201 InstantSnapshottable volume template 286
file systems ISP - licensing 234
and volume sets 174 ISP volumes
and volumes 169, 173 adding and removing columns 102
backup 176
J
checking 178
joining disk groups 74
creating 169, 174
defragmenting 175 L
maintenance tasks 8 layered volumes 83
monitoring capacity 179 limits
repairing 178 hard 190
snapshot copies 176 soft 190
task roadmap 168, 201 listing a foreign device 223
unmounting 174, 175, 182 listing supported arrays 219
free space 17 load balancing
subdisk move 33
G
logs
graphical view
adding to volumes 108
object view window 11, 12
command log 24
volume layout details 16, 19
disabling 114
grid
removing 114
and tree view 10, 11
LogsOnSeparateComponents capability 292
defined 4
LogsOnSeparateComponents volume
GUI functions
template 287
associate template set 247
LUNs 241
disassociate template set 248
resize volumes 98 M
user templates 231 main window
description of 2
H
status area 5
hard limits 190
maintenance tasks 7
help 6
making multiple selections 22
Help menu 6
managing storage pools 240
high usage 11
managing user templates 231
highwater mark attribute 147
max grow attribute 147
hosts
menus
accessing multiple hosts 2
Help 6
defined 3
Options 4
hot relocation 65
preferences 4
clearing disk group information 67
types of 4
hot spares 65

312 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 window 4 template set 282
mirror MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths
attaching 116 volume template 287
mirror_stripe_volumes storage pool 295 multiple component file systems
mirrored 97 analyzing for effective data
mirrored volumes 83 relocation 212
mirrored_data_striped_clones storage pool multiple host support 2
set 299
N
mirrored_prefab_raid5_data_mirrored_clon
new file system details 170
es storage pool set 299
normal usage 11
mirrored_prefab_raid5_volumes storage
pool 295 O
mirrored_prefab_stripe_data_striped_clone object properties
s storage pool set 299 displaying 20, 54, 55, 77, 78, 122, 179
mirrored_prefab_striped_volumes storage in grid 11
pool 296 window 20
mirrored_volumes storage pool 296 object tree 3
mirroring objects
disks 45 displaying 10
volumes 106 viewing 10
mirrors online disks 44
adding to volumes 106 Options menu 4
removing 112 organize disk groups 78
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents P
capability 292 performance monitoring 18
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents volume performance tuning
template 287 statistics tab display 30
mixed layout volumes 83 placing disks under Volume Manager
modifying attributes 253 control 40
modifying user templates 238 plexes
monitoring dissociating 116
alerts 5 prefab_mirrored_data_prefab_striped_clon
performance 18 es storage pool set 299
monitoring capacity 179 prefab_mirrored_volumes storage pool 296
mount file system details 171 prefab_raid5_volumes storage pool 297
mounting file systems 173 prefab_striped_volumes storage pool 297
moving PrefabricatedDataMirroring capability 293
subdisks 15 PrefabricatedDataMirroring template
moving a subdisk 117 set 282
multi-component file systems PrefabricatedDataMirroring volume
add volume 127 template 287
Multipathing capability 292 PrefabricatedDataRedundancy
MultipathingThroughMirroring template capability 293
set 282 PrefabricatedRaid5 capability 293
MultipathingThroughMirroring volume PrefabricatedRaid5 template set 283
template 287 PrefabricatedRaid5 volume template 287
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths PrefabricatedStriping capability 293
capability 293 PrefabricatedStriping template set 283
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths

Index 313
 PrefabricatedStriping volume template 287 disks 50
preferences 34 logs 114
Options menu 4 volume sets 128
setting 4 removing a foreign device 226
primary node removing an attribute 253
setting 198, 263 removing columns layouts 102
primary policy removing volume sets 128
clearing 200, 263 renaming
setting 199, 262 disk arrays 57
projection 15 disk groups 61
properties 11 disks 43
122 enclosures 57
disk 54, 55, 77 volume sets 128
disk groups 78 volumes 99
Disk Properties window 54, 55, 77 report 24
File System Properties window 179 resize volumes 98
in grid 11 resizing a volume 98
viewing objects restarting and recovering volumes 110
properties 20, 78 restoring volumes 152
volumes 122, 179 roadmap, disk task 39
root disk
Q
mirroring 45
Quality of Storage Service feature 201
rules
R displaying the rules page 35
RAID-5 96 rules page
RAID-5 logging 108 selecting attributes for rules 235
RAID-5 volumes 82
S
raid5_volumes storage pool 297
scanning disks 221
Raid5Capability capability 294
search 24
Raid5LogMirroring capability 294
search feature 24
Raid5LogStriping capability 294
editing and removing 29
Raid5LogStriping volume template 287
setting up a query 24
Raid5Templates template set 283
viewing previous search results 29
Raid5Volume volume template 287
security 10
reattaching instant snapshots 152
selecting a capability 234, 238
recovering
selecting attributes 235
disks 49
selecting objects 22
volume sets 128
selections
volumes 8, 49, 64, 110
multiple 22
recovery tasks 8
server 10
refreshing instant snapshots 151
setting primary node 198, 263
relayout 102, 103
setting primary policies 199, 262
relocation of files
setting up your system 10
QoSS feature 215
setting usage threshold 179
relocation policies
setup tasks 6
configuring 202
shared disk groups 259, 261
remote administration 1
snapshot
removing
synchonization 154
disk groups 69

314 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 snapshot copies of file systems 176 mirrored_prefab_raid5_volumes 295
snapshot copies of volumes 133, 158 mirrored_prefab_striped_volumes 296
snapshots mirrored_volumes 296
copy of file system 176 prefab_mirrored_volumes 296
copy of volume 133, 158 prefab_raid5_volumes 297
dissociating 152, 162 prefab_striped_volumes 297
enabling FastResync 134 raid5_volumes 297
merging 161 remove disks 246
reattaching 152 stripe_mirror_volumes 298
refreshing 151 striped_prefab_mirrored_volumes 298
restoring volumes 152 striped_volumes 298
splitting 154 storage volumes
Snapshottable capability 294 creating 92
soft limts 190 stripe_mirror_volumes storage pool 298
sorting by attribute name 254 stripe_mirrored_data_striped_clones
splitter 4 storage pool set 300
splitting striped 95
subdisks 119 striped volumes 82
splitting disk groups 70, 72 striped_prefab_mirrored_data_striped_clon
splitting instant snapshot hierarchy 154 es storage pool set 300
splitting subdisks 119 striped_prefab_mirrored_volumes storage
start synchronization 154 pool 298
starting VEA 10 striped_volumes storage pool 298
statistics Striping capability 294
viewing 32 Striping template set 283
statistics tab view 30 Striping volume template 288
status area 5 StripingPrefabricatedDataMirroring
stopping volumes 110 template set 283
storage pool policy 241 subdisk move command 117
storage pool sets subdisks
mirrored_data_striped_clones 299 graphical view 16, 19
mirrored_prefab_raid5_data_mirrored_ moving 15, 117
clones 299 numbering 119
mirrored_prefab_stripe_data_striped_cl splitting 119
ones 299 viewing 16, 19
prefab_mirrored_data_prefab_striped_c synchronization start 154
lones 299 system
stripe_mirrored_data_striped_clones 30 setup 10
0
T
striped_prefab_mirrored_data_striped_
table headers
clones 300
customizing 5
storage pools
task dialogs 34
add disks 245
tasks
any_volume_type 295
disk maintenance 7
creating 243
disk setup 6
delete 244
displaying 22
delete disks 246
file system maintenance 8
managing 240
list 6
mirror_stripe_volumes 295

Index 315
 maintenance 7 MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths 287
properties 24 PrefabricatedDataMirroring 287
recovery 8 PrefabricatedRaid5 287
repair 8 PrefabricatedStriping 287
request monitor window 22 Raid5LogStriping 287
roadmap 6 Raid5Volume 287
setup 6 Striping 288
throttling 23 threshold percentage 179
viewing 22 toolbar 5
volume maintenance 7 tree
volume recovery 8 and grid view 10, 11
volume repair 8 object 3
volume setup 6 troubleshooting
tear off 5 disk states 268
template sets volume states 272
ConfineVolume 280
U
DataMirroring 280
unmounting file systems 174, 175, 182
DataMirroringPrefabricatedRaid5 280
usage legend 11
DataMirroringPrefabricatedStriping 281
user templates
DataMirrorStripe 281
creating new user templates 233
DataStripeMirror 281
delete 239
InstantSnapshottable 282
modifying 238
MultipathingThroughMirroring 282
using the search feature 24
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths 282
PrefabricatedDataMirroring 282 V
PrefabricatedRaid5 283 VEA
PrefabricatedStriping 283 starting 10
Raid5Templates 283 view preferences 34
Striping 283 viewing commands 22
StripingPrefabricatedDataMirroring 283 viewing objects
templates and object properties 10
ArrayProductId 285 graphical view 16, 19
ColumnsOnSeparateComponents 285 properties 54, 55, 77, 122, 179
ConcatVolumes 285 tree and grid 11
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage 285 viewing real-time statistics 32
ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage 285 viewing tasks 22
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage 285 Volume Layout Details window
ConfineToSimilarStorage 285 described 11, 16, 19
ConfineToSpecificStorage 285 volume layouts 82, 103
DataMirroring 286 volume name, changing 99
DataMirrorStripe 286 volume set
DataStripeMirror 286 recovering 128
DCOLogMirroring 286 volume set name, changing 128
DCOLogStriping 286 volume sets
ExcludeSpecificStorage 286 adding a volume 127
InstantSnapshottable 286 adding file systems 174
LogsOnSeparateComponents 287 and file systems 174
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents 287 creating 126
MultipathingThroughMirroring 287 deleting

316 VERITAS Volume Manager User’s Guide

 removing 128 enabling FastResync 134
removing a volume 129 extending 98
renaming 128 graphical view 11, 16, 19
volume states 272 layered 83
volume task roadmap 80, 125, 132 layout 11
volume templates maintenance tasks 7
ArrayProductId 285 merging snapshots 161
ColumnsOnSeparateComponents 285 mirrored 83, 97
ConcatVolumes 285 mixed layout 83
ConfineColumnsToSimilarStorage 285 mounting file systems 173
ConfineLogsToSimilarStorage 285 preparing to restore 111, 165
ConfineMirrorsToSimilarStorage 285 properties 20, 122, 179
ConfineToSimilarStorage 285 RAID-5 82, 96
ConfineToSpecificStorage 285 recovering 49, 64, 110
DataMirroring 286 recovering/restarting 110
DataMirrorStripe 286 recovery tasks 8
DataStripeMirror 286 relayout 102, 103
DCOLogMirroring 286 removing from a volume set 129
DCOLogStriping 286 removing logs 114
ExcludeSpecificStorage 286 removing mirrors 112
InstantSnapshottable 286 renaming 99
LogsOnSeparateComponents 287 repair tasks 8
MirrorsOnSeparateComponents 287 resizing 98
MultipathingThroughMirroring 287 setting usage 103
MultipathingThroughMultiplePaths 287 setup tasks 6
PrefabricatedDataMirroring 287 snapshot copies 133, 158
PrefabricatedRaid5 287 splitting subdisks 119
PrefabricatedStriping 287 stopping 110
Raid5LogStriping 287 striped 82, 95
Raid5Volume 287 striped pro 83
Striping 288 task roadmap 80, 125, 132
volume to disk mapping window 11, 17 troubleshooting 272
volumes 86 underlying disks 11, 17
adding file systems 169 unmounting file systems 174, 175, 182
adding logs 108 VRTSexplorer xxiii
adding mirrors 106 VxVM
and file systems 169, 173 obtaining system information xxiii
attaching mirrors 116
W
backing up 133
window menu 4
backup and restore 111, 165
window preferences 34
changing layout 103
windows
concatenated 82, 89, 136, 141
graphical view 16, 19
concatenated pro 83
main window 2
creating 82, 86, 89, 136, 141
object properties 11, 20
deleting volumes 115
object view 12
disabling 110
resizing 4
disk mapping 11, 17
volume layout details 16, 19
dissociating plexes 116
volume to disk mapping window 17
dissociating snapshots 162

Index 317