Manage Your Logical Volumes With Veritas Volume Manager (VXVM) V5 For AIX 5.3 and 6.1

IBM Developer Topics Community More open source at IBM
Contents
Introduction
This content is no longer being updated or maintained. The content is provided “as is.” Given
VxVM and the operating system
the rapid evolution of technology, some content, steps, or illustrations may have changed.
Data storage
Learn › AIX and UNIX
Physical disks
Virtual objects
Manage your logical volumes with V

VxVM 5.0 installation
Volume Manager (VxVM) V5 for AIX

Troubleshooting and administration
Summary configure, and troubleshoot VxVM

Install,
Downloadable resources
Shashidhar Soppin
Related topics
Published on June 24, 2008
Comments
In the world of UNIX® storage management, there are two primary leaders: IBM and Veritas
offer products that help UNIX system administrators manage storage with very flexible meth
Volume Manager (VxVM), which is either packaged as a standalone add-on, or part of a large
Line Storage Manager. VxVM is a storage management subsystem that lets you manage phys
(Logical devices do not have the limitations of physical disks.)
Veritas Volume Manager
VxVM is a storage management subsystem that lets you manage physical disks as logical dev
volume appears to applications and the operating system as a physical disk on which file sys
managed data objects can be configured. VxVM provides easy-to-use online disk storage ma
environments and Storage Area Network (SAN) environments. By supporting the Redundant
(RAID) model, VxVM can be configured to protect against disk and hardware failure, and to in
VxVM provides features that enhance fault tolerance and fast recovery from disk failure. VxV
imposed by hardware disk devices by providing a logical volume management layer that lets
VxVM also provides the tools to improve performance, and ensure data availability and integ
dynamically configure disk storage while the system is active.

Contents
Introduction
VxVM operates as a subsystem between operating system and data management systems, s
database management systems. VxVM is tightly coupled with the operating system. Before a
control, the disk must be accessible through the operating system device interface. VxVM is
Data storage
system interface services, and is dependent on how the operating system accesses physical
Physical disks
VxVM is dependent upon the operating system for:

Virtual objects
• Operating
VxVM system (disk) devices
5.0 installation
• Device handles
• VxVM dynamic multipathing (DMP) metadevice
Summary
VxVM and data storage

Related topics
VxVM uses two types of objects to handle storage management:

Comments
Physical objects
Physical disks, or other hardware, with block and raw operating system device interfaces tha
Virtual objects
When one or more physical disks are brought under the control of VxVM, it creates virtual ob
physical disks. Each volume records and retrieves data from one or more physical disks. Volu
systems, databases, or other applications the same way that physical disks are accessed.
Volumes are also composed of other virtual objects (plexes and subdisks) that are used in ch
Volumes and their virtual components are called virtual objects, or VxVM objects.
Physical disks
A physical disk is the basic storage device, or media, where the data is ultimately stored. You
disk by using a device name to locate the disk. The physical disk device name varies with the
parameters are used on all systems. Typical device names are of the form hdisk(number), w
disk number starting at 0.
Figure 1. Displaying a physical disk
Contents
Disk arrays
Introduction
VxVM and theI/O

Performing operating system
to disks is relatively slow because disks are physical devices that require tim
position before reading or writing. If all of the read or write operations are done to individual
Data storage
write time can become unmanageable. Performing these operations on multiple disks can he
Physical disks
A disk array is a collection of physical disks that VxVM can represent to the operating system
Virtual objects
volumes. To the operating system, the volumes created by VxVM look and act like physical d
with
VxVMvolumes should work the same way they do with physical disks. Figure 2 shows how Vx
5.0 installation
volumes, in a disk array, to the operating system.
Figure 2. Displaying disks in a disk array

Summary
Related topics
Comments
Data can be spread across several disks within an array to distribute or balance I/O operatio
I/O across multiple disks improves I/O performance by increasing data transfer speed and o
Multipathed disk arrays
Some disk arrays provide multiple ports to access their disk devices. These ports, coupled w
controller and any data bus or I/ O processor local to the array, provide multiple hardware pa
Such disk arrays, called multipathed, can be connected to host systems in many different co
ports connected to different controllers on a single host, chaining of the ports through a sing
connected to different hosts simultaneously.
Contents
Device discovery
Introduction
Device discovery is the process of discovering the disks that are attached to a host. This feat
multipathing (DMP) because it needs to support a growing number of disk arrays from severa
ability to discover devices attached to a host, the device discovery service lets you add supp
Data storage
arrays. The operation, which uses a facility called the device discovery layer (DDL), does not
Physical disks
Virtual objects
Virtual objects
Virtual objects and

Troubleshooting in VxVM include:
administration
• Disk groups
Summary
• Volume manager
Downloadable resources(VM) disks
• Subdisks
Related topics
• Plexes
Comments
• Volumes
The connection between physical objects and VxVM objects is made when you place a physi
installing VxVM on a host system, you must bring the contents of physical disks under VxVM
into disk groups and allocating the disk group space to create logical volumes.
To bring the physical disk under VxVM control, the disk must not be under LVM control. VxVM
disks; the disk cannot be under the control of another storage manager (such as LVM). Listin
vxdisk command to list the disk status.
Listing 1. Using vxdisk to list disk status
1 # vxdisk -e list
2 DEVICE TYPE DISK GROUP STATUS OS_NATIVE_NAME
3 Disk_0 auto - - online hdisk51
12 Disk_9 auto - - offline hdisk43
IBM Developer
15 Topics
Disk_12 Community
auto More open
- source at IBM
- online hdisk38
Contents
Introduction
24 Disk_21 auto - - LVM hdisk27
Data storage
VxVM creates virtual objects and makes logical connections between the objects. The virtua
Physical
do disks
storage management tasks.
Virtual objects
Disk groups

A disk group is a collection of disks that shares a common configuration, and is managed by V
is a set of records with detailed information about related VxVM objects, their attributes, and
Summary
name can be up to 31 characters long.
You cantopics
Related create additional disk groups when you need them. Disk groups allow you to group d
disk group and its components can be moved as a unit from one host machine to another.
Comments
VM disks
When you place a physical disk under VxVM control, a VM disk is assigned to the physical dis
control and is usually in a disk group. Each VM disk corresponds to one physical disk. VxVM a
contiguous area of VxVM disk space. A VM disk typically includes a public region (allocated s
where VxVM internal configuration information is stored. Each VM disk has a unique disk me
name. You can either define a disk name of up to 31 characters, or allow VxVM to assign a de
where diskgroup is the name of the disk group to which the disk belongs. Figure 3 shows an
Figure 3. VM Disk
Subdisks
A subdisk is a set of contiguous disk blocks. A block is a unit of space on the disk. VxVM alloc
Contents
VM disk can be divided into one or more subdisks. Each subdisk represents a specific portion
aIntroduction
specific region of a physical disk. The default name for a VM disk is diskgroup(number). Th
diskgroup(number-number), as shown in Figure 4, where diskgroup is the name of the disk g
Figure 4. Subdisk
Data storage
Physical disks
Virtual objects
Summary
Downloadable
A VM disk canresources
contain multiple subdisks, but subdisks cannot overlap or share the same por
a VM disk with three subdisks. The VM disk is assigned to one physical disk.
Related topics
Figure 5. Three subdisks assigned to one VM Disk

Comments
Plexes
VxVM uses subdisks to build virtual objects called plexes. A plex consists of one or more sub
physical disks. For example, the plex vol01-01 is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. A plex with two subdisks

Contents
Introduction
Volumes
Data storage
A volume is a virtual disk device that appears to applications, databases, and file systems lik
not havedisks
Physical the physical limitations of a physical disk device. A volume consists of one or more
selected data in the volume. Due to its virtual nature, a volume is not restricted to a particula
Virtual objects
You
VxVMcan
5.0change the configuration of a volume by using VxVM user interfaces. Making configu
installation
disruption to applications or file systems that are using the volume. For example, a volume c
Troubleshooting
or moved to useand administration
different disk storage.
Summary
VxVM uses the default naming conventions of vol(number) for volumes and vol(number-num
ease of administration,
Downloadable resources you can choose to select more meaningful names for the volumes th
Related topics
VxVM
Comments 5.0 installation
This section introduces the VxVM installation and configuration commands you can use to do
objects on AIX versions 5.3 and 6.10. VxVM relies on the following constantly running daemo
operation:
vxconfigd
The VxVM configuration daemon maintains disk and group configurations, communicates co
and modifies configuration information stored on disks.
vxiod
VxVM I/O kernel threads provide extended I/O operations without blocking calling processes
started at boot time, and at least one I/O thread must continue to run at all times.
vxrelocd
The hot-relocation daemon monitors VxVM for events that affect redundancy, and performs
redundancy.
Before you start installation, make sure that the PATH variable is set properly because most
installation are in the /sbin or /usr/sbin directory. Add the directories to your PATH environm
Listing 2. PATH information
1 For a KSH Shell (or sh), use the command:
2
3 # PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/etc/vx/bin:/opt/VRTS/bin:$PATH# export PATH
4
Contents
5 For a C Shell (csh or tcsh), use the command:
6
Introduction
7 % setenv PATH /sbin:/usr/sbin:/etc/vx/bin:/opt/VRTS/bin:${PATH}
Data storage
Verifying the OS environment
Physical disks
Veritas Storage Foundation 5.0 from Symantec can only be installed on a system running AIX
Virtual objects
proper maintenance level, with additional AIX patches installed, before installing Veritas Sto
of the OS by using the oslevel command on an AIX machine, as shown in Listing 3.
Listing 3. Check OS level
Summary
1 # oslevel
2 6.1.0.0
Downloadable
3 resources
4 # oslevel -rq
5
Related Known
topics Recommended Maintenance Levels
6 ------------------------------------
7 6110-00
Comments
8
9 # oslevel
10 5.3.0.0
11 # oslevel -rq
12 Known Recommended Maintenance Levels
13 ------------------------------------
14 5300-07
15 5300-06
16 5300-05
17 5300-04
18 5300-03
19 5300-02
20 5300-01
21 5380-00
Prerequisites
The following Veritas Storage Foundation packages are required or optional (as noted) for ins
VRTSperl PERL language Required

VRTSspt VERITAS support tools Required
Contents
VRTSvlic VERITAS licensing utilities Required
Introduction
VRTSvmdoc VERITAS Volume Manager online Optional
guides
Data storage
VRTSvmman VERITAS Volume Manager Optional
manual
Physical pages
disks
Virtual objects
VRTSvmpro VERITAS Volume Manager Required for VEA and ISP
Provider

VRTSvxvm VERITAS Volume Manager Required
Summary
VRTSveki VERITAS Kernel Interface Required
Downloadable
componentresources
Related topics
VRTSvxfs VERITAS File System Required
Comments
VRTSddlpr VERITAS Device Discovery Layer Required

Provider
VRTSfspro VERITAS File System Provider Required for VEA, even if you are not in
software
VRTSob VERITAS Enterprise Administrator Required for VEA and ISP

Service
VRTSobgui VERITAS Enterprise Administrator Required for VEA client
VRTSFman VERITAS File System manual pages Optional
VRTSFsdoc VERITAS File System online guides Optional
Install Veritas Storage Foundation

To install Storage Foundation, download file sets from the Symantec Web site. It is best prac
of the file sets by running the cksum command and compare to the source location.
1. Log in as superuser. Use the installp command to install the required packages, as sho
Contents
Listing 4. installp
Introduction
1 Note:- Check the size of the file by using cksum command as below,
2
3 # cksum VRTSvxvm.bff
4 1823433071 126310400 VRTSvxvm.bff
Data storage
5
6 installp command is used as below,
7
Physical disks
8 installp -acXd VRTSvmdoc.bff VRTSvmdoc
9
Virtual10
objects
installp -acXd VRTSvmman.bff VRTSvmman
11
12 installp -acXd VRTSveki.bff VRTSveki
13
14 installp -acXd VRTSspt.bff VRTSspt
Troubleshooting
15 and administration
16 installp -acXd VRTSvxvm.bff VRTSvxvm
Summary17
18 installp -acXd VRTSvlic.bff VRTSvlic
19
Downloadable
20 resources
installp -acXd VRTSvxfs.bff VRTSvxfs
21
Related22topics
installp -acXd VRTSperl.bff VRTSperl
23
24 Note:- All these commands can be put inside a ksh script and
Comments
25 installed by invoking that script.
Use the lslpp command to verify the complete installation of Veritas VxVM, as shown in
Listing 5. Verify installation

1 # lslpp -l |grep -i vrts
2
3 VRTSspt 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas Support Tools
4 VRTSveki 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas Kernel Interface
5 VRTSvlic 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED VRTSvlic Symantec Licens
6 VRTSvxfs 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas File System
7 VRTSvxvm 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas Volume Manager
8 VRTSveki 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas Kernel Interface
9 VRTSvmman 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas Manual Pages
10 VRTSvdoc 5.0.1.0 COMMITTED Veritas Documentation
2. To install from a CD-ROM, mount a CD-ROM and begin installation as follows.
1. Log in as superuser.
2. Place the Veritas software disc in a CD-ROM drive connected to your system.
3. Mount the Topics
IBM Developer CD manually:
Community More open source at IBM
1 # mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom
2 # mount -V cdrfs -o ro /dev/cdN /mnt/cdrom
Contents
where N in /dev/cdN is a number for the CD device configured on the target system. U
Introduction
VxVM and the operating

Check system nodes on your system in the /dev directory, or use the method b
the CD device
To invoke the common installer, run the install command on the CD as shown below.
Data storage
1 # /mnt/cdrom/CD_NAME/installer
Physical disks
Virtual objects
4. If the VRTSvlic licensing package is not installed, a message asks if you want to insta
to install the package.
5. If the VRTSvlic
Troubleshooting licensing package is installed, the Product Status page displays:
and administration
Summary• Products available for installation.
• Products
Downloadable currently installed.
resources
•
Related topics
Products that are licensed.
• Options for operations you can initiate.

Comments
Use the /opt/VRTS/bin/vxlicrep command to view a report of the license type for ea
6. At the prompt on the Product Status page, enter L to add a license key and click Retu
7. At the next prompt, enter the license key and click Return.
8. At the Product Status page, enter I for the product installer and click Return. The pro
9. At the Veritas product installer, enter the number of the product you want to install a
installation begins automatically.
At the end of the process, the Veritas product installer is displayed again.
10. You are prompted to enter the systems' names on which the software is to be installe
continue.
Veritas licensing
Install the license key using the vxlicinst command, as shown in Listing 6. (The license key
actual installation, the key is obtained from Symantec.)
IBM Developer
Listing Topics
6. vxlicinst command Community
output More open source at IBM
1 Install License:-
2
3
Contents# /sbin/vxlicinst
4
5 Symantec License Manager vxlicinst utility version 3.02.16.0
Introduction
6 Copyright (C) 1996-2006 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved.
7
8 Enter your license key : RGCU-CB9F-YCBX-BFYX-OTGH-GN4O-7KYP-PPC
9
10 Number of days left for Demo = 150
Data
11 storage

12 License key successfully installed for VERITAS Storage Foundation for DB2
PhysicalLicense
13
disks key successfully installed for VERITAS File System
14 License key successfully installed for VERITAS Volume Manager
15 License key successfully installed for VERITAS Mapping Services
Virtual objects
Other licensing
Troubleshooting commands
and administration
Summary
The Veritas licensing commands are in the VRTSvlic package. You must install VRTSvlic for th
Downloadable
There are tworesources
commands:
Related topics
• vxlicrep lets you view currently installed licenses.
Comments
• vxlictest retrieves features encoded in a license key and describes them.
Enable the vxconfigd daemon
Execute the commands in Listing 7 to enable the vxconfigd daemon.
Listing 7. Enable the daemon
1 # vxconfigd -km disable

2 # vxdctl init
3 # vxdctl enable
There is more information about the vxconfigd daemon and vxdctl later in this section.
To check the Storage Foundation processes and confirm successful Veritas File System insta
command:
1 # lsvfs vxfs
2 vxfs 32 /sbin/helpers/vxfs /sbin/helpers/vxfs
To confirm that the Volume Manager processes (vxconfigd, vxnotify, and vxrelocd) are ru
1 # ps -e |grep vx
Contents
Introduction
Create VxVM disk groups
Listing 8 shows the output of the lspv command without VxVM configuration.
Data storage
Listing
Physical8.disks
lspv output
1 # lspv
Virtual objects
2 hdisk0 00b28305ad573b54 rootvg active
3 hdisk1 none None
VxVM
4 5.0 installation
hdisk2 none None
5 hdisk3 00b28305eea1b645 None
6 hdisk4 00b28305eb18f002 None
7 hdisk5 none None
8 hdisk6 none None
Summary
9 hdisk7 none None
10 hdisk8 none None
11 hdisk9 none None
12 hdisk10 none None
Related
14 topics
hdisk12 none None
16 hdisk14 00b2830584f972f3 None
Comments
17 hdisk15 00b2830584f9751a None
Now the disks have to be configured as a Veritas Volume disk group (vxvmdg) by initializing a
levels of initialization for disks in the Volume Manager:
• Formatting of the disk media itself. This must be done outside of the Volume Manager.
• Storing identification and configuration information on the disk for use by the Volume Ma
Volume Manager interfaces are provided to step you through this level of disk initialization.
A fully initialized disk can be added to a disk group and used to replace a previously failed di
Listing 9. vxdg command
1 #cd /etc/vx/bin --this is done because the command vxdg is in this path.
2
3 # vxdg -g vxvmdg adddisk vxvmdg1=Disk_10
Display configured disks

Contents
Introduction
Now you use the vxdisk list command to display various configured disks, as shown in Listin
Listing 10. vxdisk command output
Data storage
1 # vxdisk list
Physical
2 disks
DEVICE TYPE DISK GROUP STATUS
3 Disk_0 auto:none - - online invalid
Virtual
5 objects
Disk_2 auto:cdsdisk vxvmdg8 vxvmdg online
6 Disk_3 auto:cdsdisk vxvmdg7 vxvmdg online
VxVM7 5.0 installation auto:cdsdisk
Disk_4 vxvmdg6 vxvmdg online
Troubleshooting
Disk_7 auto:cdsdisk vxvmdg3 vxvmdg online
11 Disk_8 auto:aixdisk - - online
Summary
Downloadable
15 resourcesauto:LVM
Disk_12 - - LVM
16 Disk_13 auto:cdsdisk - - online aliased
Related
17 topics
Disk_14 auto:LVM - - LVM
18 Disk_15 auto:cdsdisk - - online aliased
Comments
The disk listing sometimes displays in the format hdisk(number). Use the format accordingl
command.

This section includes some troubleshooting tips and common commands used to manage Vx
Disks go into Error state
Sometimes, when the disks go into error state, Veritas VxVM is unable to claim those disks a
problem, run the following set of commands, in the following order.
To see corresponding mapping between hdisk and Disk lists, run the command in Listing 11.
Listing 11. Solution for disks going to error state
1 # vxdisk -e list
IBM Developer
3 Disk_0 Topics Community
auto More open
- source at IBM
- online hdisk51
Contents
Introduction
VxVM
13 and the operating auto
Disk_10 system - - online hdisk41
15 storage
Data Disk_12 auto - - online hdisk38
Physical
18 disks
Disk_15 auto - - online hdisk36
20 objects
Virtual Disk_17 auto - - online hdisk34
VxVM
23 5.0 installation auto - - error hdisk32
Disk_20
25 Disk_22
Troubleshooting auto - - online hdisk30
and administration
Summary
In the above
Related topics listing, Disk_20 is in error state and needs to be fixed to continue VxVM operat
To see the list of hdisks with an error state:

Comments
Listing 12. Get list
1 # vxdisk -o alldgs list

2 DEVICE TYPE DISK GROUP STATUS
12 Disk_9 auto - - offline
23 Disk_20 auto:cdsdisk - - error
24 Disk_21 auto:LVM - - LVM
IBM Developer
28 Topics
Disk_25 Community -
auto:LVM More open source at IBM LVM
-
29 #cd /etc/vx/bin
Contents
Try to use the vxdisksetup and vxdiskunsetup commands to format the hdisk, as shown in
Introduction
Listing 13. vxdisksetup and vxdiskunsetup
1 # /etc/vx/bin/vxdisksetup -if Disk_20 format=aixdisk
2 VxVM vxdisk ERROR V-5-1-5433 Device Disk_20: init failed:
Data3 storage
Disk sector size is not supported
4
Physical disks
5
6 # /etc/vx/bin/vxdiskunsetup -C Disk_20 format=aixdisk
7 VxVM vxdiskunsetup ERROR V-5-2-2208 format=aixdisk: Device address must
Virtual
8 objects
be of the form enclr_x where
9
10
VxVM 5.0 x = one or more decimal digit
installation

Since both the commands are failing to clear the error state, see the detailed list using the v
Summary
and proper one, as shown in Listing 14.
Listing 14. vxdisk
Related topics
1 a) Disk with error state
2
Comments
3 # vxdisk list Disk_20
4 Device: Disk_20
5 devicetag: Disk_20
6 type: auto
7 info: format=cdsdisk,privoffset=256
8 flags: online error private autoconfig
9 pubpaths: block=/dev/vx/dmp/Disk_20 char=/dev/vx/rdmp/Disk_20
10 guid: {5d5aa3b8-1dd2-11b2-aeae-2a5848ed1fb8}
11 udid: AIX%5FVDASD%5FDISKS%5F600507630EFFFD670000000000000115
12 site: -
13 errno: Disk is not useable, bad format
14 Multipathing information:
15 numpaths: 1
16 hdisk32 state=enabled
17
18 b) Proper one
19
20 # vxdisk list Disk_7
21 Device: Disk_7
22 devicetag: Disk_7
23 type: auto
24 info: format=none
25 flags: online ready private autoconfig invalid
26 pubpaths: block=/dev/vx/dmp/Disk_7 char=/dev/vx/rdmp/Disk_7
27 guid: -
28 udid: AIX%5FVDASD%5FDISKS%5F600507630EFFFD670000000000000122
29 site: -
30 Multipathing information:
31 numpaths: 1
32 hdisk42 state=enabled
Now try with the chpv command:
Listing 15. chpv

Contents
1 # chpv -C hdisk32
Introduction
2
3 # vxdisk list
4
VxVM and DEVICE
the operating TYPE
system DISK GROUP STATUS
Data7 storage
Disk_2 auto:none - - online invalid
PhysicalDisk_4
9 disks auto:none - - online invalid
Virtual
12 objects
14
VxVM 5.0 Disk_9
installation auto - - offline
Troubleshooting
19
Summary Disk_14 auto:aixdisk - - online
Downloadable
22 resourcesauto:none - - online invalid
Disk_17
24
Related Disk_19
topics auto:none - - online invalid
25 Disk_20 auto:cdsdisk - - error
Comments
31
32
33 # lspv
34 hdisk26 00cc17cec566971d rootvg active
35 hdisk27 00cc17ceebb54c8c rootvg active
37 hdisk29 none VeritasVolumes
43 hdisk35 00cc17ce59d7d248 None
55 hdisk47 00cc17cee3638f87 None
56 hdisk48 00cc17cee2ea1ed0 None
57 hdisk49 00cc17cee2ea1f4d None
58 hdisk50 00cc17cee2ea1fe1 None
IBM Developer
59 Topics 00cc17cec8c84486
hdisk51 Community More open source at IBMNone
Even after executing the chpv command, the Veritas volumes tag is not removed. Try enablin
Contents
vxconfigd daemon.
Introduction
Listing 16. vxconfigd
1 # vxconfigd -k
Data
2 storage

3 # vxdisk scandisks
4
Physical disks
5 # lspv
6 hdisk26 00cc17cec566971d rootvg active
Virtual
7 objects
hdisk27 00cc17ceebb54c8c rootvg active
8 hdisk28 none None
Troubleshooting
hdisk32 none VeritasVolumes
Summary
15 hdisk35 00cc17ce59d7d248 None
Downloadable
17 resources none
hdisk37 VeritasVolumes
Related topics
Comments
27 hdisk47 00cc17cee3638f87 None
28 hdisk48 00cc17cee2ea1ed0 None
29 hdisk49 00cc17cee2ea1f4d None
30 hdisk50 00cc17cee2ea1fe1 None
31 hdisk51 00cc17cec8c84486 None
The tag is still not removed, and the disk is still in the error state.
Run the set of commands below for up to seek=3 or 4, and then run the other set of comman
bad blocks, if any, and the error state is removed.
Listing 17. dd
1 # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdisk37 bs=512 seek=0 count=10

2 10+0 records in
3 10+0 records out
4
5 # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdisk37 bs=512 seek=1 count=10
6 10+0 records in
7 10+0 records out
8
9
IBM Developer
10 Topics
# dd if=/dev/zero Community More
of=/dev/hdisk32 open source
bs=512 seek=0atcount=10
IBM
11 10+0 records in
12 10+0 records out
Contents
Now run the vxdisksetup command, and it will clear the error state of the disk.
Introduction
Listing
VxVM and18.the
vxdisksetup
operating system
1 # vxdisksetup -if Disk_20 format=aixdisk
Data
2 storage

3 Now the Disk_20 is online:.
4 disks
Physical
Virtual objects
Adding hdisks
Troubleshooting into the Veritas Volume data group
and administration
Summary
Using a command line shell script, hdisks can be added into the Veritas Volume datagroup(v
Listing 19. Adding hdisks into Veritas Volume data group(vxvmdg)
Related topics
1 # for i in 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14; do
2 > vxdg -g vxvmdg adddisk vxvmdg$j=hdisk$i
Comments
3 > (( j += 1 ))
4 > done
5
6 Note:- Here numbers 7,8,9,.... etc indicates hdisk numbers.
7
8 Now vxdisk command output displays the added disks as vxvmdg disks.
9
10 # vxdisk list
12 hdisk0 auto:LVM - - LVM
13 hdisk1 auto:cdsdisk - - online
15 hdisk3 auto:none - - online invalid
18 hdisk6 auto:aixdisk - - online
19 hdisk7 auto:cdsdisk vxvmdg1 vxvmdg online
24 hdisk12 auto:aixdisk vxvmdg6 vxvmdg online
25 hdisk13 auto:aixdisk vxvmdg7 vxvmdg online
Other administrative commands

You
IBM can also use the
Developer following
Topics commandsMore
Community to handle VeritasatVxVM:
open source IBM
vxdiskadm
The Volume Manager Support Operations menu interface, which provides a menu of disk ope
Contents
menu leads you through a particular operation by providing information and asking question
for many questions, so common answers can be selected quickly.
Introduction

vxdiskadd
Use this utility to add standard disks to the Volume Manager. vxdiskadd leads you through in
Data storage
information and asking questions.
Physical disks
vxdisk
Virtual
A objects
command-line utility for administering disk devices. You can use vxdisk to define special d
information stored on disks that the Volume Manager uses to identify and manage disks, and
operations.
vxdg
Summary
The command-line utility for operating on disk groups. You can use it to create new disk grou
disk groups, and
Downloadable to enable (import) or disable (deport) access to disk groups.
resources
Related topics
vxdisk list
Lists disk information and displays spare disks with a spare flag.
Comments
vxprint
Lists disk and other information, and displays spare disks with a SPARE flag.
Listing 20 shows an example of using the vxdiskadm command to control various Volume Ma
options can be selected for the required operation to be performed.
Listing 20. vxdiskadm usage
1 # vxdiskadm
2
3 Volume Manager Support Operations
4 Menu: VolumeManager/Disk
5
6 1 Add or initialize one or more disks
7 2 Remove a disk
8 3 Remove a disk for replacement
9 4 Replace a failed or removed disk
10 5 Mirror volumes on a disk
11 6 Move volumes from a disk
12 7 Enable access to (import) a disk group
13 8 Remove access to (deport) a disk group
14 9 Enable (online) a disk device
15 10 Disable (offline) a disk device
16 11 Mark a disk as a spare for a disk group
17 12 Turn off the spare flag on a disk
18 13 Unrelocate subdisks back to a disk
19 14 Exclude a disk from hot-relocation use
IBM Developer
20 15 MakeTopics
a diskCommunity More
available for open source at IBM
hot-relocation use
21 16 Prevent multipathing/Suppress devices from VxVM's view
22 17 Allow multipathing/Unsuppress devices from VxVM's view
23 18 List currently suppressed/non-multipathed devices
24 19 Change/Display the default disk layouts
Contents
25 20 Mark a disk as allocator-reserved for a disk group
26 21 Turn off the allocator-reserved flag on a disk
27 22 Change the disk naming scheme
Introduction
28 list List disk information
29
VxVM
30 and the operating system
31 ? Display help about menu
32 ?? Display help about the menuing system
Data storage
33 q Exit from menus
34
Physical
35 disks an operation to perform:
Select
36
37 objects
Virtual Below is the example for creating volume group vxvmdg and adding a disk to it
38
39
VxVM
40 5.0 installation
Select an operation to perform: 1
41
42 Add or initialize
Troubleshooting disks
and administration
43 Menu: VolumeManager/Disk/AddDisks
44
Summary
45 Use this operation to add one or more disks to a disk group. You can
46 add the selected disks to an existing disk group or to a new disk group
47 thatresources
Downloadable will be created as a part of the operation. The selected disks may
48 also be added to a disk group as spares. Or they may be added as
49 nohotuses to be excluded from hot-relocation use. The selected
Related
50 topics
disks may also be initialized without adding them to a disk group
51 leaving the disks available for use as replacement disks.
52
Comments
53 More than one disk or pattern may be entered at the prompt. Here are
54 some disk selection examples:
55
56 all: all disks
57 hdisk8: a single disk (in the hdisk# naming scheme)
58 scsi3 : all disks on scsi controller 3
59 fscsi6 : all disks on fiber controller 6
60 xyz_0 : a single disk (in the enclosure based naming scheme)
61 xyz_ : all disks on the enclosure whose name is xyz
62
63 Select disk devices to add: [(pattern-list),all,list,q,?] hdisk2
64
65 Here is the disk selected. Output format: [Device_Name]
66
67 hdisk2
68
69 Continue operation? [y,n,q,?] (default: y) y
70
71 You can choose to add this disk to an existing disk group, a
72 new disk group, or leave the disk available for use by future
73 add or replacement operations. To create a new disk group,
74 select a disk group name that does not yet exist. To leave
75 the disk available for future use, specify a disk group name
76 of "none".
77
78 Which disk group [<group>,none,list,q,?] (default: none) vxvmdg
79
80 Create a new group named vxvmdg? [y,n,q,?] (default: y) y
81
82 Create the disk group as a CDS disk group? [y,n,q,?] (default: y) y
83
84 Use a default disk name for the disk? [y,n,q,?] (default: y) y
IBM Developer
85 Topics Community More open source at IBM
86 Add disk as a spare disk for vxvmdg? [y,n,q,?] (default: n) y
87
88 Add site tag to disk? [y,n,q,?] (default: n) y
89
Contents
90 A new disk group will be created named vxvmdg and the selected
91 disks will be added as spares to the disk group with default
92 disk names.
Introduction
93
94 hdisk2
Data storage
Now you can use lspv or vxdisk to see that hdisk1 has been added to the vxvmdg group.
Physical disks
Listing 21 shows how to use vxdg to destroy any unwanted disk group entries.
Virtual objects
Listing
VxVM 5.021.installation
Using vxdg to destroy unwanted disk group entry
1 #cd /etc/vx/bin
Troubleshooting
3 # vxdisk -e list
Summary
Downloadable
7 resourcesauto - - online hdisk13
Disk_2
9
Related Disk_4
topics auto TCd7-90536 TCg3-90536 online hdisk10
10 Disk_5 auto TCd6-90536 TCg3-90536 online hdisk9
Comments
21
22 # for i in 6 7 8 9 10 11;do
23 > vxdg destroy hdisk$i
24 > done
25
26
27
28 # vxdisk -e list
IBM Developer
44 Topics
Disk_14 Community
auto More open
- source at IBM
- LVM hdisk3
Contents
Changing
Introduction the disk group format type
Listing 22 shows how to change the disk group format type, and how to fix resulting errors.
Data storage
Listing 22.Changing disk group type
Physical disks
1 #cd /etc/vx/bin
2 # for i in 7 6 5 4 3 2;do
Virtual
3 objects
> vxdisksetup -if Disk_$i format=aixdisk
4 > done
VxVM5 5.0
installation
6 # for i in 7 6 5 4 3 2;do
7 > vxdisksetup -if Disk_$i format=cdsdisk
Troubleshooting
8 > done and administration
9
10
Summary # vxdg -g vxvmdg adddisk vxvmdg2=hdisk5
11 VxVM vxdg ERROR V-5-1-6478 Device hdisk5 cannot be added to a CDS disk group
12
Downloadable
13 resources /ezcfg/dat
[root@ortega01]
14 # vxdisk list
15
Related DEVICE
topics TYPE DISK GROUP STATUS
17 hdisk1 auto:cdsdisk - - error
Comments
21 hdisk5 auto:aixdisk - - online
22
23 If you get the above type of error, fix it using:
24
25 #/etc/vx/bin/vxdisksetup -if hdisk5 format=cdsdisk
26
27 Now run:
28
29 # vxdg -g vxvmdg adddisk vxvmdg2=hdisk5
30
31 # vxdisk list
Summary
This article provided a brief overview of VxVM. You also learned about installation, configura
troubleshooting, and some command-line utilities. Though you now have a better understan
you go to the Veritas Symantec Web site for more information (see Related topics).
Contents
Introduction
 PDF of this content
Data storage
Physical disks
Related topics
Virtual objects
• Read
VxVM the IBM Redbooks:
5.0 installation
• AIX Logical
Troubleshooting Volume Manager, from A to Z Introduction and Concepts
and administration
•
Summary
AIX Logical Volume Manager, from A to Z Troubleshooting and Commands
• Refer to the
Downloadable Red Paper Quick Reference: AIX Logical Volume Manager and Veritas Volum
resources
• Download IBM product evaluation versions and get your hands on application developme
Related topics
products from DB2®, Lotus®, Rational®, Tivoli®, and WebSphere®.
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Manage Your Logical Volumes With Veritas Volume Manager (VXVM) V5 For AIX 5.3 and 6.1

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Manage your logical volumes with V

Volume Manager (VxVM) V5 for AIX

Summary conﬁgure, and troubleshoot VxVM

Veritas Volume Manager

VxVM and the operating system

VxVM is dependent upon the operating system for:

VxVM and data storage

VxVM uses two types of objects to handle storage management:

VxVM and theI/O

Figure 2. Displaying disks in a disk array

Multipathed disk arrays

VxVM 5.0 installation

Virtual objects and

Listing 1. Using vxdisk to list disk status

Troubleshooting and administration

VxVM 5.0 installation

Troubleshooting and administration

Figure 5. Three subdisks assigned to one VM Disk

Figure 6. A plex with two subdisks

VxVM and the operating system

VRTSperl PERL language Required

VRTSspt VERITAS support tools Required

Troubleshooting and administration

VRTSddlpr VERITAS Device Discovery Layer Required

VRTSob VERITAS Enterprise Administrator Required for VEA and ISP

VRTSobgui VERITAS Enterprise Administrator Required for VEA client

VRTSFman VERITAS File System manual pages Optional

VRTSFsdoc VERITAS File System online guides Optional

Install Veritas Storage Foundation

Listing 5. Verify installation

2. To install from a CD-ROM, mount a CD-ROM and begin installation as follows.

VxVM and the operating

Summary• Products available for installation.

• Options for operations you can initiate.

VxVM 5.0 installation

Enable the vxconﬁgd daemon

Execute the commands in Listing 7 to enable the vxconfigd daemon.

Listing 7. Enable the daemon

1 # vxconfigd -km disable

Listing 9. vxdg command

Display conﬁgured disks

Troubleshooting and administration

Disks go into Error state

Listing 11. Solution for disks going to error state

To see the list of hdisks with an error state:

Listing 12. Get list

1 # vxdisk -o alldgs list

Troubleshooting and administration

Listing 15. chpv

1 # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdisk37 bs=512 seek=0 count=10

VxVM 5.0 installation

Other administrative commands

VxVM and the operating system

Listing 20. vxdiskadm usage

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VxVM and the operating system

VxVM 5.0 installation

Troubleshooting and administration

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