VERITAS Volume Manager 3.1 Reference Guide for HP-UX 11i and HP-UX 11i Version 1.5 June, 2001 Manufacturing Part Number: B7961-90019 E0601 United States © Copyright 1983-2000 Hewlett-Packard Company. All rights reserved..
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Copyright 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985-93 Regents of the University of California. This software is based in part on the Fourth Berkeley Software Distribution under license from the Regents of the University of California. Copyright 2000 VERITAS Software Corporation Copyright 1988 Carnegie Mellon University Copyright 1990-1995 Cornell University Copyright 1986 Digital Equipment Corporation. Copyright 1997 Isogon Corporation Copyright 1985, 1986, 1988 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Contents 1. Volume Manager Commands Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 vxassist - creating and changing volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 How vxassist Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 vxassist Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Defaults File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . vxconfigd Usage Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vxconfigd Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vxconfigd Fatal Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vxconfigd Notice Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vxconfigd Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preface The VERITAS Volume Manager 3.1 Reference Guide provides information on how to use Volume Manager.
Audience This guide is intended for system administrators responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining systems under the control of the VERITAS Volume Manager.
Scope This guide includes reference information such as error messages and a disk array overview.
Organization This guide is organized as follows: • Chapter 1 , “Volume Manager Commands,” provides brief descriptions of commonly used Volume Manager commands. • Chapter 2 , “Error Messages,” rovides information on error messages associated with the Volume Manager configuration daemon (vxconfigd), the kernel, and other utilities. • Chapter 3 , “Disk Arrays,” describes traditional disk arrays and provides a general overview of available arrays.
Related Documents The following documents provide information related to the Volume Manager: • VERITAS Volume Manager 3.1 Administrator’s Guide • VERITAS Volume Manager 3.1 Migration Guide • VERITAS Volume Manager 3.1 Storage Administrator Administrator’s Guide • VERITAS Volume Manager 3.
Conventions We use the following typographical conventions. audit (5) An HP-UX manpage. audit is the name and 5 is the section in the HP-UX Reference. On the web and on the Instant Information CD, it may be a hot link to the manpage itself. From the HP-UX command line, you can enter “man audit” or “man 5 audit” to view the manpage. See man (1). Book Title The title of a book. On the web and on the Instant Information CD, it may be a hot link to the book itself. KeyCap The name of a keyboard key.
Volume Manager Commands 1 Volume Manager Commands Chapter 1 13
Volume Manager Commands Introduction Introduction This chapter provides brief descriptions of commonly used Volume Manager commands. For more detailed information about the commands, refer to the appropriate manual pages.
Volume Manager Commands vxassist - creating and changing volumes vxassist - creating and changing volumes You can use the vxassist command to create and change volumes. vxassist is an automated one-step interface to Volume Manager tasks. Unlike some Volume Manager commands, vxassist does not require a thorough understanding of Volume Manager concepts. vxassist can do tasks that would otherwise require the use of several other Volume Manager commands.
Volume Manager Commands vxassist - creating and changing volumes • vxassist tasks result in a set of configuration changes that either succeed or fail as a group, rather than individually. Most vxassist tasks work so that system crashes or other interruptions do not leave intermediate states to be cleaned up. If vxassist finds an error or an exceptional condition, it exits without leaving partially-changed configurations. The system is left in the same state as it was prior to the attempted vxassist task.
Volume Manager Commands vxassist - creating and changing volumes • System-wide defaults file—The system-wide defaults file contains default values that you can alter. These values are used for tunables that are not specified on the command line or in an alternate defaults file. • Alternate defaults file—A non-standard defaults file, specified with the command vxassist -d alt_defaults_file.
Volume Manager Commands vxassist - creating and changing volumes # for regular striping, by default create between 2 and 8 stripe # columns max_nstripe=8 min_nstripe=2 # for RAID-5, by default create between 3 and 8 stripe columns max_nraid5stripe=8 min_nraid5stripe=3 # create 1 log copy for both mirroring and RAID-5 volumes, by default nregionlog=1 nraid5log=1 # by default, limit mirroring log lengths to 32Kbytes max_regionloglen=32k # use 64K as the default stripe unit size for regular volumes stripe_s
Volume Manager Commands vxdctl - managing the vxconfigd Daemon vxdctl - managing the vxconfigd Daemon The volume configuration daemon (vxconfigd) is the interface between the Volume Manager commands and the kernel device drivers. The vxdctl command is the interface to vxconfigd.
Volume Manager Commands vxdg - performing disk group tasks vxdg - performing disk group tasks The vxdg command performs Volume Manager tasks on disk groups. vxdg is used for operating on disk groups. vxdg creates new disk groups, and administers existing disk groups. See the vxdg(1M) manual page for information on how to use vxdg.
Volume Manager Commands vxdisk - performing disk tasks vxdisk - performing disk tasks The vxdisk command performs Volume Manager tasks on disks under VxVM control. vxdisk defines special disk devices, initializes information stored on disks (that the Volume Manager uses to identify and manage disks), and performs additional special operations. See the vxdisk(1M) manual page for information on how to use vxdisk.
Volume Manager Commands vxdiskadd - adding disks vxdiskadd - adding disks The vxdiskadd command adds standard disks to the Volume Manager. vxdiskadd leads you through the process of initializing a new disk by displaying information and prompts.See the vxdiskadd(1M) manual page for information on how to use vxdiskadd.
Volume Manager Commands vxdiskadm - performing disk tasks vxdiskadm - performing disk tasks vxdiskadm is the Volume Manager Support Operations menu interface. This command provides a menu of disk operations. Each entry in the main menu leads you through a particular task by providing you with information and prompts. Default answers are provided for many questions so you can easily select typical answers. Refer to the vxdiskadm(1M) manual page for information on how to use vxdiskadm.
Volume Manager Commands vxedit -changing VM objects vxedit -changing VM objects The vxedit command sets and changes attributes for Volume Manager configuration records. vxedit has two functions: • vxedit can remove or rename Volume Manager objects. • vxedit allows you to modify certain records in the volume management databases. Only fields that are not volume usage-type-dependent can be modified. Volume Manager objects that are associated with other objects are not removable by vxedit.
Volume Manager Commands vxmake - creating VM objects vxmake - creating VM objects You can use the vxmake command to add a new volume, plex, or subdisk to the set of objects managed by Volume Manager. vxmake adds a new record for that object to the Volume Manager configuration database. You can create records from parameters specified on the command line or by using a description file. You can specify operands on the command line as follows: vxmake -Uusage_type vol volume_name len=length plex=plex_name,...
Volume Manager Commands vxmake - creating VM objects readpol=prefer prefname=db-02 comment=”Uses mem1 for hot spot in last 5m This description file specifies a volume with two plexes. The first plex has five subdisks on physical disks. The second plex is preferred and has one subdisk on a volatile memory disk. For detailed information about how to use vxmake, refer to the vxmake(1M) manual page.
Volume Manager Commands vxmend - correcting configuration problems vxmend - correcting configuration problems The vxmend command performs Volume Manager usage-type-specific tasks on volumes, plexes, and subdisks. These tasks fix simple problems in configuration records (such as clearing utility fields, changing volume or plex states, and offlining or onlining volumes or plexes). vxmend is used primarily to escape from a state that was accidentally reached.
Volume Manager Commands vxplex - performing plex tasks vxplex - performing plex tasks The vxplex command performs Volume Manager tasks on a plex or on volume-and-plex combinations. The first operand is a keyword that specifies the task to perform. The remaining operands specify the objects to which the task is to be applied. You can use the vxplex command to: Attach or detach a plex and a volume. A detached plex does not share in I/O activity to the volume, but remains associated with the volume.
Volume Manager Commands vxprint - printing configuration information vxprint - printing configuration information The vxprint command displays information from records in a Volume Manager configuration database. You can use this command to display partial or complete information about any or all Volume Manager objects. The format can be hierarchical to clarify relationships between Volume Manager objects. UNIX system utilities such as awk, sed, or grep can also use vxprint output.
Volume Manager Commands vxsd - performing subdisk tasks vxsd - performing subdisk tasks The vxsd command performs Volume Manager tasks on subdisks. vxsd maintains subdisk-mirror associations. You can use vxsd to: • associate or dissociate a subdisk from its associated mirror • move the contents of a subdisk to another subdisk • split one subdisk into two subdisks that occupy the same space as the original • join two contiguous subdisks into one.
Volume Manager Commands vxstat - printing volume statistics vxstat - printing volume statistics The vxstat command prints statistics about Volume Manager objects and block devices under Volume Manager control. vxstat reads the summary statistics for Volume Manager objects and formats them to the standard output. These statistics represent Volume Manager activity from the time the system initially booted or from the last time statistics were cleared.
Volume Manager Commands vxtrace - tracing volume tasks vxtrace - tracing volume tasks The vxtrace command prints kernel I/O error or I/O error trace event records on the standard output or writes them to a file in binary format. Binary trace records written to a file can also be read back and formatted by vxtrace. If no operands are given, then either all error trace data or all I/O trace data on all virtual disk devices are reported.
Volume Manager Commands vxunrelocate - moving relocated subdisks vxunrelocate - moving relocated subdisks The vxunrelocate command moves subdisks that have been relocated by the hot-relocation feature back to their original disks. This allows you to restore the system back to the configuration that existed before the disk failure. See the unrelocate(1M) manual page for information on how to use vxunrelocate.
Volume Manager Commands vxvol - performing volume tasks vxvol - performing volume tasks The vxvol command performs Volume Manager tasks on volumes. You can use vxvol to: • initialize a volume • start a volume • stop a volume • establish the read policy for a volume Starting a volume changes its kernel state from DISABLED or DETACHED to ENABLED. Stopping a volume changes its state from ENABLED or DETACHED to DISABLED (however, it is seldom useful to stop a volume).
Error Messages 2 Error Messages Chapter 2 35
Error Messages Introduction Introduction This chapter provides information on error messages associated with the Volume Manager configuration daemon (vxconfigd), the kernel, and other utilities. It covers most informational, failure, and error messages displayed (on the console) by vxconfigd and the kernel driver. These include some errors that are infrequently encountered and difficult to troubleshoot. NOTE Some error messages described here may not apply to your system.
Error Messages Logging Error Messages Logging Error Messages The Volume Manager provides the option of logging console output to a file. This logging is useful in that any messages output just before a system crash will be available in the log file (presuming that the crash does not result in file system corruption). vxconfigd controls whether such logging is turned on or off. If enabled, the default log file is /var/vxvm/vxconfigd.log.
Error Messages Logging Error Messages console messages # to turn on debugging console output, uncomment the following line. # The debug level can be set higher for more output. The highest # debug level is 9. #debug=1 # enable debugging console output Uncomment the line(s) corresponding to the feature(s) that you want enabled at startup. For example, to set up vxconfigd to automatically use file logging, uncomment the opts=”$opts -x log” string.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages The Volume Manager is fault-tolerant and resolves most problems without system administrator intervention. If the Volume Manager configuration daemon (vxconfigd) recognizes what actions are necessary, it will queue up the transactions that are required.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Usage: vxconfigd - short Usage: vxconfigd [-dkf] [-r reset] [-m mode] [-x level] For detailed help use: vxconfigd help • Description This is the standard vxconfigd usage error message. Appearance of this message implies that some option was supplied incorrectly. • Action If you need help in using vxconfigd, try using the command vxconfigd help. For more detailed information, see the vxconfigd(1M) manual page.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages • Action Use a shorter prefix. vxconfigd Error Messages The following are general error messages associated with vxconfigd. signal_name [core dumped] vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: signal_name [ - core dumped ] • Description The vxconfigd daemon encountered an unexpected signal while starting up. The specific signal is indicated by signal_name. If the signal caused the vxconfigd process to dump core, then that will be indicated.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages A volume that vxconfigd should start immediately upon booting the system (i.e., the volume for the /usr file system) has a RAID-5 layout. The /usr file system should never be defined on a RAID-5 volume. • Action It is likely that the only recovery for this is to boot the Volume Manager from a network-mounted root file system (or from a CD-ROM), and reconfigure the /usr file system to be defined on a regular non-RAID-5 volume.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages • Action Contact Customer Support for more information. Cannot get private storage from kernel vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Cannot get private storage from kernel: reason • Description This is an internal Volume Manager error. This error should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages The -k (kill existing vxconfigd process) option was specified, but a running configuration daemon process could not be killed. A configuration daemon process, for purposes of this discussion, is any process that opens the /dev/vx/config device (only one process can open that device at a time). If there is a configuration daemon process already running, then the -k option causes a SIGKILL signal to be send to that process.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Cannot open /etc/vfstab vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Cannot open /etc/vfstab: reason • Description vxconfigd could not open the /etc/vfstab file, for the reason given. The /etc/vfstab file is used to determine which volume (if any) to use for the /usr file system. If the /etc/vfstab file cannot be opened, vxconfigd prints the above error message and exits. • Action This error implies that your root file system is currently unusable.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages VxVM tracing device open. Also, if any volumes are mounted as file systems, unmount those file systems. An error reason other than “A virtual disk device is open” should not normally occur unless there is a bug in the operating system or in the Volume Manager.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages It is possible that this error results from a drive that failed to spin up. If so, rebooting may fix the problem. If that does not fix the problem, then the only recourse is to restore the root or /usr file system or to reinstall the system. Restoring the root or /usr file system requires that you have a valid backup.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages A vxconfigd daemon was started after the stopping of an earlier vxconfigd with a non-matching version number. This can happen, for example, if you upgrade from an earlier release of Volume Manager to VxVM 3.0 and run vxconfigd without a reboot. • Action To fix, reboot the system.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages • Description On system startup, vxconfigd failed to import the disk group associated with the named disk. A message related to the specific failure is given in reason. Additional error messages may be displayed that give more information on the specific error. In particular, this is often followed by: vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Disk group group: Errors in some configuration copies: Disk device, copy number: Block bno: error ...
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages information on how to proceed. If those errors do not make it clear how to proceed, contact Customer Support. Disk group, Disk: Group name collides with record in rootdg vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Disk group group, Disk device: Group name collides with record in rootdg • Description The name of a disk group that is being imported conflicts with the name of a record in the rootdg disk group.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages with group with duplicate name (more recently modified disk groups have precedence over older disk groups). • A disk group is deported from one host using the -h option to cause the disk group to be auto-imported on reboot from another host. If the second host was already auto-importing a disk group with the same name, then reboot of that host will yield this error.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages This will recreate the temporary database files for all imported disk groups. The vxvol, vxplex, and vxsd commands make use of these tempdb files to communicate locking information. If the file is cleared, then locking information can be lost. Without this locking information, two utilities can end up making incompatible changes to the configuration of a volume.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages • Description During a failed disk group import, some of the configuration copies in the named disk group were found to have format or other types of errors which make those copies unusable. This message lists all configuration copies that have uncorrected errors, including any appropriate logical block number. If no other reasons are displayed, then this may be the cause of the disk group import failure.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Disk group group: Disabled by errors • Action If the underlying error resulted from a transient failure, such as a disk cabling error, then you may be able to repair the situation by rebooting. Otherwise, the disk group may have to be recreated and restored from a backup.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Memory allocation failure vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Memory allocation failure • Description This implies that there is insufficient memory to start up the Volume Manager and to get the volumes for the root and /usr file systems running. • Action This error should not normally occur, unless your system has very small amounts of memory.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages device type=device_type info=devinfo ... Disks in alternate version of rootdg: device type=device_type info=devinfo ... • Description This message can appear when vxconfigd is not running in autoconfigure mode (see the vxconfigd(1M) manual page) and when, after several retries, it can not resolve the set of disks belonging to the root disk group.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages restore the root file system from backup. Contact your system vendor or consult your system documentation. Read of directory failed vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Read of directory directory failed: reason • Description There was a failure in reading the /dev/vx/dsk or /dev/vx/rdsk directory (or a subdirectory of either of those directories). The only likely cause of this error is an I/O failure on the root file system.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Either the root or the /usr file system volume could not be started, rendering the system unusable. The error that resulted in this condition should appear prior to this error message. • Action Look up other error messages appearing on the console and take the actions suggested in the descriptions of those messages.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages In case 2, either boot with all drives in the offending version of rootdg turned off, or import and rename [see vxdg(1M)] the offending rootdg disk group from another host. In the case of turning off drives, run the following command after booting: vxdg flush rootdg This will update time stamps on the imported version of rootdg, which should make the correct version appear to be the more recently accessed.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages • Action Contact Customer Support for more information. Unexpected values stored in the kernel vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Unexpected values stored in the kernel • Description This is an internal Volume Manager error. This error should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages is not in the rootdg disk group. This should happen only as a result of direct manipulation by the administrator. • The system somehow has a duplicate rootdg disk group, one of which contains the /usr file system volume and one of which does not (or uses a different volume name), and vxconfigd somehow chose the wrong rootdg.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages open. Other less likely reasons are “No such file or directory” or “No such device or address.” For either of these two reasons, the two likely causes are: • The Volume Manager package installation did not complete correctly. • The device node was removed by the administrator or by an errant shell script. • Action For the reason “Device is already open,” if you really want to run vxconfigd, then stop or kill the old one.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: Disk group group: Errors in some configuration copies: Disk device, copy number: Block bno: error ... Reasons for failure vary considerably. Other error messages may be displayed that further indicate the underlying problem. If the Errors in some configuration copies error occurs, then that may indicate the problem.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages • Description This is an internal Volume Manager error. This error should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information. Group: Cannot update kernel vxvm:vxconfigd: FATAL ERROR: Group group: Cannot update kernel • Description This is an internal Volume Manager error. This error should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: FATAL ERROR: Memory allocation failure during startup • Description This implies that there is insufficient memory to start up the Volume Manager and to get the volumes for the root and /usr file systems running. • Action This error should not normally occur, unless your system has very small amounts of memory.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: NOTICE: Detached disk disk • Description The named disk appears to have become unusable and was detached from its disk group. Additional messages may appear to indicate other records detached as a result of the disk detach. • Action If hot-relocation is enabled, the Volume Manager objects affected by the disk failure may be taken care of automatically.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Detached subdisk in volume vxvm:vxconfigd: NOTICE: Detached subdisk subdisk in volume volume • Description The specified subdisk was disabled as a result of a disk failure, or as a result of the administrator removing a disk with vxdg -k rmdisk. A failing disk is indicated by a Detached disk disk message. • Action If hot-relocation is enabled, the Volume Manager objects affected by the disk failure may be taken care of automatically.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages cannot be repaired automatically. This can also result from transient errors, such as cabling problems or power problems. Check for a cabling problem. Volume entering degraded mode vxvm:vxconfigd: NOTICE: Volume volume entering degraded mode • Description The detach of a subdisk in the named RAID-5 volume has caused that volume to enter “degraded” mode. While in degraded mode, performance of the RAID-5 volume will be substantially reduced.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Cannot change disk group record in kernel: reason • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem. This warning should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages If the /usr file system is not mounted, you need to determine how to get it mounted. If the rm utility is missing or is not in the /usr/bin directory, you should restore it from somewhere. Cannot fork to remove directory vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Cannot fork to remove directory directory: reason • Description The given directory could not be removed because vxconfigd could not fork in order to run the rm utility. This is not a serious error.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages such file or directory,” which indicates that the directory containing the log file does not exist. • Action Create any needed directories, or use a different log file path name. Detaching plex from volume vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Detaching plex plex from volume volume • Description The given plex is being detached from the given volume as part of starting the volume.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Disk disk in group group locked by host hostid Disk skipped • Description The given disk is listed as locked by the host with the listed Volume Manager hostid (usually the same as the system hostname). This message can usually be ignored. • Action There is no action to take. If you want to use the disk on this system, then use vxdiskadd to add the disk for use by the local system.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages If hot-relocation is enabled, the Volume Manager objects affected by the disk failure may be taken care of automatically. Mail will be sent to root indicating what actions were taken by the Volume Manager and what further actions the administrator should take. Disk in kernel is not a recognized type vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Disk disk in kernel is not a recognized type • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages As a result of failures, the named disk group has become disabled. Earlier error messages should indicate the cause of this. This warning message indicates that disks in that disk group were not updated with a new Volume Manager host ID. This warning message should result only from a vxdctl hostid operation. • Action Typically, unless a disk group was disabled due to transient errors, there is no way to repair a disabled disk group.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Disk group group: Errors in some configuration copies: Disk disk, copy number: [Block number]: reason ... • Description During a disk group import, some of the configuration copies in the named disk group were found to have format or other types of errors which make those copies unusable. This message lists all configuration copies that have uncorrected errors, including any appropriate logical block number.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Contact Customer Support for more information. Failed to update voldinfo area in kernel vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Failed to update voldinfo area in kernel: reason • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem. This warning should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: Group group: Duplicate virtual device number(s): Volume volume remapped from major,minor to major,minor ... • Description The configuration of the named disk group includes conflicting device numbers. A disk group configuration lists the recommended device number to use for each volume in the disk group.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages client not recognized by VXVM library vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: client number not recognized by VXVM library • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem. This warning should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information. client not recognized vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: client number not recognized • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem.
Error Messages Volume Manager Configuration Daemon Error Messages Contact Customer Support for more information. response to client failed vxvm:vxconfigd: WARNING: response to client number failed: reason • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem. This warning should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager. • Action Contact Customer Support for more information.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages DMP Error Messages Path Failure detected by vxdmp driver vxvm:vxdmp:NOTICE: Path failure on / • Description Appears when a path under the control of the DMP driver fails. The device number of the failed path is part of the message. • Action None. Load of sd driver failed vxvm:vxdmp:NOTICE: Could not load sd driver • Description Appears when a path under the control of the DMP driver fails. The device number of the failed path is part of the message.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages • Action None. Load of ssd driver failed vxvm:vxdmp:NOTICE: Could not load ssd driver • Description Appears when a path under the control of the DMP driver fails. The device number of the failed path is part of the message. • Action None. Install of ssd driver failed vxvm:vxdmp:NOTICE: Could not install ssd driver • Description During initialization, the vxdmp driver tries to load the ssd driver. If the attempt fails, this message appears. • Action None.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages There is only one remaining active path to the root disk. This cannot be disabled. The user is trying to disable a controller accessible through this path. • Action Do not try to disable this controller. This is not allowed. Disabled path belonging to dmpnode vxvm:vxdmp:NOTICE: disabled path path device number belonging to dmpnode dmpnode device number • Description The path with the device number indicated by the message, has been marked disabled in the DMP database.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages • Description The dmpnode with the device number indicated in the message, has been marked disabled in the DMP database. It will no longer be accessible to further IOs. It happens when all paths controlled by a DMP node are in the disabled state, and therefore inaccessible. • Action Check hardware or enable the appropriate controllers in order to get at least one path under this dmpnode in the enabled state. This will enable the dmpnode specified.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages array disk array serial number • Description All paths that go through the specified controller connected to the specified disk array, have been put into enabled state. This happens when the user chooses to enable a particular controller. • Action None.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages • Action Check hardware and see if this controller is present and I/Os can be done through it Attempt to enable a controller that is not available vxvm:vxdmpadm:ERROR: Attempt to enable a controller that is not available • Description This message is returned by the vxdmpadm utility when an attempt to enable a controller that is not working or physically present is made. To enable a controller, it should be visible to the OS and I/Os should be possible through it.
Error Messages DMP Error Messages • Description Disabling this controller could lead to some devices being inaccessible. • Action To disable the only path connected to a disk, use the -f option.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages Cluster Error Messages This section presents error messages that may occur with the Volume Manager in a cluster environment. Each message is accompanied by an explanation and a suggested user action. NOTE Some of these messages may appear on the console; others are returned by vxclust. Attempt to start the restore daemon that is already running vxvm:vxdmpadm: ERROR:The VxVM restore daemon is already running.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages • Description A slave node cannot find a shared disk. This is accompanied by the syslog message: vxvm:vxconfigd cannot find disk disk • Action Make sure that the same set of shared disks is online on both nodes. Examine the disks on both the master and the slave with the command vxdisk list and make sure that the same set of disks with the shared flag is visible on both nodes. If not, check connections to the disks.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages If the system does not appear to be degraded, stop and restart vxconfigd and try again. Vol recovery in progress • Description A node that crashed attempted to rejoin the cluster before its DRL map was merged into the recovery map. • Action Retry the join again later (when the merge operation has completed). Cannot assign minor # • Description The slave attempted to join, but an existing volume on the slave has the same minor number as a shared volume on the master.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages An attempt was made to import or deport a shared disk group during a cluster reconfiguration. • Action Retry later. Join not allowed now • Description A slave attempted to join the cluster when the master was not ready. The slave will retry automatically. If the retry succeeds, the following message should appear: vxclust: slave join complete • Action No action is necessary if the join eventually completes. Otherwise, investigate the cluster monitor on the master.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages WARNING: vxvm:vxio: Plex plex detached from volume volume NOTICE: vol_kmsg_send_wait_callback: got error 22 NOTICE: commit: NOTE: Reason found for abort: code=6 • Description These messages may appear during a plex detach operation on a slave. • Action These messages provide information and require no user action.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages • Action Restart the vxconfigd daemon. vxconfigd not ready node #: vxconfigd is not communicating properly • Description The vxconfigd daemon is not responding properly. • Action Stop and restart the vxconfigd daemon. vxiod count must be above # to join cluster ERROR: vxiod count must be above 5 to join cluster • Description The number of Volume Manager kernel daemons (vxiod) is less than the minimum number needed to join the cluster.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages Reboot the host machine if the cluster must be started under a different cluster manager. Clustering license restricts operation • Description An operation requiring a full clustering license was attempted, and such a license is not available. • Action If the error occurs when a disk group is being activated, dissociate all but one plex from mirrored volumes before activating the disk group.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages Version out of range for at least one node • Description One or more nodes in the cluster do not support the protocol version that would result from a protocol upgrade. • Action Make sure that the latest version of VxVM is installed on all nodes in the cluster. Upgrade operation failed: Version out of range for at least one node • Description Before trying to upgrade a cluster by running vxdctl upgrade, all the nodes should be able to support the new protocol version.
Error Messages Cluster Error Messages Make sure that the joining node has a VxVM release installed that supports the current protocol version of the cluster. ERROR: upgrade operation failed: Already at highest version • Description The message conveys that the upgrade operation has failed because the cluster is already running at the highest protocol version that the master supports. • Action No further action is necessary as the master is already running at the highest protocol version it can support.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages Kernel Error Messages The following sections cover the kernel level error messages. Kernel Notice Messages The following are notice messages associated with the kernel. Can’t open disk in group vxvm:vxio:NOTICE: Can’t open disk disk in group disk_group. If it is removable media (like a floppy), it may not be mounted or ready. Otherwise, there may be problems with the drive.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages vxvm:vxio:NOTICE: read error on object subdisk of mirror plex in volume volume (start offset, length length) corrected. • Description A read error occurred, which caused a read of an alternate mirror and a writeback to the failing region. This writeback was successful and the data was corrected on disk. • Action No action is required. The problem was corrected automatically.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages • Action No action is necessary; the system will continue. Failed to log the detach of the DRL volume vxvm:vxio:WARNING: Failed to log the detach of the DRL volume volume • Description An attempt to write a kernel log entry indicating the loss of a DRL volume failed. The attempted write to the log failed either because the kernel log is full or because of a write error to the drive. The volume will become detached.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages the system is restarted. To recover the DRL capability, a new DRL log should be added to the volume using the vxassist addlog command. Read error on mirror of volume vxvm:vxio:WARNING: read error on mirror plex of volume volume offset offset length length • Description An error was detected while reading a mirror. This error may lead to further action shown by later error messages.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages If this error occurs often but never leads to a plex detach, there may be a marginal region on the disk at the position shown. It may eventually be necessary to remove data from this disk (see the vxevac(1M) manual page) and then to reformat the drive. Object detached from volume vxvm:vxio:WARNING: object plex detached from volume volume • Description An uncorrectable error was detected by the mirroring code and a mirror copy was detached.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages • Action It is unlikely that this condition could ever occur. The only corrective action for the detached volume is to reboot the system. Kernel log update failed vxvm:vxio:WARNING: Kernel log update failed: volume detached • Description A plex detach failed because the kernel log could not be flushed to disk. As a result, the mirrored volume will become detached. This could be caused by all the disks containing a kernel log going bad.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages Check the console for other error messages indicating the cause of the failure. If the disk has failed, then it should be replaced as soon as possible. RAID-5 volume entering degraded mode operation vxvm:vxio:WARNING: RAID-5 raidvol entering degraded mode operation • Description This message occurs when an uncorrectable error has forced the detach of a subdisk. At this point, not all data disks exist to provide the data upon request.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages • Description These two messages will appear together when a RAID-5 log has failed and has been detached. • Action To restore RAID-5 logging to the RAID-5 volume, simply create a new log region and attach it to the volume. Stranded ilock on object vxvm:vxio:WARNING: check_ilocks: stranded ilock on object_name start offset len length • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem. This warning should not occur unless there is a bug in the Volume Manager.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages not occur. If the operation is necessary, start the Volume Manager and re-attempt the operation. Uncorrectable read error vxvm:vxio:WARNING: object_type object_name block offset: Uncorrectable read error • Description A read or write operation from the specified object failed. An error will be returned to the application. • Action This error represents lost data. The data may need to be restored and failed media may need to be repaired.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages • Description The Volume Manager requires the ability to access the PROMs for your SPARC hardware. If the PROMs are not a recent OpenBoot PROM type, then root volumes will not be usable. • Action If you have set up a root volume, then undo the configuration (by running vxunroot or removing the rootdev line from /etc/system) as soon as possible and contact your hardware vendor for an upgrade to your PROM level.
Error Messages Kernel Error Messages • Action Check for obvious problems with the disk (such as a disconnected cable). If hot-relocation is enabled and the disk is failing, the subdisk failure may be taken care of automatically. Kernel Panic Messages The following are panic messages associated with the kernel. Object association depth overflow vxvm:vxio:PANIC: Object association depth overflow • Description This is an internal Volume Manager problem.
Disk Arrays 3 Disk Arrays Chapter 3 107
Disk Arrays Introduction Introduction This chapter describes traditional disk arrays and provides a general overview of available arrays.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview Disk Array Overview This section provides an overview of traditional disk arrays. Performing I/O to disks is a slow process because disks are physical devices that require time to move the heads to the correct position on the disk before reading or writing. If all of the read or write operations are done to individual disks, one at a time, the read-write time can become unmanageable. Performing these operations on multiple disks can help to reduce this problem.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview Figure 3-1 Standard Disk Array Operating System Array Virtual Disk(s) Member Disks Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID) A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is a disk array set up so that part of the combined storage capacity is used for storing duplicate information about the data stored in the array. The duplicate information allows you to regenerate the data in case of a disk failure. Several levels of RAID exist.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview Volume Manager’s implementations of RAID is described in the Introduction to” Volume Manager” chapter of the VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide. RAID-0 Although it does not provide redundancy, striping is often referred to as a form of RAID, known as RAID-0. The Volume Manager’s implementation of striping is described in the “Introduction to Volume Manager” chapter of the VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview Figure 3-2 RAID-3 Disk Array Operating System Virtual Disk(s) Controller Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Parity Disk Data Disks The user data is striped across the data disks. Each stripe on the parity disk contains the result of an exclusive OR (XOR) procedure done on the data in the data disks.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview Figure 3-3, “Data Writes to RAID-3,” shows a data write to a RAID-3 array. Figure 3-3 Data Writes to RAID-3 Application Data Data for Disk 1 Data for Disk 2 Data for Disk 3 Data for Disk 4 Parity XOR Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Parity Disk Data Disks The parity disk model uses less disk space than mirroring, which uses equal amounts of storage capacity for the original data and the copy.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview An array attempts to provide the highest rate of data transfer by spreading the I/O load as evenly as possible across all the disks in the array. In RAID-3, the I/O load is spread across the data disks, as shown in Figure 3-3, “Data Writes to RAID-3,”, and each write is executed on all the disks in the array. The data in the data disk is XORed and the parity is written to the parity disk.
Disk Arrays Disk Array Overview Figure 3-4 Parity Locations in a RAID-5 Model D D P D D P D D P D D P D = Data Stripe Unit P = Parity Stripe Unit RAID-5 and how it is implemented by the Volume Manager is described in the “Introduction to Volume Manager” chapter of the VERITAS Volume Manager Administrator’s Guide.
Disk Arrays Multipathed Disk Arrays Multipathed Disk Arrays Some disk arrays provide multiple ports to access their disk devices. These ports, coupled with the HBA (Host Bus Adaptor) controller and any array-local data bus and I/O processor, make up multiple hardware paths to access the disk devices. Such disk arrays are called multipathed disk arrays.
Disk Arrays Multipathed Disk Arrays Active/Active Type Disk Arrays This type of disk array allows access to the disk devices simultaneously (at any time) through all the paths that are available, without significant performance degradation. Thus, all the paths are active all the time, except for failed paths.
Disk Arrays Multipathed Disk Arrays 118 Chapter 3
Index vxvol, 34 D daemons configuration, 19, 39 defaults file vxassist, 17 description file, 25 disk arrays, 109 DMP configuration, 19 M mirroring, 111 P plexes attach, 28 detach, 28 R RAID, 110 RAID-0, 111 RAID-1, 111 RAID-2, 111 RAID-3, 111 RAID-4, 113 RAID-5, 114 S spindles, synchronized, 113 striping, 111 U utility descriptions vxassist, 15 vxdctl, 19 vxedit, 24 vxmake, 25 vxmend, 27 vxplex, 28 vxprint, 29 vxsd, 30 vxstat, 31 V volumes kernel state, 34 operations, 32 vxassist, 15, 16 defaults, 16 des
