Installation Manual

HP StorageWorks File System Extender Software installation guide for Linux 27
4 Preparing file systems for FSE
In order to optimize the FSE implementation and increase its reliability, it may be necessary to re-organize
the file systems on the host that will be dedicated to the FSE server as well as on the FSE client. When using
disk media, you need to prepare file systems to hold disk media files.
Preparing file systems
The following sections describe the steps you need to perform on the operating systems to manually define
the necessary Logical Volume Manager (LVM) volumes, create file systems on top of them, and mount the
file systems created for FSE databases and system files.
Preparing Logical Volume Manager (LVM) volumes
Most of the file systems that are used by the FSE implementation, HSM file systems and file systems for FSE
databases and system files, should be located on Logical Volume Manager (LVM) volumes. This is required
by the FSE backup and restore functionality, in order to enable file system snapshot creation. For details on
which file systems must be located on the LVM volumes, see chapter ”Introduction and preparation basics”,
section ”Organizing the file system layout” on page 13.
For detailed instructions on LVM usage, see LVM manuals, LVM man pages, and web site
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/LVM-HOWTO
.
CAUTION: Use the LVM command set with caution, as certain commands can destroy existing file
systems!
Preparation overview
You need to perform the following steps to prepare LVM volumes:
1. Get a list of disks and disk partitions that exist on the system.
2. Define and initialize LVM physical volumes. LVM commands for managing LVM physical volumes begin
with letters pv (physical volume) and are located in the directory /sbin.
3. Once physical volumes are configured, you have to create and initialize the LVM logical volume
groups; these use the space on physical volumes. Commands for managing LVM logical volume groups
begin with letters vg (volume group) and are located in the directory /sbin.
4. Create and initialize LVM logical volumes for the file systems you are going to use inside the FSE
implementation. Commands for managing LVM logical volumes begin with letters lv (logical volume)
and are located in the directory /sbin.
For detailed instructions on LVM use, see the LVM man pages and the web site
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/LVM-HOWTO/
.
Step 1: Get a list of available disks and disk partitions
Before you define and initialize physical LVM volumes, you need to know the existing disk and disk
partition configuration.
Invoke the following command to get a list of disks and disk partitions that exist on the system:
Step 2: Define and initialize LVM physical volumes
LVM physical volumes can be either whole disks or disk partitions. HP recommends to use disk partitions
and not whole disks as they can be mistakenly considered as free disks.
CAUTION: Any data on these disks or partitions will be lost as you initialize an LVM volume. Make sure
you specify the correct device or partition.
# fdisk -l