Tips on Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM)

Important Notes for Installing VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM)

* Check what VERITAS packages are currently running:
# pkginfo | grep –i VRTS

* Make sure the boot disk has at least two free partitions with 2048 contiguous sectors (512 bytes) aviable.
# prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0

* Make sure to save the boot disk information by using the “prtvtoc” command.
# prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0 > /etc/my_boot_disk_information

* Make sure to have a backup copy of the /etc/system and /etc/vfstab files.
* Add packages to your system.
# cd 2location_of_your_packages
# pkgadd –d . VRTSvxvm VRTSvmman VRTSvmdoc

* Add the license key by using vxlicinst.
# vxlicinst

* Then run the Volume Manager Installation program.
# vxinstall

* Check the .profile file to ensure the following paths:
# PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/vxvm/bin:/opt/VRTSobgui/bin:/usr/sbin:/opt/VRTSob/bin
# MANPATH=$MANPATH:/opt/VRTS/man
# export PATH MANPATH

The VERITAS Enterprise Administrator (VEA) provides a Java-based graphical user interface for managing Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM).

Important Notes for how to set up VEA:

* Install the VEA software.
# cd 2location_of_your_packages
# pkgadd –a ../scripts/VRTSobadmin –d . VRTSob VRTSobgui VRTSvmpro VRTSfspro

* Start the VEA server if not, running.
# vxsvc –m (Check or monitor the VEA server is running)
# vxsvc (Start the VEA server)

* Start the Volume Manager User interface.
# vea &

The Most handy Volume Manager commands:

* # vxdiskadm
* # vxdctl enable (Force the VxVM configuration to rescan for the disks. See devfsadm)
* # vxassist (Assist to create a VxVM volume.)
* # vxdisk list rootdisk (Displays information about the header contents of the root disk.)
* # vxdg list rootdg (Displays information about the content of the rootdg disk group.)
* # vxprint –g rootdg –thf | more (Displays information about volumes in rootdg.)

In order to create VERITAS Volume Manager, you may use the following three methods:

(This article emphases on the CLI method.)

* VEA
* Command Line Interface (CLI)
* vxdiskadm

Steps to create a disk group:
* # vxdg init accountingdg disk01=c1t12d0

Steps to add a disk to a disk group:

* View the status of the disk.
# vxdisk list --or-- # vxdisk –s list

* Add one un-initialized disk to the free disk pool.
# vxdisksetup –i c1t8d0

* Add the disk to a disk group called accoutingdg.
# vxdg init accountingdg disk01=c1t8d0
# vxdg –g accountingdg adddisk disk02=c2t8d0

Steps to split objects between disk groups:
* # vxdg split sourcedg targetdg object …

Steps to join disk groups:

* # vxdg join sourcedg targetdg

Steps to remove a disk from a disk group:

* Remove the “disk01” disk from the “accountingdg” diskgroup.
# vxdg –g accountingdg rmdisk=disk01

Steps to remove a device from the free disk pool:

* Remove the c1t8d0 device from the free disk pool.
# vxdiskunsetup c2t8d0

Steps to manage disk group:

* To deport and import the “accountingdg” disk group.
# vxdg deport accountingdg
# vxdg –C import accountingdg
# vxdg –h other_hostname deport accountingdg

* To destroy the “accountingdg” disk group.
# vxdg destroy accountingdg

Steps to create a VOLUME:

* # vxassist –g accountingdg make payroll_vol 500m
* # vxassist –g accountingdg make gl_vol 1500m

Steps to mount a VOLUME:

If using ufs:

* # newfs /dev/vx/rdsk/accountingdg/payroll_vol
* # mkdir /payroll
* # mount –F ufs /dev/vx/dsk/accountingdg/payroll_vol /payroll

If using VxFS:

* # mkfs –f vxfs /dev/vx/rdsk/accountingdg/payroll_vol
* # mkdir /payroll
* # mount –F vxfs /dev/vx/dsk/accountingdg/payroll_vol /payroll

Steps to resize a VOLUME:

* # vxresize –g accountingdg payroll_vol 700m

Steps to remove a VOLUME:
* # vxedit –g accountingdg –rf rm payroll_vol

Steps to create a two striped and a mirror VOLUME:
* # vxassist –g accounting make ac_vol 500m layout=stripe,mirror

Steps to create a raid5 VOLUME:
* # vxassist –g accounting make ac_vol 500m layout=raid5 ncol=5 disk01 …

Display the VOLUME layout:
* # vxprint –rth

Add or remove a mirror to an existing VOLUME:
* # vxassist –g accountingdg mirror payroll_vol
* # vxplex –g accounitngdg –o rm dis payroll_plex01

Add a dirty region log to an existing VOLUME and specify the disk to use for the drl:
* # vxassist –g accountingdg addlog payroll_vol logtype=drl disk04

Move an existing VOLUME from its disk group to another disk group:
* # vxdg move accountingdg new_accountingdg payroll_vol

To start a VOLUME:
* #vxvol start

Steps to encapsulate and Root Disk Mirroring
* Use “vxdiskadm” to place another disk in rootdg with the same size or greater.
* Set the eeprom variable to enable VxVM to create a device alias in the openboot program.

# eeprom use-nvramrc?=true

* Use “vxdiskadm” to mirror the root volumes. (Option 6)
* Test you can reboot from mirror disk.

# vxmend off rootvol-01 (disable the boot disk)
# init 6
OK> devalias (check available boot disk aliases)
OK> boot vx-disk01

Write a script to use the “for” statement to do some work.

# for i in 0 1 2 3 4
>do
>cp –r /usr/sbin /mydir${i}
>mkfile 5m /mydir${i}
>dd if=/mydir/my_input_file of=/myother_dir/my_output_file &
>done