Solaris Volume Manager

Solaris Volume Manager
Administration Guide
Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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Santa Clara, CA 95054
U.S.A.
Part No: 806–6111–10

May 2002
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Contents
Preface 17
1 Getting Started with Solaris Volume Manager 21

Getting Started With Solaris Volume Manager 22
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Storage Capacity 22
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Availability 23
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—I/O Performance 24
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Administration 24
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Troubleshooting 25
2 Storage Management Concepts 27

Introduction to Storage Management 27
Storage Hardware 27
RAID Levels 28
Configuration Planning Guidelines 29
Choosing Storage Mechanisms 29
Performance Issues 30
General Performance Guidelines 30
Optimizing for Random I/O and Sequential I/O 31
Random I/O 32
Sequential Access I/O 32
3 Solaris Volume Manager Overview 35

What Does Solaris Volume Manager Do? 35
How Does Solaris Volume Manager Manage Storage? 35
3
How to Interact With Solaris Volume Manager 36
▼ How to Access the Solaris Volume Manager Graphical User Interface 37
Solaris Volume Manager Requirements 38
Overview of Solaris Volume Manager Components 38
Volumes 39
State Database and State Database Replicas 43
Hot Spare Pools 44
Disk Sets 44
Solaris Volume Manager Configuration Guidelines 45
General Guidelines 45
File System Guidelines 45
Overview of Creating Solaris Volume Manager Elements 46
Prerequisites for Creating Solaris Volume Manager Elements 46
4 Configuring and Using Solaris Volume Manager (Scenario) 47

Background 47
Hardware Configuration 47
Storage Configuration 48
Complete Solaris Volume Manager Configuration 49
5 State Database (Overview) 51

About the Solaris Volume Manager State Database and Replicas 51
Understanding the Majority Consensus Algorithm 52
Background Information for Defining State Database Replicas 53
Recommendations for State Database Replicas 54
Guidelines for State Database Replicas 54
Handling State Database Replica Errors 55
Scenario—State Database Replicas 56
6 State Database (Tasks) 57

State Database Replicas (Task Map) 57
Creating State Database Replicas 58
▼ How to Create State Database Replicas 58
Maintaining State Database Replicas 60
▼ How to Check the Status of State Database Replicas 60
How to Delete State Database Replicas 61
4 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

7 RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation) Volumes (Overview) 63
Overview of RAID 0 Volumes 63
RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume 64
RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volume 66
RAID 0 (Concatenated Stripe) Volume 67
Background Information for Creating RAID 0 Volumes 70
Requirements for Stripes and Concatenations 70
Guidelines for Stripes and Concatenations 70
Scenario—RAID 0 Volumes 71
8 RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation) Volumes (Tasks) 73

RAID 0 Volumes (Task Map) 73
Creating RAID 0 (Stripe) Volumes 74
▼ How to Create a RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume 74
Creating RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volumes 75
▼ How to Create a RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volume 75
Expanding Storage Space 76
▼ How to Expand Space for Existing Data 76
▼ How to Expand an Existing RAID 0 Volume 78
Removing a Volume 79
▼ How to Remove a Volume 79
9 RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Overview) 81

Overview of RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes 81
Overview of Submirrors 82
Scenario—RAID 1 (Mirror) Volume 82
Providing RAID 1+0 and RAID 0+1 83
Frequently Asked Questions About RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes 84
RAID 1 Volume Configuration Guidelines 85
RAID 1 Volume Options 86
RAID 1 Volume (Mirror) Resynchronization 87
Full Resynchronization 87
Optimized Resynchronization 88
Partial Resynchronization 88
Pass Number 88
Background Information for RAID 1 Volumes 88
Contents 5
Background Information for Changing RAID 1 Volume Options 90
How Booting Into Single-User Mode Affects RAID 1 Volumes 90
Scenario—RAID 1 Volumes (Mirrors) 90
10 RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Tasks) 93

Creating a RAID 1 Volume 95
▼ How to Create a RAID 1 Volume From Unused Slices 95
▼ How to Create a RAID 1 Volume From a File System 97
Mirroring root (/) Special Considerations 102
How to Record the Path to the Alternate Boot Device 102
Booting From Alternate Boot Devices 103
Working with Submirrors 103
▼ How to Attach a Submirror 103
▼ How to Detach a Submirror 104
▼ How to Place a Submirror Offline and Online 105
▼ How to Enable a Slice in a Submirror 106
Maintaining RAID 1 Volumes 107
▼ How to Check the Status of Mirrors and Submirrors 108
▼ How to Change RAID 1 Volume Options 110
▼ How to Expand a RAID 1 Volume 111
Responding to RAID 1 Volume Component Failures 112
▼ How to Replace a Slice in a Submirror 112
▼ How to Replace a Submirror 113
Removing RAID 1 Volumes (Unmirroring) 115
▼ How to Unmirror a File System 115
▼ How to Unmirror a File System That Cannot Be Unmounted 116
Using a Mirror to Back Up Data 118
▼ How to Use a RAID 1 Volume to Make an Online Backup 118
11 Soft Partitions (Overview) 121

Overview of Soft Partitions 121
Background Information About Soft Partitions 122
Requirements for Soft Partitions 122
Guidelines for Soft Partitions 122
Scenario—Soft Partitions 123

12 Soft Partitions (Tasks) 125
Soft Partitions (Task Map) 125
Creating Soft Partitions 126
▼ How to Create a Soft Partition 126
Maintaining Soft Partitions 127
▼ How to Check the Status of a Soft Partition 127
▼ How to Expand a Soft Partition 128
How to Remove a Soft Partition 129
13 RAID 5 Volumes (Overview) 131

Overview of RAID 5 Volumes 131
Example—RAID 5 Volume 132
Example—Concatenated (Expanded) RAID 5 Volume 133
Requirements for RAID 5 Volumes 134
Guidelines for RAID 5 Volumes 135
Overview of Replacing and Enabling Slices in RAID 5 Volumes 136
Scenario—RAID 5 Volumes 136
14 RAID 5 Volumes (Tasks) 137

Creating RAID 5 Volumes 138
▼ How to Create a RAID 5 Volume 138
Maintaining RAID 5 Volumes 139
▼ How to Check the Status of RAID 5 Volumes 139
▼ How to Expand a RAID 5 Volume 142
▼ How to Enable a Component in a RAID 5 Volume 142
▼ How to Replace a Component in a RAID 5 Volume 143
15 Hot Spare Pools (Overview) 147

Overview of Hot Spares and Hot Spare Pools 147
Hot Spares 148
How Hot Spares Work 148
Hot Spare Pools 149
Example—Hot Spare Pool 149
Administering Hot Spare Pools 150
Scenario—Hot Spares 151
Contents 7
16 Hot Spare Pools (Tasks) 153
Hot Spare Pools (Task Map) 153
Creating a Hot Spare Pool 154
▼ How to Create a Hot Spare Pool 154
▼ How to Add Additional Slices to a Hot Spare Pool 155
Associating a Hot Spare Pool With Volumes 156
▼ How to Associate a Hot Spare Pool With a Volume 156
▼ How to Change the Associated Hot Spare Pool 157
Maintaining Hot Spare Pools 159
▼ How to Check Status of Hot Spares and Hot Spare Pools 159
▼ How to Replace a Hot Spare in a Hot Spare Pool 160
▼ How to Delete a Hot Spare from a Hot Spare Pool 161
▼ How to Enable a Hot Spare 162
17 Transactional Volumes (Overview) 165

About File System Logging 165
Choosing a Logging Method 166
Transactional Volumes 167
Example—Transactional Volume 167
Example—Shared Log Device 168
Background Information for Transactional Volumes 169
Requirements for Working with Transactional Volumes 170
Guidelines for Working with Transactional Volumes 170
Scenario—Transactional Volumes 171
18 Transactional Volumes (Tasks) 173

Transactional Volumes (Task Map) 173
Creating Transactional Volumes 175
▼ How to Create a Transactional Volume 175
Converting Transactional Volumes to UFS Logging 178
How to Convert a Transactional Volume to UFS Logging 178
Maintaining Transactional Volumes 182
▼ How to Check the State of Transactional Volumes 182
▼ How to Attach a Log Device to a Transactional Volume 184
▼ How to Detach a Log Device from a Transactional Volume 185
▼ How to Expand a Transactional Volume 186
▼ How to Remove a Transactional Volume 187

▼ How to Remove a Transactional Volume and Retain the Mount Device 188
Sharing Log Devices 191
▼ How to Share a Log Device Among File Systems 191
Recovering Transactional Volumes When Errors Occur 192
▼ How to Recover a Transactional Volume With a Panic 192
▼ How to Recover a Transactional Volume With Hard Errors 193
19 Disk Sets (Overview) 197

What Do Disk Sets Do? 197
How Does Solaris Volume Manager Manage Disk Sets? 198
Automatic Disk Partitioning 199
Disk Set Name Requirements 200
Example—Two Shared Disk Sets 201
Background Information for Disk Sets 202
Requirements for Disk Sets 202
Guidelines for Disk Sets 202
Administering Disk Sets 203
Reserving a Disk Set 203
Releasing a Disk Set 204
Scenario—Disk Sets 204
20 Disk Sets (Tasks) 205

Disk Sets (Task Map) 205
Creating Disk Sets 206
▼ How to Create a Disk Set 206
Expanding Disk Sets 207
▼ How to Add Drives to a Disk Set 207
▼ How to Add a Host to a Disk Set 209
▼ How to Create Solaris Volume Manager Components in a Disk Set 210
Maintaining Disk Sets 211
▼ How to Check the Status of a Disk Set 211
▼ How to Remove Disks from a Disk Set 212
▼ How to Take a Disk Set 213
▼ How to Release a Disk Set 214
▼ How to Delete a Host or Disk Set 215
Contents 9
21 Maintaining Solaris Volume Manager (Tasks) 217
Solaris Volume Manager Maintenance (Task Map) 217
Viewing the Solaris Volume Manager Configuration 218
▼ How to View the Solaris Volume Manager Volume Configuration 218
Renaming Volumes 221
Background Information for Renaming Volumes 221
Exchanging Volume Names 222
▼ How to Rename a Volume 223
Working with Configuration Files 224
▼ How to Create Configuration Files 224
▼ How to Initialize Solaris Volume Manager from a Configuration File 224
Changing Solaris Volume Manager Defaults 226
▼ How to Increase the Number of Default Volumes 226
How to Increase the Number of Default Disk Sets 227
Growing a File System 228
Background Information for Expanding Slices and Volumes 228
▼ How to Grow a File System 229
Overview of Replacing and Enabling Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5 Volumes
230
Enabling a Component 230
Replacing a Component With Another Available Component 231
Maintenance and Last Erred States 232
Background Information For Replacing and Enabling Slices in Mirrors and RAID 5
Volumes 232
22 Best Practices for Solaris Volume Manager 235

Deploying Small Servers 235
Using Solaris Volume Manager With Networked Storage Devices 237
23 Monitoring and Error Reporting (Tasks) 239

Solaris Volume Manager Monitoring and Reporting (Task Map) 240
Setting the mdmonitord Command for Periodic Error Checking 240
▼ How to Configure the mdmonitord Command for Periodic Error Checking
240
Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent Overview 241
Configuring the Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent 242
▼ How to Configure the Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent 242
Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent Limitations 244

Monitoring Solaris Volume Manager with a cron Job 245
▼ How to Automate Checking for Errors in Volumes 245
24 Troubleshooting Solaris Volume Manager 253

Troubleshooting Solaris Volume Manager (Task Map) 253
Overview of Troubleshooting the System 254
Prerequisites for Troubleshooting the System 254
General Guidelines for Troubleshooting Solaris Volume Manager 254
General Troubleshooting Approach 255
Replacing Disks 255
▼ How to Replace a Failed Disk 255
Boot Problems 258
Background Information for Boot Problems 258
▼ How to Recover From Improper /etc/vfstab Entries 258
Example—Recovering the root (/) Mirror 259
▼ How to Recover From a Boot Device Failure 261
Recovering From State Database Replica Failures 265
▼ How to Recover From Insufficient State Database Replicas 265
Repairing Transactional Volumes 267
Panics 268
Transactional Volume Errors 268
Recovering From Soft Partition Problems 268
How to Recover Configuration Data for a Soft Partition 268
Recovering Configuration From a Different System 271
How to Recover a Configuration 271
A Important Solaris Volume Manager Files 277

System Files and Startup Files 277
Manually Configured Files 279
Overview of the md.tab File 279
B Solaris Volume Manager Quick Reference 281

Command Line Reference 281
C Solaris Volume Manager CIM/WBEM API 283

Managing Solaris Volume Manager 283
Contents 11
Index 285

Tables
TABLE 1–1 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Storage Capacity 22

TABLE 1–2 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Availablity 23
TABLE 1–3 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—I/O Performance 24
TABLE 1–4 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Administration 24
TABLE 1–5 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Troubleshooting 25
TABLE 2–1 Choosing Storage Mechanisms 29
TABLE 2–2 Optimizing Redundant Storage 30
TABLE 3–1 Summary of Solaris Volume Manager Components 39
TABLE 3–2 Classes of Volumes 40
TABLE 3–3 Example Volume Names 42
TABLE 9–1 Mirror Read Policies 86
TABLE 9–2 Mirror Write Policies 86
TABLE 10–1 Submirror States 107
TABLE 10–2 Submirror Slice States 108
TABLE 14–1 RAID 5 States 140
TABLE 14–2 RAID 5 Slice States 141
TABLE 16–1 Hot Spare Pool States (Command Line) 160
TABLE 18–1 Transactional Volume States 183
TABLE 19–1 Example Volume Names 201
TABLE 24–1 Disk Replacement Decision Table 257
TABLE 24–2 Common Solaris Volume Manager Boot Problems 258
TABLE B–1 Solaris Volume Manager Commands 281
13
Figures
FIGURE 3–1 View of the Enhanced Storage tool (Solaris Volume Manager) in the
Solaris Management Console 37
FIGURE 3–2 Relationship Among a Volume, Physical Disks, and Slices 41
FIGURE 4–1 Basic Hardware Diagram 48
FIGURE 7–1 Stripe Example 65
FIGURE 7–2 Concatenation Example 67
FIGURE 7–3 Concatenated Stripe Example 68
FIGURE 9–1 Mirror Example 82
FIGURE 9–2 RAID 1+ 0 Example 83
FIGURE 13–1 RAID 5 Volume Example 132
FIGURE 13–2 Expanded RAID 5 Volume Example 133
FIGURE 15–1 Hot Spare Pool Example 149
FIGURE 17–1 Transactional Volume Example 167
FIGURE 17–2 Shared Log Transactional Volume Example 168
FIGURE 19–1 Disk Sets Example 201
FIGURE 22–1 Small system configuration 236
15
Preface
The Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide explains how to use Solaris Volume
Manager to manage your system’s storage needs, including creating, modifying, and
using RAID 0 (concatenation and stripe) volumes, RAID 1 (mirror) volumes, and
RAID 5 volumes, in addition to soft partitions and transactional log devices.
Who Should Use This Book

System and storage administrators will use this book to identify the tasks that Solaris
Volume Manager supports and how to use Solaris Volume Manager to provide more
reliable and accessible data.
How This Book Is Organized

The Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide includes the following information:
Chapter 1 provides a detailed “roadmap” to the concepts and tasks described in this
book and should be used solely as a navigational aid to the book’s content.
Chapter 2 provides an introduction to general storage management concepts for those

readers who are new to this technology.
Chapter 3 describes Solaris Volume Manager and introduces essential product-related

concepts.
Chapter 4 provides an overall scenario for understanding the Solaris Volume Manager
product.
17
Chapter 5 describes concepts related to state databases and state database replicas.
Chapter 6 explains how to perform tasks related to state databases and state database
replicas.
Chapter 7 describes concepts related to RAID 0 (stripe and concatenation) volumes.
Chapter 8 explains how to perform tasks related to RAID 0 (stripe and concatenation)
volumes.
Chapter 9 describes concepts related to RAID 1 (mirror) volumes.
Chapter 10 explains how to perform tasks related to RAID 1 (mirror) volumes.
Chapter 11 describes concepts related to the Solaris Volume Manager soft partitioning
feature.
Chapter 12 explains how to perform soft partitioning tasks.
Chapter 13 describes concepts related to RAID 5 volumes.
Chapter 14 explains how to perform tasks related to RAID 5 volumes.
Chapter 15 describes concepts related to hot spares and hot spare pools.
Chapter 16 explains how to perform tasks related to hot spares and hot spare pools.
Chapter 17 describes concepts related to transactional volumes.
Chapter 18 explains how to perform tasks related to transactional volumes.
Chapter 19 describes concepts related to disk sets.
Chapter 20 explains how to perform tasks related to disk sets.
Chapter 21 explains some general maintenance tasks that are not related to a specific
Solaris Volume Manager component.
Chapter 22 provides some “best practices” information about configuring and using
Solaris Volume Manager.
Chapter 23 provides concepts and instructions for using the Solaris Volume Manager
SNMP agent and for other error checking approaches.
Chapter 24 provides information about troubleshooting and solving common

problems in the Solaris Volume Manager environment.
Appendix A lists important Solaris Volume Manager files.
Appendix B provides tables that summarize commands and other helpful information.

Appendix C provides a brief introduction to the CIM/WBEM API that allows open
Solaris Volume Manager management from WBEM-compliant management tools.
Related Books
Solaris Volume Manager is one of several system administration tools available for the
Solaris operating environment. Information about overall system administration
features and functions, as well as related tools are provided in the following:
■ System Administration Guide: Basic Administration
■ System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration
Accessing Sun Documentation Online

The docs.sun.comSM Web site enables you to access Sun technical documentation
online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or
subject. The URL is http://docs.sun.com.
Typographic Conventions
The following table describes the typographic conventions used in this book.
TABLE P–1 Typographic Conventions
Typeface or Symbol Meaning Example
AaBbCc123 The names of commands, files, and Edit your .login file.
directories; on-screen computer output
Use ls -a to list all files.
machine_name% you have
mail.
AaBbCc123 What you type, contrasted with machine_name% su

on-screen computer output
Password:
Preface 19
TABLE P–1 Typographic Conventions (Continued)
Typeface or Symbol Meaning Example
AaBbCc123 Command-line placeholder: replace with To delete a file, type rm

a real name or value filename.
AaBbCc123 Book titles, new words, or terms, or Read Chapter 6 in User’s Guide.
words to be emphasized
These are called class options.
You must be root to do this.
Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C
shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.
TABLE P–2 Shell Prompts
Shell Prompt
C shell prompt machine_name%
C shell superuser prompt machine_name#
Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt $
Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt #

CHAPTER 1
Getting Started with Solaris Volume

Manager
The Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide describes how to set up and maintain
systems using Solaris Volume Manager to manage storage for high availability,
flexibility, and reliability.
This chapter serves as a high-level guide to find information for certain Solaris Volume
Manager tasks, such as setting up storage capacity. This chapter does not address all
the tasks that you will need to use Solaris Volume Manager. Instead, it provides an
easy way to find procedures describing how to perform common tasks associated with
the following Solaris Volume Manager concepts:
■ Storage Capacity
■ Availability
■ I/O Performance
■ Administration
■ Troubleshooting
Caution – If you do not use Solaris Volume Manager correctly, you can destroy data.
Solaris Volume Manager provides a powerful way to reliably manage your disks and
data on them. However, you should always maintain backups of your data,
particularly before you modify an active Solaris Volume Manager configuration.
21
Getting Started With Solaris Volume
Manager
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Storage

Capacity
TABLE 1–1 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Storage Capacity
Task Description For Instructions
Set up storage Create storage that spans slices by creating a “How to Create a RAID 0 (Stripe)
RAID 0 or a RAID 5 volume. The RAID 0 or Volume” on page 74
RAID 5 volume can then be used for a file
“How to Create a RAID 0
system or any application, such as a database
(Concatenation) Volume”
that accesses the raw device
on page 75
Volume From Unused Slices”
on page 95
Volume From a File System”
on page 97
Volume” on page 138
Expand an existing file Increase the capacity of an existing file system “How to Expand Space for
system by creating a RAID 0 (concatenation) volume, Existing Data” on page 76
then adding additional slices.
Expand an existing RAID 0 Expand an existing RAID 0 volume by “How to Expand an Existing
(concatenation or stripe) concatenating additional slices to it. RAID 0 Volume” on page 78
volume
Expand a RAID 5 volume Expand the capacity of a RAID 5 volume by “How to Expand a RAID 5
concatenating additional slices to it. Volume” on page 142
Increase the size of a UFS file Grow a file system by using the growfs “How to Grow a File System”
system on a expanded command to expand the size of a UFS while it on page 229
volume is mounted and without disrupting access to
the data.

TABLE 1–1 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Storage Capacity (Continued)
Subdivide slices or logical Subdivide logical volumes or slices by using “How to Create a Soft Partition”
volumes into smaller soft partitions. on page 126
partitions, breaking the 8 slice
hard partition limit
Create a file system Create a file system on a RAID 0 (stripe or “Creating File Systems (Tasks)”
concatenation), RAID 1 (mirror), RAID 5, or in System Administration Guide:
transactional volume, or on a soft partition. Basic Administration
Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Availability

TABLE 1–2 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Availablity
Maximize data availability Use Solaris Volume Manager’s mirroring “How to Create a RAID 1
feature to maintain multiple copies of your Volume From Unused Slices”
data. You can create a RAID 1 volume from on page 95
unused slices in preparation for data, or you
can mirror an existing file system, including
Volume From a File System”
root (/) and /usr.
on page 97
Add data availability with Increase data availability with minimum of “How to Create a RAID 5
minimum hardware cost hardware by using Solaris Volume Manager’s Volume” on page 138
RAID 5 volumes.
Increase data availability for Increase data availability for a RAID 1 or a “Creating a Hot Spare Pool”
an existing RAID 1 or RAID 5 RAID 5 volume, by creating a hot spare pool on page 154
volume then associate it with a mirror’s submirrors, or
“Associating a Hot Spare Pool
a RAID 5 volume.
With Volumes” on page 156
Increase file system Increase overall file system availability after “About File System Logging”
availability after reboot reboot, by adding UFS logging (transactional on page 165
volume) to the system. Logging a file system
reduces the amount of time that the fsck
command has to run when the system reboots.
Chapter 1 • Getting Started with Solaris Volume Manager 23

Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—I/O
Performance
TABLE 1–3 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—I/O Performance
Tune RAID 1 volume Specify the read and write policies for a RAID 1 volume “RAID 1 Volume Read and
read and write to improve performance for a given configuration. Write Policies” on page 86
policies
“How to Change RAID 1
Volume Options” on page 110
Optimize device Creating RAID 0 (stripe) volumes optimizes performance “Creating RAID 0 (Stripe)
performance of devices that make up the stripe. The interlace value can Volumes” on page 74
be optimized for random or sequential access.
Maintain device Expands stripe or concatenation that has run out of space “Expanding Storage Space”
performance within a by concatenating a new component to it. A concatenation on page 76
RAID 0 (stripe) of stripes is better for performance than a concatenation
of slices.

Roadmap—Administration
TABLE 1–4 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Administration
Graphically Use the Solaris Management Console to administer your Online help from within
administer your volume management configuration. Solaris Volume Manager
volume management (Enhanced Storage) node of
configuration the Solaris Management
Console application
Graphically Use the Solaris Management Console graphical user Online help from within the
administer slices and interface to administer your disks and file systems, Solaris Management Console
file systems performing such tasks as partitioning disks and application
constructing UFS file systems.
Optimize Solaris Solaris Volume Manager performance is dependent on a “Solaris Volume Manager
Volume Manager well-designed configuration. Once created, the Configuration Guidelines”
configuration needs monitoring and tuning. on page 45
“Working with Configuration
Files” on page 224

TABLE 1–4 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Administration (Continued)
Plan for future Because file systems tend to run out of space, you can “Creating RAID 0
expansion plan for future growth by putting a file system into a (Concatenation) Volumes”
concatenation. on page 75
“Expanding Storage Space”
on page 76

Roadmap—Troubleshooting
TABLE 1–5 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Troubleshooting
Replace a failed slice If a disk fails, you must replace the slices used in your “Responding to RAID 1
Solaris Volume Manager configuration. In the case of Volume Component Failures”
RAID 0 volume, you have to use a new slice, delete and on page 112
recreate the volume, then restore data from a backup.
“How to Replace a Component
Slices in RAID 1 and RAID 5 volumes can be replaced
in a RAID 5 Volume”
and resynchronized without loss of data.
on page 143
Recover from boot Special problems can arise when booting the system, due “How to Recover From
problems to a hardware problem or operator error. Improper /etc/vfstab
Entries” on page 258
“How to Recover From
Insufficient State Database
Replicas” on page 265
“How to Recover From a Boot
Device Failure” on page 261
Work with Problems with transactional volumes can occur on either “How to Recover a
transactional volume the master or logging device, and they can either be Transactional Volume With a
problems caused by data or device problems. All transactional Panic” on page 192
volumes sharing the same logging device must be fixed
“How to Recover a
before they return to a usable state.
Transactional Volume With
Hard Errors” on page 193
Chapter 1 • Getting Started with Solaris Volume Manager 25

CHAPTER 2
Storage Management Concepts
This chapter provides a brief introduction to some common storage management

concepts. If you are already familiar with storage management concepts, you can
proceed directly to Chapter 3.
This chapter contains the following information:

■ “Introduction to Storage Management” on page 27
■ “Configuration Planning Guidelines” on page 29
■ “Performance Issues” on page 30
■ “Optimizing for Random I/O and Sequential I/O” on page 31
Introduction to Storage Management

Storage management is the means by which you control the devices on which the
active data on your system is kept. To be useful, active data must be available and
remain unchanged (persistent) even after unexpected events (hardware failure,
software failure, or other similar event).
Storage Hardware
There are many different devices on which data can be stored. The selection of devices
to best meet your storage needs depends primarily on three factors:
■ Performance
■ Availability
■ Cost
27
You can use Solaris Volume Manager to help manage the tradeoffs in performance,
availability and cost. You can often mitigate many of the tradeoffs completely with
Solaris Volume Manager.
Solaris Volume Manager works well with any supported storage on any system that
runs the Solaris™ Operating Environment.
RAID Levels
RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks.
Basically, this term refers to a set of disks (called an array, or, more commonly, a
volume) that appears to the user as a single large disk drive. This array provides,
depending on the configuration, improved reliability, response time, and/or storage
capacity.
Technically, there are six RAID levels, 0-5,. Each level refers to a method of distributing
data while ensuring data redundancy. (RAID level 0 does not provide data
redundancy, but is usually included as a RAID classification because it is the basis for
the majority of RAID configurations in use.) Very few storage environments support
RAID levels 2, 3, and 4, so they are not described here.
Solaris Volume Manager supports the following RAID levels:

■ RAID Level 0–Although they do not provide redundancy, stripes and
concatenations are often referred to as RAID 0. Basically, data are spread across
relatively small, equally-sized fragments that are allocated alternately and evenly
across multiple physical disks. Any single drive failure can cause data loss. RAID 0
offers a high data transfer rate and high I/O throughput, but suffers lower
reliability and availability than a single disk
■ RAID Level 1–Mirroring uses equal amounts of disk capacity to store data and a
copy (mirror) of it. Data is duplicated, or mirrored, over two or more physical
disks. Data can be read from both drives simultaneously (either drive can service
any request), providing improved performance. If one physical disk fails, you can
continue to use the mirror with no loss in performance or loss of data.
Solaris Volume Manager supports both RAID 0+1 and (transparently) RAID 1+0
mirroring, depending on the underlying devices. See “Providing RAID 1+0 and
RAID 0+1” on page 83 for details.
■ RAID Level 5–RAID 5 uses striping to spread the data over the disks in an array.
RAID 5 also records parity information to provide some data redundancy. A RAID
level 5 volume can withstand the failure of an underlying device without failing,
and, if used in conjunction with hot spares, can withstand multiple failures, albeit
with a substantial performance degradation when operating with a failed device.
In the RAID 5 model, every device has one area that contains a parity stripe and
others that contain data. The parity is spread over all of the disks in the array,
reducing the write time for large independent writes because the writes do not
have to wait until a single parity disk can accept the data.

Configuration Planning Guidelines
When you are planning your storage management configuration, keep in mind that
for any given application there are trade-offs in performance, availability, and hardware
costs. You might need to experiment with the different variables to determine what
works best for your configuration.
This section provides guidelines for working with Solaris Volume Manager RAID 0
(concatenation and stripe) volumes, RAID 1 (mirror) volumes, RAID 5 volumes, soft
partitions, transactional (logging) volumes, and file systems that are constructed on
volumes.
Choosing Storage Mechanisms

Before you implement your storage management approach, you need to decide what
kinds of storage devices to use. This set of guidelines compares the various storage
mechanisms to help you choose among them. Additional sets of guidelines apply to
specific storage mechanisms as implemented in Solaris Volume Manager. See specific
chapters about each volume type for details.
Note – The storage mechanisms listed are not mutually exclusive. You can use them in
combination to meet multiple goals. For example, you could create a RAID 1 volume
for redundancy, then create soft partitions on it to increase the number of discrete file
systems that are possible.
TABLE 2–1 Choosing Storage Mechanisms
Requirements RAID 0 RAID 0 (Stripe) RAID 1 (Mirror) RAID 5 Soft Partitions

(Concatenation)
Redundant No No Yes Yes No

data
Improved No Yes Depends on Yes No

read underlying
performance device
Improved No Yes No No No
write
performance
More than 8 No No No No Yes

slices/device
Chapter 2 • Storage Management Concepts 29

TABLE 2–1 Choosing Storage Mechanisms (Continued)
Requirements RAID 0 RAID 0 (Stripe) RAID 1 (Mirror) RAID 5 Soft Partitions
(Concatenation)
Larger Yes Yes No Yes No

available
storage space
TABLE 2–2 Optimizing Redundant Storage
RAID 1 (Mirror) RAID 5
Write operations Faster Slower
Random read Faster Slower
Hardware cost Higher Lower
■ RAID 0 devices (stripes and concatenations), and soft partitions do not provide any
redundancy of data.
■ Concatenation works well for small random I/O.
■ Striping performs well for large sequential I/O and for random I/O distributions.
■ Mirroring might improve read performance; write performance is always
degraded.
■ Because of the read-modify-write nature of RAID 5 volumes, volumes with greater
than about 20 percent writes should probably not be RAID 5. If redundancy is
required, consider mirroring.
■ RAID 5 writes will never be as fast as mirrored writes, which in turn will never be
as fast as unprotected writes.
■ Soft partitions are useful for managing very large storage devices.
Note – In addition to these generic storage options, see “Hot Spare Pools” on page 44
for more information about using Solaris Volume Manager to support redundant
devices.
Performance Issues
General Performance Guidelines

When you design your storage configuration, consider the following performance
guidelines:

■ Striping generally has the best performance, but it offers no data redundancy. For
write-intensive applications, RAID 1 volumes generally have better performance
than RAID 5 volumes.
■ RAID 1 and RAID 5 volumes both increase data availability, but they both
generally have lower performance, especially for write operations. Mirroring does
improve random read performance.
■ RAID 5 volumes have a lower hardware cost than RAID 1 volumes, while RAID 0
volumes have no additional hardware cost.
■ Identify the most frequently accessed data, and increase access bandwidth to that
data with mirroring or striping.
■ Both stripes and RAID 5 volumes distribute data across multiple disk drives and
help balance the I/O load.
■ Use available performance monitoring capabilities and generic tools such as the
iostat command to identify the most frequently accessed data. Once identified,
the access bandwidth to this data can be increased using striping, RAID 1 volumes
or RAID 5 volumes.
■ The performance of soft partitions can degrade when the soft partition size is
changed multiple times.
■ RAID 5 volume performance is lower than stripe performance for write operations,
because the RAID 5 volume requires multiple I/O operations to calculate and store
the parity.
■ For raw random I/O reads, the stripe and the RAID 5 volume are comparable.
Both the stripe and RAID 5 volume split the data across multiple disks, and the
RAID 5 volume parity calculations aren’t a factor in reads except after a slice
failure.
■ For raw random I/O writes, the stripe is superior to RAID 5 volumes.
Optimizing for Random I/O and

Sequential I/O
This section explains Solaris Volume Manager strategies for optimizing your particular
configuration.
In general, if you do not know if sequential I/O or random I/O predominates on file
systems you will be implementing on Solaris Volume Manager volumes, do not
implement these performance tuning tips. These tips can degrade performance if they
are improperly implemented.

The following optimization suggestions assume that you are optimizing a RAID 0
volume. In general, you would want to optimize a RAID 0 volume, then mirror that
volume to provide both optimal performance and data redundancy.
Random I/O
If you have a random I/O environment, such as an environment used for databases
and general-purpose file servers, you want all disk spindles to be approximately equal
amounts of time servicing I/O requests.
For example, assume that you have 40 Gbytes of storage for a database application. If
you stripe across four 10 Gbyte disk spindles, and if the I/O load is truly random and
evenly dispersed across the entire range of the table space, then each of the four
spindles will tend to be equally busy, which will generally improve performance.
The target for maximum random I/O performance on a disk is 35 percent or lower
usage, as reported by the iostat command. Disk use in excess of 65 percent on a
typical basis is a problem. Disk use in excess of 90 percent is a significant problem. The
solution to having disk use values that are too high is to create a new RAID 0 volume
with more disks (spindles).
Note – Simply attaching additional disks to an existing volume will not improve
performance. You must create a new volume with the ideal parameters to optimize
performance.
The interlace size of the stripe doesn’t matter because you just want to spread the data
across all the disks. Any interlace value greater than the typical I/O request will do.
Sequential Access I/O

You can optimize the performance of your configuration to take advantage of a
sequential I/O environment, such as DBMS servers that are dominated by full table
scans and NFS servers in very data-intensive environments, by setting the interlace
value low relative to the size of the typical I/O request.
For example, assume a typical I/O request size of 256 Kbyte and striping across 4
spindles. A good choice for stripe unit size in this example would be: 256 Kbyte / 4 =
64 Kbyte, or smaller.
This strategy ensures that the typical I/O request is spread across multiple disk
spindles, thus increasing the sequential bandwidth.

Note – Seek time and rotation time are practically zero in the sequential case. When
you optimize sequential I/O, the internal transfer rate of a disk is most important.
In sequential applications, the typical I/O size is usually large (greater than 128
Kbytes, often greater than 1 Mbytes). Assume an application with a typical I/O
request size of 256 Kbytes and assume striping across 4 disk spindles. 256 Kbytes / 4 =
64 Kbytes. So, a good choice for the interlace size would be 32 to 64 Kbyte.

CHAPTER 3
Solaris Volume Manager Overview
This chapter explains the overall structure of Solaris Volume Manager and provides
the following information:
■ “What Does Solaris Volume Manager Do?” on page 35
■ “Solaris Volume Manager Requirements” on page 38
■ “Overview of Solaris Volume Manager Components” on page 38
■ “Solaris Volume Manager Configuration Guidelines” on page 45
■ “Overview of Creating Solaris Volume Manager Elements” on page 46
What Does Solaris Volume Manager Do?

Solaris Volume Manager is a software product that lets you manage large numbers of
disks and the data on those disks. Although there are many ways to use Solaris
Volume Manager, most tasks include the following:
■ Increasing storage capacity
■ Increasing data availability
■ Easing administration of large storage devices
In some instances, Solaris Volume Manager can also improve I/O performance.
How Does Solaris Volume Manager Manage

Storage?
Solaris Volume Manager uses virtual disks to manage physical disks and their
associated data. In Solaris Volume Manager, a virtual disk is called a volume. For
historical reasons, some command-line utilities also refer to a volume as a
“metadevice.”
35
A volume is functionally identical to a physical disk in the view of an application or a
file system (such as UFS). Solaris Volume Manager converts I/O requests directed at a
volume into I/O requests to the underlying member disks.
Solaris Volume Manager volumes are built from slices (disk partitions) or from other
Solaris Volume Manager volumes. An easy way to build volumes is to use the
graphical user interface built into the Solaris Management Console. The Enhanced
Storage tool within the Solaris Management Console presents you with a view of all
the existing volumes. By following the steps in wizards, you can easily build any kind
of Solaris Volume Manager volume or component. You can also build and modify
volumes by using Solaris Volume Manager command-line utilities.
If, for example, you want to create more storage capacity as a single volume, you
could use Solaris Volume Manager to make the system treat a collection of many small
slices as one larger slice or device. After you have created a large volume from these
slices, you can immediately begin using it just as any “real” slice or device.
For a more detailed discussion of volumes, see “Volumes” on page 39.
Solaris Volume Manager can increase the reliability and availability of data by using
RAID 1 (mirror) volumes and RAID 5 volumes. Solaris Volume Manager hot spares
can provide another level of data availability for mirrors and RAID 5 volumes.
Once you have set up your configuration, you can use the Enhanced Storage tool
within the Solaris Management Console to report on its operation.
How to Interact With Solaris Volume Manager

Use either of these methods to interact with Solaris Volume Manager:
■ Solaris Management Console–This tool provides a graphical user interface to
volume management functions. Use the Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris
Management Console as illustrated in Figure 3–1. This interface provides a
graphical view of Solaris Volume Manager components, including volumes, hot
spare pools, and state database replicas. This interface offers wizard-based
manipulation of Solaris Volume Manager components, enabling you to quickly
configure your disks or change an existing configuration.
■ The command line–You can use several commands to perform volume
management functions. The Solaris Volume Manager core commands begin with
meta for example the metainit and metastat commands. For a list of Solaris
Volume Manager commands, see Appendix B.

Note – Do not attempt to administer Solaris Volume Manager with the command line
and the graphical user interface at the same time. Conflicting changes could be made
to the configuration, and the behavior would be unpredictable. You can use both tools
to administer Solaris Volume Manager, but not concurrently.
FIGURE 3–1 View of the Enhanced Storage tool (Solaris Volume Manager) in the Solaris Management Console
▼ How to Access the Solaris Volume Manager

Graphical User Interface
The Solaris Volume Manager graphical user interface (Enhanced Storage) is part of the
Solaris Management Console. To access it, use the following instructions:
1. Start Solaris Management Console on the host system by using the following
command:
% /usr/sbin/smc
Chapter 3 • Solaris Volume Manager Overview 37

2. Double-click This Computer.
3. Double-click Storage.
4. Double-click Enhanced Storage to load the Solaris Volume Manager tools.
5. If prompted to log in, log in as root or as a user who has equivalent access.
6. Double-click the appropriate icon to manage volumes, hot spare pools, state
database replicas, and disk sets.
Tip – To help with your tasks, all tools in the Solaris Management Console display
information in the bottom section of the page or at the left side of a wizard panel.
Choose Help at any time to find additional information about performing tasks in this
interface.
Solaris Volume Manager Requirements

Solaris Volume Manager requirements include the following:
■ You must have root privilege to administer Solaris Volume Manager. Equivalent
privileges granted through the User Profile feature in the Solaris Management
Console allow administration through the Solaris Management Console, but only
the root user can use the Solaris Volume Manager command-line interface.
■ Before you can create volumes with Solaris Volume Manager, state database
replicas must exist on the Solaris Volume Manager system. At least three replicas
should exist, and they should be placed on different controllers and disks for
maximum reliability. See “About the Solaris Volume Manager State Database and
Replicas” on page 51 for more information about state database replicas, and
“Creating State Database Replicas” on page 58 for instructions on how to create
state database replicas.
Overview of Solaris Volume Manager

Components
The four basic types of components that you create with Solaris Volume Manager are
volumes, disk sets, state database replicas, and hot spare pools. The following table
gives an overview of these Solaris Volume Manager components.

TABLE 3–1 Summary of Solaris Volume Manager Components

Component Definition Purpose For More Information
RAID 0 volumes (stripe, A group of physical slices To increase storage “Volumes” on page 39
concatenation, that appear to the system capacity, performance, or
concatenated stripe), RAID as a single, logical device data availability.
1 (mirror) volumes, RAID
5 volumes
Soft partitions Subdivisions of physical To improve manageability

slices or logical volumes to of large storage volumes.
provide smaller, more
manageable storage units
State database (state A database that stores Solaris Volume Manager “State Database and State
database replicas) information on disk about cannot operate until you Database Replicas”
the state of your Solaris have created the state on page 43
Volume Manager database replicas.
configuration
Hot spare pool A collection of slices (hot To increase data “Hot Spare Pools”
spares) reserved to be availability for RAID 1 and on page 44
automatically substituted RAID 5 volumes.
in case of component
failure in either a
submirror or RAID 5
volume
Disk set A set of shared disk drives To provide data “Disk Sets” on page 44
in a separate namespace redundancy and
that contain volumes and availability and to provide
hot spares and that can be a separate namespace for
non-concurrently shared easier administration.
by multiple hosts
Volumes
A volume is a name for a group of physical slices that appear to the system as a single,
logical device. Volumes are actually pseudo, or virtual, devices in standard UNIX®
terms.
Note – Historically, the Solstice DiskSuite™ product referred to these as

“metadevices.” However, for simplicity and standardization, this book refers to them
as “volumes.”

Classes of Volumes
You create a volume as a RAID 0 (concatenation or stripe) volume, a RAID 1 (mirror)
volume, a RAID 5 volume, a soft partition, or a UFS logging volume.
You can use either the Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris Management Console
or the command-line utilities to create and administer volumes.
The following table summarizes the classes of volumes:
TABLE 3–2 Classes of Volumes
Volume Description
RAID 0 (stripe or Can be used directly, or as the basic building blocks for mirrors and
concatenation) transactional devices. By themselves, RAID 0 volumes do not provide
data redundancy.
RAID 1 (mirror) Replicates data by maintaining multiple copies. A RAID 1 volume is

composed of one or more RAID 0 volumes called submirrors.
RAID 5 Replicates data by using parity information. In the case of disk failure,
the missing data can be regenerated by using available data and the
parity information. A RAID 5 volume is generally composed of slices.
One slice’s worth of space is allocated to parity information, but it is
distributed across all slices in the RAID 5 volume.
Transactional Used to log a UFS file system. (UFS logging is a preferable solution to
this need, however.) A transactional volume is composed of a master
device and a logging device. Both of these devices can be a slice, RAID 0
volume, RAID 1 volume, or RAID5 volume. The master device contains
the UFS file system.
Soft partition Divides a slice or logical volume into one or more smaller, extensible
volumes.
How Are Volumes Used?

You use volumes to increase storage capacity, performance, and data availability. In
some instances, volumes can also increase I/O performance. Functionally, volumes
behave the same way as slices. Because volumes look like slices, they are transparent
to end users, applications, and file systems. Like physical devices, volumes are
accessed through block or raw device names. The volume name changes, depending
on whether the block or raw device is used. See “Volume Names” on page 42 for
details about volume names.
You can use most file system commands (mkfs, mount, umount, ufsdump,
ufsrestore, and so forth) on volumes. You cannot use the format command,
however. You can read, write, and copy files to and from a volume, as long as the
volume contains a mounted file system.

Example—Volume That Consists of Two Slices
Figure 3–2 shows a volume “containing” two slices, one each from Disk A and Disk B.
An application or UFS will treat the volume as if it were one physical disk. Adding
more slices to the volume will increase its capacity.
Physical disks d0
A and B
Disk A c1t1d0s2
c1t1d0s2
c2t2d0s2
d0
Disk B
c2t2d0s2
FIGURE 3–2 Relationship Among a Volume, Physical Disks, and Slices
Volume and Disk Space Expansion

Solaris Volume Manager enables you to expand a volume by adding additional slices.
or the command line interface to add a slice to an existing volume.
You can expand a mounted or unmounted UFS file system that is contained within a
volume without having to halt or back up your system. (Nevertheless, backing up
your data is always a good idea.) After you expand the volume, use the growfs
command to grow the file system.
Note – After a file system has been expanded, it cannot be shrunk. Not shrinking the
size of a file system is a UFS limitation. Similarly, after a Solaris Volume Manager
partition has been increased in size, it cannot be reduced.
Applications and databases that use the raw volume must have their own method to
“grow” the added space so that the application or database can recognize it. Solaris
Volume Manager does not provide this capability.

You can expand the disk space in volumes in the following ways:
■ Adding one or more slices to a RAID 0 volume
■ Adding a slice or multiple slices to all submirrors of a RAID 1 volume
■ Adding one or more slices to a RAID 5 volume
■ Expanding a soft partition with additional space from the underlying component
The growfs Command

The growfs command expands a UFS file system without loss of service or data.
However, write access to the volume is suspended while the growfs command is
running. You can expand the file system to the size of the slice or the volume that
contains the file system.
The file system can be expanded to use only part of the additional disk space by using
the -s size option to the growfs command.
Note – When you expand a mirror, space is added to the mirror’s underlying
submirrors. Likewise, when you expand a transactional volume, space is added to the
master device. The growfs command is then run on the RAID 1 volume or the
transactional volume, respectively. The general rule is that space is added to the
underlying devices, and the growfs command is run on the top-level device.
Volume Names
Volume Name Requirements

There are a few rules that you must follow when assigning names for volumes:
■ Volume names must begin with the letter “d” followed by a number (for example,
d0).
■ Solaris Volume Manager has 128 default volume names from 0–127. The following
table shows some example volume names.
TABLE 3–3 Example Volume Names
/dev/md/dsk/d0 Block volume d0
/dev/md/dsk/d1 Block volume d1
/dev/md/rdsk/d126 Raw volume d126
/dev/md/rdsk/d127 Raw volume d127
■ Instead of specifying the full volume name, such as /dev/md/dsk/d1, you can
often use an abbreviated volume name, such as d1, with any meta* command.

■ Like physical slices, volumes have logical names that appear in the file system.
Logical volume names have entries in the /dev/md/dsk directory (for block
devices) and the /dev/md/rdsk directory (for raw devices).
■ You can generally rename a volume, as long as the volume is not currently being
used and the new name is not being used by another volume. For more
information, see “Exchanging Volume Names” on page 222.
Volume Name Guidelines

The use of a standard for your volume names can simplify administration, and enable
you at a glance to identify the volume type. Here are a few suggestions:
■ Use ranges for each particular type of volume. For example, assign numbers 0–20
for RAID 1 volumes, 21–40 for RAID 0 volumes, and so on.
■ Use a naming relationship for mirrors. For example, name mirrors with a number
that ends in zero (0), and submirrors that end in one (1) and two (2). For example:
mirror d10, submirrors d11 and d12; mirror d20, submirrors d21 and d22, and so
on.
■ Use a naming method that maps the slice number and disk number to volume
numbers.
State Database and State Database Replicas

The state database is a database that stores information on disk about the state of your
Solaris Volume Manager configuration. The state database records and tracks changes
made to your configuration. Solaris Volume Manager automatically updates the state
database when a configuration or state change occurs. Creating a new volume is an
example of a configuration change. A submirror failure is an example of a state
change.
The state database is actually a collection of multiple, replicated database copies. Each
copy, referred to as a state database replica, ensures that the data in the database is
always valid. Having copies of the state database protects against data loss from single
points-of-failure. The state database tracks the location and status of all known state
database replicas.
Solaris Volume Manager cannot operate until you have created the state database and
its state database replicas. It is necessary that a Solaris Volume Manager configuration
have an operating state database.
When you set up your configuration, you can locate the state database replicas on
either of the following:
■ On dedicated slices
■ On slices that will later become part of volumes

Solaris Volume Manager recognizes when a slice contains a state database replica, and
automatically skips over the portion of the slice reserved for the replica if the slice is
used in a volume. The part of a slice reserved for the state database replica should not
be used for any other purpose.
You can keep more than one copy of a state database on one slice. However, you
might make the system more vulnerable to a single point-of-failure by doing so.
The system will continue to function correctly if all state database replicas are deleted.
However, the system will lose all Solaris Volume Manager configuration data if a
reboot occurs with no existing state database replicas on disk.
Hot Spare Pools

A hot spare pool is a collection of slices (hot spares) reserved by Solaris Volume Manager
to be automatically substituted in case of a slice failure in either a submirror or RAID 5
volume. Hot spares provide increased data availability for RAID 1 and RAID 5
volumes. You can create a hot spare pool with either the Enhanced Storage tool within
the Solaris Management Console or the command line interface.
When errors occur, Solaris Volume Manager checks the hot spare pool for the first
available hot spare whose size is equal to or greater than the size of the slice being
replaced. If found, Solaris Volume Manager automatically resynchronizes the data. If a
slice of adequate size is not found in the list of hot spares, the submirror or RAID 5
volume is considered to have failed. For more information, see Chapter 15.
Disk Sets
A shared disk set, or simply disk set, is a set of disk drives that contain state database
replicas, volumes, and hot spares that can be shared exclusively but not at the same
time by multiple hosts.
A disk set provides for data availability in a clustered environment. If one host fails,
another host can take over the failed host’s disk set. (This type of configuration is
known as a failover configuration.) Additionally, disk sets can be used to help manage
the Solaris Volume Manager name space, and to provide ready access to
network-attached storage devices.
For more information, see Chapter 19.

Solaris Volume Manager Configuration
Guidelines
A poorly designed Solaris Volume Manager configuration can degrade performance.
This section offers tips for achieving good performance from Solaris Volume Manager.
General Guidelines
■ Disk and controllers–Place drives in a volume on separate drive paths. For SCSI
drives, this means separate host adapters. Spreading the I/O load over several
controllers improves volume performance and availability.
■ System files–Never edit or remove the /etc/lvm/mddb.cf or /etc/lvm/md.cf
files.
Make sure these files are backed up on a regular basis.
■ Volume Integrity–After a slice is defined as a volume and activated, do not use it
for any other purpose.
■ Maximum volumes–The maximum number of volumes supported in a disk set is
8192 (though the default number of volumes is 128). To increase the number of
default volumes, edit the /kernel/drv/md.conf file. See “System Files and
Startup Files” on page 277 for more information on this file.
■ Information about disks and partitions–Have a copy of output from the prtvtoc
and metastat -p command in case you need to reformat a bad disk or re-create
your Solaris Volume Manager configuration.
File System Guidelines

■ Do not mount file systems on a volume’s underlying slice. If a slice is used for a
volume of any kind, you must not mount that slice as a file system. If possible,
unmount any physical device that you intend to use as a volume before you
activate it. For example, if you create a transactional volume for a UFS, in the
/etc/vfstab file, you would specify the transactional volume name as the device
to mount and fsck.

Overview of Creating Solaris Volume
Manager Elements
When you create a Solaris Volume Manager component, you assign physical slices to a
logical Solaris Volume Manager name. The Solaris Volume Manager elements that you
can create include the following:
■ State database replicas
■ Volumes (RAID 0 (stripes, concatenations), RAID 1 (mirrors), RAID 5, soft
partitions, and transactional volumes)
■ Hot spare pools
■ Disk sets
Note – For suggestions on how to name volumes, see “Volume Names” on page 42.
Prerequisites for Creating Solaris Volume Manager

Elements
The prerequisites for creating Solaris Volume Manager elements are as follows:
■ Create initial state database replicas. If you have not done so, see “Creating State
Database Replicas” on page 58.
■ Identify slices that are available for use by Solaris Volume Manager. If necessary,
use the format command, the fmthard command, or the Solaris Management
Console to repartition existing disks.
■ Make sure you have root privilege.
■ Have a current backup of all data.
■ If you are using the graphical user interface, start the Solaris Management Console
and maneuver through it to get to the Solaris Volume Manager feature. For
information, see “How to Access the Solaris Volume Manager Graphical User
Interface” on page 37.

CHAPTER 4
Configuring and Using Solaris Volume

Manager (Scenario)
Throughout the Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide, the examples generally
relate to a single storage configuration, whenever that is possible. This chapter
explains what that configuration is and provides information about this broad storage
scenario for the rest of the book.

■ “Background” on page 47
■ “Complete Solaris Volume Manager Configuration” on page 49
Background
Throughout this book, the scenarios and many examples relate to a single
configuration. Although this configuration is small (to simplify the documentation),
the concepts will scale to much larger storage environments.
Hardware Configuration
The hardware system is configured as follows:
■ There are 3 physically separate controllers (c0 — IDE, c1—SCSI, and c2 — SCSI).
■ Each SCSI controller connects to a MultiPack that contains 6 internal 9–Gbyte disks
(c1t1 through c1t6 and c2t1 through c2t6).
■ Each controller/terminator pair (cntn) has 8.49 Gbytes of usable storage space.
■ Storage space on the root (/) drive c0t0d0 is split into 6 partitions.
47
An alternative way to understand this configuration is shown in the following
diagram.
c0t0d0
c0
c1t1d0 c2t1d0
c1t2d0 c2t2d0
c1t3d0 c2t3d0
c1t4d0 c2t4d0
c1t5d0 c2t5d0
c1t6d0 c2t6d0
c1 c2
FIGURE 4–1 Basic Hardware Diagram
Storage Configuration
The storage configuration before Solaris Volume Manager is configured is as follows:
■ The SCSI controller/terminator pairs (cntn) have approximately 20 Gbytes of
storage space
■ Storage space on each disk (for example, c1t1d0) is split into 7 partitions
(cntnd0s0 through cntnd0s6).
To partition a disk, follow the procedures explained in “Formatting a Disk” in
System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

Complete Solaris Volume Manager
Configuration
Throughout this book, specific scenarios are provided with specific tasks. However, so
that you can better understand the examples throughout the book, the final
configuration is approximately as follows (as displayed by the metastat(1M)
command with the -p option):
[root@lexicon:/]$ metastat -p
d50 -r c1t4d0s5 c1t5d0s5 c2t4d0s5 c2t5d0s5 c1t1d0s5 c2t1d0s5 -k -i 32b
d1 1 1 c1t2d0s3
d2 1 1 c2t2d0s3
d12 1 1 c1t1d0s0
d13 1 1 c2t1d0s0
d16 1 1 c1t1d0s1
d17 1 1 c2t1d0s1
d25 2 2 c1t1d0s3 c2t1d0s3 -i 32b \
1 c0t0d0s3
d31 1 2 c1t4d0s4 c2t4d0s4 -i 8192b
d80 -p d70 -o 1 -b 2097152
d81 -p d70 -o 2097154 -b 2097152
d82 -p d70 -o 4194307 -b 2097152
d83 -p d70 -o 6291460 -b 2097152
d84 -p d70 -o 8388613 -b 2097152
d85 -p d70 -o 10485766 -b 2097152
d70 -m d71 d72 1
d71 3 1 c1t3d0s3 \
1 c1t3d0s4 \
1 c1t3d0s5
d72 3 1 c2t3d0s3 \
1 c2t3d0s4 \
1 c2t3d0s5
d123 -p c1t3d0s6 -o 1 -b 204800
d124 -p c1t3d0s6 -o 204802 -b 204800
d125 -p c1t3d0s6 -o 409603 -b 204800
d126 -p c1t3d0s7 -o 3592 -b 20480
d127 -p c2t3d0s7 -o 3592 -b 1433600
hsp010
hsp014 c1t2d0s1 c2t2d0s1
Chapter 4 • Configuring and Using Solaris Volume Manager (Scenario) 49

CHAPTER 5
State Database (Overview)
This chapter provides conceptual information about state database replicas. For
information about performing related tasks, see Chapter 6.

■ “About the Solaris Volume Manager State Database and Replicas” on page 51
■ “Understanding the Majority Consensus Algorithm” on page 52
■ “Background Information for Defining State Database Replicas” on page 53
■ “Handling State Database Replica Errors” on page 55
About the Solaris Volume Manager State

Database and Replicas
The Solaris Volume Manager state database contains configuration and status
information for all volumes, hot spares, and disk sets. Solaris Volume Manager
maintains multiple copies (replicas) of the state database to provide redundancy and
to prevent the database from being corrupted during a system crash (at most, only one
database copy will be corrupted).
The state database replicas ensure that the data in the state database is always valid.
When the state database is updated, each state database replica is also updated. The
updates take place one at a time (to protect against corrupting all updates if the
system crashes).
If your system loses a state database replica, Solaris Volume Manager must figure out
which state database replicas still contain valid data. Solaris Volume Manager
determines this information by using a majority consensus algorithm. This algorithm
requires that a majority (half + 1) of the state database replicas be available and in
agreement before any of them are considered valid. It is because of this majority
51
consensus algorithm that you must create at least three state database replicas when
you set up your disk configuration. A consensus can be reached as long as at least two
of the three state database replicas are available.
During booting, Solaris Volume Manager ignores corrupted state database replicas. In
some cases, Solaris Volume Manager tries to rewrite state database replicas that are
corrupted. Otherwise, they are ignored until you repair them. If a state database
replica becomes corrupted because its underlying slice encountered an error, you will
need to repair or replace the slice and then enable the replica.
If all state database replicas are lost, you could, in theory, lose all data that is stored on
your Solaris Volume Manager volumes. For this reason, it is good practice to create
enough state database replicas on separate drives and across controllers to prevent
catastrophic failure. It is also wise to save your initial Solaris Volume Manager
configuration information, as well as your disk partition information.
See Chapter 6 for information on adding additional state database replicas to the
system, and on recovering when state database replicas are lost.
State database replicas are also used for RAID 1 volume resynchronization regions.
Too few state database replicas relative to the number of mirrors might cause replica
I/O to impact RAID 1 volume performance. That is, if you have a large number of
mirrors, make sure that you have a total of at least two state database replicas per
RAID 1 volume, up to the maximum of 50 replicas per disk set.
Each state database replica occupies 4 Mbytes (8192 disk sectors) of disk storage by
default. Replicas can be stored on the following devices:
■ a dedicated disk partition
■ a partition that will be part of a volume
■ a partition that will be part of a UFS logging device
Note – Replicas cannot be stored on the root (/), swap, or /usr slices, or on slices that
contain existing file systems or data. After the replicas have been stored, volumes or
file systems can be placed on the same slice.
Understanding the Majority Consensus

Algorithm
Replicated databases have an inherent problem in determining which database has
valid and correct data. To solve this problem, Solaris Volume Manager uses a majority
consensus algorithm. This algorithm requires that a majority of the database replicas

agree with each other before any of them are declared valid. This algorithm requires
the presence of at least three initial replicas which you create. A consensus can then be
reached as long as at least two of the three replicas are available. If there is only one
replica and the system crashes, it is possible that all volume configuration data will be
lost.
To protect data, Solaris Volume Manager will not function unless half of all state
database replicas are available. The algorithm, therefore, ensures against corrupt data.
The majority consensus algorithm provides the following:

■ The system will stay running if at least half of the state database replicas are
available.
■ The system will panic if fewer than half of the state database replicas are available.
■ The system will not reboot into multiuser mode unless a majority (half + 1) of the
total number of state database replicas is available.
If insufficient state database replicas are available, you will have to boot into
single-user mode and delete enough of the bad or missing replicas to achieve a
quorum. See “How to Recover From Insufficient State Database Replicas” on page 265.
Note – When the number of state database replicas is odd, Solaris Volume Manager
computes the majority by dividing the number in half, rounding down to the nearest
integer, then adding 1 (one). For example, on a system with seven replicas, the
majority would be four (seven divided by two is three and one-half, rounded down is
three, plus one is four).
Background Information for Defining

State Database Replicas
In general, it is best to distribute state database replicas across slices, drives, and
controllers, to avoid single points-of-failure. You want a majority of replicas to survive
a single component failure. If you lose a replica (for example, due to a device failure),
it might cause problems with running Solaris Volume Manager or when rebooting the
system. Solaris Volume Manager requires at least half of the replicas to be available to
run, but a majority (half plus one) to reboot into multiuser mode.
When you work with state database replicas, consider the following
“Recommendations for State Database Replicas” on page 54 and “Guidelines for
State Database Replicas” on page 54.
Chapter 5 • State Database (Overview) 53

Recommendations for State Database Replicas
■ You should create state database replicas on a dedicated slice of at least 4 Mbytes
per replica. If necessary, you could create state database replicas on a slice that will
be used as part of a RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 5 volume, soft partitions, or
transactional (master or log) volumes. You must create the replicas before you add
the slice to the volume. Solaris Volume Manager reserves the starting part of the
slice for the state database replica.
■ You can create state database replicas on slices that are not in use.
■ You cannot create state database replicas on existing file systems, or the root (/),
/usr, and swap file systems. If necessary, you can create a new slice (provided a
slice name is available) by allocating space from swap and then put state database
replicas on that new slice.
■ A minimum of 3 state database replicas are recommended, up to a maximum of 50
replicas per Solaris Volume Manager disk set. The following guidelines are
recommended:
■ For a system with only a single drive: put all three replicas in one slice.
■ For a system with two to four drives: put two replicas on each drive.
■ For a system with five or more drives: put one replica on each drive.
■ If you have a RAID 1 volume that will be used for small-sized random I/O (as in
for a database), be sure that you have at least two extra replicas per RAID 1 volume
on slices (and preferably disks and controllers)that are unconnected to the RAID 1
volume for best performance.
Guidelines for State Database Replicas

■ You can add additional state database replicas to the system at any time. The
additional state database replicas help ensure Solaris Volume Manager availability.
Caution – If you upgraded from Solstice DiskSuite™to Solaris Volume Manager

and you have state database replicas sharing slices with file systems or logical
volumes (as opposed to on separate slices), do not delete the existing replicas and
replace them with new replicas in the same location.
The default state database replica size in Solaris Volume Manager is 8192 blocks,
while the default size in Solstice DiskSuite was 1034 blocks. If you delete a
default-sized state database replica from Solstice DiskSuite, then add a new
default-sized replica with Solaris Volume Manager, you will overwrite the first
7158 blocks of any file system that occupies the rest of the shared slice, thus
destroying the data.

■ When a state database replica is placed on a slice that becomes part of a volume,
the capacity of the volume is reduced by the space that is occupied by the
replica(s). The space used by a replica is rounded up to the next cylinder boundary
and this space is skipped by the volume.
■ By default, the size of a state database replica is 4 Mbytes or 8192 disk blocks.
Because your disk slices might not be that small, you might want to resize a slice to
hold the state database replica. For information on resizing a slice, see
“Administering Disks (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
■ If multiple controllers exist, replicas should be distributed as evenly as possible
across all controllers. This strategy provides redundancy in case a controller fails
and also helps balance the load. If multiple disks exist on a controller, at least two
of the disks on each controller should store a replica.
Handling State Database Replica Errors

How does Solaris Volume Manager handle failed replicas?
The system will continue to run with at least half of the available replicas. The
system will panic when fewer than half of the replicas are available.
The system can reboot multiuser when at least one more than half of the replicas
are available. If fewer than a majority of replicas are available, you must reboot into
single-user mode and delete the unavailable replicas (by using the metadb
command).
For example, assume you have four replicas. The system will stay running as long
as two replicas (half the total number) are available. However, to reboot the system,
three replicas (half the total plus one) must be available.
In a two-disk configuration, you should always create at least two replicas on each
disk. For example, assume you have a configuration with two disks, and you only
create three replicas (two replicas on the first disk and one replica on the second
disk). If the disk with two replicas fails, the system will panic because the
remaining disk only has one replica and this is less than half the total number of
replicas.
Note – If you create two replicas on each disk in a two-disk configuration, Solaris
Volume Manager will still function if one disk fails. But because you must have one
more than half of the total replicas available for the system to reboot, you will be
unable to reboot.
Chapter 5 • State Database (Overview) 55

What happens if a slice that contains a state database replica fails?
The rest of your configuration should remain in operation. Solaris Volume Manager
finds a valid state database during boot (as long as there are at least half plus one
valid state database replicas).
What happens when state database replicas are repaired?
When you manually repair or enable state database replicas, Solaris Volume
Manager updates them with valid data.
Scenario—State Database Replicas

State database replicas provide redundant data about the overall Solaris Volume
Manager configuration. The following example, drawing on the sample system
provided in Chapter 4, describes how state database replicas can be distributed to
provide adequate redundancy.
The sample system has one internal IDE controller and drive, plus two SCSI
controllers, which each have six disks attached. With three controllers, the system can
be configured to avoid any single point-of-failure. Any system with only two
controllers cannot avoid a single point-of-failure relative to Solaris Volume Manager.
By distributing replicas evenly across all three controllers and across at least one disk
on each controller (across two disks if possible), the system can withstand any single
hardware failure.
A minimal configuration could put a single state database replica on slice 7 of the root
disk, then an additional replica on slice 7 of one disk on each of the other two
controllers. To help protect against the admittedly remote possibility of media failure,
using two replicas on the root disk and then two replicas on two different disks on
each controller, for a total of six replicas, provides more than adequate security.
To round out the total, add 2 additional replicas for each of the 6 mirrors, on different
disks than the mirrors. This configuration results in a total of 18 replicas with 2 on the
root disk and 8 on each of the SCSI controllers, distributed across the disks on each
controller.

CHAPTER 6
State Database (Tasks)
This chapter provides information about performing tasks that are associated with
Solaris Volume Manager state database replicas. For information about the concepts
involved in these tasks, see Chapter 5.
State Database Replicas (Task Map)

The following task map identifies the procedures needed to manage Solaris Volume
Manager state database replicas.
Task Description Instructions
Create state database Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create State
replicas or the metadb -a command to create Database Replicas”
state database replicas. on page 58
Check the status of state Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Check the Status
database replicas or the metadb command to check the of State Database Replicas”
status of existing replicas. on page 60
Delete state database Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Delete State
replicas. or the metadb -d command to delete Database Replicas”
state database replicas. on page 61
57
Creating State Database Replicas
Caution – If you upgraded from Solstice DiskSuite™to Solaris Volume Manager and
you have state database replicas sharing slices with file systems or logical volumes (as
opposed to on separate slices), do not delete existing replicas and replace them with
new default replicas in the same location.
The default state database replica size in Solaris Volume Manager is 8192 blocks, while
the default size in Solstice DiskSuite was 1034 blocks. If you delete a default-sized
state database replica from Solstice DiskSuite, and then add a new default-sized
replica with Solaris Volume Manager, you will overwrite the first 7158 blocks of any
file system that occupies the rest of the shared slice, thus destroying the data.
▼ How to Create State Database Replicas

1. Check “Prerequisites for Creating Solaris Volume Manager Elements” on page 46.
2. To create state database replicas, use one of the following methods:

■ From the Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris Management Console, open the
State Database Replicas node. Choose Action->Create Replicas and follow the
instructions. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metadb command. See the metadb(1M) man page
for more information.
metadb -a -c n -l nnnn -f ctds-of-slice
■ -a specifies to add a state database replica.

■ -f specifies to force the operation, even if no replicas exist.
■ -c n specifies the number of replicas to add to the specified slice.
■ -l nnnn specifies the size of the new replicas, in blocks.
■ ctds-of-slice specifies the name of the component that will hold the replica.
Use the -f flag to force the addition of the initial replicas.
Note – The metadb command without options reports the status of all replicas.

Example—Creating the First State Database Replica
# metadb -a -f c0t0d0s7
# metadb
flags first blk block count
...
a u 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
The -a option adds the additional state database replica to the system, and the -f
option forces the creation of the first replica (and may be omitted when you add
supplemental replicas to the system).
Example—Adding Two State Database Replicas to the

Same Slice
# metadb -a -c 2 c1t3d0s1
# metadb
...
a u 8208 8192 /dev/dsk/c1t3d0s1
The -a option adds additional state database replicas to the system. The -c 2 option
places two replicas on the specified slice. The metadb command checks that the
replicas are active, as indicated by the -a.
You can also specify the size of the state database replica with the -l option, followed
by the number of blocks. However, the default size of 8192 should be appropriate for
virtually all configurations, including those configurations with thousands of logical
volumes.
Example—Adding State Database Replicas of Specific Size

If you are replacing existing state database replicas, you might need to specify a
replica size. Particularly if you have existing state database replicas (on a system
upgraded from Solstice DiskSuite, perhaps) that share a slice with a file system, you
must replace existing replicas with other replicas of the same size or add new replicas
in a different location.
Caution – Do not replace default-sized (1034 block) state database replicas from
Solstice DiskSuite with default-sized Solaris Volume Manager replicas on a slice
shared with a file system. If you do, the new replicas will overwrite the beginning of
your file system and corrupt it.
# metadb -a -c 3 -l 1034 c0t0d0s7

# metadb
Chapter 6 • State Database (Tasks) 59

...
a u 1050 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
a u 2084 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
The -a option adds the additional state database replica to the system, and the -l
option specifies the length in blocks of the replica to add.
Maintaining State Database Replicas
▼ How to Check the Status of State Database Replicas

● To check the status of state database replicas, use one of the following methods:
State Database Replicas node to view all existing state database replicas. For more
information, see the online help.
■ Use the metadb command to view the status of state database replicas. Add the -i
option to display a key to the status flags. See the metadb(1M) man page for more
information.
Example—Checking the Status of All State Database

Replicas
# metadb -i
a m p luo 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
a p luo 8208 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
W p l 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c2t3d0s1
r - replica does not have device relocation information
o - replica active prior to last mddb configuration change
u - replica is up to date
l - locator for this replica was read successfully
c - replica’s location was in /etc/lvm/mddb.cf
p - replica’s location was patched in kernel
m - replica is master, this is replica selected as input
W - replica has device write errors

a - replica is active, commits are occurring to this replica
M - replica had problem with master blocks
D - replica had problem with data blocks
F - replica had format problems
S - replica is too small to hold current data base
R - replica had device read errors
A legend of all the flags follows the status. The characters in front of the device name
represent the status. Uppercase letters indicate a problem status. Lowercase letters
indicate an “Okay” status.
How to Delete State Database Replicas

You might need to delete state database replicas to maintain your Solaris Volume
Manager configuration. For example, if you will be replacing disk drives, you would
want to delete the state database replicas before you remove the drives so they are not
considered to have errors by Solaris Volume Manager.
▼ How to Delete State Database Replicas

● To remove state database replicas, use one of the following methods:
State Database Replicas node to view all existing state database replicas. Select
replicas to delete, then choose Edit->Delete to remove them. For more information,
see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metadb command:
metadb -d -f ctds-of-slice
■ -d specifies to delete a state database replica.

■ -f specifies to force the operation, even if no replicas exist.
■ ctds-of-slice specifies the name of the component that holds the replica.
Note that you need to specify each slice from which you want to remove the state
database replica. See the metadb(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Deleting State Database Replicas

# metadb -d -f c0t0d0s7
This example shows the last replica being deleted from a slice.
Note – You must add a -f option to force deletion of the last replica on the system.
Chapter 6 • State Database (Tasks) 61

CHAPTER 7
RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation)

Volumes (Overview)
This chapter describes RAID 0 volumes (both stripes and concatenations) that are
available in Solaris Volume Manager. For information about related tasks, see
Chapter 8.
This chapter provides the following information:

■ “Overview of RAID 0 Volumes” on page 63
■ “Background Information for Creating RAID 0 Volumes” on page 70
■ “Scenario—RAID 0 Volumes” on page 71
Overview of RAID 0 Volumes

RAID 0 volumes, including both stripes and concatenations, are composed of slices or
soft partitions and enable you to expand disk storage capacity. They can be used either
directly or as the building blocks for RAID 1 (mirror) volumes, transactional volumes,
and soft partitions. There are three kinds of RAID 0 volumes:
■ Striped volumes (or stripes)
■ Concatenated volumes (or concatenations)
■ Concatenated striped volumes (or concatenated stripes)
Note – A component refers to any devices, from slices to soft partitions, used in another
logical volume.
A stripe spreads data equally across all components in the stripe, while a concatenated
volume writes data to the first available component until it is full, then moves to the
next available component. A concatenated stripe is simply a stripe that has been
expanded from its original configuration by adding additional components.
63
RAID 0 volumes allow you to quickly and simply expand disk storage capacity. The
drawback is that these volumes do not provide any data redundancy, unlike RAID 1
or RAID 5 volumes. If a single component fails on a RAID 0 volume, data is lost.
You can use a RAID 0 volume containing a single slice for any file system.
You can use a RAID 0 volume that contains multiple components for any file system
except the following:
■ root (/)
■ /usr
■ swap
■ /var
■ /opt
■ Any file system that is accessed during an operating system upgrade or installation
Note – When you mirror root (/), /usr, swap, /var, or /opt, you put the file system
into a one-way concatenation or stripe (a concatenation of a single slice) that acts as a
submirror. This one-way concatenation is mirrored by another submirror, which must
also be a concatenation.
RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume

A RAID 0 (stripe) volume is a volume that arranges data across one or more
components. Striping alternates equally-sized segments of data across two or more
components, forming one logical storage unit. These segments are interleaved
round-robin, so that the combined space is made alternately from each component, in
effect, shuffled like a deck of cards.
Striping enables multiple controllers to access data at the same time, which is also
called parallel access. Parallel access can increase I/O throughput because all disks in
the volume are busy most of the time servicing I/O requests.
An existing file system cannot be converted directly to a stripe. To place an existing

file system on a stripe, you must back up the file system, create the stripe, then restore
the file system to the stripe.
For sequential I/O operations on a stripe, Solaris Volume Manager reads all the blocks
in a segment of blocks (called an interlace) on the first component, then all the blocks in
a segment of blocks on the second component, and so forth.
For sequential I/O operations on a concatenation, Solaris Volume Manager reads all
the blocks on the first component, then all the blocks of the second component, and so
forth.

On both a concatenation and a stripe, all I/O occurs in parallel.
Interlace Values for Stripes

An interlace is the size, in Kbytes, Mbytes, or blocks, of the logical data segments on a
stripe. Depending on the application, different interlace values can increase
performance for your configuration. The performance increase comes from having
several disk arms doing I/O. When the I/O request is larger than the interlace size,
you might get better performance.
Note – RAID 5 volumes also use an interlace value. See “Overview of RAID 5
Volumes” on page 131 for more information.
When you create a stripe, you can set the interlace value or use the Solaris Volume
Manager default interlace value of 16 Kbytes. Once you have created the stripe, you
cannot change the interlace value. However, you could back up the data on it, delete
the stripe, create a new stripe with a new interlace value, and then restore the data.
Scenario—RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume

Figure 7–1 shows a stripe that is built from three components (disks).
When Solaris Volume Manager stripes data from the volume to the components, it
writes data from chunk 1 to Disk A, from chunk 2 to Disk B, and from chunk 3 to Disk
C. Solaris Volume Manager then writes chunk 4 to Disk A, chunk 5 to Disk B, chunk 6
to Disk C, and so forth.
The interlace value sets the size of each chunk. The total capacity of the stripe d2
equals the number of components multiplied by the size of the smallest component. (If
each slice in the following example were 2 Gbytes, d2 would equal 6 Gbytes.)
Chapter 7 • RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation) Volumes (Overview) 65

interlace 1
Physical interlace 4
Slice A
RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume
interlace 1
interlace 2 interlace 2
Physical interlace 5 Solaris Volume interlace 3

Slice B Manager interlace 4
interlace 5
interlace 6
interlace 3
Slice C
FIGURE 7–1 Stripe Example
RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volume

A concatenated volume, or concatenation, is a volume whose data is organized serially
and adjacently across components, forming one logical storage unit.
Use a concatenation to get more storage capacity by combining the capacities of

several components. You can add more components to the concatenation as the
demand for storage grows.
A concatenation enables you to dynamically expand storage capacity and file system
sizes online. With a concatenation you can add components even if the other
components are currently active.
Note – To increase the capacity of a stripe, you need to build a concatenated stripe. See
“RAID 0 (Concatenated Stripe) Volume” on page 67.
A concatenation can also expand any active and mounted UFS file system without
having to bring down the system. In general, the total capacity of a concatenation is
equal to the total size of all the components in the concatenation. If a concatenation
contains a slice with a state database replica, the total capacity of the concatenation
would be the sum of the components minus the space that is reserved for the replica.

You can also create a concatenation from a single component. Later, when you need
more storage, you can add more components to the concatenation.
Note – You must use a concatenation to encapsulate root (/), swap, /usr, /opt, or
/var when mirroring these file systems.
Scenario—RAID 0 (Concatenation)
Figure 7–2 illustrates a concatenation that is made of three components (slices).
The data blocks, or chunks, are written sequentially across the components, beginning
with Disk A. Disk A can be envisioned as containing logical chunks 1 through 4.
Logical chunk 5 would be written to Disk B, which would contain logical chunks 5
through 8. Logical chunk 9 would be written to Drive C, which would contain chunks
9 through 12. The total capacity of volume d1 would be the combined capacities of the
three drives. If each drive were 2 Gbytes, volume d1 would have an overall capacity
of 6 Gbytes.
interlace 1
Slice A interlace 3
RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volume
interlace 4
interlace 1
interlace 6 Solaris Volume ...
Physical
Slice B interlace 7 Manager ...
interlace 8 ...
interlace 12
interlace 9
Slice C interlace 11
interlace 12
FIGURE 7–2 Concatenation Example
RAID 0 (Concatenated Stripe) Volume

A concatenated stripe is a stripe that has been expanded by adding additional
components (stripes).

To set the interlace value for a concatenated stripe, at the stripe level, use either the
Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris Management Console, or the metattach -i
command. Each stripe within the concatenated stripe can have its own interlace value.
When you create a concatenated stripe from scratch, if you do not specify an interlace
value for a particular stripe, it inherits the interlace value from the stripe before it.
Example—RAID 0 (Concatenated Stripe) Volume

Figure 7–3 illustrates that d10 is a concatenation of three stripes.
The first stripe consists of three slices, Slice A through C, with an interlace value of 16
Kbytes. The second stripe consists of two slices Slice D and E, and uses an interlace
value of 32 Kbytes. The last stripe consists of a two slices, Slice F and G. Because no
interlace value is specified for the third stripe, it inherits the value from the stripe
before it, which in this case is 32 Kbytes. Sequential data chunks are addressed to the
first stripe until that stripe has no more space. Chunks are then addressed to the
second stripe. When this stripe has no more space, chunks are addressed to the third
stripe. Within each stripe, the data chunks are interleaved according to the specified
interlace value.

interlace 1
Slice A interlace 7
interlace 10
interlace 2
interlace 5
Stripe Physical
Slice B interlace 8
interlace 11
interlace 3
RAID 0 Volume
Slice C interlace 1
interlace 9
interlace 2
interlace 12
interlace 3
Physical interlace 15 interlace 5

Slice D interlace 17 interlace 6
Solaris Volume
interlace 19 Manager interlace 7
Stripe
interlace 8
interlace 14
interlace 9
Slice E interlace 10
interlace 18
...
interlace 20
interlace 28
interlace 21
Slice F interlace 25
interlace 27
Stripe
interlace 22
Slice G interlace 26
interlace 28
FIGURE 7–3 Concatenated Stripe Example

Background Information for Creating
RAID 0 Volumes
Requirements for Stripes and Concatenations

When you are working with RAID 0 volumes, consider the following:
■ Use components that are each on different controllers to increase the number of
simultaneous reads and writes that can be performed.
■ Do not create a stripe from an existing file system or data. Doing so will destroy
data. Instead, use a concatenation. (You can create a stripe from existing data, but
you must dump and restore the data to the volume.)
■ Use the same size disk components for stripes. Striping different sized components
results in wasted disk space.
■ Set up a stripe’s interlace value to better match the I/O requests made by the
system or applications.
■ Because a stripe or concatenation does not contain replicated data, when such a
volume has a component failure you must replace the component, re-create the
stripe or concatenation, and restore data from a backup.
■ When you recreate a stripe or concatenation, use a replacement component that has
at least the same size as the failed component.
Guidelines for Stripes and Concatenations

■ Concatenation uses less CPU cycles than striping and performs well for small
random I/O and for even I/O distribution.
■ When possible, distribute the components of a stripe or concatenation across
different controllers and busses. Using stripes that are each on different controllers
increases the number of simultaneous reads and writes that can be performed.
■ If a stripe is defined on a failing controller and there is another available controller
on the system, you can “move” the stripe to the new controller by moving the
disks to the controller and redefining the stripe.
■ Number of stripes: Another way of looking at striping is to first determine the
performance requirements. For example, you might need 10.4 Mbyte/sec
performance for a selected application, and each disk might deliver approximately
4 Mbyte/sec. Based on this formula, then determine how many disk spindles you
need to stripe across:
10.4 Mbyte/sec / 4 Mbyte/sec = 2.6

Therefore, you need 3 disks capable of performing I/O in parallel.
Scenario—RAID 0 Volumes
RAID 0 volumes provide the fundamental building blocks for aggregating storage or
building mirrors. The following example, drawing on the sample system explained in
Chapter 4, describes how RAID 0 volumes can provide larger storage spaces and
allow you to construct a mirror of existing file systems, including root (/).
The sample system has a collection of relatively small (9 Gbyte) disks, and it is entirely
possible that specific applications would require larger storage spaces. To create larger
spaces (and improve performance), the system administrator can create a stripe that
spans multiple disks. For example, each of c1t1d0, c1t2d0, c1t3d0 and c2t1d0,
c2t2d0, c2t3d0 could be formatted with a slice 0 that spans the entire disk. Then, a
stripe including all three of the disks from the same controller could provide
approximately 27Gbytes of storage and allow faster access. The second stripe, from the
second controller, can be used for redundancy, as described in Chapter 10 and
specifically in the “Scenario—RAID 1 Volumes (Mirrors)” on page 90.

CHAPTER 8
RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation)

Volumes (Tasks)
This chapter contains information about tasks related to RAID 0 volumes. For
information about related concepts, see Chapter 7.
RAID 0 Volumes (Task Map)

Manager RAID 0 volumes.
Create RAID 0 (stripe) Use the metainit command to create “How to Create a RAID 0
volumes a new volume. (Stripe) Volume”
on page 74
Create RAID 0 Use the metainit command to create “How to Create a RAID 0
(concatenation) volumes a new volume. (Concatenation) Volume”
on page 75
Expand storage space Use the metainit command to “How to Expand Space for
expand an existing file system. Existing Data” on page 76
Expand an existing Use the metattach command to “How to Expand an

volume expand an existing volume. Existing RAID 0 Volume”
on page 78
Remove a RAID 0 Use the metaclear command to “How to Remove a

volume delete a volume. Volume” on page 79
73
Creating RAID 0 (Stripe) Volumes
Caution – Do not create a stripe from an existing file system or data. Doing so will
destroy data. To create a stripe from existing data, you must dump and restore the
data to the volume.
▼ How to Create a RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume

1. Check “Prerequisites for Creating Solaris Volume Manager Elements” on page 46
and “Background Information for Creating RAID 0 Volumes” on page 70.
2. To create the stripe, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node. Choose Action->Create Volume, then follow the instructions in the
wizard. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metainit command:
metainit {volume-name} {number-of-stripes} {components-per-stripe}
{component-names…} [-i interlace-value]
■ volume-name is the name of the volume to create.
■ number-of-stripes specifies the number of stripes to create.
■ components-per-stripe specifies the number of components each stripe should
have.
■ component-names specifies the names of the components that will be used.
■ -iwidth specifies the interlace width to use for the stripe.
See the following examples and the metainit(1M) man page for more
information.
Example—Creating a Stripe of Three Slices

# metainit d20 1 3 c0t1d0s2 c0t2d0s2 c0t3d0s2
d20: Concat/Stripe is setup
The stripe, d20, consists of a single stripe (the number 1) that is made of three slices
(the number 3). Because no interlace value is specified, the stripe uses the default of 16
Kbytes. The system confirms that the volume has been set up.

Example—Creating a RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume of Two
Slices With a 32–Kbyte Interlace Value
# metainit d10 1 2 c0t1d0s2 c0t2d0s2 -i 32k
The stripe, d10, consists of a single stripe (the number 1) that is made of two slices
(the number 2). The -i option sets the interlace value to 32 Kbytes. (The interlace
value cannot be less than 8 Kbytes, nor greater than 100 Mbytes.) The system verifies
that the volume has been set up.
Where to Go From Here

To prepare the newly created stripe for a file system, see “Creating File Systems
(Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. An application, such as a
database, that uses the raw device must have its own way of accessing the raw device.
Creating RAID 0 (Concatenation)

Volumes
▼ How to Create a RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volume

2. To create the concatenation use one of the following methods:

metainit {volume-name} {number-of-stripes} { [components-per-stripe] |
[component-names]…}
have.
■ component-names specifies the names of the components that will be used.
Chapter 8 • RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation) Volumes (Tasks) 75

For more information, see the following examples and the metainit(1M) man
page.
Example—Creating a Concatenation of One Slice

# metainit d25 1 1 c0t1d0s2
This example shows the creation of a concatenation, d25, that consists of one stripe
(the first number 1) made of a single slice (the second number 1 in front of the slice).
The system verifies that the volume has been set up.
Note – This example shows a concatenation that can safely encapsulate existing data.
Example—Creating a Concatenation of Four Slices

# metainit d40 4 1 c0t1d0s2 1 c0t2d0s2 1 c0t2d0s3 1 c0t2d1s3
This example creates a concatenation called d40 that consists of four “stripes” (the
number 4), each made of a single slice (the number 1 in front of each slice). The system
verifies that the volume has been set up.

To prepare the newly created concatenation for a file system, see “Creating File
Systems (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
Expanding Storage Space

To add space to a file system, create a concatenation. To add space to an existing stripe,
create a concatenated stripe.
▼ How to Expand Space for Existing Data

2. Unmount the file system.

# umount /filesystem
3. To create a concatenation, use one of the following methods:

metainit {volume-name} {number-of-stripes} { [components-per-stripe] |
[component-names]…}
have.
■ components specifies the names of the components that will be used.
For more information, see the metainit(1M) man page.
4. Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the file system references the name of the
concatenation.
5. Remount the file system.

# mount /filesystem
Example—Expanding a File System By Creating a

Concatenation
# umount /docs
# metainit d25 2 1 c0t1d0s2 1 c0t2d0s2
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the file system references the volume d25 instead of slice c0t1d0s2)
# mount /docs
This example shows the creation of a concatenation called d25 out of two slices,
/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s2 (which contains a file system mounted on /docs) and
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2. The file system must first be unmounted.
Caution – The first slice in the metainit command must be the slice that contains the
file system. If not, you will corrupt your data.
Next, the entry for the file system in the /etc/vfstab file is changed (or entered for
the first time) to reference the concatenation. For example, the following line:
/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s2 /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2 /docs ufs 2 yes -

should be changed to:
/dev/md/dsk/d25 /dev/md/rdsk/d25 /docs ufs 2 yes -
Finally, the file system is remounted.

For a UFS file system, run the growfs command on the concatenation. See “How to
Grow a File System” on page 229.
An application, such as a database, that uses the raw concatenation must have its own
way of recognizing the concatenation, or of growing the added space.
▼ How to Expand an Existing RAID 0 Volume

A concatenated stripe enables you to expand an existing stripe. For example, if a stripe
has run out of space, you can make it into a concatenated stripe, and expand it
without having to back up and restore data.
This procedure assumes that you are adding an additional stripe to an existing stripe.

2. To create a concatenated stripe, use one of the following methods:

■ To concatenate existing stripes from the command line, use the following form of
the metattach command:
metattach {volume-name} {component-names…}
■ volume-name is the name of the volume to expand.
■ components specifies the names of the components that will be used.
See “Example—Creating a Concatenated Stripe By Attaching a Single Slice”

on page 78, “Example—Creating a Concatenated Stripe By Adding Several Slices”
on page 79, and the metattach(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Creating a Concatenated Stripe By Attaching a

Single Slice
# metattach d2 c1t2d0s2
d2: components are attached

This example illustrates how to attach a slice to an existing stripe, d2. The system
confirms that the slice is attached.
Example—Creating a Concatenated Stripe By Adding

Several Slices
# metattach d25 c1t2d0s2 c1t2d1s2 c1t2d3s2
This example takes an existing three-way stripe, d25, and concatenates another
three-way stripe. Because no interlace value is given for the attached slices, they
inherit the interlace value configured for d25. The system verifies that the volume has
been set up.
Where To Go From Here

For a UFS, run the growfs command on the volume. See “How to Grow a File
System” on page 229.
An application, such as a database, that uses the raw volume must have its own way
of recognizing the volume, or of growing the added space.
To prepare a newly created concatenated stripe for a file system, see “Creating File
Systems (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
Removing a Volume
▼ How to Remove a Volume

1. Make sure you have a current backup of all data and that you have root privilege.
2. Make sure you no longer need the volume.

If you delete a stripe or concatenation and reuse the slices that were part of the deleted
volume, all data on the volume is gone from the system.
3. Unmount the file system, if needed.

4. To remove a volume, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node. Choose Edit->Delete, then follow the instructions. For more
■ Use the following format of the metaclear command to delete the volume:
metaclear {volume-name}
See the following example and the metaclear(1M) man page for more
information.
Example—Removing a Concatenation
# umount d8
# metaclear d8
d8: Concat/Stripe is cleared
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file)
This example illustrated clearing the concatenation d8 that also contains a mounted
file system. The file system must be unmounted before the volume can be cleared. The
system displays a confirmation message that the concatenation is cleared. If there is an
entry in the /etc/vfstab file for this volume, delete that entry. You do not want to
confuse the system by asking it to mount a file system on a nonexistent volume.

CHAPTER 9
RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Overview)
This chapter explains essential Solaris Volume Manager concepts related to mirrors
and submirrors. For information about performing related tasks, see Chapter 10.

■ “Overview of RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes” on page 81
■ “RAID 1 Volume (Mirror) Resynchronization” on page 87
■ “Background Information for RAID 1 Volumes” on page 88
■ “How Booting Into Single-User Mode Affects RAID 1 Volumes” on page 90
Overview of RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes

A RAID 1 volume, or mirror, is a volume that maintains identical copies of the data in
RAID 0 (stripe or concatenation) volumes. Mirroring requires an investment in disks.
You need at least twice as much disk space as the amount of data you have to mirror.
Because Solaris Volume Manager must write to all submirrors, mirroring can also
increase the amount of time it takes for write requests to be written to disk.
After you configure a mirror, it can be used just as if it were a physical slice.
You can mirror any file system, including existing file systems. You can also use a
mirror for any application, such as a database.
Tip – Use Solaris Volume Manager’s hot spare feature with mirrors to keep data safe
and available. For information on hot spares, see Chapter 15 and Chapter 16.
81
Overview of Submirrors
The RAID 0 volumes that are mirrored are called submirrors. A mirror is made of one or
more RAID 0 volumes (stripes or concatenations).
A mirror can consist of up to three submirrors. Practically, a two-way mirror is usually

sufficient. A third submirror enables you to make online backups without losing data
redundancy while one submirror is offline for the backup.
If you take a submirror “offline,” the mirror stops reading and writing to the
submirror. At this point, you could access the submirror itself, for example, to perform
a backup. However, the submirror is in a read-only state. While a submirror is offline,
Solaris Volume Manager keeps track of all writes to the mirror. When the submirror is
brought back online, only the portions of the mirror that were written while the
submirror was offline (resynchronization regions) are resynchronized. Submirrors can
also be taken offline to troubleshoot or repair physical devices which have errors.
Submirrors can be attached or detached from a mirror at any time, though at least one
submirror must remain attached at all times.
Normally, you create a mirror with only a single submirror. Then, you attach a second
submirror after you create the mirror.
Scenario—RAID 1 (Mirror) Volume

Figure 9–1 illustrates a mirror, d2, that is made of two volumes (submirrors) d20 and
d21.
Solaris Volume Manager software makes duplicate copies of the data on multiple
physical disks, and presents one virtual disk to the application. All disk writes are
duplicated; disk reads come from one of the underlying submirrors. The total capacity
of mirror d2 is the size of the smallest of the submirrors (if they are not of equal size).

d21
interlace 1
interlace 2
RAID 1 Volume d20
interlace 3
interlace 1
interlace 4
Solaris Volume interlace 2
d22 Manager interlace 3
interlace 1
interlace 4
interlace 2
interlace 3
interlace 4
FIGURE 9–1 Mirror Example
Providing RAID 1+0 and RAID 0+1

Solaris Volume Manager supports both RAID 1+0 (which is like having mirrors that
are then striped) and RAID 0+1 (stripes that are then mirrored) redundancy,
depending on the context. The Solaris Volume Manager interface makes it appear that
all RAID 1 devices are strictly RAID 0+1, but Solaris Volume Manager recognizes the
underlying components and mirrors each individually, when possible.
Note – Solaris Volume Manager cannot always provide RAID 1+0 functionality.
However, in a best practices environment, where both submirrors are identical to each
other and are made up of disk slices (and not soft partitions), RAID 1+0 will be
possible.
For example, with a pure RAID 0+1 implementation and a two-way mirror that
consists of three striped slices, a single slice failure could fail one side of the mirror.
And, assuming that no hot spares were in use, a second slice failure would fail the
mirror. Using Solaris Volume Manager, up to three slices could potentially fail without
failing the mirror, because each of the three striped slices are individually mirrored to
their counterparts on the other half of the mirror.
Consider this example:
Chapter 9 • RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Overview) 83

(Submirror 1) Physical Physical Physical
Slice A Slice B Slice C
RAID 1 Volume
(Submirror 2) Physical Physical Physical

Slice D Slice E Slice F
FIGURE 9–2 RAID 1+ 0 Example
Mirror d1 consists of two submirrors, each of which consists of three identical physical
disks and the same interlace value. A failure of three disks, A, B, and F can be tolerated
because the entire logical block range of the mirror is still contained on at least one
good disk.
If, however, disks A and D fail, a portion of the mirror’s data is no longer available on
any disk and access to these logical blocks will fail.
When a portion of a mirror’s data is unavailable due to multiple slice errors, access to
portions of the mirror where data is still available will succeed. Under this situation,
the mirror acts like a single disk that has developed bad blocks. The damaged portions
are unavailable, but the rest is available.
Frequently Asked Questions About RAID 1

(Mirror) Volumes
Why would I use a mirror?
For maximum data availability. The trade-off is that a mirror requires twice the
number of slices (disks) as the amount of data to be mirrored.
How many submirrors can a mirror contain?
Solaris Volume Manager allows you to create up to a three-way mirror (a mirror of
three submirrors). However, two-way mirrors usually provide sufficient data
redundancy for most applications, and are less expensive in terms of disk drive
costs.
Why should I create a one-way mirror then attach additional submirrors?
If you have existing data that you are mirroring, you must create the primary
submirror, then attach additional submirrors so they can be updated with the data
that is contained in the primary submirror.

When should I create a two-way or three-way mirror with a single command?
If you have no existing data that you are mirroring and you are comfortable
destroying all data on all submirrors, you can speed the creation process by
creating all submirrors with a single command.
RAID 1 Volume Configuration Guidelines

■ Keep the slices of different submirrors on different disks and controllers. Data
protection is diminished considerably if slices of two or more submirrors of the
same mirror are on the same disk. Likewise, organize submirrors across separate
controllers, because controllers and associated cables tends to fail more often than
disks. This practice also improves mirror performance.
■ Use the same type of disks and controllers in a single mirror. Particularly in old
SCSI storage devices, different models or brands of disk or controller can have
widely varying performance. Mixing the different performance levels in a single
mirror can cause performance to degrade significantly.
■ Use the same size submirrors. Submirrors of different sizes result in unused disk
space.
■ Only mount the mirror device directly. Do not try to mount a submirror directly,
unless it is offline and mounted read-only. Do not mount a slice that is part of a
submirror. This process could destroy data and crash the system.
■ Mirroring might improve read performance, but write performance is always
degraded. Mirroring improves read performance only in threaded or asynchronous
I/O situations. No performance gain results if there is only a single thread reading
from the volume.
■ Experimenting with the mirror read policies can improve performance. For
example, the default read mode is to alternate reads in a round-robin fashion
among the disks. This policy is the default because it tends to work best for UFS
multiuser, multiprocess activity.
In some cases, the geometric read option improves performance by minimizing
head motion and access time. This option is most effective when there is only one
slice per disk, when only one process at a time is using the slice/file system, and
when I/O patterns are highly sequential or when all accesses are read.
To change mirror options, see “How to Change RAID 1 Volume Options”
on page 110.
■ Use the swap -l command to check for all swap devices. Each slice that is
specified as swap must be mirrored independently from the remaining swap slices.
■ Use only similarly configured submirrors within a mirror. In particular, if you
create a mirror with an unlabeled submirror, you will be unable to attach any
submirrors that contain disk labels.

RAID 1 Volume Options
The following options are available to optimize mirror performance:
■ Mirror read policy
■ Mirror write policy
■ The order in which mirrors are resynchronized (pass number)
You can define mirror options when you initially create the mirror, or after a mirror
has been set up. For tasks related to changing these options, see “How to Change
RAID 1 Volume Options” on page 110.
RAID 1 Volume Read and Write Policies

Solaris Volume Manager enables different read and write policies to be configured for
a mirror. Properly set read and write policies can improve performance for a given
configuration.
TABLE 9–1 Mirror Read Policies
Read Policy Description
Round Robin Attempts to balance the load across the submirrors. All reads are made
(Default) in a round-robin order (one after another) from all submirrors in a
mirror.
Geometric Enables reads to be divided among submirrors on the basis of a logical

disk block address. For instance, with a two-way submirror, the disk
space on the mirror is divided into two equally-sized logical address
ranges. Reads from one submirror are restricted to one half of the logical
range, and reads from the other submirror are restricted to the other
half. The geometric read policy effectively reduces the seek time
necessary for reads. The performance gained by this mode depends on
the system I/O load and the access patterns of the applications.
First Directs all reads to the first submirror. This policy should be used only
when the device or devices that comprise the first submirror are
substantially faster than those of the second submirror.
TABLE 9–2 Mirror Write Policies
Write Policy Description
Parallel (Default) A write to a mirror is replicated and dispatched to all of the submirrors
simultaneously.

TABLE 9–2 Mirror Write Policies (Continued)
Write Policy Description
Serial Performs writes to submirrors serially (that is, the first submirror write
completes before the second is started). The serial option specifies that
writes to one submirror must complete before the next submirror write
is initiated. The serial option is provided in case a submirror becomes
unreadable, for example, due to a power failure.
RAID 1 Volume (Mirror)

Resynchronization
RAID 1 volume (mirror) resynchronization is the process of copying data from one
submirror to another after submirror failures, system crashes, when a submirror has
been taken offline and brought back online, or after the addition of a new submirror.
While the resynchronization takes place, the mirror remains readable and writable by
users.
A mirror resynchronization ensures proper mirror operation by maintaining all

submirrors with identical data, with the exception of writes in progress.
Note – A mirror resynchronization is mandatory, and cannot be omitted. You do not

need to manually initiate a mirror resynchronization. This process occurs
automatically.
Full Resynchronization
When a new submirror is attached (added) to a mirror, all the data from another
submirror in the mirror is automatically written to the newly attached submirror. Once
the mirror resynchronization is done, the new submirror is readable. A submirror
remains attached to a mirror until it is explicitly detached.
If the system crashes while a resynchronization is in progress, the resynchronization is

restarted when the system finishes rebooting.

Optimized Resynchronization
During a reboot following a system failure, or when a submirror that was offline is
brought back online, Solaris Volume Manager performs an optimized mirror
resynchronization. The metadisk driver tracks submirror regions and knows which
submirror regions might be out-of-sync after a failure. An optimized mirror
resynchronization is performed only on the out-of-sync regions. You can specify the
order in which mirrors are resynchronized during reboot, and you can omit a mirror
resynchronization by setting submirror pass numbers to 0 (zero). (See “Pass Number”
on page 88 for information.)
Caution – A pass number of 0 (zero) should only be used on mirrors that are mounted
as read-only.
Partial Resynchronization
Following a replacement of a slice within a submirror, Solaris Volume Manager
performs a partial mirror resynchronization of data. Solaris Volume Manager copies the
data from the remaining good slices of another submirror to the replaced slice.
Pass Number
The pass number, a number in the range 0–9, determines the order in which a
particular mirror is resynchronized during a system reboot. The default pass number
is 1. Smaller pass numbers are resynchronized first. If 0 is used, the mirror
resynchronization is skipped. A pass number of 0 should be used only for mirrors that
are mounted as read-only. Mirrors with the same pass number are resynchronized at
the same time.
Background Information for RAID 1

Volumes
■ Unmirroring – The Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris Management Console
does not support unmirroring root (/), /opt, /usr, or swap, or any other file
system that cannot be unmounted while the system is running. Instead, use the
command-line procedure for these file systems.

■ Attaching – You can attach a submirror to a mirror without interrupting service.
You attach submirrors to mirrors to create two-way and three-way mirrors.
■ Detach vs. Offline – When you place a submirror offline, you prevent the mirror
from reading from and writing to the submirror, but you preserve the submirror’s
logical association to the mirror. While the submirror is offline, Solaris Volume
Manager keeps track of all writes to the mirror and they are written to the
submirror when it is brought back online. By performing an optimized
resynchronization, Solaris Volume Manager only has to resynchronize data that has
changed, not the entire submirror. When you detach a submirror, you sever its
logical association to the mirror. Typically, you place a submirror offline to perform
maintenance. You detach a submirror to remove it.
Background Information for Creating RAID 1

Volumes
■ Before you create a mirror, create the RAID 0 (stripe or concatenation) volumes that
will make up the mirror.
■ Any file system including root (/), swap, and /usr, or any application such as a
database, can use a mirror.
Caution – When you create a mirror for an existing file system, be sure that the
initial submirror contains the existing file system.
■ When creating a mirror, first create a one-way mirror, then attach a second
submirror. This strategy starts a resynchronization operation and ensures that data
is not corrupted.
■ You can create a one-way mirror for a future two-way or three-way mirror.
■ You can create up to a three-way mirror. However, two-way mirrors usually
provide sufficient data redundancy for most applications, and are less expensive in
terms of disk drive costs. A three-way mirror enables you to take a submirror
offline and perform a backup while maintaining a two-way mirror for continued
data redundancy.
■ Use components of identical size when creating submirrors. Using components of
different sizes leaves wasted space in the mirror.
■ Adding additional state database replicas before you create a mirror can improve
the mirror’s performance. As a general rule, add two additional replicas for each
mirror you add to the system. Solaris Volume Manager uses these additional
replicas to store the dirty region log (DRL), used to provide optimized
resynchronization. By providing adequate numbers of replicas to prevent
contention or using replicas on the same disks or controllers as the mirror they log,
you will improve overall performance.

Background Information for Changing RAID 1
Volume Options
■ You can change a mirror’s pass number, and its read and write policies.
■ Mirror options can be changed while the mirror is running.
How Booting Into Single-User Mode

Affects RAID 1 Volumes
If a system with mirrors for root (/), /usr, and swap, the so-called “boot” file
systems, is booted into single-user mode (by using the boot -s command), these
mirrors and possibly all mirrors on the system will appear in the “Needing
Maintenance” state when viewed with the metastat command. Furthermore, if
writes occur to these slices, the metastat command shows an increase in dirty
regions on the mirrors.
Though this situation appears to be potentially dangerous, there is no need for

concern. The metasync -r command, which normally occurs during boot to
resynchronize mirrors, is interrupted when the system is booted into single-user
mode. Once the system is rebooted, the metasync -r command will run and
resynchronize all mirrors.
If this is a concern, run the metasync -r command manually.
Scenario—RAID 1 Volumes (Mirrors)

RAID 1 volumes provide a means of constructing redundant volumes, in which a
partial or complete failure of one of the underlying RAID 0 volumes does not cause
data loss or interruption of access to the file systems. The following example, drawing
on the sample system explained in Chapter 4, describes how RAID 1 volumes can
provide redundant storage.
As described in “Interlace Values for Stripes” on page 65, the sample system has two
RAID 0 volumes, each of which is approximately 27Gbytes in size and spans three
disks. By creating a RAID 1 volume to mirror these two RAID 0 volumes, a fully
redundant storage space can provide resilient data storage.
Within this RAID 1 volume, the failure of either of the disk controllers will not
interrupt access to the volume. Similarly, failure of up to three individual disks might
be tolerated without access interruption.

To provide additional protection against problems that could interrupt access, use hot
spares, as described in Chapter 15 and specifically in “How Hot Spares Work”
on page 148.

CHAPTER 10
RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Tasks)
This chapter explains how to perform Solaris Volume Manager tasks related to RAID 1
volumes. For information about related concepts, see Chapter 9.

Create a mirror from Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a RAID 1
unused slices or the metainit command to create a Volume From Unused
mirror from unused slices. Slices” on page 95
Create a mirror from an Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a RAID 1
existing file system or the metainit command to create a Volume From a File
mirror from an existing file system. System” on page 97
Record the path to the Find the path to the alternative book “How to Record the Path to
alternate boot device for device and enter it in the boot the Alternate Boot Device”
a mirrored root instructions. on page 102
Attach a submirror Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Attach a
or the metattach command to attach Submirror” on page 103
a submirror.
Detach a submirror Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Detach a
or the metadetach command to Submirror” on page 104
detach the submirror.
93
Place a submirror online Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Place a Submirror
or take a submirror or the metaonline command to put a Offline and Online”
offline submirror online. Use the Solaris on page 105
Volume Manager GUI or the
metaoffline command to take a
submirror offline..
Enable a component Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Enable a Slice in a
within a submirror or the metareplace command to Submirror” on page 106
enable a slice in a submirror.
Check mirror status Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Check the Status
or the metastat command to check of Mirrors and Submirrors”
the status of RAID 1 volumes. on page 108
Change mirror options Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Change RAID 1
or the metaparam command to Volume Options”
change the options for a specific RAID on page 110
1 volume.
Expand a mirror Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Expand a RAID 1
or the metattach command to Volume” on page 111
expand the capacity of a mirror.
Replace a slice within a Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Replace a Slice in
submirror or the metareplace command to a Submirror” on page 112
replace a slice in a submirror.
Replace a submirror Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Replace a
or the metattach command to Submirror” on page 113
replace a submirror.
Remove a mirror Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Unmirror a File
(unmirror) or the metadetach command or the System” on page 115
metaclear command to unmirror a
file system.
Remove a mirror Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Unmirror a File
(unmirror) of a file or the metadetach command or the System That Cannot Be
system that cannot be metaclear command to unmirror a Unmounted” on page 116
unmounted file system that cannot be unmounted.
Use a mirror to perform Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Use a RAID 1
backups or the metaonline command and the Volume to Make an Online
metaoffline commands to perform Backup” on page 118
backups with mirrors.

Creating a RAID 1 Volume
▼ How to Create a RAID 1 Volume From Unused

Slices
2. Create two stripes or concatenations, which will be the submirrors.

See “How to Create a RAID 0 (Stripe) Volume” on page 74 or “How to Create a RAID
0 (Concatenation) Volume” on page 75.
3. To create the mirror, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node, then choose Action->Create Volume and follow the instructions on
screen. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metainit command to create a one-way mirror:
metainit {volume-name} [-m ] {submirror-name…}
■ -m specifies to create a mirror.
■ submirror-name specifies the name of the component that will be the first
submirror in the mirror.
information.
4. To add the second submirror, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node, then choose the mirror you want to modify. Choose
Action->Properties, then the Submirrors tab and follow the instructions on screen
to Attach Submirror. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metattach command:
metattach {mirror-name} {new-submirror-name…}
■ volume-name is the name of the RAID 1 volume to modify.
■ submirror-name specifies the name of the component that will be the next
submirror in the mirror.
See the following examples and the metattach(1M) man page for more
information.
Chapter 10 • RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Tasks) 95

Example—Creating a Two-Way Mirror
# metainit d50 -m d51
d50: Mirror is setup
# metattach d50 d52
d50: Submirror d52 is attached
This example shows the creation of a two-way mirror, d50. The metainit command
creates two submirrors (d51 and d52), which are RAID 0 volumes. The metainit -m
command creates the one-way mirror from the d51 RAID 0 volume. The metattach
command attaches d52, creating a two-way mirror and causing a resynchronization.
(Any data on the attached submirror is overwritten by the other submirror during the
resynchronization.) The system verifies that the objects are defined.
Example—Creating a Two-Way Mirror Without

Resynchronization
# metainit d50 -m d51 d52
metainit: d50: WARNING: This form of metainit is not recommended.
The submirrors may not have the same data.
Please see ERRORS in metainit(1M) for additional information.
This example creates a two-way mirror, d50. The metainit command creates two
submirrors (d51 and d52), which are RAID 0 volumes. The metainit -m command
with both submirrors creates the mirror from the d51 RAID 0 volume and avoids
resynchronization. It is assumed that all information on the mirror is considered
invalid and will be regenerated (for example, through a newfs operation) before the
mirror is used.

To prepare a newly created mirror for a file system, see “Creating File Systems
(Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. An application, such as a
database, that uses the raw volume must have its own way of recognizing the volume.

▼ How to Create a RAID 1 Volume From a File
System
Use this procedure to mirror an existing file system. If the file system can be
unmounted, the entire procedure can be completed without a reboot. For file systems
(such as root (/)) that cannot be unmounted, the system will have to be rebooted to
complete the procedure.
Note – When mirroring root (/), it is essential that you record the secondary root slice
name to reboot the system if the primary submirror fails. This information should be
written down, not recorded on the system, which might not be available. See
Chapter 24 for details on recording the alternate boot device, and on booting from the
alternate boot device.
If you are mirroring root on an IA system, install the boot information on the alternate
boot disk before you create the RAID 0 or RAID 1 devices. See “SPARC: Booting a
System (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
In this procedure, an existing device is c1t0d0s0. A second device, c1t1d0s0, is

available for the second half of the mirror. The submirrors will be d1 and d2,
respectively, and the mirror will be d0.

2. Identify the slice that contains the existing file system to be mirrored (c1t0d0s0 in
this example).
3. Create a new RAID 0 volume on the slice from the previous step by using one of
the following methods:
■ Use the metainit raid-0-volume-name -f 1 1 ctds-of-slice command.
# metainit d1 -f 1 1 c1t0d0s0
4. Create a second RAID 0 volume (concatenation) on an unused slice (c1t1d0s0 in

this example) to act as the second submirror. The second submirror must be the
same size as the original submirror or larger. Use one of the following methods:
■ Use the metainit second-raid-0-volume-name 1 1 ctds-of-slice command.

5. Create a one-way mirror by using one of the following methods:

■ Use the metainit mirror-name -m raid-0-volume-name command.
# metainit d0 -m d1
See the metainit(1M) man page for more information.
Note – When you create a mirror from an existing file system, you must follow the
next two steps precisely to avoid data corruption.
If you are mirroring any file system other than the root (/) file system, then edit the
/etc/vfstab file so that the file system mount instructions refer to the mirror, not to
the block device.
For more information about the/etc/vfstab file, see“Mounting File Systems ()” in
System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
6. Remount your newly mirrored file system according to one of the following
procedures:
■ If you are mirroring your root (/) file system, run the metaroot d0 command,
replacing d0 with the name of the mirror you just created, then reboot your system.
For more information, see the metaroot(1M) man page.
■ If you are mirroring a file system that can be unmounted, then unmount and
remount the file system.
■ If you are mirroring a file system other than root (/) that cannot be unmounted,
then reboot your system.
7. Use the metattach command to attach the second submirror.

# metattach d0 d2
See the metattach(1M) man page for more information.
8. If you mirrored your root file system, record the alternate boot path.
See “How to Record the Path to the Alternate Boot Device” on page 102.

Caution – Be sure to create a one-way mirror with the metainit command then
attach the additional submirrors with the metattach command. When the
metattach command is not used, no resynchronization operations occur. As a result,
data could become corrupted when Solaris Volume Manager assumes that both sides
of the mirror are identical and can be used interchangably.
Example—Creating a Two-Way Mirror (Unmountable File

System)
# metainit -f d1 1 1 c1t0d0s0
# metainit d0 -m d1
d0: Mirror is setup
# umount /master
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the file system references the mirror)
# mount /master
# metattach d0 d2
The -f option forces the creation of the first concatenation, d1, which contains the
mounted file system /master on /dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0. The second concatenation,
d2, is created from /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0. (This slice must be the same size or greater
than that of d1.) The metainit command with the -m option creates the one-way
mirror, d0, from d1.
Next, the entry for the file system should be changed in the /etc/vfstab file to
reference the mirror. For example, the following line:
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0 /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s0 /var ufs 2 yes -

/dev/md/dsk/d0 /dev/md/rdsk/d0 /var ufs 2 yes -
Finally, the file system is remounted and submirror d2 is attached to the mirror,
causing a mirror resynchronization. The system confirms that the RAID 0 and RAID 1
volumes are set up, and that submirror d2 is attached.
Example—Creating a Mirror From root (/)

# metainit d0 -m d1

# metaroot d0
# lockfs -fa
# reboot
...
# metattach d0 d2
# ls -l /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 88 Feb 8 15:51 /dev/rdsk/c1t3d0s0 ->
../../devices/iommu@f,e0000000/vme@f,df010000/SUNW,pn@4d,1080000/ipi3sc@0,0/i
d@3,0:a,raw
Note – Do not attach the second submirror before the system is rebooted. You must
reboot between running the metaroot command and attaching the second submirror.
The -f option forces the creation of the first RAID 0 volume, d1, which contains the
mounted file system root (/) on /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0. The second concatenation, d2,
is created from /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0. (This slice must be the same size or greater
mirror d0 using the concatenation that contains root (/).
Next, the metaroot command edits the /etc/vfstab and /etc/system files so
that the system can be booted with the root file system (/) on a volume. (It is a good
idea to run the lockfs -fa command before rebooting.) After a reboot, the
submirror d2 is attached to the mirror, causing a mirror resynchronization. (The
system confirms that the concatenations and the mirror are set up, and that submirror
d2 is attached.) The ls -l command is run on the root raw device to determine the
path to the alternate root device in case the system might later need to be booted from
it.
Example—Creating a Two-way Mirror (File System That

Cannot Be Unmounted—/usr)
d2: Mirror is setup
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that /usr references the mirror)
# reboot
...
# metattach d2 d22
mounted file system /usr on /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s6. The second concatenation, d22,

mirror d2 using the concatenation containing /usr. Next, the /etc/vfstab file must
be edited to change the entry for /usr to reference the mirror. For example, the
following line:
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s6 /dev/rdsk/c0t3d0s6 /usr ufs 1 yes -

/dev/md/dsk/d2 /dev/md/rdsk/d2 /usr ufs 1 yes -
After a reboot, the second submirror d22 is attached to the mirror, causing a mirror
resynchronization. (The system confirms that the concatenation and the mirror are set
up, and that submirror d22 is attached.
Example—Creating a Mirror From swap

d1: Mirror is setup
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that swap references the mirror)
# reboot
...
# metattach d1 d21
mounted file system swap on /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1. The second concatenation, d21,
mirror d1 using the concatenation that contains swap. Next, if there is an entry for
swap in the /etc/vfstab file, it must be edited to reference the mirror. For example,
the following line:
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 - - swap - no -

/dev/md/dsk/d1 - - swap - no -
After a reboot, the second submirror d21 is attached to the mirror, causing a mirror
resynchronization. (The system confirms that the concatenations and the mirror are set
up, and that submirror d21 is attached.
To save the crash dump when you have mirrored swap, use the dumpadm command to
configure the dump device as a volume. For instance, if the swap device is named
/dev/md/dsk/d2, use the dumpadm command to set this device as the dump device.

Mirroring root (/) Special
Considerations
The process for mirroring root (/) is the same as in mirroring any other file system
that you cannot unmount, with the exception that you run the metaroot command
instead of manually editing the /etc/vfstab file. See “How to Create a RAID 1
Volume From a File System” on page 97. The following sections outline special
considerations and issues for mirroring root (/) file systems.
How to Record the Path to the Alternate Boot

Device
When you are mirroring root (/), you might need the path to the alternate boot device
later if the primary device fails. The process for finding and recording the alternate
boot device differs, depending on your system’s architecture. See “SPARC:
Example—Recording the Alternate Boot Device Path” on page 102 or “IA:
Example—Recording the Alternate Boot Device Path” on page 103.
SPARC: Example—Recording the Alternate Boot Device

Path
In this example, you determine the path to the alternate root device by using the ls
-l command on the slice that is being attached as the second submirror to the root (/)
mirror.
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 55 Mar 5 12:54 /dev/rdsk/c1t3d0s0 -> \
../../devices/sbus@1,f8000000/esp@1,200000/sd@3,0:a
Here you would record the string that follows the /devices directory:
/sbus@1,f8000000/esp@1,200000/sd@3,0:a.
Solaris Volume Manager users who are using a system with OpenBoot™ Prom can use
the OpenBoot nvalias command to define a “backup root” device alias for the
secondary root (/) mirror. For example:
ok nvalias backup_root /sbus@1,f8000000/esp@1,200000/sd@3,0:a
Then, redefine the boot-device alias to reference both the primary and secondary
submirrors, in the order in which you want them to be used, and store the
configuration.
ok printenv boot-device
boot-device = disk net

ok setenv boot-device disk backup-root net
boot-device = disk backup-root net
ok nvstore
In the event of primary root disk failure, the system would automatically boot to the
second submirror. Or, if you boot manually, rather than using auto boot, you would
only enter:
ok boot backup_root
IA: Example—Recording the Alternate Boot Device Path

In this example, you would determine the path to the alternate boot device by using
the ls -l command on the slice that is being attached as the second submirror to the
root (/) mirror.
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 55 Mar 5 12:54 /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s0 -> ../.
./devices/eisa/eha@1000,0/cmdk@1,0:a
Here, you would record the string that follows the /devices directory:
/eisa/eha@1000,0/cmdk@1,0:a
Booting From Alternate Boot Devices

If your primary submirror on a mirrored root (/) fails, you will need to initiate the
boot from the other submirror. You can either configure the system to boot
automatically from the second side of the mirror, or can manually boot from the
second side.
See “SPARC: Booting a System (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic

Administration
Working with Submirrors
▼ How to Attach a Submirror

1. Identify the component (concatenation or stripe) to be used as a submirror.
It must be the same size (or larger) as the existing submirror in the mirror. If you have
not yet created a volume to be a submirror, see “Creating RAID 0 (Stripe) Volumes”
on page 74 or “Creating RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volumes” on page 75.

2. Make sure that you have root privilege and that you have a current backup of all
data.
3. Use one of the following methods to attach a submirror.

Volumes node, choose the mirror, then choose Action->Properties and click the
Components tab. Follow the instructions on screen. For more information, see the
online help.
■ Use the metattach mirror submirror command.
# metattach mirror submirror
Example—Attaching a Submirror
# metastat d30
d30: mirror
Submirror 0: d60
State: Okay
...
# metattach d30 d70
d30: submirror d70 is attached
# metastat d30
d30: mirror
Submirror 0: d60
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d70
State: Resyncing
Resync in progress: 41 % done
Pass: 1
Read option: roundrobin (default)
Write option: parallel (default)
Size: 2006130 blocks
...
This example shows the attaching of a submirror, d70, to a one-way mirror, d30,
creating a two-way mirror. The mirror d30 initially consists of submirror d60. The
submirror d70 is a RAID 0 volume. You verify that the status of the mirror is “Okay”
with the metastat command, then attach the submirror. When the metattach
command is run, the new submirror is resynchronized with the existing mirror. When
you attach an additional submirror to the mirror, the system displays a message. To
verify that the mirror is resynchronizing, use the metastat command.
▼ How to Detach a Submirror

data.
2. Read “Background Information for RAID 1 Volumes” on page 88.

3. Use one of the following methods to detach a submirror.
online help.
■ Use the metadetach command to detach a submirror from a mirror.
# metadetach mirror submirror
See the metadetach(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Detaching a Submirror
# metastat
d5: mirror
Submirror 0: d50
...
# metadetach d5 d50
d5: submirror d50 is detached
In this example, mirror d5 has a submirror, d50, which is detached with the
metadetach command. The underlying slices from d50 are going to be reused
elsewhere. When you detach a submirror from a mirror, the system displays a
confirmation message.
▼ How to Place a Submirror Offline and Online

The metaonline command can only be used when a submirror was taken offline by
the metaoffline command. After the metaonline command runs, Solaris Volume
Manager automatically begins resynchronizing the submirror with the mirror.
Note – The metaoffline command’s capabilities are similar to that offered by the
metadetach command. However, the metaoffline command does not sever the
logical association between the submirror and the mirror.
data.
3. Use one of the following methods to place a submirror online or offline.

online help.

■ Use the metaoffline command to take offline a submirror.
# metaoffline mirror submirror
See the metaoffline(1M) man page for more information.

■ Use the metaonline command to bring a submirror online.
# metaonline mirror submirror
See the metaonline(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Placing a Submirror Offline

# metaoffline d10 d11
d10: submirror d11 is offlined
In this example, submirror d11 is taken offline from mirror d10. Reads will continue
to be made from the other submirror. The mirror will be out of sync as soon as the first
write is made. This inconsistency is corrected when the offlined submirror is brought
back online.
Example—Placing a Submirror Online

# metaonline d10 d11
d10: submirror d11 is onlined
In this example, submirror d11 is brought back online in mirror d10.
▼ How to Enable a Slice in a Submirror

data.
2. Read “Overview of Replacing and Enabling Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5

Volumes” on page 230 and “Background Information for RAID 1 Volumes”
on page 88.
3. Use one of the following methods to enable a slice in a submirror.

online help.
■ Use the metareplace command to enable a failed slice in a submirror.
# metareplace -e mirror failed-slice
The metareplace command automatically starts a resynchronization to

synchronize the repaired or replaced slice with the rest of the mirror.

See the metareplace(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Enabling a Slice in a Submirror

# metareplace -e d11 c1t4d0s7
d11: device c1t4d0s7 is enabled
In this example, the mirror d11 has a submirror that contains slice, c1t4d0s7, which
had a soft error. The metareplace command with the -e option enables the failed
slice.
Note – If a physical disk is defective, you can either replace it with another available
disk (and its slices) on the system as documented in “How to Replace a Slice in a
Submirror” on page 112. Alternatively, you can repair/replace the disk, format it, and
run the metareplace command with the -e option as shown in this example.
Maintaining RAID 1 Volumes

Solaris Volume Manager reports status information on RAID 1 volumes and
submirrors so a system administrator can determine what, if any, maintenance action
is required. The following table explains mirror states.
TABLE 10–1 Submirror States
State Meaning
Okay The submirror has no errors and is functioning correctly.
Resyncing The submirror is actively being resynchronized. An error has occurred

and been corrected, the submirror has just been brought back online, or
a new submirror has been added.
Needs Maintenance A slice (or slices) in the submirror has encountered an I/O error or an
open error. All reads and writes to and from this slice in the submirror
have been discontinued.
Additionally, for each slice in a submirror, the metastat command shows the
“Device” (device name of the slice in the stripe); “Start Block” on which the slice
begins; “Dbase” to show if the slice contains a state database replica; “State” of the
slice; and “Hot Spare” to show the slice being used to hot spare a failed slice.
The slice state is perhaps the most important information when you are
troubleshooting mirror errors. The submirror state only provides general status
information, such as “Okay” or “Needs Maintenance.” If the submirror reports a

“Needs Maintenance” state, refer to the slice state. You take a different recovery action
if the slice is in the “Maintenance” or “Last Erred” state. If you only have slices in the
“Maintenance” state, they can be repaired in any order. If you have a slices in the
“Maintenance” state and a slice in the “Last Erred” state, you must fix the slices in the
“Maintenance” state first then the “Last Erred” slice. See “Overview of Replacing and
Enabling Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5 Volumes” on page 230.
The following table explains the slice states for submirrors and possible actions to
take.
TABLE 10–2 Submirror Slice States
State Meaning Action
Okay The component has no errors and None.

is functioning correctly.
Resyncing The component is actively being If desired, monitor the submirror status
resynchronized. An error has until the resynchronization is done.
occurred and been corrected, the
submirror has just been brought
back online, or a new submirror
has been added.
Maintenance The component has encountered Enable or replace the failed component.
an I/O error or an open error. All See “How to Enable a Slice in a
reads and writes to and from this Submirror” on page 106, or “How to
component have been Replace a Slice in a Submirror”
discontinued. on page 112. The metastat command
will show an invoke recovery message
with the appropriate action to take with
the metareplace command. You can also
use the metareplace -e command.
Last Erred The component has encountered First, enable or replace components in the
an I/O error or an open error. “Maintenance” state. See “How to Enable
However, the data is not replicated a Slice in a Submirror” on page 106, or
elsewhere due to another slice “How to Replace a Slice in a Submirror”
failure. I/O is still performed on on page 112. Usually, this error results in
the slice. If I/O errors result, the some data loss, so validate the mirror after
mirror I/O will fail. it is fixed. For a file system, use the fsck
command, then check the data. An
application or database must have its own
method of validating the device.
▼ How to Check the Status of Mirrors and

Submirrors
● Use one of the following methods to check mirror or submirror status.

Volumes node, choose the mirror, then choose Action->Properties. Follow the
instructions on screen. For more information, see the online help.
■ Run the metastat command on a mirror to see the state of each submirror, the
pass number, the read option, the write option, and the size of the total number of
blocks in mirror. For example, to check the status of the one-way mirror d70, use:
# metastat d70
d70: Mirror
Submirror 0: d71
State: Okay
Pass: 1
d71: Submirror of d70

State: Okay
Stripe 0:
Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare
c1t3d0s3 0 No Okay Yes
Stripe 1:
Stripe 2:
See “How to Change RAID 1 Volume Options” on page 110 to change a mirror’s
pass number, read option, or write option.
See metastat(1M) for more information about checking device status.
Example—Checking Status of RAID 1 Volumes

Here is sample output from the metastat command.
# metastat
d0: Mirror
Submirror 0: d1
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d2
State: Okay
Pass: 1
Size: 5600 blocks
d1: Submirror of d0
State: Okay
Size: 5600 blocks

Stripe 0:
Device Start Block Dbase State Hot Spare
c0t2d0s7 0 No Okay
...
For each submirror in the mirror, the metastat command shows the state, an
“invoke” line if there is an error, the assigned hot spare pool (if any), size in blocks,
and information about each slice in the submirror.
▼ How to Change RAID 1 Volume Options

data.
2. Check “Background Information for Changing RAID 1 Volume Options”

on page 90.
3. Use one of the following methods to change mirror options.

Volumes node, choose the mirror, then choose Action->Properties. Follow the
instructions on screen. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the metaparam command to display and change a mirror’s options. For
example, to change a mirror to “first”, rather than round-robin, for reading, use the
following:
# metaparam -r first mirror
See “RAID 1 Volume Options” on page 86 for a description of mirror options. Also
see the metaparam(1M) man page.
Example—Changing a RAID 1 Volume’s Read Policy

# metaparam -r geometric d30
# metaparam d30
d30: mirror current parameters are:
Pass: 1
Read option: geometric (-g)
In this example, the -r option changes a mirror’s read policy to geometric.
Example—Changing a RAID 1 Volume’s Write Policy

# metaparam -w serial d40
# metaparam d40

Pass: 1
Write option: serial (-S)
In this example, the -w option changes a mirror’s write policy to serial.
Example—Changing a RAID 1 Volume’s Pass Number

# metaparam -p 5 d50
# metaparam d50
Pass: 5
In this example, the -p option changes a mirror’s pass number to 5.
▼ How to Expand a RAID 1 Volume

data.
3. Use one of the following methods to expand a mirror.

online help.
■ Use the metattach command to attach additional slices to each submirror. For
example, to attach a component to a submirror, use the following:
# metattach submirror component
Each submirror in a mirror must be expanded. See the metattach(1M) man page
Example—Expanding a Two-Way Mirror That Contains a

Mounted File System
# metastat
d8: Mirror
Submirror 0: d9
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d10
State: Okay

...
d9: component is attached
This example shows how to expand a mirrored mounted file system by concatenating
two disk drives to the mirror’s two submirrors. The mirror is named d8 and contains
two submirrors named d9 and d10.

For a UFS, run the growfs(1M) command on the mirror volume. See “How to Grow a
File System” on page 229.
of growing the added space.
Responding to RAID 1 Volume

Component Failures
▼ How to Replace a Slice in a Submirror

data.

on page 88.
3. Use one of the following methods to replace a slice in a mirror.

online help.
■ Use the following form of the metareplace command to replace a slice in a
submirror:
metareplace {mirror-name} {component-name…}
■ mirror-name is the name of the volume to create.

■ component-name specifies the name of the component that is to be replaced.
information.
Example—Replacing a Failed Slice in a Mirror

The following example illustrates how to replace a failed slice when the system is not
configured to use hot spare pools for the automatic replacement of failed disks. See
Chapter 15 for more information about using hot spare pools.
# metastat d6
d6: Mirror
Submirror 0: d16
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d26
State: Needs maintenance
...
Invoke: metareplace d6 c0t2d0s2 <new device>
...
# metareplace d6 c0t2d0s2 c0t2d2s2
d6: device c0t2d0s2 is replaced with c0t2d2s2
The metastat command confirms that mirror d6 has a submirror, d26, with a slice in
the “Needs maintenance” state. The metareplace command replaces the slice as
specified in the “Invoke” line of the metastat output with another available slice on
the system. The system confirms that the slice is replaced, and starts resynchronizing
the submirror.
▼ How to Replace a Submirror

data.

on page 88.
3. Use one of the following methods to replace a submirror.

online help.
■ Use the metadetach, metaclear, metatinit, and metattach commands to
replace an entire submirror.

Example—Replacing a Submirror in a Mirror
The following example illustrates how to replace a submirror in an active mirror.
Note – The specific configuration of the new volume d22 will depend on the
component you are replacing. A concatenation, as shown here, would be fine to
replace a concatenation, but would not be an ideal replacement for a stripe as it could
impact performance.
# metastat d20
d20: Mirror
Submirror 0: d21
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d22
...
# metadetach -f d20 d22
# metaclear -f d22
# metainit d22 2 1 c1t0d0s2 1 c1t0d1s2
# metattach d20 d22
The metastat command confirms that the two-way mirror d20 has a submirror, d22,
in the “Needs maintenance” state. In this case, the entire submirror will be cleared and
recreated. The metadetach command detaches the failed submirror from the mirror
by using the -f option, which forces the detach to occur. The metaclear command
clears the submirror. The metainit command recreates submirror d22, with new
slices. The metattach command attaches the rebuilt submirror, and a mirror
resynchronization begins automatically.
Note – You temporarily lose the capability for data redundancy while the mirror is a
one-way mirror.

Removing RAID 1 Volumes
(Unmirroring)
▼ How to Unmirror a File System

Use this procedure to unmirror a file system that can be unmounted while the system
is running. To unmirror root (/), /var, /usr, or swap, or any other file system that
cannot be unmounted while the system is running. see “How to Unmirror a File
System That Cannot Be Unmounted” on page 116.
data.
3. Verify that at least one submirror is in the Okay state.

# metastat

# umount /home
5. Detach the submirror that will continue to be used for the file system
For more information, see the metadetach(1M) man page.
# metadetach d1 d10
6. Clear the mirror and remaining subcomponents.

For more information, see the metaclear(1M)
# metaclear -r d1
7. Edit the /etc/vfstab file to use the component detached in Step 5, if necessary.
Example—Unmirroring the /opt File System

# metastat d4
d4: Mirror
Submirror 0: d2
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d3

State: Okay
...
# umount /opt
# metadetach d4 d2
# metaclear -r d4
d4: Mirror is cleared
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the entry for /opt is changed from d4 to the underlying slice or volume)
# mount /opt
In this example, the /opt filesystem is made of a two-way mirror named d4; its
submirrors are d2 and d3, made of slices /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 and
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0, respectively. The metastat command verifies that at least
one submirror is in the “Okay” state. (A mirror with no submirrors in the “Okay” state
must be repaired first.) The file system is unmounted then submirror d2 is detached.
The metaclear -r command deletes the mirror and the other submirror, d3.
Next, the entry for /opt in the /etc/vfstab file is changed to reference the
underlying slice. For example, if d4 were the mirror and d2 the submirror, the
following line:

By using the submirror name, you can continue to have the file system mounted on a
volume. Finally, the /opt file system is remounted.
Note – By using d2 instead of d4 in the /etc/vfstab file, you have unmirrored the
mirror. Because d2 consists of a single slice, you can mount the file system on the slice
name (/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0) if you do not want the device to support a volume.
▼ How to Unmirror a File System That Cannot Be

Unmounted
Use this task to unmirror file systems that cannot be unmounted during normal
system operation, including root (/), /usr, /opt, and swap.
1. Run the metastat command to verify that at least one submirror is in the “Okay”
state.
2. Run the metadetach command on the mirror that contains root (/), /usr, /opt, or
swap to make a one-way mirror.

3. For /usr, /opt, and swap: change the file system entry in the /etc/vfstab file to
use a non-Solaris Volume Manager device (slice).
4. For root (/) only: running the metaroot command.
5. Reboot the system.
6. Run the metaclear command to clear the mirror and submirrors.
Example—Unmirroring root (/)

# metadetach d0 d20
# metaroot /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0
# reboot
...
# metaclear -r d0
# metaclear d20
In this example, root (/) is a two-way mirror named d0; its submirrors are d10 and
d20, which are made of slices /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 and /dev/dsk/c1t3d0s0,
respectively. The metastat command verifies that at least one submirror is in the
“Okay” state. (A mirror with no submirrors in the “Okay” state must first be repaired.)
Submirror d20 is detached to make d0 a one-way mirror. The metaroot command is
then run, using the rootslice from which the system is going to boot. This command
edits the /etc/system and /etc/vfstab files to remove information that specifies
the mirroring of root (/). After a reboot, the metaclear -r command deletes the
mirror and the other submirror, d10. The last metaclear command clears submirror
d20.
Example—Unmirroring swap
# metastat d1
d1: Mirror
Submirror 0: d11
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d21
State: Okay
...
# metadetach d1 d21
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file to change the entry for swap from metadevice to slice name)
# reboot
...
# metaclear -r d1

# metaclear d21
d21: Concat/stripe is cleared
In this example, swap is made of a two-way mirror named d1; its submirrors are d11
and d21, which are made of slices /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s1 and /dev/dsk/c1t3d0s1,
respectively. The metastat command verifies that at least one submirror is in the
“Okay” state. (A mirror with no submirrors in the “Okay” state must first be repaired.)
Submirror d21 is detached to make d1 a one-way mirror. Next, the /etc/vfstab file
must be edited to change the entry for swap to reference the slice that is in submirror
d21. For example, if d1 was the mirror, and d21 the submirror containing slice
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s1, the following line:
/dev/md/dsk/d1 - - swap - no -

After a reboot, the metaclear -r command deletes the mirror and the other
submirror, d11. The final metaclear command clears submirror d21.
Using a Mirror to Back Up Data

Although Solaris Volume Manager is not meant to be a “backup product,” it does
provide a means for backing up mirrored data without unmounting the mirror or
taking the entire mirror offline, and without halting the system or denying users access
to data. This process happens as follows: one of the submirrors is taken offline,
temporarily losing the mirroring, and backed up. That submirror is then placed online
and resynchronized as soon as the backup is complete.
▼ How to Use a RAID 1 Volume to Make an Online

Backup
You can use this procedure on any file system except root (/). Be aware that this type
of backup creates a “snapshot” of an active file system. Depending on how the file
system is being used when it is write-locked, some files and file content on the backup
might not correspond to the actual files on disk.
The following limitations apply to this procedure:

■ If you use this procedure on a two-way mirror, be aware that data redundancy is
lost while one submirror is offline for backup. A three-way mirror does not have
this problem.

■ There is some overhead on the system when the offlined submirror is brought back
online after the backup is complete.
The high-level steps in this procedure are as follows:

■ Write-locking the file system (UFS only). Do not lock root (/).
■ Using the metaoffline command to take one submirror offline from the mirror
■ Unlocking the file system
■ Backing up the data on the offlined submirror
■ Using the metaonline command to place the offlined submirror back online
Note – If you use these procedures regularly, put them into a script for ease of use.
1. Run the metastat command to make sure the mirror is in the “Okay” state.
A mirror that is in the “Maintenance” state should be repaired first.
2. For all file systems except root (/), lock the file system from writes.
# /usr/sbin/lockfs -w mount point
Only a UFS needs to be write-locked. If the volume is set up as a raw device for
database management software or some other application, running lockfs is not
necessary. (You might, however, want to run the appropriate vendor-supplied utility
to flush any buffers and lock access.)
Caution – Write-locking root (/) causes the system to hang, so it should never be
performed.
3. Take one submirror offline from the mirror.

# metaoffline mirror submirror
In this command:
mirror Is the volume name of the mirror.
submirror Is the volume name of the submirror (volume) being taken offline.
Reads will continue to be made from the other submirror. The mirror will be out of
sync as soon as the first write is made. This inconsistency is corrected when the
offlined submirror is brought back online in Step 6.
There is no need to run the fsck command on the offlined file system.
4. Unlock the file system and allow writes to continue.

# /usr/sbin/lockfs -u mount-point

You might need to perform necessary unlocking procedures based on
vendor-dependent utilities used in Step 2 above.
5. Perform a backup of the offlined submirror.

Use the ufsdump command or your usual backup utility.
Note – To ensure a proper backup, use the raw volume, for example,
/dev/md/rdsk/d4. Using “rdsk” allows greater than 2 Gbyte access.
6. Place the submirror back online.

# metaonline mirror submirror
Solaris Volume Manager automatically begins resynchronizing the submirror with the
mirror.
Example—Using a Mirror to Make an Online Backup

This example uses a mirror named d1, consisting of submirrors d2 and d3. The
submirror d3 is taken offline and backed up while submirror d2 stays online. The file
system on the mirror is /home1.
# /usr/sbin/lockfs -w /home1
# metaoffline d1 d3
d1: submirror d3 is offlined
# /usr/sbin/lockfs -u /home1
(Perform backup using /dev/md/rdsk/d3)
# metaonline d1 d3
d1: submirror d3 is onlined

CHAPTER 11
Soft Partitions (Overview)
This chapter provides information about Solaris Volume Manager soft partitions. For
information about related tasks, see Chapter 12.

■ “Overview of Soft Partitions” on page 121
■ “Background Information About Soft Partitions” on page 122
Overview of Soft Partitions

As disks become larger, and disk arrays present ever larger logical devices to Solaris
systems, users need to be able to subdivide disks or logical volumes into more than
eight partitions, often to create manageable file systems or partition sizes. Solaris
Volume Manager’s soft partition feature addresses this need.
Solaris Volume Manager can support up to 8192 logical volumes per disk set
(including the local, or unspecified, disk set), but is configured for 128 (d0–d127) by
default. To increase the number of logical volumes, see “Changing Solaris Volume
Manager Defaults” on page 226.
Note – Do not increase the number of possible logical volumes far beyond the number
that you will actually use. Solaris Volume Manager creates a device node
(/dev/dsk/md/*) and associated data structures for every logical volume that is
permitted by the maximum value. These additional possible volumes can result in a
substantial performance impact.
121
You use soft partitions to divide a disk slice or logical volume into as many partitions
as needed. You must provide a name for each division or soft partition, just like you do
for other storage volumes, such as stripes or mirrors. A soft partition, once named, can
be accessed by applications, including file systems, as long as it is not included in
another volume. Once included in a volume, the soft partition should no longer be
directly accessed.
Soft partitions can be placed directly above a disk slice, or on top of a mirror, stripe or
RAID 5 volume. Nesting of a soft partition between volumes is not allowed. For
example, a soft partition built on a stripe with a mirror built on the soft partition is not
allowed.
Although a soft partition appears, to file systems and other applications, to be a single
contiguous logical volume, it actually comprises a series of extents that could be
located at arbitrary locations on the underlying media. In addition to the soft
partitions, extent headers (also called system recovery data areas) on disk record
information about the soft partitions to facilitate recovery in the event of a catastrophic
system failure.
Background Information About Soft

Partitions
Requirements for Soft Partitions

Slices that are used for soft partitions cannot be used for other purposes.
When you partition a disk and build file systems on the resulting slices, you cannot
later extend a slice without modifying or destroying the disk format. With soft
partitions, you can extend the soft partitions up to the amount of space on the
underlying device without moving or destroying data on other soft partitions.
Guidelines for Soft Partitions

■ While it is technically possible to manually place extents of soft partitions at
arbitrary locations on disk (as you can see in the output of metastat -p,
described in “Viewing the Solaris Volume Manager Configuration” on page 218),
you should allow the system to place them automatically.
■ Although you can build soft partitions on any slice, creating a single slice that
occupies the entire disk and then creating soft partitions on that slice is the most
efficient way to use soft partitions at the disk level.

■ Because the maximum size of a soft partition is limited to the size of the slice or
logical volume on which it is built, you should build a volume on top of your disk
slices, then build soft partitions on top of the volume. This strategy allows you to
add components to the volume later, then expand the soft partitions as needed.
■ For maximum flexibility and high availability, build RAID 1 (mirror) or RAID 5
volumes on disk slices, then create soft partitions on the mirror or RAID 5 volume.
Scenario—Soft Partitions
Soft partitions provide tools with which to subdivide larger storage spaces into more
managable spaces. For example, in other scenarios (“Scenario—RAID 1 Volumes
(Mirrors)” on page 90 or “Scenario—RAID 5 Volumes” on page 136), large storage
aggregations provided redundant storage of many Gigabytes. However, many
possible scenarios would not require so much space—at least at first. Soft partitions
allow you to subdivide that storage space into more manageable sections, each of
which can have a complete file system. For example, you could create 1000 soft
partitions on top of a RAID 1 or RAID 5 volume so that each of your users can have a
home directory on a separate file system. If a user needs more space, simply expand
the soft partition.
Chapter 11 • Soft Partitions (Overview) 123

CHAPTER 12
Soft Partitions (Tasks)
Solaris Volume Manager soft partitions. For information about the concepts involved
in these tasks, see Chapter 11.
Soft Partitions (Task Map)

Manager soft partitions.
Create soft partitions Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a Soft
or the metainit command to create Partition” on page 126
soft partitions.
Check the status of soft Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Check the Status
partitions or the metastat command to check of a Soft Partition”
the status of soft partitions. on page 127
Expand soft partitions Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Expand a Soft
or the metattach command to Partition” on page 128
expand soft partitions.
Remove soft partitions Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Remove a Soft
or the metaclear command to Partition” on page 129
remove soft partitions.
125
Creating Soft Partitions
▼ How to Create a Soft Partition

1. Check the “Background Information About Soft Partitions” on page 122.
2. Use one of the following methods to create a soft partition:

■ To create a soft partition, use the following form of the metainit command:
metainit [-s set] soft-partition -p [-e] component size
-s is used to specify which set is being used. If -s isn’t specified, the local (default)
disk set is used.
-e is used to specify that the entire disk should be reformatted to provide a slice 0,
taking most of the disk, and a slice 7 of a minimum of 4 Mbytes in size to contain a
state database replica.
soft-partition is the name of the soft partition. The name is of the form dnnn, where
nnn is a number in the range of 0 to 8192.
component is the disk, slice, or (logical) volume from which to create the soft
partition. All existing data on the component is destroyed because the soft partition
headers are written at the beginning of the component.
size is the size of the soft partition, and is specified as a number followed by one of
the following:
■ M or m for megabytes
■ G or g for gigabytes
■ T or t for terabyte
■ B or b for blocks (sectors)
See the following examples and the metainit(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Creating a Soft Partition

# metainit d20 -p c1t3d0s2 4g
In this example, a 4 Gbyte soft partition called d20 is created on c1t3d0s2.

Example—Taking a Whole Disk for Soft Partitions
This example shows repartitioning disk c1t2d0, thus destroying any data on that
disk, and creating a new soft partition on slice 0. The command looks like the
following:
metainit d7 -p -e c1t2d0 1G
Maintaining Soft Partitions

Maintaining soft partitions is no different from maintaining other logical volumes. The
following outlines the procedure.
▼ How to Check the Status of a Soft Partition

1. Read the “Background Information About Soft Partitions” on page 122.
2. Use one of the following methods to check the status of a soft partition:
Volumes node. Choose the soft partition you want to monitor, then choose
Action->Properties, then follow the instructions on screen. For more information,
■ To view the existing configuration, use the following format of the metastat
command:
metastat soft-partition
soft-partition is the name of the partition you want to check.
See “Viewing the Solaris Volume Manager Configuration” on page 218 for more
information.
Example—Checking the Status of a Soft Partition

This example shows checking the status of soft partition d1, which includes two
extents and is built on the RAID 1 volume d100.
# metastat d1
d1: soft partition
component: d100
state: OKAY
size: 42674285 blocks
Chapter 12 • Soft Partitions (Tasks) 127

Extent Start Block Block Count
0 10234 40674285
1 89377263 2000000
d100: Mirror
Submirror 0: d10
State: OKAY

State: OKAY
Hot spare pool: hsp002
Stripe 0: (interlace: 32 blocks)
c3t3d0s0 0 No Okay
▼ How to Expand a Soft Partition

When no other logical volumes have been built on a soft partition, you can add space
to the soft partition. Free space is located and used to extend the partition. Existing
data is not moved.
2. Use one of the following methods to expand a soft partition:

Volumes node. Choose the soft partition you want to expand, then choose
■ To add space to a soft partition, use the following form of the metattach
command:
metattach [-s disk-set] soft-partition size
disk-set is the name of the disk set in which the soft partition exists.
soft-partition is the name of an existing soft partition.
size is the amount of space to add.
Example—Expanding a Soft Partition

This example shows how you can attach space to a soft partition and then expand the
file system that sits on it while the soft partition is online and mounted is online:

# mount /dev/md/dsk/d20 /home2
# metattach d20 10g
# growfs -M /home2 /dev/md/rdsk/d20
How to Remove a Soft Partition

2. Use one of the following methods to delete a soft partition:

Volumes node. Choose the soft partition you want to expand, then choose
■ To delete a soft partition, use one of the following forms of the metaclear
command:
metaclear [-s disk-set] component
metaclear [-s disk-set] -r soft-partition
metaclear [-s disk-set] -p component
where:
■ disk-set is the disk set in which the soft partition exists.
■ soft-partition is the soft partition to delete.
■ r specifies to recursively delete logical volumes, but not volumes on which
others depend.
■ p specifies to purge all soft partitions on the specified component, except those
soft partitions that are open.
■ component is the component from which to clear all of the soft partitions.
Example—Removing a Soft Partition

This example shows how to delete all soft partitions on c1t4d2s0.
# metaclear -p c1t4d2s0
Chapter 12 • Soft Partitions (Tasks) 129

CHAPTER 13
RAID 5 Volumes (Overview)
This chapter provides conceptual information about Solaris Volume Manager RAID 5
volumes. For information about performing related tasks, see Chapter 14.
This chapter contains the following:

■ “Overview of RAID 5 Volumes” on page 131
■ “Background Information for Creating RAID 5 Volumes” on page 134
■ “Overview of Replacing and Enabling Slices in RAID 5 Volumes” on page 136
Overview of RAID 5 Volumes

RAID level 5 is similar to striping, but with parity data distributed across all
components (disk or logical volume). If a component fails, the data on the failed
component can be rebuilt from the distributed data and parity information on the
other components. In Solaris Volume Manager, a RAID 5 volume is a volume that
supports RAID level 5.
A RAID 5 volume uses storage capacity equivalent to one component in the volume to
store redundant information (parity) about user data stored on the remainder of the
RAID 5 volume’s components. That is, if you have three components, the equivalent
of one will be used for the parity information. If you have five components, then the
equivalent of one will be used for parity information. The parity is distributed across
all components in the volume. Like a mirror, a RAID 5 volume increases data
availability, but with a minimum of cost in terms of hardware and only a moderate
penalty for write operations. However, you cannot use a RAID 5 volume for root (/),
/usr, and swap, or for existing file systems.
Solaris Volume Manager automatically resynchronizes a RAID 5 volume when you

replace an existing component. Solaris Volume Manager also resynchronizes RAID 5
volumes during rebooting if a system failure or panic took place.
131
Example—RAID 5 Volume
Figure 13–1 shows a RAID 5 volume, d40.
The first three data chunks are written to Disks A through C. The next chunk that is
written is a parity chunk, written to Drive D, which consists of an exclusive OR of the
first three chunks of data. This pattern of writing data and parity chunks results in
both data and parity being spread across all disks in the RAID 5 volume. Each drive
can be read independently. The parity protects against a single disk failure. If each
disk in this example were 2 Gbytes, the total capacity of d40 would be 6 Gbytes. (One
drive’s worth of space is allocated to parity.)
interlace 1
Component interlace 4
A interlace 7 RAID 5 Volume
P(10-12)
interlace 1
interlace 2
interlace 2
interlace 3
interlace 4
B P(7-9)
interlace 5
interlace 10
Manager interlace 7
interlace 3
interlace 8
Component P(4-6)
interlace 9
C interlace 8
interlace 10
interlace 11
interlace 11
interlace 12
P(1-3)
D interlace 9
interlace 12
FIGURE 13–1 RAID 5 Volume Example

Example—Concatenated (Expanded) RAID 5
Volume
The following figure shows an example of an RAID 5 volume that initially consisted of
four disks (components). A fifth disk has been dynamically concatenated to the
volume to expand the RAID 5 volume.
interlace 1
A interlace 7
P(10-12, 16)
interlace 2
RAID 5 Volume
B P(7-9, 15)
interlace 1
interlace 10
interlace 2
P(4-6, 14) interlace 4

Component
C interlace 8 interlace 5
interlace 7
P(1-3, 13) Solaris Volume interlace 8

Manager interlace 9
D interlace 9 interlace 10
interlace 12
Component interlace 14 interlace 14

E interlace 15 interlace 15
FIGURE 13–2 Expanded RAID 5 Volume Example
Chapter 13 • RAID 5 Volumes (Overview) 133

The parity areas are allocated when the initial RAID 5 volume is created. One
component’s worth of space is allocated to parity, although the actual parity blocks are
distributed across all of the original components to distribute I/O. When you
concatenate additional components to the RAID, the additional space is devoted
entirely to data. No new parity blocks are allocated. The data on the concatenated
components is, however, included in the parity calculations, so it is protected against
single device failures.
Concatenated RAID 5 volumes are not suited for long-term use. Use a concatenated
RAID 5 volume until it is possible to reconfigure a larger RAID 5 volume and copy the
data to the larger volume.
Note – When you add a new component to a RAID 5 volume, Solaris Volume
Manager “zeros” all the blocks in that component. This process ensures that the parity
will protect the new data. As data is written to the additional space, Solaris Volume
Manager includes it in the parity calculations.
Background Information for Creating

RAID 5 Volumes
When you work with RAID 5 volumes, consider the “Requirements for RAID 5
Volumes” on page 134 and “Guidelines for RAID 5 Volumes” on page 135. Many
striping guidelines also apply to RAID 5 volume configurations. See “Requirements
for Stripes and Concatenations” on page 70.
Requirements for RAID 5 Volumes

■ A RAID 5 volume must consist of at least three components. The more components
a RAID 5 volume contains, however, the longer read and write operations take
when a component fails.
■ RAID 5 volumes cannot be striped, concatenated, or mirrored.
■ Do not create a RAID 5 volume from a component that contains an existing file
system. Doing so will erase the data during the RAID 5 initialization process.
■ When you create a RAID 5 volume, you can define the interlace value. If not
specified, the interlace value is 16 Kbytes. This value is reasonable for most
applications.
■ A RAID 5 volume (with no hot spares) can only handle a single component failure.
■ When you create RAID 5 volumes, use components across separate controllers,
because controllers and associated cables tend to fail more often than disks.

■ Use components of the same size. Creating a RAID 5 volume with components of
different sizes results in unused disk space.
Guidelines for RAID 5 Volumes

■ Because of the complexity of parity calculations, volumes with greater than about
20 percent writes should probably not be RAID 5 volumes. If data redundancy on a
write-heavy volume is needed, consider mirroring.
■ If the different components in the RAID 5 volume reside on different controllers
and the accesses to the volume are primarily large sequential accesses, then setting
the interlace value to 32 Kbytes might improve performance.
■ You can expand a RAID 5 volume by concatenating additional components to the
volume. Concatenating a new component to an existing RAID 5 decreases the
overall performance of the volume because the data on concatenations is
sequential. Data is not striped across all components. The original components of
the volume have data and parity striped across all components. This striping is lost
for the concatenated component, although the data is still recoverable from errors
because the parity is used during the component I/O. The resulting RAID 5
volume continues to handle a single component failure.
Concatenated components also differ in the sense that they do not have parity
striped on any of the regions. Thus, the entire contents of the component are
available for data.
Any performance enhancements for large or sequential writes are lost when
components are concatenated.
■ You can create a RAID 5 volume without having to “zero out” the data blocks. To
do so, do one of the following:
■ Use the metainit command with the -k option. The -k option recreates the
RAID 5 volume without initializing it, and sets the disk blocks to the OK state.
This option is potentially dangerous, as any errors that exist on disk blocks
within the volume will cause unpredictable behavior from Solaris Volume
Manager, including the possibility of fabricated data.
■ Initialize the device and restore data from tape. See the metainit(1M) man
page for more information.
Chapter 13 • RAID 5 Volumes (Overview) 135

Overview of Replacing and Enabling
Slices in RAID 5 Volumes
Solaris Volume Manager has the capability to replace and enable components within
mirrors and RAID 5 volumes. The issues and requirements for doing so are the same
for mirrors and RAID 5 volumes. For more information, see “Overview of Replacing
and Enabling Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5 Volumes” on page 230.
Scenario—RAID 5 Volumes
RAID 5 volumes allow you to have redundant storage without the overhead of RAID
1 volumes, which require two times the total storage space to provide data
redundancy. By setting up a RAID 5 volume, you can provide redundant storage of
greater capacity than you could achieve with RAID 1 on the same set of disk
components, and, with the help of hot spares (see Chapter 15 and specifically “How
Hot Spares Work” on page 148), nearly the same level of safety. The drawbacks are
increased write time and markedly impaired performance in the event of a component
failure, but those tradeoffs might be insignificant for many situations. The following
example, drawing on the sample system explained in Chapter 4, describes how RAID
5 volumes can provide extra storage capacity.
Other scenarios for RAID 0 and RAID 1 volumes used 6 slices (c1t1d0, c1t2d0,
c1t3d0, c2t1d0, c2t2d0, c2t3d0) on six disks, spread over two controllers, to
provide 27 Gbytes of redundant storage. By using the same slices in a RAID 5
configuration, 45 Gbytes of storage is available, and the configuration can withstand a
single component failure without data loss or access interruption. By adding hot
spares to the configuration, the RAID 5 volume can withstand additional component
failures. The most significant drawback to this approach is that a controller failure
would result in data loss to this RAID 5 volume, while it would not with the RAID 1
volume described in “Scenario—RAID 1 Volumes (Mirrors)” on page 90.

CHAPTER 14
RAID 5 Volumes (Tasks)
This chapter provides information about performing Solaris Volume Manager tasks
that are associated with RAID 5 volumes. For information about the concepts involved
in these tasks, see Chapter 13.

Create RAID 5 volumes Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a RAID 5
or the metainit command to create Volume” on page 138
RAID 5 volumes.
Check the status of Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Check the Status
RAID 5 volumes or the metastat command to check of RAID 5 Volumes”
the status of RAID 5 volumes. on page 139
Expand a RAID 5 Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Expand a RAID 5
volume or the metattach command to Volume” on page 142
expand RAID 5 volumes.
Enable a slice in a RAID Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Enable a
5 volume or the metareplace command to Component in a RAID 5
enable slices in RAID 5 volumes. Volume” on page 142
Replace a slice in a Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Replace a
RAID 5 volume or the metareplace command to Component in a RAID 5
enable slices in RAID 5 volumes. Volume” on page 143
137
Creating RAID 5 Volumes
▼ How to Create a RAID 5 Volume

2. To create the RAID 5 volume, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node, then choose Action->Create Volume and follow the steps in the
metainit name -r component component component
■ name is the name for the volume to create.

■ r specifies to create a RAID 5 volume.
■ component specifies a slice or soft partition to include in the RAID 5 volume.
To specify an interlace value, add the -i interlace-value option. For more

information, see the metainit(1M) man page.
Example—Creating a RAID 5 Volume of Three Slices

# metainit d45 -r c2t3d0s2 c3t0d0s2 c4t0d0s2
d45: RAID is setup
In this example, the RAID 5 volume d45 is created with the -r option from three
slices. Because no interlace value is specified, d45 uses the default of 16 Kbytes. The
system verifies that the RAID 5 volume has been set up, and begins initializing the
volume.
Note – You must wait for the initialization to finish before you can use the RAID 5
volume.

To prepare the newly created RAID 5 volume for a file system, see “Creating File
Systems (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. An application,
such as a database, that uses the raw volume must have its own way of recognizing
the volume.

To associate a hot spare pool with a RAID 5 volume, see “How to Associate a Hot
Spare Pool With a Volume” on page 156.
Maintaining RAID 5 Volumes
▼ How to Check the Status of RAID 5 Volumes

● To check status on a RAID 5 volume, use one of the following methods:
Volumes node and view the status of the volumes. Choose a volume, then choose
Action->Properties to see more detailed information. For more information, see the
online help.
■ Use the metastat command.
For each slice in the RAID 5 volume, the metastat command shows the
following:
■ “Device” (device name of the slice in the stripe)
■ “Start Block” on which the slice begins
■ “Dbase” to show if the slice contains a state database replica
■ “State” of the slice
■ “Hot Spare” to show the slice being used to hot spare a failed slice
Example—Viewing RAID 5 Volume Status

Here is sample RAID 5 volume output from the metastat command.
# metastat
d10: RAID
State: Okay
Interlace: 32 blocks
Size: 10080 blocks
Original device:
Size: 10496 blocks
c0t0d0s1 330 No Okay
Chapter 14 • RAID 5 Volumes (Tasks) 139

The metastat command output identifies the volume as a RAID 5 volume. For each
slice in the RAID 5 volume, it shows the name of the slice in the stripe, the block on
which the slice begins, an indicator that none of these slices contain a state database
replica, that all the slices are okay, and that none of the slices are hot spare
replacements for a failed slice.
RAID 5 Volume Status Information

The following table explains RAID 5 volume states.
TABLE 14–1 RAID 5 States
State Meaning
Initializing Slices are in the process of having all disk blocks zeroed. This process is
necessary due to the nature of RAID 5 volumes with respect to data and
parity interlace striping.
Once the state changes to “Okay,” the initialization process is complete
and you are able to open the device. Up to this point, applications
receive error messages.
Okay The device is ready for use and is currently free from errors.
Maintenance A slice has been marked as failed due to I/O or open errors that were
encountered during a read or write operation.
The slice state is perhaps the most important information when you are
troubleshooting RAID 5 volume errors. The RAID 5 state only provides general status
information, such as “Okay” or “Needs Maintenance.” If the RAID 5 reports a “Needs
Maintenance” state, refer to the slice state. You take a different recovery action if the
slice is in the “Maintenance” or “Last Erred” state. If you only have a slice in the
“Maintenance” state, it can be repaired without loss of data. If you have a slice in the
“Maintenance” state and a slice in the “Last Erred” state, data has probably been
corrupted. You must fix the slice in the “Maintenance” state first then the “Last Erred”
slice. See “Overview of Replacing and Enabling Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5
Volumes” on page 230.
The following table explains the slice states for a RAID 5 volume and possible actions
to take.

TABLE 14–2 RAID 5 Slice States
Initializing Slices are in the process of Normally none. If an I/O error occurs
having all disk blocks during this process, the device goes into
zeroed. This process is the “Maintenance” state. If the
necessary due to the nature initialization fails, the volume is in the
of RAID 5 volumes with “Initialization Failed” state, and the slice is
respect to data and parity in the “Maintenance” state. If this
interlace striping. happens, clear the volume and re-create it.
Okay The device is ready for use None. Slices can be added or replaced, if
and is currently free from necessary.
errors.
Resyncing The slice is actively being If desired, monitor the RAID 5 volume
resynchronized. An error status until the resynchronization is done.
has occurred and been
corrected, a slice has been
enabled, or a slice has been
added.
Maintenance A single slice has been Enable or replace the failed slice. See
marked as failed due to I/O “How to Enable a Component in a RAID 5
or open errors that were Volume” on page 142, or “How to Replace
encountered during a read a Component in a RAID 5 Volume”
or write operation. on page 143. The metastat command
will show an invoke recovery message
with the appropriate action to take with
the metareplace command.
Maintenance/ Last Multiple slices have Enable or replace the failed slices. See
Erred encountered errors. The “How to Enable a Component in a RAID 5
state of the failed slices is Volume” on page 142, or “How to Replace
either “Maintenance” or a Component in a RAID 5 Volume”
“Last Erred.” In this state, on page 143. The metastat command
no I/O is attempted on the will show an invoke recovery message
slice that is in the with the appropriate action to take with
“Maintenance” state, but the metareplace command, which must
I/O is attempted to the slice be run with the -f flag. This state
marked “Last Erred” with indicates that data might be fabricated due
the outcome being the to multiple failed slices.
overall status of the I/O
request.
Note – RAID 5 volume initialization or resynchronization cannot be interrupted.

▼ How to Expand a RAID 5 Volume
1. Make sure that you have a current backup of all data and that you have root access.
2. Read “Background Information for Creating RAID 5 Volumes” on page 134.
3. To attach additional components to a RAID 5 volume, use one of the following

methods:
Volumes node, then open the RAID 5 volume. Choose the Components pane, then
choose Attach Component and follow the instructions. For more information, see
the online help.
metattach volume-name name-of-component-to-add
■ volume-name is the name for the volume to expand.

■ name-of-component-to-add specifies the name of the component to attach to the
RAID 5 volume.
Note – In general, attaching components is a short-term solution to a RAID 5 volume

that is running out of space. For performance reasons, it is best to have a “pure” RAID
5 volume.
Example—Adding a Component to a RAID 5 Volume

d2: column is attached
This example shows the addition of slice c2t1d0s2 to an existing RAID 5 volume
named d2.

For a UFS, run the growfs command on the RAID 5 volume. See “Volume and Disk
Space Expansion” on page 41.
▼ How to Enable a Component in a RAID 5 Volume


2. To enable a failed component in a RAID 5 volume, use one of the following
methods:
choose the failed component. Click Enable Component and follow the instructions.
For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metareplace command:
metareplace -e volume-name component-name
■ -e specifies to replace the failed component with a component at the same

location (perhaps after physically replacing a disk).
■ volume-name is the name of the volume with a failed component.
■ component-name specifies the name of the component to replace.
metareplace automatically starts resynchronizing the new component with the

rest of the RAID 5 volume.
Example—Enabling a Component in a RAID 5 Volume

In this example, the RAID 5 volume d20 has a slice, c2t0d0s2, which had a soft
error. The metareplace command with the -e option enables the slice.
Note – If a disk drive is defective, you can either replace it with another available disk
(and its slices) on the system as documented in “How to Replace a Component in a
RAID 5 Volume” on page 143. Alternatively, you can repair/replace the disk, label it,
and run the metareplace command with the -e option.
▼ How to Replace a Component in a RAID 5 Volume

This task replaces a failed slice of a RAID 5 volume in which only one slice has failed.
Caution – Replacing a failed slice when multiple slices are in error might cause data to
be fabricated. The integrity of the data in this instance would be questionable.
2. Use one of the following methods to determine which slice of the RAID 5 volume
needs to be replaced:

view the status of the individual components. For more information, see the online
help.
Look for the keyword “Maintenance” to identify the failed slice.
3. Use one of the following methods to replace the failed slice with another slice:
choose the failed component. Click Replace Component and follow the
instructions. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metareplace command:
metareplace volume-name failed-component new-component
■ volume-name is the name of the volume with a failed component.

■ failed-component specifies the name of the component to replace.
■ new-component specifies the name of the component to add to the volume in
place of the failed component.
See the metareplace(1M) man page for more information.
4. To verify the status of the replacement slice, use one of the methods described in
Step 2.
The state of the replaced slice should be “Resyncing” or “Okay”.
Example—Replacing a RAID 5 Component

# metastat d1
d1: RAID
State: Needs Maintenance
Invoke: metareplace d1 c0t14d0s6 <new device>
Original device:
c0t14d0s6 330 No Maintenance
# metareplace d1 c0t14d0s6 c0t4d0s6

d1: device c0t14d0s6 is replaced with c0t4d0s6
# metastat d1

d1: RAID
State: Resyncing
Resync in progress: 98% done
Original device:
c0t4d0s6 330 No Resyncing
In this example, the metastat command displays the action to take to recover from
the failed slice in the d1 RAID 5 volume. After locating an available slice, the
metareplace command is run, specifying the failed slice first, then the replacement
slice. (If no other slices are available, run the metareplace command with the -e
option to attempt to recover from possible soft errors by resynchronizing the failed
device.) If multiple errors exist, the slice in the “Maintenance” state must first be
replaced or enabled. Then the slice in the “Last Erred” state can be repaired. After the
metareplace command, the metastat command monitors the progress of the
resynchronization. During the replacement, the state of the volume and the new slice
will is “Resyncing.” You can continue to use the volume while it is in this state.
Note – You can use the metareplace command on non-failed devices to change a
disk slice or other component. This procedure can be useful for tuning the
performance of RAID 5 volumes.

CHAPTER 15
Hot Spare Pools (Overview)
This chapter explains how Solaris Volume Manager uses hot spare pools. For
information about performing related tasks, see Chapter 16.

■ “Overview of Hot Spares and Hot Spare Pools” on page 147
■ “How Hot Spares Work” on page 148
■ “Administering Hot Spare Pools” on page 150
Overview of Hot Spares and Hot Spare

Pools
A hot spare pool is collection of slices (hot spares) that Solaris Volume Manager uses to
provide increased data availability for RAID 1 (mirror) and RAID 5 volumes. In the
event of a slice failure in either a submirror or a RAID 5 volume, Solaris Volume
Manager automatically substitutes the hot spare for the failed slice.
Note – Hot spares do not apply to RAID 0 volumes or one-way mirrors. For automatic
substitution to work, redundant data must be available.
A hot spare cannot be used to hold data or state database replicas while it is idle. A hot
spare must remain ready for immediate use in the event of a slice failure in the volume
with which it is associated. To use hot spares, you must invest in additional disks
beyond those disks that the system actually requires to function.
147
Hot Spares
A hot spare is a slice (not a volume) that is functional and available, but not in use. A
hot spare is reserved, meaning that it stands ready to substitute for a failed slice in a
submirror or RAID 5 volume.
Hot spares provide protection from hardware failure because slices from RAID 1 or
RAID 5 volumes are automatically replaced and resynchronized when they fail. The
hot spare can be used temporarily until a failed submirror or RAID 5 volume slice can
be either fixed or replaced.
You create hot spares within hot spare pools. Individual hot spares can be included in
one or more hot spare pools. For example, you might have two submirrors and two
hot spares. The hot spares can be arranged as two hot spare pools, with each pool
having the two hot spares in a different order of preference. This strategy enables you
to specify which hot spare is used first, and it improves availability by having more
hot spares available.
A submirror or RAID 5 volume can use only a hot spare whose size is equal to or
greater than the size of the failed slice in the submirror or RAID 5 volume. If, for
example, you have a submirror made of 1 Gbyte drives, a hot spare for the submirror
must be 1 Gbyte or greater.
How Hot Spares Work

When a slice in a submirror or RAID 5 volume fails, a slice from the associated hot
spare pool is used to replace it. Solaris Volume Manager searches the hot spare pool
for a hot spare based on the order in which hot spares were added to the hot spare
pool. The first hot spare found that is large enough is used as a replacement. The order
of hot spares in the hot spare pools is not changed when a replacement occurs.
Tip – When you add hot spares to a hot spare pool, add them from smallest to largest.
This strategy avoids potentially wasting “large” hot spares as replacements for small
slices.
When the slice experiences an I/O error, the failed slice is placed in the “Broken” state.
To fix this condition, first repair or replace the failed slice. Then, bring the slice back to
the “Available” state by using the Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris
Management Console or the metahs -e command.
When a submirror or RAID 5 volume is using a hot spare in place of an failed slice
and that failed slice is enabled or replaced, the hot spare is then marked “Available” in
the hot spare pool, and is again ready for use.

Hot Spare Pools
A hot spare pool is an ordered list (collection) of hot spares.
You can place hot spares into one or more pools to get the most flexibility and
protection from the fewest slices. That is, you could put a single slice designated for
use as a hot spare into multiple pools, each hot spare pool having different slices and
characteristics. Then, you could assign a hot spare pool to any number of submirror
volumes or RAID 5 volumes.
Note – You can assign a single hot spare pool to multiple submirrors or RAID 5
volumes. On the other hand, a submirror or a RAID 5 volume can be associated with
only one hot spare pool.
When I/O errors occur, Solaris Volume Manager checks the hot spare pool for the first
available hot spare whose size is equal to or greater than the size of the slice that is
being replaced. If found, Solaris Volume Manager changes the hot spare’s status to
“In-Use” and automatically resynchronizes the data. In the case of a mirror, the hot
spare is resynchronized with data from a good submirror. In the case of a RAID 5
volume, the hot spare is resynchronized with the other slices in the volume. If a slice
of adequate size is not found in the list of hot spares, the submirror or RAID 5 volume
that failed goes into a failed state and the hot spares remain unused. In the case of the
submirror, the submirror no longer replicates the data completely. In the case of the
RAID 5 volume, data redundancy is no longer available.
Example—Hot Spare Pool

Figure 15–1 illustrates a hot spare pool, hsp000, that is associated with submirrors
d11 and d12 in mirror d1. If a slice in either submirror were to fail, a hot spare would
automatically be substituted for the failed slice. The hot spare pool itself is associated
with each submirror volume, not the mirror. The hot spare pool could also be
associated with other submirrors or RAID 5 volumes, if desired.
Chapter 15 • Hot Spare Pools (Overview) 149

RAID 1 Volume d1
interlace 1
interlace 2
interlace 3
interlace 4
Submirror d11 Submirror d12
Hot Spare Pool
Slice 1 Slice 2
FIGURE 15–1 Hot Spare Pool Example
Administering Hot Spare Pools

Solaris Volume Manager enables you to dynamically add, delete, replace, and enable
hot spares within hot spare pools. You can use either the Solaris Management Console
or the command-line utilities to administer hot spares and hot spare pools. See
Chapter 16 for details on these tasks.

Scenario—Hot Spares
Hot spares provide extra protection for redundant volumes (RAID 1 and RAID 5) to
help guard against data loss. By associating hot spares with the underlying slices that
comprise your RAID 0 submirrors or RAID 5 configuration, you can have the system
automatically replace failed slices with good slices from the hot spare pool. Those
slices that were swapped into use are updated with the information they should have,
then can continue to function just like the original. You can replace them at your
convenience.
Chapter 15 • Hot Spare Pools (Overview) 151

CHAPTER 16
Hot Spare Pools (Tasks)
This chapter explains how to work with Solaris Volume Manager’s hot spares and hot
spare pools. For information about related concepts, see Chapter 15.
Hot Spare Pools (Task Map)

Manager hot spare pools.
Create a hot spare pool Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a Hot
or the metainit command to create a Spare Pool” on page 154
hot spare pool.
Add slices to a hot spare Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Add Additional
pool or the metahs command to add slices Slices to a Hot Spare Pool”
to a hot spare pool. on page 155
Associate a hot spare Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Associate a Hot
pool with a volume or the metaparam command to Spare Pool With a Volume”
associate a hot spare pool with a on page 156
volume.
Change which hot spare Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Change the
pool is associated with a or the metaparam command to Associated Hot Spare Pool”
volume change which hot spare pool is on page 157
associated with a volume.
153
Check the status of hot Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI, “How to Check Status of
spares and hot spare or the metastat or metahs -i Hot Spares and Hot Spare
pools commands to check the status of a hot Pools” on page 159
spare or hot spare pool.
Replace a hot spare in a Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Replace a Hot
hot spare pool or the metahs command to replace a Spare in a Hot Spare Pool”
hot spare in a hot spare pool. on page 160
Delete a hot spare from Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Delete a Hot
a hot spare pool or the metahs command to delete a Spare from a Hot Spare
hot spare from a hot spare pool. Pool” on page 161
Enable a hot spare Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Enable a Hot
or the metahs command to enable a Spare” on page 162
hot spare in a hot spare pool.
Creating a Hot Spare Pool
▼ How to Create a Hot Spare Pool

2. To create a hot spare pool, use one of the following methods:

Hot Spare Pools node, then choose Action->Create Hot Spare Pool. For more
metainit hot-spare-pool-name ctds-for-slice
where ctds-for-slice is repeated for each slice in the hot spare pool. See the
metainit(1M) man page for more information.
Note – The metahs command can also be used to create hot spare pools.
Example—Creating a Hot Spare Pool

# metainit hsp001 c2t2d0s2 c3t2d0s2
hsp001: Hotspare pool is setup

In this example, the hot spare pool hsp001 contains two disks as the hot spares. The
system confirms that the hot spare pool has been set up.
Caution – Solaris Volume Manager will not warn you if you create a hot spare that is
not large enough. If the hot spare is not equal to, or larger than, the volume to which it
is attached, the hot spare will not work.

To add more hot spares to the hot spare pool, see “How to Add Additional Slices to a
Hot Spare Pool” on page 155. After you create the hot spare pool, you need to
associate it with a submirror or RAID 5 volume. See “How to Associate a Hot Spare
Pool With a Volume” on page 156.
▼ How to Add Additional Slices to a Hot Spare Pool

2. To add a slice to an existing hot spare pool, use one of the following methods:
Hot Spare Pools node, then choose the hot spare pool you want to change. Choose
Action->Properties, then choose the Components panel. For more information, see
the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metahs command:
metahs -a hot-spare-pool-name slice-to-add
Use -a for hot-spare-pool-name to add the slice to the specified hot spare pool.
Use -all for hot-spare-pool-name to add the slice to all hot spare pools. See the
metahs(1M) man page for more information.
Note – You can add a hot spare to one or more hot spare pools. When you add a hot
spare to a hot spare pool, it is added to the end of the list of slices in the hot spare
pool.
Example—Adding a Hot Spare Slice to One Hot Spare

Pool
# metahs -a hsp001 /dev/dsk/c3t0d0s2
hsp001: Hotspare is added
Chapter 16 • Hot Spare Pools (Tasks) 155

In this example, the -a option adds the slice /dev/dsk/c3t0d0s2 to hot spare pool
hsp001. The system verifies that the slice has been added to the hot spare pool.
Example—Adding a Hot Spare Slice to All Hot Spare

Pools
# metahs -a -all /dev/dsk/c3t0d0s2
In this example, the -a and -all options add the slice /dev/dsk/c3t0d0s2 to all
hot spare pools configured on the system. The system verifies that the slice has been
added to all hot spare pools.
Associating a Hot Spare Pool With

Volumes
▼ How to Associate a Hot Spare Pool With a Volume

2. To associate a hot spare pool with a RAID 5 volume or submirror, use one of the
following methods:
Volumes and choose a volume. Choose Action->Properties, then choose the Hot
Spare Pool panel and Attach HSP. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metaparam command:
metaparam -h hot-spare-pool component
-h Specifies to modify the hot spare pool named.

hot-spare-pool Is the name of the hot spare pool.
component Is the name of the submirror or RAID 5 volume to which the hot
spare pool is being attached.
See the metaparam(1M) man page for more information.

Example—Associating a Hot Spare Pool With Submirrors
# metaparam -h hsp100 d10
# metastat d0
d0: Mirror
Submirror 0: d10
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d11
State: Okay
...
State: Okay
...
State: Okay
...
The -h option associates a hot spare pool, hsp100, with two submirrors, d10 and
d11, of mirror, d0. The metastat command shows that the hot spare pool is
associated with the submirrors.
Example—Associating a Hot Spare Pool With a RAID 5

Volume
# metastat d10
d10: RAID
State: Okay
...
The -h option associates a hot spare pool named hsp001 with a RAID 5 volume
named d10. The metastat command shows that the hot spare pool is associated with
the RAID 5 volume.
▼ How to Change the Associated Hot Spare Pool

2. To change a volume’s associated hot spare pool, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node and choose the volume. Choose Action->Properties, then choose the
Hot Spare Pool panel. Detach the unwanted hot spare pool and detach the new hot
spare pool by following the instructions. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metaparam command:
metaparam -h hot-spare-pool-name RAID5-volume-or-submirror-name
-h Specifies to modify the hot spare pool named.

hot-spare-pool Is the name of the new hot spare pool, or the special keyword
none to remove hot spare pool associations.
component Is the name of the submirror or RAID 5 volume to which the hot
spare pool is being attached.
See the metaparam(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Changing the Hot Spare Pool Association

# metastat d4
d4: RAID
State: Okay
...
# metastat d4
d4: RAID
State: Okay
...
In this example, the hot spare pool hsp001 is initially associated with a RAID 5
volume named d4. The hot spare pool association is changed to hsp002. The
metastat command shows the hot spare pool association before and after this
change.
Example—Removing the Hot Spare Pool Association

# metastat d4
d4: RAID
State: Okay
...
# metaparam -h none d4
# metastat d4
d4: RAID
State: Okay
Hot spare pool:

...
In this example, the hot spare pool hsp001 is initially associated with a RAID 5
volume named d4. The hot spare pool association is changed to none, which indicates
that no hot spare pool should be associated with this device. The metastat command
shows the hot spare pool association before and after this change.
Maintaining Hot Spare Pools
▼ How to Check Status of Hot Spares and Hot Spare

Pools
● To view the status of a hot spare pool and its hot spares, use one of the following
methods:
Hot Spare Pools node and select a hot spare pool. Choose Action->Properties to get
detailed status information. For more information, see the online help.
■ Run the following form of the metastat command:
metastat hot-spare-pool-name
Note – The metahs command can also be used to check the status of hot spare pool.
Example—Viewing Hot Spare Pool Status

Here is sample output from the metastat command on a hot spare pool.
# metastat hsp001
hsp001: 1 hot spare
c1t3d0s2 Available 16800 blocks
Hot Spare Pool States

The following table explains hot spare pool states and possible actions to take.

TABLE 16–1 Hot Spare Pool States (Command Line)
Available The hot spares are running and ready to None.

accept data, but are not currently being
written to or read from.
In-use This hot spare pool includes slices that Diagnose how the hot spares are
have been used to replace failed being used. Then, repair the slice
components in a redundant volume. in the volume for which the hot
spare is being used.
Broken There is a problem with a hot spare or Diagnose how the hot spares are
hot spare pool, but there is no immediate being used or why they are
danger of losing data. This status is also broken. You can add more hot
displayed if all the hot spares are in use spares to the hot spare pool, if
or if any hot spares are broken. desired.
▼ How to Replace a Hot Spare in a Hot Spare Pool

1. Verify whether the hot spare is currently being used by using one of the following
methods:
Hot Spare Pools node and select a hot spare pool. Choose Action->Properties, then
choose the Hot Spares panel and follow the instructions. For more information, see
the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metastat command:
See the metastat(1M) man page.
2. To replace the hot spare, use one of the following methods:

the online help.
metahs -r hot-spare-pool-name current-hot-spare replacement-hot-spare
-r Specifies to replace disks in the hot spare pool named.

hot-spare-pool Is the name of the hot spare pool, or the special keyword
all to change all hot spare pool associations.
current-hot-spare Is the name of the current hot spare that will be replaced.

replacement-hot-spare Is the name of the slice to take the place of the current hot
spare in the named pools.
See the metahs(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Replacing a Hot Spare in One Hot Spare Pool

# metastat hsp003
hsp003: 1 hot spare
c0t2d0s2 Broken 5600 blocks
# metahs -r hsp003 c0t2d0s2 c3t1d0s2
hsp003: Hotspare c0t2d0s2 is replaced with c3t1d0s2
In this example, the metastat command makes sure that the hot spare is not in use.
The metahs -r command replaces hot spare /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 with
/dev/dsk/c3t1d0s2 in the hot spare pool hsp003.
Example—Replacing a Hot Spare in All Associated Hot

Spare Pools
# metahs -r all c1t0d0s2 c3t1d0s2
In this example, the keyword all replaces hot spare /dev/dsk/c1t0d0s2 with
/dev/dsk/c3t1d0s2 in all its associated hot spare pools.
▼ How to Delete a Hot Spare from a Hot Spare Pool

1. Verify whether the hot spare is currently being used by using one of the following
methods:
the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metastat command:
See the metastat(1M) man page.
2. To delete the hot spare, use one of the following methods:

the online help.
metahs -d hot-spare-pool-name current-hot-spare
-d Specifies to delete a hot spare from the hot spare pool named.
hot-spare-pool Is the name of the hot spare pool, or the special keyword all
to delete from all hot spare pools.
current-hot-spare Is the name of the current hot spare that will be deleted.
See the metahs(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Deleting a Hot Spare from One Hot Spare Pool

# metastat hsp003
hsp003: 1 hot spare
c0t2d0s2 Broken 5600 blocks
# metahs -d hsp003 c0t2d0s2
In this example, the metastat command makes sure that the hot spare is not in use.
The metahs -d command deletes hot spare /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 in the hot spare
pool hsp003.
▼ How to Enable a Hot Spare

● To return a hot spare to the “available” state, use one of the following methods:
the Hot Spares panel and follow the instructions. For more information, see the
online help.
metahs -e hot-spare-slice
-e Specifies to enable a hot spare.

hot-spare-slice Is the name of the slice to enable.
For more information, see the metahs(1M) man page.

Example—Enabling a Hot Spare
# metahs -e c0t0d0s2
In this example, the command places the hot spare /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s2 in the
“Available” state after it has been repaired. It is unnecessary to specify a hot spare
pool.

CHAPTER 17
Transactional Volumes (Overview)
This chapter provides conceptual information about two types of file system logging,
transactional volumes and UFS logging. For information about performing tasks
related to transactional volumes, see Chapter 18. For more information about UFS
logging, see “Mounting and Unmounting File Systems (Tasks)” in System
Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
This chapter includes the following information:

■ “About File System Logging” on page 165
■ “Background Information for Transactional Volumes” on page 169
■ “Scenario—Transactional Volumes” on page 171
Note – Transactional volumes are scheduled to be removed from the Solaris operating
environment in an upcoming Solaris release. UFS logging, available since the Solaris 8
release, provides the same capabilities but superior performance, as well as lower
system administration requirements and overhead. These benefits provide a clear
choice for optimal performance and capabilities.
About File System Logging

Transactional volumes and UFS logging are two types of file system logging.
File system logging describes writing file system updates to a log before applying the
updates to a UFS file system. Once a transaction is recorded in the log, the transaction
information can be applied to the file system later. For example, if a user creates a new
directory, the mkdir command will be logged, then applied to the file system.
165
At reboot, the system discards incomplete transactions, but applies the transactions for
completed operations. The file system remains consistent because only completed
transactions are ever applied. Because the file system is never inconsistent, it does not
need checking by the fsck command.
A system crash can interrupt current system calls and introduce inconsistencies into an
unlogged UFS. If you mount a UFS without running the fsck command, these
inconsistencies can cause panics or corrupt data.
Checking large file systems takes a long time, because it requires reading and
verifying the file system data. With UFS logging, UFS file systems do not have to be
checked at boot time because the changes from unfinished system calls are discarded.
Choosing a Logging Method

UFS logging and transactional volumes provide the same capability of keeping a log of
file system information. The only significant differences between the two methods are
the following:
■ Transactional volumes can write log information onto physically separate devices,
while UFS logging combines logs and file systems on the same volume.
■ UFS logging offers superior performance to transactional volumes in all cases.
■ UFS logging allows logging of all UFS file systems, including root (/), while
transactional volumes cannot log the root (/) file system.
To enable UFS logging, use the mount_ufs -logging option on the file system, or
add logging to the mount options for the file system in the /etc/vfstab file. For
more information about mounting file systems with UFS logging enabled, see
“Mounting and Unmounting File Systems (Tasks)” in System Administration Guide:
Basic Administration and the mount_ufs(1M) man page.
To learn more about using transactional volumes, continue reading this document.
Note – If you are not currently logging UFS file systems but want to use this feature,
choose UFS logging, rather than transactional volumes.

Transactional Volumes
A transactional volume is a volume that is used to manage file system logging, which is
essentially the same as UFS logging. Both methods record UFS updates in a log before
the updates are applied to the file system.
A transactional volume consists of two devices:

■ The master device is a slice or volume that contains the file system that is being
logged.
■ The log device is a slice or volume that contains the log and can be shared by several
file systems. The log is a sequence of records, each of which describes a change to a
file system.
Caution – A log device or a master device can be a physical slice or a volume.

However, to improve reliability and availability, use RAID 1 volumes (mirrors) for log
devices. A device error on a physical log device could cause data loss. You can also use
RAID 1 or RAID 5 volumes as master devices.
Logging begins automatically when the transactional volume is mounted, provided

the transactional volume has a log device. The master device can contain an existing
UFS file system (because creating a transactional volume does not alter the master
device). Or, you can create a file system on the transactional volume later. Likewise,
clearing a transactional volume leaves the UFS file system on the master device intact.
After you configure a transactional volume, you can use it as though it were a physical
slice or another logical volume. For information about creating a transactional volume,
see “Creating Transactional Volumes” on page 175.
Example—Transactional Volume
The following figure shows a transactional volume, d1, which consists of a master
device, d3, and a mirrored log device, d30.
Chapter 17 • Transactional Volumes (Overview) 167

Master Device
Volume d3
interlace 1
interlace 2
interlace 3 RAID 0 (Concatenation) Volume
interlace 4
interlace 1

Master Device Manager interlace 3
Volume d30
interlace 4
Logging
Data
FIGURE 17–1 Transactional Volume Example
Example—Shared Log Device

The following figure shows two transactional volumes, d1 and d2, sharing a mirrored
log device, d30. Each master device is also a RAID 1 volume, as is the shared log
device.

Trans
Master Device Volume d1
Volume d3
Shared Logging Device

Volume d30
Solaris
Logging Volume
Data Manager
Trans
Master Device Volume d2
Volume d4
FIGURE 17–2 Shared Log Transactional Volume Example
Background Information for

Transactional Volumes
When you are working with transactional volumes, consider the following
“Requirements for Working with Transactional Volumes” on page 170 and “Guidelines
for Working with Transactional Volumes” on page 170.

Requirements for Working with Transactional
Volumes
Before you can work with transactional volumes, note the following requirements:
■ Before you create transactional volumes, identify the slices or volume to be used as
the master devices and log devices.
■ Log any UFS file system except root (/).
■ Use a mirrored log device for data redundancy.
■ Do not place logs on heavily used disks.
■ Plan for a minimum of 1 Mbyte of storage space for logs. (Larger logs permit more
simultaneous file system transactions.) Plan on using an additional 1 Mbyte of log
space per 100 Mbytes of file system data, up to a maximum recommended log size
of 64 Mbytes. Although the maximum possible log size is 1 Gbyte, logs larger than
64 Mbytes are rarely fully used and often waste storage space.
■ The log device and the master device of the same transactional volume should be
located on separate drives and possibly separate controllers to help balance the I/O
load.
■ Transactional volumes can share log devices. However, heavily used file systems
should have separate logs. The disadvantage of sharing a log device is that certain
errors require that all file systems that share the log device must be checked with
the fsck command.
■ Once you set up a transactional volume, you can share the log device among file
systems.
■ Logs (log devices) are typically accessed frequently. For best performance, avoid
placing logs on disks with high usage. You might also want to place logs in the
middle of a disk, to minimize the average seek times when accessing the log.
■ The larger the log size, the better the performance. Larger logs allow for greater
concurrency (more simultaneous file system operations per second).
Note – Mirroring log devices is strongly recommended. Losing the data in a log device
because of device errors can leave a file system in an inconsistent state that fsck
might be unable to fix without user intervention. Using a RAID 1 volume for the
master device is a good idea to ensure data redundancy.
Guidelines for Working with Transactional

Volumes
■ Generally, you should log your largest UFS file systems and the UFS file system
whose data changes most often. It is probably not necessary to log small file
systems with mostly read-only activity.

■ If no slice is available for the log device, you can still configure a transactional
volume. This strategy might be useful if you plan to log exported file systems
when you do not have a spare slice for the log device. When a slice is available,
you only need to attach it as a log device.
■ Consider sharing a log device among file systems if your system does not have
many available slices, or if the file systems sharing the log device are primarily
read, not written.
Caution – When one master device of a shared log device goes into a failed state, the
log device is unable to roll its changes forward. This problem causes all master devices
sharing the log device to go into the hard error state.
Scenario—Transactional Volumes
Transactional volumes provide logging capabilities for UFS file systems, similar to
UFS Logging. The following example, drawing on the sample system explained in
Chapter 4, describes how transactional volumes can help speed reboot by providing
file system logging.
Note – Unless your situation requires the special capabilities of transactional volumes,
specifically the ability to log to a different device than the logged device, consider
using UFS logging instead. UFS logging provides superior performance to
transactional volumes.
The sample system has several logical volumes that should be logged to provide
maximum uptime and availability, including the root (/) and /var mirrors. By
configuring transactional volumes to log to a third RAID 1 volume, you can provide
redundancy and speed the reboot process.

CHAPTER 18
Transactional Volumes (Tasks)
transactional volumes. For information about the concepts involved in these tasks, see
Chapter 17.
Transactional Volumes (Task Map)

Manager transactional volumes.
Create a transactional Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a
volume or the metainit command to create a Transactional Volume”
transactional volume. on page 175
Convert transactional Use the metaclear and mount “How to Convert a

volumes to UFS logging commands to clear a transactional Transactional Volume to
volume and mount the file system UFS Logging” on page 178
with UFS logging.
173
Check the status of Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Check the State of
transactional volumes or the metastat command to check Transactional Volumes ”
the status of a transactional volume. on page 182
Attach a log device to a Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Attach a Log
transactional volume or the metattach command to attach Device to a Transactional
a log device. Volume” on page 184
Detach a log device from Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Detach a Log
a transactional volume or the metadetach command to Device from a
detach a log device. Transactional Volume”
on page 185
Expand a transactional Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Expand a
volume or the metattach command to Transactional Volume”
expand a transactional volume. on page 186
Delete a transactional Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI, “How to Remove a
volume the metadetach command, or the Transactional Volume”
metarename command to delete a on page 187
transactional volume.
Delete a transactional Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Remove a
volume and retain the or the metadetach command to Transactional Volume and
mount point delete a transactional volume. Retain the Mount Device”
on page 188
Share a log device Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Share a Log
or the metainit command to share a Device Among File
transactional volume log device. Systems” on page 191
Recover a transactional Use the fsck command to recover a “How to Recover a

volume with a file transactional volume with a panic. Transactional Volume With
system panic a Panic” on page 192
Recover a transactional Use the fsck command to recover a “How to Recover a

volume with hard errors transactional volume with hard errors. Transactional Volume With
Hard Errors” on page 193

Creating Transactional Volumes
▼ How to Create a Transactional Volume

and “Background Information for Transactional Volumes” on page 169.
2. If possible, unmount the UFS file system for which you want to enable logging.
# umount /export
Note – If the file system cannot be unmounted, you can continue, but will have to
reboot the system before the transactional volume can be active.
3. Create the transactional volume by using one of the following methods:

Volumes node, then choose Action->Create Volume and follow the instructions in
the wizard. For more information, see the online help.
metainit trans-volume -t master-device log-device
■ trans-volume is the name of the transactional volume to create.

■ master-device is the name of the device containing the file system you want to
log.
■ log-device is the name of the device that will contain the log.
The master device and log device can be either slices or logical volumes. See the
metainit(1M) man page for more information.
For example, to create a transactional volume (d10) logging the file system on slice
c0t0d0s6 to a log on c0t0d0s7, use the following syntax:
# metainit d10 -t c0t0d0s6 c0t0d0s7
Chapter 18 • Transactional Volumes (Tasks) 175

Note – You can use the same log device (c0t0d0s7 in this example) for several
master devices. The sharing of log devices is fully supported.
4. Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the existing UFS file system information is
replaced with that of the created transactional volume.
For example, if /export was on c0t0d0s6, and the new transactional volume is d10,
edit /etc/vfstab as shown here, so the mount points to the transactional volume
rather than to the raw disk slice:
#/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s5 /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s5 /export ufs 2 yes -
/dev/md/dsk/d10 /dev/md/rdsk/d10 /export ufs 2 yes -
5. If possible, remount the file system.
Note – If you are creating a transactional volume for a file system that cannot be
unmounted, such as /usr, then reboot the system now to remount the transactional
volume and start logging.
Example—Creating a Transactional Volume for a Slice

# umount /home1
# metainit d63 -t c0t2d0s2 c2t2d0s1
d63: Trans is setup
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the file system references the transactional volume)
# mount /home1
The slice /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 contains a file system mounted on /home1. The slice
that will contain the log device is /dev/dsk/c2t2d0s1. First, the file system is
unmounted. The metainit command with the -t option creates the transactional
volume, d63.
Next, the /etc/vfstab file must be edited to change the entry for the file system to
reference the transactional volume. For example, the following line:
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 /dev/rdsk/c0t2d0s2 /home1 ufs 2 yes -

/dev/md/dsk/d63 /dev/md/rdsk/d63 /home1 ufs 2 yes -
Logging becomes effective for the file system when it is remounted.
On subsequent reboots, instead of checking the file system, the fsck command
displays a log message for the transactional volume:
# reboot
...

/dev/md/rdsk/d63: is logging
Example—Creating a Transactional Volume for /usr

# metainit -f d20 -t c0t3d0s6 c1t2d0s1
d20: Trans is setup
# reboot
Slice /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s6 contains the /usr file system. The slice that will contain
the log device is /dev/dsk/c1t2d0s1. Because /usr cannot be unmounted, the
metainit command is run with the -f option to force the creation of the
transactional volume, d20. Next, the line in the /etc/vfstab file that mounts the file
system must be changed to reference the transactional volume. For example, the
following line:
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s6 /dev/rdsk/c0t3d0s6 /usr ufs 1 no -

/dev/md/dsk/d20 /dev/md/rdsk/d20 /usr ufs 1 no -
Logging becomes effective for the file system when the system is rebooted.
Example—Creating a Transactional Volume for a Logical

Volume
# umount /home1
# metainit d64 -t d30 d12
d64: Trans is setup
# mount /home1
RAID 1 volume d30 contains a file system that is mounted on /home1. The mirror
that will contain the log device is d12. First, the file system is unmounted. The
metainit command with the -t option creates the transactional volume, d64.
Next, the line in the /etc/vfstab file that mounts the file system must be changed to
reference the transactional volume. For example, the following line:

Logging becomes effective for the file system when the file system is remounted.
On subsequent file system remounts or system reboots, instead of checking the file
system, the fsck command displays a log message for the transactional volume:

# reboot
...
/dev/md/rdsk/d64: is logging
Note – To avoid editing the /etc/vfstab file, you can use the metarename(1M)
command to exchange the name of the original logical volume and the new
transactional volume. For more information, see “Renaming Volumes” on page 221.
Converting Transactional Volumes to

UFS Logging
Converting any existing transactional volumes on your system to use UFS logging
could improve performance and maintainability. Additionally, because transactional
volumes will not be supported at some time in the future, you will eventually need to
move to UFS logging. The following section outlines the conversion process.
How to Convert a Transactional Volume to UFS

Logging
Note – You must have at least one Mbyte of free space (using default system settings)
to convert to UFS logging, because the log requires some space and resides on the
logged volume. If you do not have sufficient free space, you will have to remove files
or grow your file system before you can complete this conversion process.
▼ To Convert a Transactional Volume to Use UFS Logging

1. Identify transactional volumes and their associated log devices by using the
metastat command and looking for Trans and Logging device in the output.
# metastat
d2: Trans
State: Okay
Master Device: d0
Logging Device: d20
d20: Logging device for d2

State: Okay
Size: 28470 blocks
d20: Concat/Stripe
Size: 28728 blocks
d10 0 No Okay No
d11 0 No Okay No
d12
Note the names for these devices for later use.
2. Check to see if the Trans device is currently mounted by using the df command
and searching for the name of the transactional volume in the output. If the
transactional volume is not mounted, go to Step 7.
# df | grep d2
/mnt/transvolume (/dev/md/dsk/d2 ): 2782756 blocks 339196 files
3. Verify adequate free space on the transactional volume by using the df -k

command.
# df -k /mnt/transvolume
file system kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
/dev/md/dsk/d2 1391387 91965 1243767 7% /mnt/transvolume
4. Stop all activity on the file system, either by halting applications or bringing the
system to the single user mode.
# init s
[root@lexicon:lexicon-setup]$ init s
INIT: New run level: S
The system is coming down for administration. Please wait.
Dec 11 08:14:43 lexicon syslogd: going down on signal 15
Killing user processes: done.
INIT: SINGLE USER MODE
Type control-d to proceed with normal startup,

(or give root password for system maintenance):
single-user privilege assigned to /dev/console.
Entering System Maintenance Mode
Dec 11 08:15:52 su: ’su root’ succeeded for root on /dev/console

Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 s81_51 May 2002
#
5. Flush the log for the file system that is logged with lockfs -f.
# /usr/sbin/lockfs -f /mnt/transvolume

# umount /mnt/transvolume
7. Clear the transactional volume that contains the file system.

This operation will not affect the data on the file system.
# metaclear d2
d2: Trans is cleared
The Logging device, identified at the beginning of this procedure, is now unused
and can be reused for other purposes. The master device, also identified at the
beginning of this procedure, contains the file system and must be mounted for use.
8. Edit the /etc/vfstab file to update the mount information for the file system.
You must change the raw and block mount points, and add logging to the options
for that file system. With the transactional volume in use, the /etc/vfstab entry
looks like this:
/dev/md/dsk/d2 /dev/md/rdsk/d2 /mnt/transvolume ufs 1 no -
After you update the file to change the mount point from the transactional volume d2
to the underlying device d0, and add the logging option, that part of the
/etc/vfstab file looks like this:
#device device mount FS fsck mount mount
#to mount to fsck point type pass at boot options
#
/dev/md/dsk/d0 /dev/md/rdsk/d0 /mnt/transvolume ufs 1 no logging

# mount /mnt/transvolume
Note – The mount command might report an error, similar to“the state of
/dev/md/dsk/d0 is not okay and it was attempted to be mounted read/write. Please
run fsck and try again.” If this happens, run fsck on the raw device (fsck
/dev/md/rdsk/d0 in this case), answer y to fixing the file system state in the
superblock, and try again.
10. Verify that the file system is mounted with logging enabled by examining the
/etc/mnttab file and confirming that the file system has logging listed as one of
the options.
# grep mnt /etc/mnttab
mnttab /etc/mnttab mntfs dev=43c0000 1007575477
/dev/md/dsk/d0 /mnt/transvolume ufs rw,intr,largefiles,
logging,xattr,onerror=panic,suid,dev=1540000 1008085006

11. If you changed to single-user mode during the process, you can now return to
multiuser mode.
Example—Converting From Transactional Volumes to UFS

Logging
The following example shows the process of converting a transactional volume to UFS
logging.
# metastat
d50: Trans
State: Okay
Size: 204687 blocks
Master Device: c1t14d0s0
Logging Device: c1t12d0s0
Master Device Start Block Dbase Reloc

c1t14d0s0 0 No Yes
c1t12d0s0: Logging device for d50

State: Okay
Size: 30269 blocks
Logging Device Start Block Dbase Reloc

c1t12d0s0 5641 No Yes
Make note of the ’master’ and ’log’ devices as you will need this information in subsequent steps.
Determine if the transactional volume contains a mounted file system.
# df | grep d50
/home1 (/dev/md/dsk/d50 ): 161710 blocks 53701 files
Verify sufficient free space (more than 1 MByte)

# df -k /home1
filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
/dev/md/dsk/d50 95510 14655 71304 18% /home1
Go to single-user mode.
# /usr/sbin/lockfs -f /home1
# /usr/sbin/umount /home1
# /usr/sbin/metaclear d50
Update /etc/vfstab file to mount underlying volume and add logging option.
# cat /etc/vfstab
#device device mount FS fsck mount
mount
#to mount to fsck point type pass at boot
options

/dev/dsk/c1t14d0s0 /dev/rdsk/c1t14d0s0 /home1 ufs 2 yes
logging
# mount /home1
# /usr/bin/grep /home1 /etc/mnttab
/dev/dsk/c1t14d0s0 /home1 ufs
rw,intr,largefiles,logging,xattr,onerror=panic,suid,dev=740380
1008019906
Return to multi-user mode.
Maintaining Transactional Volumes
▼ How to Check the State of Transactional Volumes

● To check the status of a transactional volume, use one of the following methods:
Volumes node, then view the status of the volumes. Right-click a transactional
volume and choose Properties for more detailed status information. For more
For more information, see the metastat(1M) man page.
Example—Checking the Status of Transactional Volumes

Here is sample transactional volume output from the metastat command:
# metastat
d20: Trans
State: Okay
Size: 102816 blocks
Master Device: c0t3d0s4
Master Device Start Block Dbase

c0t3d0s4 0 No

State: Okay
Size: 5350 blocks
Logging Device Start Block Dbase

c0t2d0s3 250 No

The metastat command also shows master devices and log devices. For each device,
the following information is displayed:
■ “Device”, which is the device name of the slice or volume
■ “Start Block”, which is the block on which the device begins
■ “Dbase”, which shows if the device contains a state database replica
■ “State”, which shows the state of the log device
The following table explains transactional volume states and possible actions to take.
TABLE 18–1 Transactional Volume States
Okay The device is functioning properly. None.

If mounted, the file system is
logging and will not be checked at
boot.
Attaching The log device will be attached to None.

the transactional volume when the
volume is closed or unmounted.
When this occurs, the device
transitions to the Okay state.
Detached The transactional volume does not The fsck command automatically checks
have a log device. All benefits from the device at boot time. See the fsck(1M)
UFS logging are disabled. man page.
Detaching The log device will be detached None.

from the transactional volume
when the volume is closed or
unmounted. When this occurs, the
device transitions to the Detached
state.
Hard Error A device error or panic has Fix the transactional volume. See “How to
occurred while the device was in Recover a Transactional Volume With a
use. An I/O error is returned for Panic” on page 192, or “How to Recover a
every read or write until the device Transactional Volume With Hard Errors”
is closed or unmounted. The first on page 193.
open causes the device to
transition to the Error state.

TABLE 18–1 Transactional Volume States (Continued)
Error The device can be read and written Fix the transactional volume. See “How to
to. The file system can be mounted Recover a Transactional Volume With a
read-only. However, an I/O error Panic” on page 192, or “How to Recover a
is returned for every read or write Transactional Volume With Hard Errors”
that actually gets a device error. on page 193. Successfully completing the
The device does not transition back fsck or newfs commands transitions the
to the Hard Error state, even when device into the Okay state. When the
a later device error occurs. device is in the Hard Error or Error state,
the fsck command automatically checks
and repairs the file system at boot time.
The newfs command destroys whatever
data might be on the device.
▼ How to Attach a Log Device to a Transactional

Volume
2. Unmount the UFS file system for which you want to enable logging.
3. Attach a log device to the transactional volume by using one of the following
methods:
Volumes node, then choose the transactional volume from the listing. Right-click
the volume, and choose Properties. For more information, see the online help.
metattach master-volume logging-volume
master-volume is the name of the transactional volume that contains the file system
to be logged.
logging-volume is the name of the volume or slice that should contain the log.

# metattach d1 d23

Example—Attaching a Log Device to a Transactional
Volume
This example shows a log device, the slice (c1t1d0s1), being attached to the
transactional volume d1, which is mounted on /fs2.
# umount /fs2
d1: log device d0c1t1d0s1 is attached
# mount /fs2
▼ How to Detach a Log Device from a Transactional

Volume
2. Unmount the UFS file system for which you want to disable logging or change the
log device.
3. Detach the log device from the transactional volume by using one of the following
methods:
■ Use the following form of the metadetach command:
metadetach master-volume
that is being logged.
Example—Detaching a Log Device from a Transactional

Volume
This example show a log device, the slice (c1t1d0s1), being detached from the
transactional volume d1, which is mounted on /fs2.
# umount /fs2
# metadetach d1
d1: log device c1t1d0s1 is detached
# mount /fs2

▼ How to Expand a Transactional Volume
Note – You can expand a master device within a transactional volume only when the
master device is a volume (RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 5).

2. If the master device is a volume (rather than a basic slice), attach additional slices to
the master device by using one of the following methods:
the volume, and choose Properties, then the Components panel. For more
metattach master-volume component
to be logged.
component is the name of the volume or slice that should be attached.
Note – If the master device is a mirror, you need to attach additional slices to each
submirror.
3. If the master device is a slice, you cannot expand it directly. Instead, you must do
the following:
■ Clear the existing transactional volume.
■ Put the master device’s slice into a volume.
■ Recreate the transactional volume.
Once you have completed this process, you can expand the master device as explained
in the previous steps of this procedure.
Example—Expanding a RAID 1 Master Device Within a

Transactional Volume
# metastat d10
d10: Trans
State: Okay

Size: 102816 blocks
Master Device: d0
Logging Device: d1
d0: Mirror
Submirror 0: d11
State: Okay
...
Submirror 1: d12
State: Okay
...
This example shows the expansion of a transactional device, d10, whose master
device consists of a two-way RAID 1 volume, d0, which contains two submirrors, d11
and d12. The metattach command is run on each submirror. The system confirms
that each slice was attached.

For a UFS, run the growfs command on the transactional volume (not the master
device). See “How to Grow a File System” on page 229.
▼ How to Remove a Transactional Volume

2. Unmount the UFS file system for which you want to remove the transactional
volume and disable logging.
methods:

4. Remove (clear) the transactional volume by using one of the following methods:
the volume, and choose Delete. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metaclear command:
metaclear master-volume
See the metaclear(1M) man page for more information.
5. If necessary, update /etc/vfstab to mount the underlying volume, rather than the
transactional volume you just cleared.
Example—Removing a Transactional Volume

This example shows the removal of a transactional volume d1, which was mounted
on /fs2. The underlying slice, c1t1d0s1, is mounted directly after this procedure.
# umount /fs2
# metadetach d1
d1: log device d2 is detached
# metaclear d1
( Edit /etc/vfstab to update mount point for /fs2 to mount on c1t1d0s1, not d1)
# mount /fs2
▼ How to Remove a Transactional Volume and

Retain the Mount Device
This procedure works only for situations in which the transactional volume and the
underlying device are both Solaris Volume Manager logical volumes.

2. Unmount the UFS file system for which you want to remove the transactional
volume and disable logging.
methods:

4. Exchange the name of the transactional volume with that of the master device.
5. Remove (clear) the transactional volume by using one of the following methods:
the volume, and choose Delete. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metaclear command:
metaclear master-volume
See the metaclear(1M) man page for more information.
6. Run the fsck command on the master device.

When asked whether to fix the file system’s state in the superblock, respond y.
Example—Removing a Transactional Volume While

Retaining the Mount Device
This example begins with a transactional volume, d1, that contains a mounted file
system, and ends up with a file system that is mounted on the transactional volume‘s
underlying master device, which will be d1.
# metastat d1
d1: Trans
State: Okay
Size: 5600 blocks
Master Device: d21
Logging Device: d0
d21: Mirror
Submirror 0: d20
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d2
State: Okay
...
d0: Logging device for d1

State: Okay
Size: 5350 blocks

# umount /fs2
# metadetach d1
d1: log device d0 is detached
# metarename -f -x d1 d21
d1 and d21 have exchanged identities
# metastat d21
d21: Trans
State: Detached
Size: 5600 blocks
Master Device: d1
d1: Mirror
Submirror 0: d20
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d2
State: Okay
# metaclear 21
# fsck /dev/md/dsk/d1
** /dev/md/dsk/d1
** Last Mounted on /fs2
** Phase 1 - Check Blocks and Sizes
** Phase 2 - Check Pathnames
** Phase 3 - Check Connectivity
** Phase 4 - Check Reference Counts
** Phase 5 - Check Cyl groups
FILE SYSTEM STATE IN SUPERBLOCK IS WRONG; FIX? y
3 files, 10 used, 2493 free (13 frags, 310 blocks, 0.5%

fragmentation)
# mount /fs2
The metastat command confirms that the transactional volume, d1, is in the “Okay”
state. The file system is unmounted before detaching the transactional volume’s log
device. The transactional volume and its mirrored master device are exchanged by
using the -f (force) flag. Running the metastat command again confirms that the
exchange occurred. The transactional volume and the log device (if desired) are
cleared, in this case, d21 and d0, respectively. Next, the fsck command is run on the
mirror, d1, and the prompt is answered with a y. After the fsck command is done,
the file system is remounted. Note that because the mount device for /fs2 did not
change, the /etc/vfstab file does not require editing.

Sharing Log Devices
▼ How to Share a Log Device Among File Systems

This procedure assumes that you have already set up a transactional volume with a
log for another file system.

2. If possible, unmount the file system for which you want to enable logging.
3. If you already have an existing log device, detach it from the transactional volume
by using one of the following methods:
4. Attach a log device to the transactional volume by using one of the following
methods:
metattach master-volume logging-volume
5. Edit the /etc/vfstab file to modify (or add) the entry for the file system to
reference the transactional volume.
6. Remount the file system. If the file system cannot be unmounted, reboot the system
to force your changes to take effect.
Example—Sharing a Logging Device

# umount /xyzfs
# metainit d64 -t c0t2d0s4 d10

d64: Trans is setup
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the entry for /xyzfs references the transactional volume d64)
# mount /xyzfs
# metastat
...
d10: Logging device for d63 d64
...
This example shows the sharing of a log device (d10) defined as the log for a previous
transactional volume, with a new transactional volume (d64). The file system to be set
up as the master device is /xyzfs and is using slice /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s4. The
metainit -t command specifies the configuration is a transactional volume. The
/etc/vfstab file must be edited to change (or enter for the first time) the entry for
the file system to reference the transactional volume. For example, the following line:
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s4 /dev/rdsk/c0t2d0s4 /xyzfs ufs 2 yes -

/dev/md/dsk/d64 /dev/md/rdsk/d64 /xyzfs ufs 2 yes -
The metastat command verifies that the log is being shared. Logging becomes
effective for the file system when the system is rebooted.
Upon subsequent reboots, instead of checking the file system, the fsck command
displays these messages for the two file systems:
/dev/md/rdsk/d63: is logging.
/dev/md/rdsk/d64: is logging.
Recovering Transactional Volumes When

Errors Occur
▼ How to Recover a Transactional Volume With a

Panic
● For file systems that the fsck command cannot repair, run the fsck command on
each transactional volume whose file systems share the affected log device.
Example—Recovering a Transactional Volume

# fsck /dev/md/rdsk/trans

Only after all of the affected transactional volumes have been checked and
successfully repaired will the fsck command reset the state of the failed transactional
volume to “Okay.”
▼ How to Recover a Transactional Volume With Hard

Errors
Use this procedure to transition a transactional volume to the “Okay” state.
See “How to Check the State of Transactional Volumes ” on page 182 to check the
status of a transactional volume.
If either the master device or log device encounters errors while processing logged
data, the device transitions from the “Okay” state to the “Hard Error” state. If the
device is in the “Hard Error” or “Error” state, either a device error or panic occurred.
Recovery from both scenarios is the same.
Note – If a log (log device) is shared, a failure in any of the slices in a transactional
volume will result in all slices or volumes that are associated with the transactional
volume switching to a failed state.

2. Read “Background Information for Transactional Volumes” on page 169.
3. Run the lockfs command to determine which file systems are locked.
# lockfs
Affected file systems are listed with a lock type of hard. Every file system that shares
the same log device would be hard locked.
4. Unmount the affected file system(s).

You can unmount locked file systems even if they were in use when the error
occurred. If the affected processes try to access an opened file or directory on the hard
locked or unmounted file system, an error is returned.
5. (Optional) Back up any accessible data.

Before you attempt to fix the device error, you might want to recover as much data as
possible. If your backup procedure requires a mounted file system (such as the tar
command or the cpio command), you can mount the file system read-only. If your
backup procedure does not require a mounted file system (such as the dump command
or the volcopy command), you can access the transactional volume directly.
6. Fix the device error.

At this point, any attempt to open or mount the transactional volume for
read-and-write access starts rolling all accessible data on the log device to the
appropriate master devices. Any data that cannot be read or written is discarded.
However, if you open or mount the transactional volume for read-only access, the log
is simply rescanned and not rolled forward to the master devices, and the error is not
fixed. In other words, all data on the master device and log device remains unchanged
until the first read or write open or mount.
7. Run the fsck command to repair the file system, or the newfs command if you
need to restore data.
Run the fsck command on all of the transactional volumes that share the same log
device. When all transactional volumes have been repaired by the fsck command,
they then revert to the “Okay” state.
The newfs command will also transition the file system back to the “Okay” state, but
the command will destroy all of the data on the file system. The newfs command is
generally used when you plan to restore file systems from backup.
The fsck or newfs commands must be run on all of the transactional volumes that
share the same log device before these devices revert back to the “Okay” state.
8. Run the metastat command to verify that the state of the affected devices has
reverted to “Okay.”
Example—Logging Device Error

# metastat d5
d5: Trans
State: Hard Error
Size: 10080 blocks
Master Device: d4
d4: Mirror
State: Okay
...
State: Hard Error
Size: 5350 blocks
...
# fsck /dev/md/rdsk/d5
** /dev/md/rdsk/d5
** Last Mounted on /fs1
WARNING: md: log device: /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s6 changed state to
Okay
4 files, 11 used, 4452 free (20 frags, 554 blocks, 0.4%
fragmentation)

# metastat d5
d5: Trans
State: Okay
Size: 10080 blocks
Master Device: d4
d4: Mirror
State: Okay
...

State: Okay
...
This example shows a transactional volume, d5, which has a log device in the “Hard
Error” state, being fixed. You must run the fsck command on the transactional
volume itself, which transitions the state of the transactional volume to “Okay.” The
metastat command confirms that the state is “Okay.”

CHAPTER 19
Disk Sets (Overview)
This chapter provides conceptual information about disk sets. For information about
performing related tasks, see Chapter 20.

■ “What Do Disk Sets Do?” on page 197
■ “How Does Solaris Volume Manager Manage Disk Sets?” on page 198
■ “Background Information for Disk Sets” on page 202
■ “Administering Disk Sets” on page 203
■ “Scenario—Disk Sets” on page 204
What Do Disk Sets Do?

A shared disk set, or simply disk set, is a set of disk drives that contain volumes and hot
spares that can be shared exclusively but not at the same time by multiple hosts.
Additionally, disk sets provide a separate namespace within which Solaris Volume
Manager volumes can be managed.
A disk set supports data redundancy and data availability. If one host fails, the other
host can take over the failed host’s disk set. (This type of configuration is known as a
failover configuration.) Although each host can control the set of disks, only one host
can control it at a time.
Note – Disk sets are supported on both SPARC based and IA based platforms.
197
Note – Disk sets are intended primarily for use with Sun Cluster, Solstice HA (High
Availability), or another supported third-party HA framework. Solaris Volume
Manager by itself does not provide all the functionality necessary to implement a
failover configuration.
How Does Solaris Volume Manager

Manage Disk Sets?
In addition to the shared disk set, each host has a local disk set. The local disk set
consists of all of the disks on a host that are not in a shared disk set. A local disk set
belongs exclusively to a specific host. The local disk set contains the state database for
that specific host’s configuration.
Volumes and hot spare pools in a shared disk set must be built on drives from within
that disk set. Once you have created a volume within the disk set, you can use the
volume just as you would a physical slice. However, disk sets do not support
mounting file systems from the /etc/vfstab file.
A file system that resides on a volume in a disk set cannot be mounted automatically
at boot with the /etc/vfstab file. The necessary disk set RPC daemons (rpc.metad
and rpc.metamhd) do not start early enough in the boot process to permit this.
Additionally, the ownership of a disk set is lost during a reboot.
Similarly, volumes and hot spare pools in the local disk set can consist only of drives
from within the local disk set.
When you add disks to a disk set, Solaris Volume Manager automatically creates the
state database replicas on the disk set. When a drive is accepted into a disk set, Solaris
Volume Manager might repartition the drive so that the state database replica for the
disk set can be placed on the drive (see “Automatic Disk Partitioning” on page 199).
Unlike local disk set administration, you do not need to manually create or delete disk
set state databases. Solaris Volume Manager places one state database replica (on slice
7) on each drive across all drives in the disk set, up to a maximum of 50 total replicas
in the disk set.

Note – Although disk sets are supported in single-host configurations, they are often
not appropriate for “local” (not dual-connected) use. Two common exceptions are the
use of disk sets to provide a more managable namespace for logical volumes, and to
more easily manage storage on a Storage Area Network (SAN) fabric (see
“Scenario—Disk Sets” on page 204).
Automatic Disk Partitioning

When you add a new disk to a disk set, Solaris Volume Manager checks the disk
format and, if necessary, repartitions the disk to ensure that the disk has a slice 7 with
adequate space for a state database replica. The precise size of slice 7 depends on the
disk geometry, but it will be no less than 4 Mbytes, and probably closer to 6 Mbytes
(depending on where the cylinder boundaries lie). For example, the following output
from the prtvtoc command shows a disk before it is added to a disk set.
[root@lexicon:apps]$ prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c1t6d0s0
* /dev/rdsk/c1t6d0s0 partition map
*
* Dimensions:
* 512 bytes/sector
* 133 sectors/track
* 27 tracks/cylinder
* 3591 sectors/cylinder
* 4926 cylinders
* 4924 accessible cylinders
*
* Flags:
* 1: unmountable
* 10: read-only
*
* First Sector Last
* Partition Tag Flags Sector Count Sector Mount Directory
0 2 00 0 4111695 4111694
1 3 01 4111695 1235304 5346998
2 5 01 0 17682084 17682083
3 0 00 5346999 4197879 9544877
4 0 00 9544878 4197879 13742756
5 0 00 13742757 3939327 17682083
Chapter 19 • Disk Sets (Overview) 199

Note – Drives are repartitioned when they are added to a disk set only if slice 7 is not
set up correctly. A small portion of each drive is reserved in slice 7 for use by Solaris
Volume Manager. The remainder of the space on each drive is placed into slice 0. Any
existing data on the disks is lost by repartitioning. After you add a drive to a disk set,
it might be repartitioned as necessary, with the exception that slice 7 is not altered in
any way.
If you have disk sets that you upgraded from Solstice DiskSuite software, the default
state database replica size on those sets will be 1034 blocks, not the 8192 block size
from Solaris Volume Manager. Also, slice 7 on the disks that were added under
Solstice DiskSuite will be correspondingly smaller than slice 7 on disks that were
added under Solaris Volume Manager.
After you add the disk to a disk set, the output of prtvtoc looks like the following:
[root@lexicon:apps]$ prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c1t6d0s0
* /dev/rdsk/c1t6d0s0 partition map
*
* Dimensions:
* 512 bytes/sector
* 133 sectors/track
* 27 tracks/cylinder
* 3591 sectors/cylinder
* 4926 cylinders
* 4924 accessible cylinders
*
* Flags:
* 1: unmountable
* 10: read-only
*
* First Sector Last
* Partition Tag Flags Sector Count Sector Mount Directory
0 0 00 10773 17671311 17682083
7 0 01 0 10773 10772
[root@lexicon:apps]$
If disks you add to a disk set have acceptable slice 7s (that start at cylinder 0 and that
have sufficient space for the state database replica), they will not be reformatted.
Disk Set Name Requirements

Disk set component names are similar to other Solaris Volume Manager component
names, but the disk set name is part of the name.
■ Volume path names include the disk set name after /dev/md/ and before the
actual volume name in the path.
■ The following table shows some example disk set volume names.

TABLE 19–1 Example Volume Names
/dev/md/blue/dsk/d0 Block volume d0 in disk set blue
/dev/md/blue/dsk/d1 Block volume d1 in disk set blue
/dev/md/blue/rdsk/d126 Raw volume d126 in disk set blue
/dev/md/blue/rdsk/d127 Raw volume d127 in disk set blue
Similarly, hot spare pools have the disk set name as part of the hot spare name.
Example—Two Shared Disk Sets

Figure 19–1 shows an example configuration that uses two disk sets.
In this configuration, Host A and Host B share disk sets A and B. They each have their
own local disk set, which is not shared. If Host A fails, Host B can take over control of
Host A’s shared disk set (Disk set A). Likewise, if Host B fails, Host A can take control
of Host B’s shared disk set (Disk set B).
Disk 0 Disk 1
Local Disk 4 Disk 2 Shared
Host A
Disk Set Disk Set
Disk 5 Disk 3 red
Disk 0 Disk 1
Local Disk 4 Disk 2 Shared
Host B
Disk Set Disk Set
Disk 5 Disk 3 blue
FIGURE 19–1 Disk Sets Example

Background Information for Disk Sets
When working with disk sets, consider the following “Background Information for
Disk Sets” on page 202 and “Administering Disk Sets” on page 203.
Requirements for Disk Sets

■ Solaris Volume Manager must be configured on each host that will be connected to
the disk set.
■ Each host must have its local state database set up before you can create disk sets.
■ To create and work with a disk set in a clustering environment, root must be a
member of Group 14, or the /.rhosts file must contain an entry for the other host
name (on each host).
■ To perform maintenance on a disk set, a host must be the owner of the disk set or
have reserved the disk set. (A host takes implicit ownership of the disk set by
putting the first drives into the set.)
■ You cannot add a drive that is in use to a disk set. Before you add a drive, make
sure it is not currently being used for a file system, database, or any other
application.
■ Do not add a drive with existing data that you want to preserve to a disk set. The
process of adding the disk to the disk set repartitions the disk and destroys existing
data.
■ All disks that you plan to share between hosts in the disk set must be connected to
each host and must have the exact same path, driver, and name on each host.
Specifically, a shared disk drive must be seen on both hosts at the same device
number (c#t#d#). If the numbers are not the same on both hosts, you will see the
message “drive c#t#d# is not common with host xxx” when attempting to add
drives to the disk set. The shared disks must use the same driver name (ssd). See
“How to Add Drives to a Disk Set” on page 207 for more information on setting up
shared disk drives in a disk set.
Guidelines for Disk Sets

■ The default total number of disk sets on a system is 4. You can increase this value
up to 32 by editing the /kernel/drv/md.conf file, as described in “How to
Increase the Number of Default Disk Sets” on page 227. The number of shared disk
sets is always one less than the md_nsets value, because the local set is included
in md_nsets.
■ Unlike local volume administration, it is not necessary to create or delete state
database replicas manually on the disk set. Solaris Volume Manager tries to balance
a reasonable number of replicas across all drives in a disk set.

■ When drives are added to a disk set, Solaris Volume Manager re-balances the state
database replicas across the remaining drives. Later, if necessary, you can change
the replica layout with the metadb command.
Administering Disk Sets

Disk sets can be created and configured by using the Solaris Volume Manager
command-line interface (the metaset command) or the Enhanced Storage tool within
the Solaris Management Console.
After drives are added to a disk set, the disk set can be reserved (or taken) and released
by hosts in the disk set. When a disk set is reserved by a host, the other host in the
disk set cannot access the data on the drives in the disk set. To perform maintenance
on a disk set, a host must be the owner of the disk set or have reserved the disk set. A
host takes implicit ownership of the disk set by putting the first drives into the set.
Reserving a Disk Set

Before a host can use drives in a disk set, the host must reserve the disk set. There are
two methods of reserving a disk set:
■ Safely - When you safely reserve a disk set, Solaris Volume Manager attempts to
take the disk set, and the other host attempts to release the disk set. The release
(and therefore the reservation) might fail.
■ Forcibly - When you forcibly reserve a disk set, Solaris Volume Manager reserves
the disk set whether or not another host currently has the set reserved. This
method is generally used when a host in the disk set is down or not
communicating. All disks within the disk set are taken over. The state database is
read in on the host performing the reservation and the shared volumes configured
in the disk set become accessible. If the other host had the disk set reserved at this
point, it would panic due to reservation loss.
Normally, two hosts in a disk set cooperate with each other to ensure that drives in
a disk set are reserved by only one host at a time. A normal situation is defined as
both hosts being up and communicating with each other.
Note – If a drive has been determined unexpectedly not to be reserved (perhaps

because another host using the disk set forcibly took the drive), the host will panic.
This behavior helps to minimize data loss which would occur if two hosts were to
simultaneously access the same drive.

For more information about taking or reserving a disk set, see“How to Take a Disk
Set” on page 213.
Releasing a Disk Set

Releasing a disk set can be useful when you perform maintenance on the physical
drives in the disk set. When a disk set is released, it cannot be accessed by the host. If
both hosts in a disk set release the set, neither host in the disk set can access the drives
in the disk set.
For more information about releasing a disk set, see “How to Release a Disk Set”
on page 214.
Scenario—Disk Sets
The following example, drawing on the sample system shown in Chapter 4, describes
how disk sets should be used to manage storage that resides on a SAN (Storage Area
Network) fabric.
Assume that the sample system has an additional controller that connects to a fiber
switch and SAN storage. Storage on the SAN fabric is not available to the system as
early in the boot process as other devices, such as SCSI and IDE disks, and Solaris
Volume Manager would report logical volumes on the fabric as unavailable at boot.
However, by adding the storage to a disk set, and then using the disk set tools to
manage the storage, this problem with boot time availability is avoided (and the
fabric-attached storage can be easily managed within a separate, disk set controlled,
namespace from the local storage).

CHAPTER 20
Disk Sets (Tasks)
disk sets. For information about the concepts involved in these tasks, see Chapter 19.
Disk Sets (Task Map)

Manager disk sets.
Create a disk set Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create a Disk Set”
or the metaset command to create a on page 206
disk set.
Add drives to a disk set Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Add Drives to a
or the metaset command to add Disk Set” on page 207
drives to a disk set.
Add a host to a disk set Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Add a Host to a
or the metaset command to add a Disk Set” on page 209
host to a disk set.
Create Solaris Volume Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Create Solaris
Manager volumes in a or the metainit command to create Volume Manager
disk set volumes in a disk set. Components in a Disk Set”
on page 210
205
Check the status of a Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Check the Status
disk set or the metaset and metastat of a Disk Set” on page 211
commands to check the status of a
disk set.
Remove disks from a Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Remove Disks
disk set or the metaset command to remove from a Disk Set”
drives from a disk set. on page 212
Take a disk set Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Take a Disk Set”
or the metaset command to take a on page 213
disk set.
Release a disk set Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Release a Disk
or the metaset command to release a Set” on page 214
disk set.
Delete a host from a disk Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Delete a Host or
set or the metaset command to delete Disk Set” on page 215
hosts from a disk set.
Delete a disk set Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Delete a Host or
or the metaset command to delete Disk Set” on page 215
the last host from a disk set, thus
deleting the disk set.
Creating Disk Sets
▼ How to Create a Disk Set

1. Check “Background Information for Disk Sets” on page 202.
2. To create a disk set, use one of the following methods:

Disk Sets node. Choose Action->Create Disk Set, then follow the instructions in the
■ To create a disk set from scratch from the command line, use the following form of
the metaset command:
metaset [-s diskset-name] [-a] [-h hostname]

-s diskset-name Specifies the name of a disk set on which the metaset
command will work.
-a Adds hosts to the named disk set. Solaris Volume Manager
supports a maximum of two hosts per disk set.
-h hostname Specifies one or more hosts to be added to a disk set. Adding
the first host creates the set. The second host can be added
later, but it is not accepted if all the drives within the set
cannot be found on the specified hostname. hostname is the
same name found in the /etc/nodename file.
See metaset(1M) for more information.
3. Check the status of the new disk set by using the metaset command.
# metaset
Example—Creating a Disk Set

# metaset -s blue -a -h lexicon
# metaset
Set name = blue, Set number = 1
Host Owner
lexicon
In this example, you create a shared disk set called blue, from the host lexicon. The
metaset command shows the status. At this point, the set has no owner. The host that
adds disks to the set will become the owner by default.
Expanding Disk Sets
▼ How to Add Drives to a Disk Set

Only drives that meet the following conditions can be added to a disk set:
■ The drive must not be in use in a volume or hot spare pool, or contain a state
database replica.
■ The drive must not be currently mounted, swapped on, or otherwise opened for
use by an application.
Chapter 20 • Disk Sets (Tasks) 207

2. To add drives to a disk set, use one of the following methods:

Disk Sets node. Select the disk set you want to modify, then right-click and choose
Properties. Select the Disks tab, click Add Disk, then follow the instructions in the
■ To add drives to a disk set from the command line, use the following form of the
metaset command:
metaset [-s diskset-name] [a] [disk-name]
command will work.
-a Adds drives to the named disk set.
disk-name Specifies the drives to add to the disk set. Drive names are in
the form cxtxdx; no “sx” slice identifiers are at the end of the
name. They need to be the same as seen from all hosts in the
disk set.
See the metaset man page (metaset(1M)) for more information.

The first host to add a drive to a disk set becomes the owner of the disk set.
Caution – Do not add a disk with data; the process of adding it to the disk set might
repartition the disk, destroying any data. For more information, see “Example—Two
Shared Disk Sets” on page 201
3. Use the metaset command to verify the status of the disk set and drives.
# metaset
Example—Adding a Drive to a Disk Set

# metaset -s blue -a c1t6d0
# metaset
Host Owner
lexicon Yes
Drive Dbase
c1t6d0 Yes
In this example, the host name is lexicon. The shared disk set is blue. At this point,
only one disk has been added to the disk set blue.

Optionally, you could add multiple disks at once by listing each of them on the
command line. For example, you could use the following:
# metaset -s blue -a c1t6d0 c2t6d0
▼ How to Add a Host to a Disk Set

Solaris Volume Manager supports a maximum of four hosts per disk set. This
procedure explains how to add another host to an existing disk set that only has one
host.
2. To add a host to a disk set, use one of the following methods:

Disk Sets node and choose the disk set you want to modify. Select the disk set you
want to modify, then right-click and choose Properties. Select the Hosts tab, click
Add Host, then follow the instructions in the wizard. For more information, see the
online help.
■ To add hosts to a disk set from the command line, use the following form of the
metaset command:
metaset [-s diskset-name] [-a] [-h hostname]
-s diskset-name Specifies the name of a disk set on which metaset will work.
-a Adds drives to the named disk set.
-h hostname Specifies one or more host names to be added to the disk set.
Adding the first host creates the set. The host name is the same
name found in the /etc/nodename file.
See the metaset man page (metaset(1M)) for more information.
3. Verify that the host has been added to the disk set by using the metaset command
without any options.
# metaset
Example—Adding Another Host to a Disk Set

# metaset -s blue -a -h idiom
# metaset -s blue
Host Owner
lexicon Yes
idiom

Drive Dbase
c1t6d0 Yes
c2t6d0 Yes
This example shows the addition of host idiom to the disk set blue.
▼ How to Create Solaris Volume Manager

Components in a Disk Set
After you create a disk set, you can create volumes and hot spare pools using the
drives you added to the disk set. You can use either the Enhanced Storage tool within
the Solaris Management Console or the command line utilities.
● To create volumes or other Solaris Volume Manager devices within a disk set, use
one of the following methods:
Volumes, State Database Replicas, or Hot Spare Pools node. Choose
Action->Create, then follow the instructions in the wizard. For more information,
■ Use the command line utilities with the same basic syntax you would without a
disk set, but add -s diskset-name immediately after the command for every
command.
Example—Creating Solaris Volume Manager Volumes in a

Disk Set
# metainit -s blue d11 1 1 c1t6d0s0
blue/d11: Concat/Stripe is setup
# metainit -s blue d12 1 1 c2t6d0s0
blue/d12: Concat/Stripe is setup
# metainit -s blue d10 -m d11
blue/d10: Mirror is setup
# metattach -s blue d10 d12
blue/d10: submirror blue/d12 is attached
# metastat -s blue
blue/d10: Mirror
Submirror 0: blue/d11
State: Okay
Submirror 1: blue/d12
State: Resyncing
Resync in progress: 0 % done
Pass: 1

blue/d11: Submirror of blue/d10

State: Okay
Stripe 0:
c1t6d0s0 0 No Okay
blue/d12: Submirror of blue/d10

State: Resyncing
Stripe 0:
c2t6d0s0 0 No Okay
This example shows the creation of a mirror, d10, in disk set blue, that consists of
submirrors (RAID 0 devices) d11 and d12.
Maintaining Disk Sets
▼ How to Check the Status of a Disk Set

● Use one of the following methods to check the status of a disk set.
Disk Sets node. Right-click the Disk Set you want to monitor, then choose
Properties from the menu. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the metaset command to view disk set status.
See metaset(1M) for more information.
Note – Disk set ownership is only shown on the owning host.
Example—Checking the Status of a Specified Disk Set

red# metaset -s blue

Host Owner
idiom Yes
Drive Dbase
c1t6d0 Yes
c2t6d0 Yes
The metaset command with the -s option followed by the name of the blue disk set
displays status information for that disk set. By issuing the metaset command from
the owning host, idiom, it is determined that idiom is in fact the disk set owner. The
metaset command also displays the drives in the disk set.
The metaset command by itself displays the status of all disk sets.
▼ How to Remove Disks from a Disk Set

To delete a disk set, you must first delete all drives from the disk set.
Disk Sets node. Right-click the Disk Set you want to release, then choose Properties
from the menu. Click the Disks tab and follow the instructions in the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metaset command:
metaset -s diskset-name-d drivename

command will work.
drive-name Specifies the drives to delete from the disk set. Drive names are
in the form cxtxdx; no “sx” slice identifiers are at the end of the
name.
See the metaset(1M) man page for more information.
● Verify that the disk has been deleted from the disk set by using the metaset -s
diskset-name command.
# metaset -s blue
Example—Deleting a Disk from a Disk Set

lexicon# metaset -s blue -d c1t6d0
lexicon# metaset -s blue
Host Owner

lexicon
idiom
Drive Dbase
c2t6d0 Yes
This example deletes the disk from the disk set blue.
▼ How to Take a Disk Set

● Use one of the following methods to take a disk set.
Disk Sets node. Right-click the Disk Set you want to take, then choose Take
Ownership from the menu. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following form of the metaset command.
metaset -s diskset-name-t
-s diskset-name Specifies the name of a disk set on which the metaset command
will work.
-t Specifies to take the disk set.
-f Specifies to take the disk set forcibly.
When one host in a disk set takes the disk set, the other host in the disk set cannot
access data on drives in the disk set.
The default behavior of the metaset command takes the disk set for your host only if
a release is possible on the other host.
Use the -f option to forcibly take the disk set. This option takes the disk set whether
or not another host currently has the set. Use this method when a host in the disk set
is down or not communicating. If the other host had the disk set taken at this point, it
would panic when it attempts to perform an I/O operation to the disk set.
Example—Taking a Disk Set

lexicon# metaset
...
Host Owner

lexicon
idiom
...
lexicon# metaset -s blue -t
lexicon# metaset
...
Host Owner
lexicon Yes
idiom
...
In this example, host lexicon communicates with host idiom and ensures that host
idiom has released the disk set before host lexicon attempts to take the set.
Note – In this example, if host idiom owned the set blue, the “Owner” column in the
above output would still have been blank. The metaset command only shows
whether the issuing host owns the disk set, and not the other host.
Example—Taking a Disk Set Forcibly

# metaset -s blue -t -f
In this example, the host that is taking the disk set does not communicate with the
other host. Instead, the drives in the disk set are taken without warning. If the other
host had the disk set, it would panic when it attempts an I/O operation to the disk set.
▼ How to Release a Disk Set

Releasing a disk set is useful when you perform maintenance on the physical drives in
the disk set. When a disk set is released, it cannot be accessed by the host. If both hosts
in a disk set release the set, neither host in the disk set can access volumes or hot spare
pools defined in the set directly, although if both hosts release the set, the hosts can
access the disks directly through their c*t*d* names.
2. Use one of the following methods to release a disk set.

Disk Sets node. Right-click the Disk Set you want to release, then choose Release
Ownership from the menu. For more information, see the online help.
■ To release ownership of the disk set, use the following form of the metaset
command.

metaset -s diskset-name-r

command will work.
-r Releases ownership of a disk set. The reservation of all the disks
within the disk set is removed. The volumes within the disk set
are no longer accessible.
3. Verify that the disk set has been released on this host by using the metaset
command without any options.
# metaset
Example—Releasing a Disk Set

lexicon# metaset -s blue -r
Host Owner
lexicon
idiom
Drive Dbase
c1t6d0 Yes
c2t6d0 Yes
This example shows the release of the disk set blue. Note that there is no owner of
the disk set. Viewing status from host lexicon could be misleading. A host can only
determine if it does or does not own a disk set. For example, if host idiom were to
reserve the disk set, it would not appear so from host lexicon. Only host idiom
would be able to determine the reservation in this case.
▼ How to Delete a Host or Disk Set

Deleting a disk set requires that the disk set contains no drives and that no other hosts
are attached to the disk set. Deleting the last host will destroy the disk set.

1. Use one of the following methods to delete a host from a disk set, or to delete a disk
set.
Disk Sets node. Right-click the Disk Set you want to release, then choose Delete
from the menu. Follow the instructions in the online help.
■ To delete the host and remove the disk set if the host removed is the last host on
the disk set, use the following form of the metaset command.
metaset -s diskset-name-d hostname

command will work.
-d Deletes a host from a disk set.
hostname Specifies the name of the host to delete.
# metaset -s blue -d idiom
See the metasetmetaset(1M) man page for more information.
2. Verify that the host has been deleted from the disk set by using the metaset
command. Note that only the current (owning) host is shown. Other hosts have
been deleted.
# metaset -s blue
Host Owner
lexicon Yes
Drive Dbase
c1t2d0 Yes
c1t3d0 Yes
c1t4d0 Yes
c1t5d0 Yes
c1t6d0 Yes
c2t1d0 Yes
Example—Deleting the Last Host from a Disk Set

lexicon# metaset -s blue -d lexicon
metaset: lexicon: setname "blue": no such set
This example shows the deletion of the last host from the disk set blue.

CHAPTER 21
Maintaining Solaris Volume Manager

(Tasks)
This chapter provides information about performing general storage administration

maintenance tasks with Solaris Volume Manager.
This is a list of the information in this chapter:

■ “Solaris Volume Manager Maintenance (Task Map)” on page 217
■ “Viewing the Solaris Volume Manager Configuration” on page 218
■ “Renaming Volumes” on page 221
■ “Working with Configuration Files” on page 224
■ “Changing Solaris Volume Manager Defaults” on page 226
■ “Growing a File System” on page 228
■ “Overview of Replacing and Enabling Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5
Volumes” on page 230
Solaris Volume Manager Maintenance

(Task Map)
The following task map identifies the procedures needed to maintain Solaris Volume
Manager.
View the Solaris Volume Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to View the Solaris
Manager configuration or the metastat command to view Volume Manager Volume
the system configuration. Configuration” on page 218
217
Rename a volume Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “How to Rename a
or the metarename command to Volume” on page 223
rename a volume.
Create configuration Use the metastat -p command and “How to Create

files the metadb command to create Configuration Files”
configuration files. on page 224
Initialize Solaris Volume Use the metainit command to “How to Initialize Solaris
Manager from initialize Solaris Volume Manager Volume Manager from a
configuration files from configuration files. Configuration File”
on page 224
Increase the number of Edit the /kernel/drv/md.conf file “How to Increase the
possible volumes to increase the number of possible Number of Default
volumes. Volumes” on page 226
Increase the number of Edit the /kernel/drv/md.conf file “How to Increase the
possible disk sets to increase the number of possible disk Number of Default Disk
sets. Sets” on page 227
Grow a file system Use the growfs command to grow a “How to Grow a File
file system. System” on page 229
Enable components Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “Enabling a Component”
or the metareplace command to on page 230
enable components.
Replace components Use the Solaris Volume Manager GUI “Replacing a Component
or the metareplace command to With Another Available
replace components. Component” on page 231
Viewing the Solaris Volume Manager

Configuration
▼ How to View the Solaris Volume Manager Volume

Configuration
● To view the volume configuration, use one of the following methods:
Volumes node. For more information, see the online help.
■ Use the following format of the metastat command:

metastat -p -i component-name
■ -p specifies to output a condensed summary, suitable for use in creating the

md.tab file.
■ -i specifies to verify that all devices can be accessed.
■ component-name is the name of the volume to view. If no volume name is
specified, a complete list of components will be displayed.
Tip – The metastat command does not sort output. Pipe the output of the
metastat -p command to the sort or grep commands for a more managable
listing of your configuration.
For more information, see metastat(1M).
Example—Viewing the Solaris Volume Manager Volume

Configuration
The following example illustrates output from the metastat command.
# metastat
d50: RAID
State: Okay
Original device:
d1: Concat/Stripe
Stripe 0:
Device Start Block Dbase Reloc
c1t2d0s3 0 No Yes
d2: Concat/Stripe
Stripe 0:
c2t2d0s3 0 No Yes
d80: Soft Partition
Chapter 21 • Maintaining Solaris Volume Manager (Tasks) 219

Device: d70
State: Okay
Extent Start Block Block count
0 1 2097152
d81: Soft Partition

Device: d70
State: Okay
0 2097154 2097152
d70: Mirror
Submirror 0: d71
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d72
State: Okay
Pass: 1

State: Okay
Stripe 0:
Stripe 1:
Stripe 2:

State: Okay
Stripe 0:
Stripe 1:
Stripe 2:
hsp010: is empty
hsp014: 2 hot spares

Device Status Length Reloc
c1t2d0s1 Available 617652 blocks Yes



Device Relocation Information:

Device Reloc Device ID
c1t2d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39204LCSUN9.0G3BV0N1S200002103AF29
c2t2d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39204LCSUN9.0G3BV0P64Z00002105Q6J7
c1t1d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39204LCSUN9.0G3BV0N1EM00002104NP2J
c2t1d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39204LCSUN9.0G3BV0N93J000071040L3S
c0t0d0 Yes id1,dad@s53554e575f4154415f5f53543339313430412525415933
Renaming Volumes
Background Information for Renaming Volumes

The metarename command with the -x option can exchange the names of volumes
that have a parent-child relationship. For more information, see “How to Rename a
Volume” on page 223 and the metarename(1M) man page.
Solaris Volume Manager enables you to rename most types of volumes at any time,
subject to some constraints.
Renaming volumes or switching volume names is an administrative convenience for

management of volume names. For example, you could arrange all file system mount
points in a desired numeric range. You might rename volumes to maintain a naming
scheme for your logical volumes or to allow a transactional volume to use the same
name as the underlying volume had been using.
Before you rename a volume, make sure that it is not currently in use. For a file
system, make sure it is not mounted or being used as swap. Other applications using
the raw device, such as a database, should have their own way of stopping access to
the data.
Specific considerations for renaming volumes include the following:

■ You can rename any volume except the following:
■ Soft partitions
■ Volumes on which soft partitions are directly built
■ Volumes that are being used as log devices
■ Hot spare pools
■ You can rename volumes within a disk set. However, you cannot rename volumes
to move them from one disk set to another.
or the command line (the metarename(1M) command) to rename volumes.
Exchanging Volume Names

When used with the -x option, the metarename command exchanges the names of
an existing layered volume with one of its subdevices. This exchange can occur
between a mirror and one of its submirrors, or a transactional volume and its master
device.
Note – You must use the command line to exchange volume names. This functionality
is currently unavailable in the Solaris Volume Manager GUI. However, you can
rename a volume with either the command line or the GUI.
The metarename -x command can make it easier to mirror or unmirror an existing

volume, and to create or remove a transactional volume of an existing volume.
■ You cannot rename a volume that is currently in use. This includes volumes that
are used as mounted file systems, as swap, or as active storage for applications or
databases. Thus, before you use the metarename command, stop all access to the
volume being renamed. For example, unmount a mounted file system.
■ You cannot exchange volumes in a failed state, or volumes using a hot spare
replacement.
■ An exchange can only take place between volumes with a direct parent-child
relationship. You could not, for example, directly exchange a stripe in a mirror that
is a master device with the transactional volume.
■ You must use the -f (force) flag when exchanging members of a transactional
device.
■ You cannot exchange (or rename) a logging device. The workaround is to either
detach the logging device, rename it, then reattach it to the transactional device; or
detach the logging device and attach another logging device of the desired name.
■ Only volumes can be exchanged. You cannot exchange slices or hot spares.

▼ How to Rename a Volume
1. Check the volume name requirements (“Volume Names” on page 42), and
“Background Information for Renaming Volumes” on page 221.
2. Unmount the file system that uses the volume.
3. To rename the volume, use one of the following methods:

Volumes node and select the volume you want to rename. Right-click the icon and
choose the Properties option, then follow the instructions on screen. For more
■ Use the following format of the metarename command:
metarename old-volume-name new-volume-name
■ old-volume-name is the name of the existing volume.

■ new-volume-name is the new name for the existing volume.
See metarename(1M) for more information.
4. Edit the /etc/vfstab file to refer to the new volume name, if necessary.
Example—Renaming a Volume Used for a File System

# umount /home
# metarename d10 d100
d10: has been renamed to d100
(Edit the /etc/vfstab file so that the file system references the new volume)
# mount /home
In this example, the volume d10 is renamed to d100. Because d10 contains a mounted
file system, the file system must be unmounted before the rename can occur. If the
volume is used for a file system with an entry in the /etc/vfstab file, the entry
must be changed to reference the new volume name. For example, the following line:

Then, the file system should be remounted.

Note – If you have an existing mirror or transactional volume, you can use the
metarename -x command to remove the mirror or transactional volume and keep
data on the underlying volume. For a transactional volume, as long as the master
device is a volume (RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 5 volume), you can keep data on that
volume.
Working with Configuration Files

Solaris Volume Manager configuration files contain basic Solaris Volume Manager
information, as well as most of the data necessary to reconstruct a configuration. The
following sections illustrate how to work with these files.
▼ How to Create Configuration Files

● Once you have defined all appropriate parameters for the Solaris Volume Manager
environment, use the metastat -p command to create the /etc/lvm/md.tab file.
# metastat -p > /etc/lvm/md.tab
This file contains all parameters for use by the metainit, and metahs commands, in
case you need to set up several similar environments or re-create the configuration
after a system failure.
For more information about the md.tab file, see “Overview of the md.tab File”
on page 279.
▼ How to Initialize Solaris Volume Manager from a

Configuration File
Caution – Use this procedure only if you have experienced a complete loss of your
Solaris Volume Manager configuration, or if you have no configuration yet and you
want to create a configuration from a saved configuration file.
If your system loses the information maintained in the state database (for example,
because the system was rebooted after all state database replicas were deleted), and as
long as no volumes were created since the state database was lost, you can use the
md.cf or md.tab files to recover your Solaris Volume Manager configuration.

Note – The md.cf file does not maintain information on active hot spares. Thus, if hot
spares were in use when the Solaris Volume Manager configuration was lost, those
volumes that were using active hot spares will likely be corrupted.
For more information about these files, see md.cf(4) and md.tab(4).
1. Create state database replicas.

See “Creating State Database Replicas” on page 58 for more information.
2. Create, or update the /etc/lvm/md.tab file.

■ If you are attempting to recover the last known Solaris Volume Manager
configuration, copy the md.cf file to the md.tab file.
■ If you are creating a new Solaris Volume Manager configuration based on a copy of
the md.tab file that you preserved, put a copy of your preserved file at
/etc/lvm/md.tab.
3. Edit the “new” md.tab file and do the following:

■ If you are creating a new configuration or recovering a configuration after a crash,
configure the mirrors as one-way mirrors. If a mirror’s submirrors are not the same
size, be sure to use the smallest submirror for this one-way mirror. Otherwise data
could be lost.
■ If you are recovering an existing configuration and Solaris Volume Manager was
cleanly stopped, leave the mirror configuration as multi-way mirrors
■ Specify RAID 5 volumes with the -k option, to prevent reinitialization of the
device. See the metainit(1M) man page for more information.
4. Check the syntax of the md.tab file entries without committing changes by using
the following form of the metainit command:
# metainit -n -a component-name
■ -n specifies not to actually create the devices. Use this to check to verify that the
results will be as you expect
■ -a specifies to activate the devices.
■ component-name specifies the name of the component to initialize. IF no component
is specified, all components will be created.
5. If no problems were apparent from the previous step, re-create the volumes and hot
spare pools from the md.tab file:
# metainit -a component-name
■ -a specifies to activate the devices.

■ component-name specifies the name of the component to initialize. If no component
is specified, all components will be created.

6. As needed, make the one-way mirrors into multi-way mirrors by using the
metattach command.
7. Validate the data on the volumes.
Changing Solaris Volume Manager

Defaults
The Solaris Volume Manager configuration has the following default values:
■ 128 volumes per disk set
■ 4 disk sets
■ State database replica maximum size of 8192 blocks
The values of total volumes and number of disk sets can be changed if necessary, and
the tasks in this section tell you how.
▼ How to Increase the Number of Default Volumes

This task describes how to increase the number of volumes from the default value of
128. If you need to configure more than the default, you can increase this value up to
8192.
Caution – If you lower this number at any point, any volume existing between the old
number and the new number might not be available, potentially resulting in data loss.
If you see a message such as “md: d200: not configurable, check
/kernel/drv/md.conf” you must edit the md.conf file and increase the value, as
explained in this task.
1. Check the prerequisites (“Prerequisites for Troubleshooting the System”

on page 254).
2. Edit the /kernel/drv/md.conf file.
3. Change the value of the nmd field. Values up to 8192 are supported.
4. Save your changes.
5. Perform a reconfiguration reboot to build the volume names.

# boot -r

Example—md.conf File
Here is a sample md.conf file that is configured for 256 volumes.
#
#ident "@(#)md.conf 1.7 94/04/04 SMI"
#
# Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, 1994 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
#
#
#pragma ident "@(#)md.conf 2.1 00/07/07 SMI"
#
# Copyright (c) 1992-1999 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
# All rights reserved.
#
name="md" parent="pseudo" nmd=256 md_nsets=4;
How to Increase the Number of Default Disk Sets

This task shows you how to increase the number of disk sets from the default value of
4.
Caution – Do not decrease the number of default disk sets if you have already
configured disk sets. Lowering this number could make existing disk sets unavailable
or unusable.
1. Check the prerequisites (“Prerequisites for Troubleshooting the System”

on page 254).
2. Edit the /kernel/drv/md.conf file.
3. Change the value of the md_nsets field. Values up to 32 are supported.
4. Save your changes.
5. Perform a reconfiguration reboot to build the volume names.

# boot -r
Example—md.conf File
Here is a sample md.conf file that is configured for five shared disk sets. The value of
md_nsets is six, which results in five shared disk sets and the one local disk set.
#
#

#
#
# Begin MDD database info (do not edit)
...
# End MDD database info (do not edit)
Growing a File System

After a volume that contains a file system is expanded (more space is added), if that
volume contains a UFS, you also need to “grow” the file system to recognize the
added space. You must manually grow the file system with the growfs command.
The growfs command expands the file system, even while mounted. However, write
access to the file system is not possible while the growfs command is running.
An application, such as a database, that uses the raw device must have its own
method to grow added space. Solaris Volume Manager does not provide this
capability.
The growfs command will “write-lock” a mounted file system as it expands the file
system. The length of time the file system is write-locked can be shortened by
expanding the file system in stages. For instance, to expand a 1 Gbyte file system to 2
Gbytes, the file system can be grown in 16 Mbyte stages using the -s option to specify
the total size of the new file system at each stage.
During the expansion, the file system is not available for write access because of
write-lock. Write accesses are transparently suspended and are restarted when the
growfs command unlocks the file system. Read accesses are not affected, though
access times are not kept while the lock is in effect.
Background Information for Expanding Slices and

Volumes
Note – Solaris Volume Manager volumes can be expanded, but not shrunk.
■ A volume, regardless if it is used for a file system, application, or database, can be

expanded. So, you can expand RAID 0 (stripe and concatenation) volumes, RAID 1
(mirror) volumes, and RAID 5 volumes as well as soft partitions.

■ You can concatenate a volume that contains an existing file system while the file
system is in use. Then, as long as the file system is UFS, it can be expanded (with
the growfs command) to fill the larger space without interrupting read access to
the data.
■ Once a file system is expanded, it cannot be shrunk, due to constraints in UFS.
■ Applications and databases that use the raw device must have their own method
to “grow” the added space so that they can recognize it. Solaris Volume Manager
does not provide this capability.
■ When a component is added to a RAID 5 volume, it becomes a concatenation to the
device. The new component does not contain parity information. However, data on
the new component is protected by the overall parity calculation that takes place
for the volume.
■ You can expand a log device by adding additional components. You do not need to
run the growfs command, as Solaris Volume Manager automatically recognizes
the additional space on reboot.
■ Soft partitions can be expanded by adding space from the underlying volume or
slice. All other volumes can be expanded by adding slices.
▼ How to Grow a File System

2. Use the growfs command to grow a UFS on a logical volume.

# growfs -M /mount-point /dev/md/rdsk/volumename
See the following example and the growfs(1M) man page for more information.
Example—Growing a File System

# df -k
Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
...
/dev/md/dsk/d10 69047 65426 0 100% /home2
...
# growfs -M /home2 /dev/md/rdsk/d10
/dev/md/rdsk/d10: 295200 sectors in 240 cylinders of 15 tracks, 82 sectors
144.1MB in 15 cyl groups (16 c/g, 9.61MB/g, 4608 i/g)
super-block backups (for fsck -F ufs -o b=#) at:
32, 19808, 39584, 59360, 79136, 98912, 118688, 138464, 158240, 178016, 197792,
217568, 237344, 257120, 276896,
# df -k
Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
...
/dev/md/dsk/d10 138703 65426 59407 53% /home2
...

In this example, a new slice was added to a volume, d10, which contains the mounted
file system /home2. The growfs command specifies the mount point with the -M
option to be /home2, which is expanded onto the raw volume /dev/md/rdsk/d10.
The file system will span the entire volume when the growfs command is complete.
You can use the df -hk command before and after to verify the total disk capacity.
Note – For mirror and transactional volumes, always run the growfs command on
the top-level volume, not a submirror or master device, even though space is added to
the submirror or master device.
Overview of Replacing and Enabling

Components in RAID 1 and RAID 5
Volumes
Solaris Volume Manager has the capability to replace and enable components within
RAID 1 (mirror) and RAID 5 volumes.
In Solaris Volume Manager terms, replacing a component is a way to substitute an

available component on the system for a selected component in a submirror or RAID 5
volume. You can think of this process as logical replacement, as opposed to physically
replacing the component. (See “Replacing a Component With Another Available
Component” on page 231.)
Enabling a component means to “activate” or substitute a component with itself (that

is, the component name is the same). See “Enabling a Component” on page 230.
Note – When recovering from disk errors, scan /var/adm/messages to see what
kind of errors occurred. If the errors are transitory and the disks themselves do not
have problems, try enabling the failed components. You can also use the format
command to test a disk.
Enabling a Component
You can enable a component when any of the following conditions exist:
■ Solaris Volume Manager could not access the physical drive. This problem might
have occurred, for example, due to a power loss, or a loose drive cable. In this case,
Solaris Volume Manager puts the components in the “Maintenance” state. You
need to make sure that the drive is accessible (restore power, reattach cables, and

so on), and then enable the components in the volumes.
■ You suspect that a physical drive is having transitory problems that are not
disk-related. You might be able to fix a component in the “Maintenance” state by
simply enabling it. If this does not fix the problem, then you need to either
physically replace the disk drive and enable the component, or replace the
component with another available component on the system.
When you physically replace a drive, be sure to partition it like the old drive to
ensure adequate space on each used component.
Note – Always check for state database replicas and hot spares on the drive being
replaced. Any state database replica shown to be in error should be deleted before
replacing the disk. Then after enabling the component, they should be re-created (at
the same size). You should treat hot spares in the same manner.
Replacing a Component With Another Available

Component
You use the metareplace command when you replace or swap an existing
component with a different component that is available and not in use on the system.
You can use this command when any of the following conditions exist:
■ A disk drive has problems, and you do not have a replacement drive, but you do
have available components elsewhere on the system.
You might want to use this strategy if a replacement is absolutely necessary but
you do not want to shut down the system.
■ You are seeing soft errors.
Physical disks might report soft errors even though Solaris Volume Manager shows
the mirror/submirror or RAID 5 volume in the “Okay” state. Replacing the
component in question with another available component enables you to perform
preventative maintenance and potentially prevent hard errors from occurring.
■ You want to do performance tuning.
For example, by using the performance monitoring feature available from the
Enhanced Storage tool within the Solaris Management Console, you see that a
particular component in a RAID 5 volume is experiencing a high load average,
even though it is in the “Okay” state. To balance the load on the volume, you can
replace that component with a component from a disk that is less utilized. You can
perform this type of replacement online without interrupting service to the
volume.

Maintenance and Last Erred States
When a component in a mirror or RAID 5 volume experiences errors, Solaris Volume
Manager puts the component in the “Maintenance” state. No further reads or writes
are performed to a component in the “Maintenance” state. Subsequent errors on other
components in the same volume are handled differently, depending on the type of
volume. A RAID 1 volume might be able to tolerate many components in the
“Maintenance” state and still be read from and written to. A RAID 5 volume, by
definition, can only tolerate a single component in the “Maintenance” state.
When a component in a RAID 0 or RAID 5 volume experiences errors and there are no
redundant components to read from (for example, in a RAID 5 volume, after one
component goes into Maintenance state, there is no redundancy available, so the next
component to fail would go into “Last Erred” state) When either a mirror or RAID 5
volume has a component in the “Last Erred” state, I/O is still attempted to the
component marked “Last Erred.” This happens because a “Last Erred” component
contains the last good copy of data from Solaris Volume Manager’s point of view. With
a component in the “Last Erred” state, the volume behaves like a normal device (disk)
and returns I/O errors to an application. Usually, at this point some data has been lost.
Always replace components in the “Maintenance” state first, followed by those in the
“Last Erred” state. After a component is replaced and resynchronized, use the
metastat command to verify its state, then validate the data to make sure it is good.
Mirrors –If components are in the “Maintenance” state, no data has been lost. You can
safely replace or enable the components in any order. If a component is in the “Last
Erred” state, you cannot replace it until you first replace all the other mirrored
components in the “Maintenance” state. Replacing or enabling a component in the
“Last Erred” state usually means that some data has been lost. Be sure to validate the
data on the mirror after you repair it.
RAID 5 Volumes–A RAID 5 volume can tolerate a single component failure. You can
safely replace a single component in the “Maintenance” state without losing data. If an
error on another component occurs, it is put into the “Last Erred” state. At this point,
the RAID 5 volume is a read-only device. You need to perform some type of error
recovery so that the state of the RAID 5 volume is stable and the possibility of data
loss is reduced. If a RAID 5 volume reaches a “Last Erred” state, there is a good
chance it has lost data. Be sure to validate the data on the RAID 5 volume after you
repair it.
Background Information For Replacing and

Enabling Slices in Mirrors and RAID 5 Volumes
When you replace components in a mirror or a RAID 5 volume, follow these
guidelines:

■ Always replace components in the “Maintenance” state first, followed by those
components in the “Last Erred” state.
■ After a component is replaced and resynchronized, use the metastat command to
verify the volume’s state, then validate the data to make sure it is good. Replacing
or enabling a component in the “Last Erred” state usually means that some data
has been lost. Be sure to validate the data on the volume after you repair it. For a
UFS, run the fsck command to validate the “metadata” (the structure of the file
system) then check the actual user data. (Practically, users will have to examine
their files.) A database or other application must have its own way of validating its
internal data structure.
■ Always check for state database replicas and hot spares when you replace
components. Any state database replica shown to be in error should be deleted
before you replace the physical disk. The state database replica should be added
back before enabling the component. The same procedure applies to hot spares.
■ RAID 5 volumes – During component replacement, data is recovered, either from a
hot spare currently in use, or using the RAID level 5 parity, when no hot spare is in
use.
■ RAID 1 volumes– When you replace a component, Solaris Volume Manager
automatically starts resynchronizing the new component with the rest of the
mirror. When the resynchronization completes, the replaced component becomes
readable and writable. If the failed component has been replaced with data from a
hot spare, the hot spare is placed in the “Available” state and made available for
other hot spare replacements.
■ The new component must be large enough to replace the old component.
■ As a precaution, back up all data before you replace “Last Erred” devices.
Note – A submirror or RAID 5 volume might be using a hot spare in place of a failed
component. When that failed component is enabled or replaced by using the
procedures in this section, the hot spare is marked “Available” in the hot spare pool,
and is ready for use.

CHAPTER 22
Best Practices for Solaris Volume

Manager
This chapter provides general best practices information from real world storage
scenarios using Solaris Volume Manager. In this section, you will see a typical
configuration, followed by an analysis, followed by a recommended (“Best Practices”)
configuration to meet the same needs.

■ “Deploying Small Servers” on page 235
■ “Using Solaris Volume Manager With Networked Storage Devices” on page 237
Deploying Small Servers

Distributed computing environments, from ISPs to geographically distributed sales
offices to telecommunication service providers, often need to deploy similar or
identical servers at multiple locations. These servers might provide router or firewall
services, email services, DNS caches, Usenet (Network News) servers, DHCP services,
or other services best provided at a variety of locations. These small servers have
several characteristics in common:
■ High-reliability requirements
■ High-availability requirements
■ Routine hardware and performance requirements
235
As a starting point, consider a Netra with a single SCSI bus and two internal
disks—an off-the-shelf configuration, and a good starting point for distributed servers.
Solaris Volume Manager could easily be used to mirror some or all of the slices, thus
providing redundant storage to help guard against disk failure. See the following
figure for an example.
SCSI
controller
c0t0d0 c0t1d0
FIGURE 22–1 Small system configuration
A configuration like this example might include mirrors for the root (/), /usr, swap,
/var, and /export file systems, plus state database replicas (one per disk). As such, a
failure of either side of any of the mirrors would not necessarily result in system
failure, and up to five discrete failures could possibly be tolerated. However, the
system is not sufficiently protected against disk or slice failure. A variety of potential
failures could result in a complete system failure, requiring operator intervention.
While this configuration does help provide some protection against catastrophic disk
failure, it exposes key possible single points of failure:
■ The single SCSI controller represents a potential point of failure. If the controller
fails, the system will be down, pending replacement of the part.
■ The two disks do not provide adequate distribution of state database replicas. The
majority consensus algorithm requires that half of the state database replicas be
available for the system to continue to run, and half plus one replica for a reboot.
So, if one state database replica were on each disk and one disk or the slice
containing the replica failed, the system could not reboot (thus making a mirrored
root ineffective). If two or more state database replicas were on each disk, a single
slice failure would likely not be problematic, but a disk failure would still prevent a
reboot. If different number of replicas were on each disk, one would have more
than half and one fewer than half. If the disk with fewer replicas failed, the system
could reboot and continue. However, if the disk with more replicas failed, the
system would immediately panic.

A “Best Practices” approach would be to modify the configuration by adding one
more controller and one more hard drive. The resulting configuration could be far
more resilient.
Using Solaris Volume Manager With

Networked Storage Devices
Solaris Volume Manager works well with networked storage devices, particularly
those devices that provide configurable RAID levels and flexible options. Usually, the
combination of Solaris Volume Manager and other devices can result in performance
and flexibility superior to either product alone.
Generally, do not establish Solaris Volume Manager RAID 5 volumes on any hardware
storage devices that provide redundancy (for example, RAID 1 and RAID 5 volumes).
Unless you have a very unusual situation, performance will suffer, and you will gain
very little in terms of redundancy or higher availability
Configuring underlying hardware storage devices with RAID 5 volumes, on the other
hand, is very effective, as it provides a good foundation for Solaris Volume Manager
volumes. Hardware RAID 5 provides some additional redundancy for Solaris Volume
Manager RAID 1 volumes, soft partitions, or other volumes.
Note – Do not configure similar software and hardware devices. For example, do not
build software RAID 1 volumes on top of hardware RAID 1 devices. Configuring
similar devices in hardware and software results in performance penalties without
offsetting any gains in reliability.
Solaris Volume Manager RAID 1 volumes built on underlying hardware storage

devices are not RAID 1+0, as Solaris Volume Manager cannot understand the
underlying storage well enough to offer RAID 1+0 capabilities.
Configuring soft partitions on top of an Solaris Volume Manager RAID 1 volume, built
in turn on a hardware RAID 5 device is a very flexible and resilient configuration.
Chapter 22 • Best Practices for Solaris Volume Manager 237

CHAPTER 23
Monitoring and Error Reporting

(Tasks)
When Solaris Volume Manager encounters a problem, such as being unable to write to
a volume due to physical errors at the slice level, it changes the status of the volume so
system administrators can stay informed. However, unless you regularly check the
status in the Solaris Volume Manager graphical user interface through the Solaris
Management Console, or by running the metastat command, you might not see
these status changes in a timely fashion.
This chapter provides information about various monitoring tools available for Solaris
Volume Manager, including the Solaris Volume Manager SNMP agent, which is a
subagent of the Solstice Enterprise Agents™ monitoring software. In addition to
configuring the Solaris Volume Manager SNMP agent to report SNMP traps, you can
create a shell script to actively monitor many Solaris Volume Manager functions. Such
a shell script can run as a cron job and be valuable in identifying issues before they
become problems.
This is a list of the information in this chapter:

■ “Solaris Volume Manager Monitoring and Reporting (Task Map)” on page 240
■ “Setting the mdmonitord Command for Periodic Error Checking” on page 240
■ “Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent Overview” on page 241
■ “Configuring the Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent” on page 242
■ “Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent Limitations” on page 244
■ “Monitoring Solaris Volume Manager with a cron Job” on page 245
239
Solaris Volume Manager Monitoring and
Reporting (Task Map)
Manager error reporting.
Set the mdmonitord Set the error-checking interval used by “Setting the mdmonitord
daemon to periodically the mdmonitord daemon by editing Command for Periodic
check for errors the /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync file. Error Checking”
on page 240
Configure the Solaris Edit the configuration files in the “Configuring the Solaris
Volume Manager SNMP /etc/snmp/conf directory so Solaris Volume Manager SNMP
agent Volume Manager will throw traps Agent” on page 242
appropriately, to the correct system.
Monitor Solaris Volume Create or adapt a script to check for “Monitoring Solaris
Manager with scripts errors, then run the script from the Volume Manager with a
run by the cron cron command. cron Job” on page 245
command
Setting the mdmonitord Command for

Periodic Error Checking
Solaris Volume Manager includes the /usr/sbin/mdmonitord daemon, which is a
program that checks Solaris Volume Manager volumes for errors. By default, this
program checks all volumes for errors only when an error is detected (for example,
through a write error) on a volume. However, you can set this program to actively
check for errors at an interval you specify.
▼ How to Configure the mdmonitord Command for

Periodic Error Checking
The /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync script starts the mdmonitord command at boot
time. Edit the /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync script to add a time interval for periodic
checking.

1. Become superuser.
2. Edit the /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync script and change the line that starts the
mdmonitord command by adding a - t flag and the number of seconds between
checks.
if [ -x $MDMONITORD ]; then
$MDMONITORD -t 3600
error=$?
case $error in
0) ;;
*) echo "Could not start $MDMONITORD. Error $error."
;;
esac
fi
3. Stop and restart the mdmonitord command to activate your changes.

# /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync stop
# /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync start
For more information, see mdmonitord(1M).
Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent

Overview
The Solaris Volume Manager SNMP trap agent requires both the core packages
SUNWlvmr and SUNWlvma and the Solstice Enterprise Agent packages. Those
packages include the following:
■ SUNWmibii
■ SUNWsacom
■ SUNWsadmi
■ SUNWsasnm
■ SUNWsasnx
These packages are part of the Solaris operating environment and are normally
installed by default unless the package selection was modified at install time or a
minimal set of packages was installed. After you confirm that all five packages are
available (by using the pkginfo pkgname command, as in pkginfo SUNWsasnx),
you need to configure the Solaris Volume Manager SNMP agent, as described in the
following section.
Chapter 23 • Monitoring and Error Reporting (Tasks) 241

Configuring the Solaris Volume Manager
SNMP Agent
The Solaris Volume Manager SNMP agent is not enabled by default. Use the following
procedure to enable SNMP traps.
▼ How to Configure the Solaris Volume Manager

SNMP Agent
1. Become superuser.
2. Move the /etc/snmp/conf/mdlogd.rsrc– configuration file to

/etc/snmp/conf/mdlogd.rsrc.
# mv /etc/snmp/conf/mdlogd.rsrc- /etc/snmp/conf/mdlogd.rsrc
3. Edit the /etc/snmp/conf/mdlogd.acl file to specify which hosts should receive

SNMP traps. Look in the file for the following:
trap = {
{
trap-community = SNMP-trap
hosts = corsair
{
enterprise = "Solaris Volume Manager"
trap-num = 1, 2, 3
}
Change the line that containshosts = corsair to specify the host name that you
want to receive Solaris Volume Manager SNMP traps. For example, to send SNMP
traps to lexicon, you would edit the line to hosts = lexicon. If you want to
include multiple hosts, provide a comma-delimited list of host names, as in hosts =
lexicon, idiom.
4. Also edit the /etc/snmp/conf/snmpdx.acl file to specify which hosts should

receive the SNMP traps.
Find the block that begins with trap = and add the same list of hosts that you added
in the previous step. This section might be commented out with #’s. If so, you must
remove the # at the beginning of the required lines in this section. Additional lines in
the trap section are also commented out, but you can leave those lines alone or delete
them for clarity. After uncommenting the required lines and updating the hosts line,
this section could look like this:
###################
# trap parameters #
###################

trap = {
{
hosts =lexicon
{
enterprise = "sun"
trap-num = 0, 1, 2-5, 6-16
}
# {
# enterprise = "3Com"
# trap-num = 4
# }
# {
# enterprise = "snmp"
# trap-num = 0, 2, 5
# }
# }
# {
# trap-community = jerry-trap
# hosts = jerry, nanak, hubble
# {
# enterprise = "sun"
# trap-num = 1, 3
# }
# {
# enterprise = "snmp"
# trap-num = 1-3
# }
}
}
Note – Make sure that you have the same number of opening and closing brackets in
the /etc/snmp/conf/snmpdx.acl file.
5. Add a new Solaris Volume Manager section to the /etc/snmp/conf/snmpdx.acl

file, inside the section you that uncommented in the previous step.
hosts = lexicon
{
enterprise = "sun"
trap-num = 0, 1, 2-5, 6-16
}
{
enterprise = "Solaris Volume Manager"
trap-num = 1, 2, 3
}
Note that the added four lines are placed immediately after the enterprise =
“sun” block.
6. Append the following line to the /etc/snmp/conf/enterprises.oid file:

"Solaris Volume Manager" "1.3.6.1.4.1.42.104"
7. Stop and restart the Solstice Enterprise Agents server.

# /etc/init.d/init.snmpdx stop
# /etc/init.d/init.snmpdx start
Note – Whenever you upgrade your Solaris operating environment, you will probably
need to edit the/etc/snmp/conf/enterprises.oid file and append the line in
Step 6 again, then restart the Solaris Enterprise Agents server.
After you have completed this procedure, your system will issue SNMP traps to the
host or hosts that you specified. You will need to use an appropriate SNMP monitor,
such as Solstice Enterprise Agents software, to view the traps as they are issued.
Note – Set the mdmonitord command to probe your system regularly to help ensure
that you receive traps if problems arise. See “Setting the mdmonitord Command for
Periodic Error Checking” on page 240. Also, refer to “Monitoring Solaris Volume
Manager with a cron Job” on page 245 for additional error-checking options.
Solaris Volume Manager SNMP Agent

Limitations
The Solaris Volume Manager SNMP agent has certain limitations, and will not issue
traps for all Solaris Volume Manager problems that system administrators will likely
need to know about. Specifically, the agent issues traps only in the following instances:
■ A RAID 1 or RAID 5 subcomponent goes into “needs maintenance” state
■ A hot spare is swapped into service
■ A hot spare starts to resynchronize
■ A hot spare completes resynchronization
■ A mirror is taken offline
■ A disk set is taken by another host and the current host panics
Many problematic situations, such as an unavailable disk with RAID 0 volumes or soft
partitions on it, do not result in SNMP traps, even when reads and writes to the device
are attempted. SCSI or IDE errors are generally reported in these cases, but other
SNMP agents must issue traps for those errors to be reported to a monitoring console.

Monitoring Solaris Volume Manager
with a cron Job
▼ How to Automate Checking for Errors in Volumes

● To automatically check your Solaris Volume Manager configuration for errors, create
a script that the cron utility can periodically.
The following example shows a script that you can adapt and modify for your needs.
Note – This script serves as a starting point for automating Solaris Volume Manager
error checking. You will probably need to modify this script for your own
configuration.
#
#ident "@(#)metacheck.sh 1.3 96/06/21 SMI"
#!/bin/ksh
#!/bin/ksh -x
#!/bin/ksh -v
# ident=’%Z%%M% %I% %E% SMI’
#
# Copyright (c) 1999 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
#
# metacheck
#
# Check on the status of the metadevice configuration. If there is a problem
# return a non zero exit code. Depending on options, send email notification.
#
# -h
# help
# -s setname
# Specify the set to check. By default, the ’local’ set will be checked.
# -m recipient [recipient...]
# Send email notification to the specified recipients. This
# must be the last argument. The notification shows up as a short
# email message with a subject of
# "Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.who.nodename.setname"
# which summarizes the problem(s) and tells how to obtain detailed
# information. The "setname" is from the -s option, "who" is from
# the -w option, and "nodename" is reported by uname(1).
# Email notification is further affected by the following options:
# -f to suppress additional messages after a problem
# has been found.
# -d to control the supression.
# -w to identify who generated the email.
# -t to force email even when there is no problem.

# -w who
# indicate who is running the command. By default, this is the
# user-name as reported by id(1M). This is used when sending
# email notification (-m).
# -f
# Enable filtering. Filtering applies to email notification (-m).
# Filtering requires root permission. When sending email notification
# the file /etc/lvm/metacheck.setname.pending is used to
# controll the filter. The following matrix specifies the behavior
# of the filter:
#
# problem_found file_exists
# yes no Create file, send notification
# yes yes Resend notification if the current date
# (as specified by -d datefmt) is
# different than the file date.
# no yes Delete file, send notification
# that the problem is resolved.
# no no Send notification if -t specified.
#
# -d datefmt
# Specify the format of the date for filtering (-f). This option
# controls the how often re-notification via email occurs. If the
# current date according to the specified format (strftime(3C)) is
# identical to the date contained in the
# /etc/lvm/metacheck.setname.pending file then the message is
# suppressed. The default date format is "%D", which will send one
# re-notification per day.
# -t
# Test mode. Enable email generation even when there is no problem.
# Used for end-to-end verification of the mechanism and email addresses.
#
#
# These options are designed to allow integration of metacheck
# into crontab. For example, a root crontab entry of:
#
# 0,15,30,45 * * * * /usr/sbin/metacheck -f -w SVMcron \
# -d ’\%D \%h’ -m [email protected] [email protected]
#
# would check for problems every 15 minutes, and generate an email to
# [email protected] (and send to an email pager service) every hour when
# there is a problem. Note the \ prior to the ’%’ characters for a
# crontab entry. Bounced email would come back to root@nodename.
# The subject line for email generated by the above line would be
# Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.SVMcron.nodename.local
#
# display a debug line to controlling terminal (works in pipes)

decho()
{
if [ "$debug" = "yes" ] ; then
echo "DEBUG: $*" < /dev/null > /dev/tty 2>&1
fi
}

# if string $1 is in $2-* then return $1, else return ""
strstr()
{
typeset look="$1"
typeset ret=""
shift
# decho "strstr LOOK .$look. FIRST .$1."
while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
if [ "$look" = "$1" ] ; then
ret="$look"
fi
shift
done
echo "$ret"
}
# if string $1 is in $2-* then delete it. return result

strdstr()
{
typeset look="$1"
typeset ret=""
shift
# decho "strdstr LOOK .$look. FIRST .$1."
while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
if [ "$look" != "$1" ] ; then
ret="$ret $1"
fi
shift
done
echo "$ret"
}
merge_continued_lines()
{
awk -e ’\
BEGIN { line = "";} \
$NF == "\\" { \
$NF = ""; \
line = line $0; \
next; \
} \
$NF != "\\" { \
if ( line != "" ) { \
print line $0; \
line = ""; \
} else { \
print $0; \
} \
}’
}
# trim out stuff not associated with metadevices

find_meta_devices()

{
typeset devices=""
# decho "find_meta_devices .$*."

while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
case $1 in
d+([0-9]) ) # metadevice name
devices="$devices $1"
;;
esac
shift
done
echo "$devices"
}
# return the list of top level metadevices

toplevel()
{
typeset comp_meta_devices=""
typeset top_meta_devices=""
typeset devices=""
typeset device=""
typeset comp=""
metastat$setarg -p | merge_continued_lines | while read line ; do

echo "$line"
devices=‘find_meta_devices $line‘
set -- $devices
if [ $# -ne 0 ] ; then
device=$1
shift
# check to see if device already refered to as component
comp=‘strstr $device $comp_meta_devices‘
if [ -z $comp ] ; then
top_meta_devices="$top_meta_devices $device"
fi
# add components to component list, remove from top list
while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
comp=$1
comp_meta_devices="$comp_meta_devices $comp"
top_meta_devices=‘strdstr $comp $top_meta_devices‘
shift
done
fi
done > /dev/null 2>&1
echo $top_meta_devices
}
#
# - MAIN
#
METAPATH=/usr/sbin
PATH=//usr/bin:$METAPATH
USAGE="usage: metacheck [-s setname] [-h] [[-t] [-f [-d datefmt]] \
[-w who] -m recipient [recipient...]]"

datefmt="%D"
debug="no"
filter="no"
mflag="no"
set="local"
setarg=""
testarg="no"
who=‘id | sed -e ’s/^uid=[0-9][0-9]*(//’ -e ’s/).*//’‘
while getopts d:Dfms:tw: flag

do
case $flag in
d) datefmt=$OPTARG;
;;
D) debug="yes"
;;
f) filter="yes"
;;
m) mflag="yes"
;;
s) set=$OPTARG;
if [ "$set" != "local" ] ; then
setarg=" -s $set";
fi
;;
t) testarg="yes";
;;
w) who=$OPTARG;
;;
\?) echo $USAGE
exit 1
;;
esac
done
# if mflag specified then everything else part of recipient

shift ‘expr $OPTIND - 1‘
if [ $mflag = "no" ] ; then
if [ $# -ne 0 ] ; then
echo $USAGE
exit 1
fi
else
if [ $# -eq 0 ] ; then
echo $USAGE
exit 1
fi
fi
recipients="$*"
curdate_filter=‘date +$datefmt‘
curdate=‘date‘
node=‘uname -n‘

# establish files
msg_f=/tmp/metacheck.msg.$$
msgs_f=/tmp/metacheck.msgs.$$
metastat_f=/tmp/metacheck.metastat.$$
metadb_f=/tmp/metacheck.metadb.$$
metahs_f=/tmp/metacheck.metahs.$$
pending_f=/etc/lvm/metacheck.$set.pending
files="$metastat_f $metadb_f $metahs_f $msg_f $msgs_f"
rm -f $files > /dev/null 2>&1

trap "rm -f $files > /dev/null 2>&1; exit 1" 1 2 3 15
# Check to see if metadb is capable of running

have_metadb="yes"
metadb$setarg > $metadb_f 2>&1
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
have_metadb="no"
fi
grep "there are no existing databases" < $metadb_f > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
have_metadb="no"
fi
grep "/dev/md/admin" < $metadb_f > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
have_metadb="no"
fi
# check for problems accessing metadbs

retval=0
if [ "$have_metadb" = "no" ] ; then
retval=1
echo "metacheck: metadb problem, can’t run ’$METAPATH/metadb$setarg’" \
>> $msgs_f
else
# snapshot the state
metadb$setarg 2>&1 | sed -e ’1d’ | merge_continued_lines > $metadb_f
metastat$setarg 2>&1 | merge_continued_lines > $metastat_f
metahs$setarg -i 2>&1 | merge_continued_lines > $metahs_f
#
# Check replicas for problems, capital letters in the flags
# indicate an error, fields are seperated by tabs.
#
problem=‘awk < $metadb_f -F\t ’{if ($1 ~ /[A-Z]/) print $1;}’‘
if [ -n "$problem" ] ; then
retval=‘expr $retval + 64‘
echo "\
metacheck: metadb problem, for more detail run:\n\t$METAPATH/metadb$setarg -i" \
>> $msgs_f
fi
#
# Check the metadevice state
#
problem=‘awk < $metastat_f -e \

’/State:/ {if ($2 != "Okay" && $2 != "Resyncing") print $0;}’‘
echo "\
metacheck: metadevice problem, for more detail run:" \
>> $msgs_f
# refine the message to toplevel metadevices that have a problem

top=‘toplevel‘
set -- $top
while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
device=$1
problem=‘metastat $device | awk -e \
’/State:/ {if ($2 != "Okay" && $2 != "Resyncing") print $0;}’‘
echo "\t$METAPATH/metastat$setarg $device" >> $msgs_f
# find out what is mounted on the device
mp=‘mount|awk -e ’/\/dev\/md\/dsk\/’$device’[ \t]/{print $1;}’‘
if [ -n "$mp" ] ; then
echo "\t\t$mp mounted on $device" >> $msgs_f
fi
fi
shift
done
fi
#
# Check the hotspares to see if any have been used.
#
problem=""
grep "no hotspare pools found" < $metahs_f > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
problem=‘awk < $metahs_f -e \
’/blocks/ { if ( $2 != "Available" ) print $0;}’‘
fi
echo "\
metacheck: hot spare in use, for more detail run:\n\t$METAPATH/metahs$setarg -i" \
>> $msgs_f
fi
fi
# If any errors occurred, then mail the report

if [ $retval -ne 0 ] ; then
if [ -n "$recipients" ] ; then
re=""
if [ -f $pending_f ] && [ "$filter" = "yes" ] ; then
re="Re: "
# we have a pending notification, check date to see if we resend
penddate_filter=‘cat $pending_f | head -1‘
if [ "$curdate_filter" != "$penddate_filter" ] ; then
rm -f $pending_f > /dev/null 2>&1
else
if [ "$debug" = "yes" ] ; then

echo "metacheck: email problem notification still pending"
cat $pending_f
fi
fi
fi
if [ ! -f $pending_f ] ; then
if [ "$filter" = "yes" ] ; then
echo "$curdate_filter\n\tDate:$curdate\n\tTo:$recipients" \
> $pending_f
fi
echo "\
Solaris Volume Manager: $node: metacheck$setarg: Report: $curdate" >> $msg_f
echo "\
--------------------------------------------------------------" >> $msg_f
cat $msg_f $msgs_f | mailx -s \
"${re}Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.$who.$set.$node" $recipients
fi
else
cat $msgs_f
fi
else
# no problems detected,
if [ -n "$recipients" ] ; then
# default is to not send any mail, or print anything.
echo "\
Solaris Volume Manager: $node: metacheck$setarg: Report: $curdate" >> $msg_f
echo "\
--------------------------------------------------------------" >> $msg_f
if [ -f $pending_f ] && [ "$filter" = "yes" ] ; then
# pending filter exista, remove it and send OK
rm -f $pending_f > /dev/null 2>&1
echo "Problem resolved" >> $msg_f
cat $msg_f | mailx -s \
"Re: Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.$who.$node.$set" $recipients
elif [ "$testarg" = "yes" ] ; then
# for testing, send mail every time even thought there is no problem
echo "Messaging test, no problems detected" >> $msg_f
cat $msg_f | mailx -s \
"Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.$who.$node.$set" $recipients
fi
else
echo "metacheck: Okay"
fi
fi
rm -f $files > /dev/null 2>&1

exit $retval
For information on invoking scripts by using the cron utility, see the cron(1M) man
page.

CHAPTER 24
Troubleshooting Solaris Volume

Manager
This chapter describes how to troubleshoot problems related to Solaris Volume

Manager. This chapter provides both general troubleshooting guidelines and specific
procedures for resolving some particular known problems.

■ “Troubleshooting Solaris Volume Manager (Task Map)” on page 253
■ “Overview of Troubleshooting the System” on page 254
■ “General Troubleshooting Approach” on page 255
■ “Replacing Disks” on page 255
■ “Boot Problems” on page 258
This chapter describes some Solaris Volume Manager problems and their appropriate
solution. It is not intended to be all-inclusive but rather to present common scenarios
and recovery procedures.
Troubleshooting Solaris Volume

Manager (Task Map)
The following task map identifies some procedures needed to troubleshoot Solaris
Volume Manager.
Replace a failed disk Replace a disk, then update state “How to Replace a Failed
database replicas and logical volumes Disk” on page 255
on the new disk.
253
Recover from improper Use the fsck command on the mirror, “How to Recover From
/etc/vfstab entries then edit the /etc/vfstab file so the Improper /etc/vfstab
system will boot correctly. Entries” on page 258
Recover from a boot Boot from a different submirror. “How to Recover From a
device failure Boot Device Failure”
on page 261
Recover from insufficient Delete unavailable replicas by using “How to Recover From
state database replicas the metadb command. Insufficient State Database
Replicas” on page 265
Recover configuration Use the metarecover command to “How to Recover

data for a lost soft recover configuration data for soft Configuration Data for a
partition partitions. Soft Partition” on page 268
Recover a Solaris Attach disks to a new system and have “How to Recover a
Volume Manager Solaris Volume Manager rebuild the Configuration” on page 271
configuration from configuration from the existing state
salvaged disks database replicas.
Overview of Troubleshooting the System
Prerequisites for Troubleshooting the System

To troubleshoot storage management problems related to Solaris Volume Manager,
you need to do the following:
■ Have root privilege
■ Have a current backup of all data
General Guidelines for Troubleshooting Solaris

Volume Manager
You should have the following information on hand when you troubleshoot Solaris
Volume Manager problems:
■ Output from the metadb command.
■ Output from the metastat command.
■ Output from the metastat -p command.

■ Backup copy of the /etc/vfstab file.
■ Backup copy of the /etc/lvm/mddb.cf file.
■ Disk partition information, from the prtvtoc command (SPARC™ systems) or the
fdisk command (IA–based systems)
■ Solaris version
■ Solaris patches installed
■ Solaris Volume Manager patches installed
Tip – Any time you update your Solaris Volume Manager configuration, or make
other storage or operating environment-related changes to your system, generate fresh
copies of this configuration information. You could also generate this information
automatically with a cron job.
General Troubleshooting Approach

Although there is no one procedure that will enable you to evaluate all problems with
Solaris Volume Manager, the following process provides one general approach that
might help.
1. Gather information about current configuration.
2. Look at the current status indicators, including the output from the metastat and
metadb commands. There should be information here that indicates which
component is faulty.
3. Check the hardware for obvious points of failure. (Is everything connected
properly? Was there a recent electrical outage? Have you recently added or
changed equipment?)
Replacing Disks
This section describes how to replace disks in a Solaris Volume Manager environment.
▼ How to Replace a Failed Disk

1. Identify the failed disk to be replaced by examining the /var/adm/messages file
and the metastat command output.
Chapter 24 • Troubleshooting Solaris Volume Manager 255

2. Locate any state database replicas that might have been placed on the failed disk.
Use the metadb command to find the replicas.
The metadb command might report errors for the state database replicas located on
the failed disk. In this example, c0t1d0 is the problem device.
# metadb
a m u 16 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s4
a u 1050 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s4
a u 2084 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s4
W pc luo 16 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s4
The output shows three state database replicas on slice 4 of the local disks, c0t0d0
and c0t1d0. The W in the flags field of the c0t1d0s4 slice indicates that the device
has write errors. Three replicas on the c0t0d0s4 slice are still good.
3. Record the slice name where the state database replicas reside and the number of
state database replicas, then delete the state database replicas.
The number of state database replicas is obtained by counting the number of
appearances of a slice in the metadb command output in Step 2. In this example, the
three state database replicas that exist on c0t1d0s4 are deleted.
# metadb -d c0t1d0s4
Caution – If, after deleting the bad state database replicas, you are left with three or
fewer, add more state database replicas before continuing. This will help ensure that
configuration information remains intact.
4. Locate any submirrors that use slices on the failed disk and detach them.
The metastat command can show the affected mirrors. In this example, one
submirror, d10, is using c0t1d0s4. The mirror is d20.
# metadetach d20 d10
5. Delete any hot spares on the failed disk.

# metahs -d hsp000 c0t1d0s6
hsp000: Hotspare is deleted
6. Halt the system and boot to single-user mode.

# halt
...
ok boot -s
...
7. Physically replace the failed disk.

8. Repartition the new disk.
Use the format command or the fmthard command to partition the disk with the
same slice information as the failed disk. If you have the prtvtoc output from the
failed disk, you can format the replacement disk with fmthard -s
/tmp/failed-disk-prtvtoc-output
9. If you deleted state database replicas in Step 3, add the same number back to the
appropriate slice.
In this example, /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s4 is used.
# metadb -a c 3 c0t1d0s4
10. Depending on how the disk was used, you have a variety of things to do. Use the
following table to decide what to do next.
TABLE 24–1 Disk Replacement Decision Table
Type of Device... Task
Slice Use normal data recovery procedures.
Unmirrored RAID 0 volume or If the volume is used for a file system, run the newfs
Soft Partition command, mount the file system then restore data from
backup. If the RAID 0 volume is used for an application that
uses the raw device, that application must have its own
recovery procedures.
RAID 1 volume (Submirror) Run the metattach command to reattach a detached

submirror, which causes the resynchronization to start.
RAID 5 volume Run the metareplace command to re-enable the slice, which
causes the resynchronization to start.
Transactional volume Depends on underlying volume type. If the transactional

volume is on a RAID 5 volume, for example, follow those
instructions in this table.
11. Replace hot spares that were deleted, and add them to the appropriate hot spare
pool or pools.
# metahs -a hsp000 c0t0d0s6
12. Validate the data.

Check the user/application data on all volumes. You might have to run an
application-level consistency checker or use some other method to check the data.

Boot Problems
Because Solaris Volume Manager enables you to mirror the root (/), swap, and /usr
directories, special problems can arise when you boot the system, either through
hardware failures or operator error. The tasks in this section provide solutions to such
potential problems.
The following table describes these problems and points you to the appropriate
solution.
TABLE 24–2 Common Solaris Volume Manager Boot Problems
Reason for the Boot Problem Instructions
The /etc/vfstab file contains “How to Recover From Improper /etc/vfstab

incorrect information. Entries” on page 258
There are not enough state database “How to Recover From Insufficient State Database
replicas. Replicas” on page 265
A boot device (disk) has failed. “How to Recover From a Boot Device Failure”
on page 261
The boot mirror has failed.
Background Information for Boot Problems

■ If Solaris Volume Manager takes a volume offline due to errors, unmount all file
systems on the disk where the failure occurred. Because each disk slice is
independent, multiple file systems can be mounted on a single disk. If the software
has encountered a failure, other slices on the same disk will likely experience
failures soon. File systems mounted directly on disk slices do not have the
protection of Solaris Volume Manager error handling, and leaving such file systems
mounted can leave you vulnerable to crashing the system and losing data.
■ Minimize the amount of time you run with submirrors disabled or offline. During
resynchronization and online backup intervals, the full protection of mirroring is
gone.
▼ How to Recover From Improper /etc/vfstab

Entries
If you have made an incorrect entry in the /etc/vfstab file, for example, when
mirroring root (/), the system will appear at first to be booting properly then fail. To
remedy this situation, you need to edit the /etc/vfstab file while in single-user
mode.

The high-level steps to recover from improper /etc/vfstab file entries are as
follows:
1. Booting the system to single-user mode
2. Running the fsck command on the mirror volume
3. Remounting file system read-write
4. Optional: running the metaroot command for a root (/) mirror
5. Verifying that the /etc/vfstab file correctly references the volume for the file
system entry
6. Rebooting
Example—Recovering the root (/) Mirror

In the following example, root (/) is mirrored with a two-way mirror, d0. The root (/)
entry in the /etc/vfstab file has somehow reverted back to the original slice of the
file system, but the information in the /etc/system file still shows booting to be
from the mirror d0. The most likely reason is that the metaroot command was not
used to maintain the /etc/system and /etc/vfstab files, or an old copy of
the/etc/vfstab file was copied back.
The incorrect /etc/vfstab file would look something like the following:
#
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 /dev/rdsk/c0t3d0s0 / ufs 1 no -
#
/proc - /proc proc - no -
floppy - /dev/floppy floppy - no -
swap - /tmp tmpfs - yes -
Because of the errors, you automatically go into single-user mode when the system is
booted:
ok boot
...
configuring network interfaces: hme0.
Hostname: lexicon
mount: /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 is not this fstype.
setmnt: Cannot open /etc/mnttab for writing
INIT: Cannot create /var/adm/utmp or /var/adm/utmpx
INIT: failed write of utmpx entry:" "
INIT: failed write of utmpx entry:" "

INIT: SINGLE USER MODE
Type Ctrl-d to proceed with normal startup,

(or give root password for system maintenance): <root-password>
At this point, root (/) and /usr are mounted read-only. Follow these steps:
1. Run the fsck command on the root (/) mirror.
Note – Be careful to use the correct volume for root.
# fsck /dev/md/rdsk/d0
** /dev/md/rdsk/d0
** Currently Mounted on /
2274 files, 11815 used, 10302 free (158 frags, 1268 blocks,
0.7% fragmentation)
2. Remount root (/) read/write so you can edit the /etc/vfstab file.
# mount -o rw,remount /dev/md/dsk/d0 /
mount: warning: cannot lock temp file </etc/.mnt.lock>
3. Run the metaroot command.

# metaroot d0
This command edits the /etc/system and /etc/vfstab files to specify that the
root (/) file system is now on volume d0.
4. Verify that the /etc/vfstab file contains the correct volume entries.
The root (/) entry in the /etc/vfstab file should appear as follows so that the entry
for the file system correctly references the RAID 1 volume:
#
/dev/md/dsk/d0 /dev/md/rdsk/d0 / ufs 1 no -
#
/proc - /proc proc - no -
floppy - /dev/floppy floppy - no -
swap - /tmp tmpfs - yes -
5. Reboot the system.

The system returns to normal operation.

▼ How to Recover From a Boot Device Failure
If you have a root (/) mirror and your boot device fails, you’ll need to set up an
alternate boot device.
The high-level steps in this task are as follows:

1. Booting from the alternate root (/) submirror
2. Determining the errored state database replicas and volumes
3. Repairing the failed disk
4. Restoring state database and volumes to their original state
In the following example, the boot device contains two of the six state database
replicas and the root (/), swap, and /usr submirrors fails.
Initially, when the boot device fails, you’ll see a message similar to the following. This
message might differ among various architectures.
Rebooting with command:
Boot device: /iommu/sbus/dma@f,81000/esp@f,80000/sd@3,0
The selected SCSI device is not responding
Can’t open boot device
...
When you see this message, note the device. Then, follow these steps:
1. Boot from another root (/) submirror.

Since only two of the six state database replicas in this example are in error, you can
still boot. If this were not the case, you would need to delete the inaccessible state
database replicas in single-user mode. This procedure is described in “How to Recover
From Insufficient State Database Replicas” on page 265.
When you created the mirror for the root (/) file system, you should have recorded the
alternate boot device as part of that procedure. In this example, disk2 is that alternate
boot device.
ok boot disk2
SunOS Release 5.9 Version s81_51 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hostname: demo
...
demo console login: root
Password: <root-password>
Dec 16 12:22:09 lexicon login: ROOT LOGIN /dev/console
Last login: Wed Dec 12 10:55:16 on console
...
2. Determine that two state database replicas have failed by using the metadb
command.
# metadb
M p unknown unknown /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s3

The system can no longer detect state database replicas on slice
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s3, which is part of the failed disk.
3. Determine that half of the root (/), swap, and /usr mirrors have failed by using the
metastat command.
# metastat
d0: Mirror
Submirror 0: d10
Submirror 1: d20
State: Okay
...
Invoke: "metareplace d0 /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 <new device>"
Size: 47628 blocks
Stripe 0:
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 0 No Maintenance
State: Okay
Size: 47628 blocks
Stripe 0:
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s0 0 No Okay
d1: Mirror
Submirror 0: d11
Submirror 1: d21
State: Okay
...
Size: 69660 blocks
Stripe 0:
State: Okay
Size: 69660 blocks
Stripe 0:

d2: Mirror
Submirror 0: d12
Submirror 1: d22
State: Okay
...
d2: Mirror
Submirror 0: d12
Submirror 1: d22
State: Okay
...
Size: 286740 blocks
Stripe 0:
State: Okay
Size: 286740 blocks
Stripe 0:
In this example, the metastat command shows that following submirrors need
maintenance:
■ Submirror d10, device c0t3d0s0
4. Halt the system, replace the disk, and use the format command or the fmthard
command, to partition the disk as it was before the failure.
Tip – If the new disk is identical to the existing disk (the intact side of the mirror in
this example), use prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t2d0s2 | fmthard - -s
/dev/rdsk/c0t3d0s2 to quickly format the new disk (c0t3d0 in this example)
# halt
...
Halted
...
ok boot
...
# format /dev/rdsk/c0t3d0s0

5. Reboot.
Note that you must reboot from the other half of the root (/) mirror. You should have
recorded the alternate boot device when you created the mirror.
# halt
...
ok boot disk2
6. To delete the failed state database replicas and then add them back, use the metadb
command.
# metadb
# metadb -c 2 -a c0t3d0s3
# metadb
a u 1050 1034 /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s3
7. Re-enable the submirrors by using the metareplace command.

Device /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 is enabled
After some time, the resynchronization will complete. You can now return to booting
from the original device.

Recovering From State Database Replica
Failures
▼ How to Recover From Insufficient State Database

Replicas
If the state database replica quorum is not met, for example, due to a drive failure, the
system cannot be rebooted into multiuser mode. This situation could follow a panic
(when Solaris Volume Manager discovers that fewer than half the state database
replicas are available) or could occur if the system is rebooted with exactly half or
fewer functional state database replicas. In Solaris Volume Manager terms, the state
database has gone “stale.” This task explains how to recover from this problem.
1. Boot the system to determine which state database replicas are down.
2. Determine which state database replicas are unavailable

Use the following format of the metadb command:
metadb -i
3. If one or more disks are known to be unavailable, delete the state database replicas
on those disks. Otherwise, delete enough errored state database replicas (W, M, D, F,
or R status flags reported by metadb) to ensure that a majority of the existing state
database replicas are not errored.
Delete the state database replica on the bad disk using the metadb -d command.
Tip – State database replicas with a capitalized status flag are in error, while those
with lowercase status flags are functioning normally.
4. Verify that the replicas have been deleted by using the metadb command.
5. Reboot.
6. If necessary, you can replace the disk, format it appropriately, then add any state
database replicas needed to the disk. Following the instructions in “Creating State
Database Replicas” on page 58.
Once you have a replacement disk, halt the system, replace the failed disk, and once
again, reboot the system. Use the format command or the fmthard command to
partition the disk as it was configured before the failure.

Example—Recovering From Stale State Database Replicas
In the following example, a disk containing seven replicas has gone bad. This leaves
the system with only three good replicas, and the system panics, then cannot reboot
into multi-user mode.
panic[cpu0]/thread=70a41e00: md: state database problem
403238a8 md:mddb_commitrec_wrapper+6c (2, 1, 70a66ca0, 40323964, 70a66ca0, 3c)

%l0-7: 0000000a 00000000 00000001 70bbcce0 70bbcd04 70995400 00000002 00000000
40323908 md:alloc_entry+c4 (70b00844, 1, 9, 0, 403239e4, ff00)
%l0-7: 70b796a4 00000001 00000000 705064cc 70a66ca0 00000002 00000024 00000000
40323968 md:md_setdevname+2d4 (7003b988, 6, 0, 63, 70a71618, 10)
%l0-7: 70a71620 00000000 705064cc 70b00844 00000010 00000000 00000000 00000000
403239f8 md:setnm_ioctl+134 (7003b968, 100003, 64, 0, 0, ffbffc00)
%l0-7: 7003b988 00000000 70a71618 00000000 00000000 000225f0 00000000 00000000
40323a58 md:md_base_ioctl+9b4 (157ffff, 5605, ffbffa3c, 100003, 40323ba8, ff1b5470)
%l0-7: ff3f2208 ff3f2138 ff3f26a0 00000000 00000000 00000064 ff1396e9 00000000
40323ad0 md:md_admin_ioctl+24 (157ffff, 5605, ffbffa3c, 100003, 40323ba8, 0)
%l0-7: 00005605 ffbffa3c 00100003 0157ffff 0aa64245 00000000 7efefeff 81010100
40323b48 md:mdioctl+e4 (157ffff, 5605, ffbffa3c, 100003, 7016db60, 40323c7c)
%l0-7: 0157ffff 00005605 ffbffa3c 00100003 0003ffff 70995598 70995570 0147c800
40323bb0 genunix:ioctl+1dc (3, 5605, ffbffa3c, fffffff8, ffffffe0, ffbffa65)
%l0-7: 0114c57c 70937428 ff3f26a0 00000000 00000001 ff3b10d4 0aa64245 00000000
panic:
stopped at edd000d8: ta %icc,%g0 + 125
Type ’go’ to resume
ok boot -s
Resetting ...
Sun Ultra 5/10 UPA/PCI (UltraSPARC-IIi 270MHz), No Keyboard

OpenBoot 3.11, 128 MB memory installed, Serial #9841776.
Ethernet address 8:0:20:96:2c:70, Host ID: 80962c70.
Rebooting with command: boot -s

Boot device: /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/disk@0,0:a File and args: -s
SunOS Release 5.9 Version s81_39 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.

configuring IPv4 interfaces: hme0.
Hostname: dodo
metainit: dodo: stale databases
Insufficient metadevice database replicas located.
Use metadb to delete databases which are broken.

Ignore any "Read-only file system" error messages.
Reboot the system when finished to reload the metadevice database.
After reboot, repair any broken database replicas which were deleted.

Type control-d to proceed with normal startup,
(or give root password for system maintenance): root password
single-user privilege assigned to /dev/console.
Entering System Maintenance Mode
Jun 7 08:57:25 su: ’su root’ succeeded for root on /dev/console

# metadb -i
a m p lu 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
a p l 8208 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
a p l 16400 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
M p 16 unknown /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0
# metadb
a m p lu 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
a p l 8208 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
a p l 16400 8192 /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
#
The system paniced because it could no longer detect state database replicas on slice
/dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0, which is part of the failed disk or attached to a failed
controller. The first metadb -i command identifies the replicas on this slice as having
a problem with the master blocks.
When you delete the stale state database replicas, the root (/) file system is read-only.
You can ignore the mddb.cf error messages displayed.
At this point, the system is again functional, although it probably has fewer state
database replicas than it should, and any volumes that used part of the failed storage
are also either failed, errored, or hot-spared; those issues should be addressed
promptly.
Repairing Transactional Volumes

Because a transactional volume is a “layered” volume, consisting of a master device
and logging device, and because the logging device can be shared among file systems,
repairing a failed transactional volume requires special recovery tasks.
Any device errors or panics must be managed by using the command line utilities.

Panics
If a file system detects any internal inconsistencies while it is in use, it will panic the
system. If the file system is configured for logging, it notifies the transactional volume
that it needs to be checked at reboot. The transactional volume transitions itself to the
“Hard Error” state. All other transactional volumes that share the same log device also
go into the “Hard Error” state.
At reboot, fsck checks and repairs the file system and transitions the file system back
to the “Okay” state. fsck completes this process for all transactional volumes listed in
the /etc/vfstab file for the affected log device.
Transactional Volume Errors

If a device error occurs on either the master device or the log device while the
transactional volume is processing logged data, the device transitions from the “Okay”
state to the “Hard Error” state. If the device is either in the “Hard Error” or “Error”
state, either a device error has occurred, or a panic has occurred.
Any devices sharing the failed log device also go the “Error” state.
Recovering From Soft Partition Problems

The following sections show how to recover configuration information for soft
partitions. You should only use these techniques if all of your state database replicas
have been lost and you do not have a current or accurate copy of metastat -p
output, the md.cf file, or an up-to-date md.tab file.
How to Recover Configuration Data for a Soft

Partition
At the beginning of each soft partition extent, a sector is used to mark the beginning of
the soft partition extent. These hidden sectors are called extent headers and do not
appear to the user of the soft partition. If all Solaris Volume Manager configuration is
lost, the disk can be scanned in an attempt to generate the configuration data.
This procedure is a last option to recover lost soft partition configuration information.
The metarecover command should only be used when you have lost both your
metadb and your md.cf files, and your md.tab is lost or out of date.

Note – This procedure only works to recover soft partition information, and does not
assist in recovering from other lost configurations or for recovering configuration
information for other Solaris Volume Manager volumes.
Note – If your configuration included other Solaris Volume Manager volumes that
were built on top of soft partitions, you should recover the soft partitions before
attempting to recover the other volumes.
Configuration information about your soft partitions is stored on your devices and in
your state database. Since either of these sources could be corrupt, you must tell the
metarecover command which source is reliable.
First, use the metarecover command to determine whether the two sources agree. If
they do agree, the metarecover command cannot be used to make any changes. If
the metarecover command reports an inconsistency, however, you must examine its
output carefully to determine whether the disk or the state database is corrupt, then
you should use the metarecover command to rebuild the configuration based on the
appropriate source.
2. Review the soft partition recovery information by using the metarecover

command.
metarecover component-p {-d }
In this case, component is the c*t*d*s* name of the raw component. The -d option
indicates to scan the physical slice for extent headers of soft partitions.
For more information, see the metarecover(1M) man page.
Example—Recovering Soft Partitions from On-Disk Extent

Headers
# metarecover c1t1d0s1 -p -d
The following soft partitions were found and will be added to
your metadevice configuration.
Name Size No. of Extents
d10 10240 1
d11 10240 1
d12 10240 1
# metarecover c1t1d0s1 -p -d
The following soft partitions were found and will be added to
your metadevice configuration.
Name Size No. of Extents

d10 10240 1
d11 10240 1
d12 10240 1
WARNING: You are about to add one or more soft partition
metadevices to your metadevice configuration. If there
appears to be an error in the soft partition(s) displayed
above, do NOT proceed with this recovery operation.
Are you sure you want to do this (yes/no)?yes
c1t1d0s1: Soft Partitions recovered from device.
bash-2.05# metastat
d10: Soft Partition
Device: c1t1d0s1
State: Okay
Size: 10240 blocks
c1t1d0s1 0 No Yes

0 1 10240
d11: Soft Partition

Device: c1t1d0s1
State: Okay
Size: 10240 blocks
c1t1d0s1 0 No Yes

0 10242 10240
d12: Soft Partition

Device: c1t1d0s1
State: Okay
Size: 10240 blocks
c1t1d0s1 0 No Yes

0 20483 10240
This example recovers three soft partitions from disk, after the state database replicas
were accidentally deleted.

Recovering Configuration From a
Different System
You can recover a Solaris Volume Manager configuration, even onto a different system
from the original. For example, assume you have a system with an external Multipack
of six disks in it, and a Solaris Volume Manager configuration, including at least one
state database replica, on some of those disks. If you experience a system failure, you
can attach the Multipack to a different system and recover the complete configuration
from the local disk set.
Note – Only recover a Solaris Volume Manager configuration onto a system with no
preexisting Solaris Volume Manager configuration. Otherwise, you risk replacing a
logical volume on your system with a logical volume that you are recovering, and
possibly corrupting your system.
Note – This process only works to recover volumes from the local disk set.
How to Recover a Configuration
▼ How to Recover a Configuration

1. Attach the disk or disks that contain the Solaris Volume Manager configuration to a
system with no preexisting Solaris Volume Manager configuration.
2. Do a reconfiguration reboot to ensure that the system recognizes the newly added
disks.
# reboot -- -r
3. Determine the major/minor number for a slice containing a state database replica
on the newly added disks.
Use ls -lL, and note the two numbers between the group name and the date. Those
are the major/minor numbers for this slice.
# ls -Ll /dev/dsk/c1t9d0s7
brw-r----- 1 root sys 32, 71 Dec 5 10:05 /dev/dsk/c1t9d0s7
4. If necessary, determine the major name corresponding with the major number by
looking up the major number in /etc/name_to_major.

# grep " 32" /etc/name_to_major
sd 32
5. Update the /kernel/drv/md.conf file with two commands: one command to tell
Solaris Volume Manager where to find a valid state database replica on the new
disks, and one command to tell it to trust the new replica and ignore any conflicting
device ID information on the system.
In the line in this example that begins with mddb_bootlist1, replace the sd in the
example with the major name you found in the previous step. Replace 71 in the
example with the minor number you identified in Step 3.
#
#
#
#
#
# Begin MDD database info (do not edit)
mddb_bootlist1="sd:71:16:id0";
md_devid_destroy=1;# End MDD database info (do not edit)
6. Reboot to force Solaris Volume Manager to reload your configuration.

You will see messages similar to the following displayed to the console.
volume management starting.
Dec 5 10:11:53 lexicon metadevadm: Disk movement detected
Dec 5 10:11:53 lexicon metadevadm: Updating device names in
The system is ready.
7. Verify your configuration by using the metadb and metastat commands.

# metadb
a luo 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c1t10d0s7
# metastat
d12: RAID
State: Okay
Size: 125685 blocks
Original device:
Size: 128576 blocks

d20: Soft Partition

Device: d10
State: Okay
Size: 8192 blocks
0 3592 8192
d21: Soft Partition

Device: d10
State: Okay
Size: 8192 blocks
0 11785 8192
d22: Soft Partition

Device: d10
State: Okay
Size: 8192 blocks
0 19978 8192
d10: Mirror
Submirror 0: d0
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d1
State: Okay
Pass: 1
Size: 82593 blocks

State: Okay
Size: 118503 blocks

State: Okay
Size: 82593 blocks


c1t9d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3487980000U00907AZ
c1t10d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3397070000W0090A8Q
c1t11d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3449660000U00904NZ
c1t12d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS32655400007010H04J
c1t13d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3461190000701001T0
#
# metadb
# metastat
d12: RAID
State: Okay
Size: 125685 blocks
Original device:
Size: 128576 blocks
d20: Soft Partition

Device: d10
State: Okay
Size: 8192 blocks
0 3592 8192
d21: Soft Partition

Device: d10
State: Okay
Size: 8192 blocks
0 11785 8192
d22: Soft Partition

Device: d10
State: Okay
Size: 8192 blocks
0 19978 8192
d10: Mirror
Submirror 0: d0
State: Okay
Submirror 1: d1
State: Okay
Pass: 1
Size: 82593 blocks

State: Okay
Size: 118503 blocks

State: Okay
Size: 82593 blocks

c1t9d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3487980000U00907AZ1
c1t10d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3397070000W0090A8Q
c1t11d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3449660000U00904NZ
c1t12d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS32655400007010H04J
c1t13d0 Yes id1,sd@SSEAGATE_ST39103LCSUN9.0GLS3461190000701001T0
# metastat -p
d12 -r c1t11d0s3 c1t12d0s3 c1t13d0s3 -k -i 32b
d20 -p d10 -o 3592 -b 8192
d21 -p d10 -o 11785 -b 8192
d22 -p d10 -o 19978 -b 8192
d10 -m d0 d1 1
d0 1 2 c1t9d0s0 c1t10d0s0 -i 32b
d1 1 2 c1t9d0s1 c1t10d0s1 -i 32b
#

APPENDIX A
Important Solaris Volume Manager

Files
This appendix contains information about Solaris Volume Manager files for reference
purposes. It contains the following:
■ “System Files and Startup Files” on page 277
■ “Manually Configured Files” on page 279
System Files and Startup Files

This section explains the files that are necessary for Solaris Volume Manager to operate
correctly. With the exception of a few specialized configuration changes, you will not
need to access or modify these files.
■ /etc/lvm/mddb.cf
Caution – Do not edit this file. If you change this file, you could corrupt your
Solaris Volume Manager configuration.
The /etc/lvm/mddb.cf file records the locations of state database replicas. When
state database replica locations change, Solaris Volume Manager makes an entry in
the mddb.cf file that records the locations of all state databases. See mddb.cf(4)
■ /etc/lvm/md.cf
The /etc/lvm/md.cf file contains automatically generated configuration
information for the default (unspecified or local) disk set. When you change the
Solaris Volume Manager configuration, Solaris Volume Manager automatically
updates the md.cf file (except for information about hot spares in use). See
md.cf(4) for more information.
277
Caution – Do not edit this file. If you change this file, you could corrupt your
Solaris Volume Manager configuration or be unable to recover your Solaris Volume
Manager configuration.
If your system loses the information maintained in the state database, and as long
as no volumes were changed or created in the meantime, you can use the md.cf
file to recover your configuration. See “How to Initialize Solaris Volume Manager
from a Configuration File” on page 224.
■ /kernel/drv/md.conf
The md.conf configuration file is read by Solaris Volume Manager at startup. You
can edit two fields in this file: nmd, which sets the number of volumes
(metadevices) that the configuration can support, and md_nsets, which is the
number of disk sets. The default value for nmd is 128, which can be increased to
8192. The default value for md_nsets is 4, which can be increased to 32. The total
number of named disk sets is always one less than the md_nsets value, because
the default (unnamed or local) disk set is included in md_nsets.
Note – Keep the values of nmd and md_nsets as low as possible. Memory
structures exist for all possible devices as determined by nmd and md_nsets, even
if you have not created those devices. For optimal performance, keep nmd and
md_nsets only slightly higher than the number of volumes you will use.
■ /etc/rcS.d/S35svm.init
This file configures and starts Solaris Volume Manager at boot and allows
administrators to start and stop the daemons.
■ /etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync
This file checks the Solaris Volume Manager configuration at boot, starts
resynchronization of mirrors if necessary, and starts the active monitoring daemon.
(For more information, see mdmonitord(1M)).

Manually Configured Files
Overview of the md.tab File

The /etc/lvm/md.tab file contains Solaris Volume Manager configuration
information that can be used to reconstruct your Solaris Volume Manager
configuration. Solaris Volume Manager can use this file as input to the command line
utilities metainit, metadb, and metahs to reconstruct a configuration. Volumes,
disk sets, and hot spare pools might have entries in this file. See “How to Create
Configuration Files” on page 224 for instructions on creating this file (using metastat
-p > /etc/lvm/md.tab).
Note – The configuration information in the /etc/lvm/md.tab file might differ from
the current volumes, hot spares, and state database replicas in use. It is used manually,
by the system administrator, to capture the intended configuration. After you change
your Solaris Volume Manager configuration, re-create this file and preserve a backup
copy.
Once you have created and updated the file, the metainit, metahs, and metadb
commands then activate the volumes, hot spare pools, and state database replicas
defined in the file.
In the /etc/lvm/md.tab file, one complete configuration entry for a single volume
appears on each line using the syntax of the metainit, metadb, and metahs
commands.
You then run the metainit command with either the -a option, to activate all
volumes in the /etc/lvm/md.tab file, or with the volume name that corresponds to
a specific entry in the file.
Note – Solaris Volume Manager does not write to or store configuration information in
the /etc/lvm/md.tab file. You must edit the file by hand and run the metainit,
metahs, or metadb commands to create Solaris Volume Manager components.
For more information, see md.tab(4) man page.
Appendix A • Important Solaris Volume Manager Files 279

APPENDIX B
Solaris Volume Manager Quick

Reference
This appendix provides quick access information about the features and functions
available with Solaris Volume Manager.
Command Line Reference

Listed here are all the commands that you use to administer Solaris Volume Manager.
For more detailed information, see the man pages.
TABLE B–1 Solaris Volume Manager Commands
Solaris Volume Manager Man page

Command Description
growfs Expands a UFS file system in a nondestructive growfs(1M)

fashion.
metaclear Deletes active volumes and hot spare pools. metaclear(1M)
metadb Creates and deletes state database replicas. metadb(1M)
metadetach Detaches a volume from a RAID 1 (mirror) metadetach(1M)

volume, or a logging device from a transactional
volume.
metadevadm Checks device ID configuration. metadevadm(1M)
metahs Manages hot spares and hot spare pools. metahs(1M)
metainit Configures volumes. metainit(1M)
metaoffline Places submirrors offline. metaoffline(1M)
281
TABLE B–1 Solaris Volume Manager Commands (Continued)
Solaris Volume Manager Man page
Command Description
metaonline Places submirrors online. metaonline(1M)
metaparam Modifies volume parameters. metaparam(1M)
metarecover Recovers configuration information for soft metarecover(1M)

partitions.
metarename Renames and exchanges volume names. metarename(1M)
metareplace Replaces components in submirrors and RAID 5 metareplace(1M)

volumes.
metaroot Sets up system files for mirroring root (/). metaroot(1M)
metaset Administers disk sets. metaset(1M)
metastat Displays the status of volumes or hot spare metastat(1M)

pools.
metasync Resynchronizes volumes during reboot. metasync(1M)
metattach Attaches a component to a RAID 0 or RAID 1 metattach(1M)

volume, or a log device to a transactional
volume.

APPENDIX C
Solaris Volume Manager CIM/WBEM

API
Managing Solaris Volume Manager

The Solaris Volume Manager CIM/WBEM Application Programming Interface (API)
provides a public, standards-based programmatic interface to observe and configure
the Solaris Volume Manager. This API is based on the Distributed Management Task
Force (DMTF) Common Information Model (CIM). For more information about DMTF,
see http://www.dmtf.org.
CIM defines the data model, referred to as the “schema“ which describes the
following:
■ attributes of and the operations against SVM devices
■ relationships among the various SVM devices
■ relationships among the SVM devices and other aspects of the operating system,
such as file systems
This model is made available through the Solaris Web Based Enterprise Management
(WBEM) SDK. The WBEM SDK is a set of Java™ technology-based API’s that allow
access to system management capabilities that are represented by CIM.
For more information about the CIM/WBEM SDK, see the Solaris WBEM SDK
Developer’s Guide.
283
Index
A configuration planning
adding hot spares, 156 guidelines, 29
alternate boot device overview, 29
IA, 103 trade-offs, 30
alternate boot path, 98 cron command, 252
B D
boot device disk set, 197
recovering from failure, 261 adding another host to, 209
boot problems, 258 adding disks to, 198
booting into single-user mode, 90 adding drives to, 207
administering, 203
checking status, 211, 216
creating, 207
C definition, 39, 44
concatenated stripe displaying owner, 212
definition, 67 example with two shared disk sets, 201
inability to use with /etc/vfstab file, 198
example with three stripes, 68
increasing the default number, 227
removing, 80
intended usage, 198
concatenated volume, See concatenation
placement of replicas, 198
concatenation
relationship to volumes and hot spare
creating, 76
pools, 198
definition, 66
releasing, 204, 212, 214
example with three slices, 67
reservation behavior, 203
expanding, 79
reservation types, 203
expanding UFS file system, 66
reserving, 203, 213
information for creating, 70 Solstice HA, 198
information for recreating, 70 usage, 197
removing, 80
usage, 66
285
DiskSuite Tool, See graphical interface hot spare (continued)
conceptual overview, 148
enabling, 163
replacing in a hot spare pool, 161
E hot spare pool, 44
enabling a hot spare, 162 administering, 150
enabling a slice in a RAID 5 volume, 143 associating, 157
enabling a slice in a submirror, 107 basic operation, 44
Enhanced Storage, See graphical interface changing association, 158
errors conceptual overview, 147, 149
checking for using a script, 245 creating, 155
/etc/lvm/md.cf file, 277 definition, 39, 44
/etc/lvm/mddb.cf file, 277 example with mirror, 149
/etc/rc2.d/S95lvm.sync file, 278 states, 160
/etc/rcS.d/S35lvm.init file, 278
/etc/vfstab file, 116, 177, 192
recovering from improper entries, 258
I
I/O, 31
interfaces, See Solaris Volume Manager
F interfaces
failover configuration, 44, 197 interlace
file system specifying, 74
expanding by creating a concatenation, 77
expansion overview, 41
growing, 228
guidelines, 45 K
panics, 268 /kernel/drv/md.conf file, 226, 278
unmirroring, 118
fmthard command, 263, 265
format command, 263, 265
fsck command, 193 L
local disk set, 198
lockfs command, 119, 193
log device
G definition, 167
general performance guidelines, 30 problems when sharing, 193
graphical interface recovering from errors, 194
overview, 36 shared, 167, 170
growfs command, 41, 229, 281 sharing, 192
GUI space required, 170
sample, 37 logging device
hard error state, 268
H
hot spare, 148 M
adding to a hot spare pool, 156 majority consensus algorithm, 52

master device mirror (continued)
definition, 167 three-way mirror, 89
md.cf file, 278 two-way mirror, 96
recovering a Solaris Volume Manager mirroring
configuration, 224 availability considerations, 84
md.tab file, 225 file system that can be unmounted, 99
overview, 279 read and write performance, 30
metaclear command, 80, 114, 281 root (/), /usr, and swap, 101
metadb command, 58, 61, 256, 264, 281 unused slices, 95
metadetach command, 105, 114, 281
metadevice, See volume
metahs command, 163, 281
metainit command, 175, 184, 188, 191, 225, 281 N
metaoffline command, 106, 281 newfs command, 194
metaonline command, 282
metaparam command, 110, 156, 158, 282
metarename command, 223, 282
metareplace command, 106, 113, 143, 145, 264, O
282 online backup, 118
metaroot command, 282
metaset command, 207, 212, 282
metastat command, 110, 139, 183, 282
metasync command, 282 P
metattach command, 79, 98, 104, 112, 142, 187, pass number
226, 270, 282 and read-only mirror, 88
mirror, 81 defined, 88
and disk geometries, 89
and online backup, 118
attaching a submirror, 104
changing options, 111 R
definition, 40 RAID
detach vs. offline, 89 levels supported in Solaris Volume
example with two submirrors, 82 Manager, 28
expanding, 112 RAID 0 volume
explanation of error states, 232 definition, 63
guidelines, 85 usage, 64
information for creating, 89 RAID 5 parity calculations, 135
information for replacing and enabling RAID 5 volume
components, 232 and interlace, 134
maintenance vs. last erred, 232 creating, 138
maximum number of submirrors, 84 definition, 28, 40
options, 86 enabling a failed slice, 143
overview of replacing and enabling example with an expanded device, 133
components, 136 example with four slices, 132
overview of replacing and enabling expanding, 142
slices, 230 explanation of error states, 232
resynchronization, 87 information for replacing and enabling
sample status output, 109 components, 232
Index 287
RAID 5 volume (continued) Solaris Volume Manager
initializing slices, 131 See Solaris Volume Manager
maintenance vs. last erred, 232 configuration guidelines, 45
overview of replacing and enabling recovering the configuration, 224
slices, 230 Solaris Volume Manager elements
parity information, 131, 134 overview, 38
replacing a failed slice, 145 Solaris Volume Manager interfaces
resynchronizing slices, 131 command line, 36
random I/O, 31 sample GUI, 37
raw volume, 75, 96, 138 Solaris Management Console, 36
read policies overview, 86 state database
releasing a disk set, 212, 214 conceptual overview, 43, 52
renaming volumes, 221 corrupt, 52
replica, 43 definition, 39, 43
reserving a disk set, 213 recovering from stale replicas, 265
resynchronization state database replicas, 43
full, 87 adding larger replicas, 61
optimized, 88 basic operation, 52
partial, 88 creating additional, 58
root (/) creating multiple on a single slice, 53
mirroring, 100 definition, 43
unmirroring, 116 errors, 56
location, 44, 54
minimum number, 54
recovering from stale replicas, 265
S two-disk configuration, 55
SCSI disk usage, 51
replacing, 255, 257 status, 212
sequential I/O, 32 stripe
shared disk set, 44 creating, 74
simple volume definition, 64
See RAID 0 volume example with three slices, 65
definition, 40 expanding, 79
slices information for creating, 70
adding to a RAID 5 volume, 142
information for recreating, 70
expanding, 78
removing, 80
soft partition
striped volume, See stripe
checking status, 127
striping
creating, 126
definition, 64
deleting, 129
submirror, 82
expanding, 128
attaching, 82
growing, 128
detaching, 82
recovering configuration for, 268
enabling a failed slice, 107
removing, 129
operation while offline, 82
soft partitioning
placing offline and online, 105
definition, 122
replacing a failed slice, 113
guidelines, 122
replacing entire, 114
locations, 122

swap volume (continued)
mirroring, 101 increasing the default number, 226
unmirroring, 118 name switching, 222
system files, 277 naming conventions, 42, 200
renaming, 223
types, 40
uses, 40
T using file system commands on, 40
three-way mirror, 89 virtual disk, 35
transactional volume volume name switching, 43, 222
and /etc/vfstab file, 176
creating for a file system that cannot be
unmounted, 177
creating using metarename, 185, 188 W
creating using mirrors, 177 write policies overview, 86
definition, 40
determining file systems to log, 170
example with mirrors, 167
example with shared log device, 168 X
expanding, 187 x86
guidelines, 169 See IA
recovering from errors, 195, 267
removing using metarename, 189
states, 183
usage, 167
troubleshooting
general guidelines, 254
U
UFS logging
definition, 165
/usr
logging, 177
mirroring, 100
unmirroring, 116
V
/var/adm/messages file, 230, 255
volume
checking status, 183
conceptual overview, 39
default number, 226
definition, 39
expanding disk space, 41
Index 289

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Solaris Volume Manager

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Part No: 806–6111–10

1 Getting Started with Solaris Volume Manager 21

2 Storage Management Concepts 27

3 Solaris Volume Manager Overview 35

4 Configuring and Using Solaris Volume Manager (Scenario) 47

5 State Database (Overview) 51

6 State Database (Tasks) 57

4 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

8 RAID 0 (Stripe and Concatenation) Volumes (Tasks) 73

9 RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Overview) 81

10 RAID 1 (Mirror) Volumes (Tasks) 93

11 Soft Partitions (Overview) 121

6 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

13 RAID 5 Volumes (Overview) 131

14 RAID 5 Volumes (Tasks) 137

15 Hot Spare Pools (Overview) 147

17 Transactional Volumes (Overview) 165

18 Transactional Volumes (Tasks) 173

8 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

19 Disk Sets (Overview) 197

20 Disk Sets (Tasks) 205

22 Best Practices for Solaris Volume Manager 235

23 Monitoring and Error Reporting (Tasks) 239

10 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

24 Troubleshooting Solaris Volume Manager 253

A Important Solaris Volume Manager Files 277

B Solaris Volume Manager Quick Reference 281

C Solaris Volume Manager CIM/WBEM API 283

12 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

TABLE 1–1 Solaris Volume Manager Roadmap—Storage Capacity 22

Who Should Use This Book

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 2 provides an introduction to general storage management concepts for those

Chapter 3 describes Solaris Volume Manager and introduces essential product-related

Chapter 7 describes concepts related to RAID 0 (stripe and concatenation) volumes.

Chapter 9 describes concepts related to RAID 1 (mirror) volumes.

Chapter 10 explains how to perform tasks related to RAID 1 (mirror) volumes.

Chapter 12 explains how to perform soft partitioning tasks.

Chapter 13 describes concepts related to RAID 5 volumes.

Chapter 14 explains how to perform tasks related to RAID 5 volumes.

Chapter 17 describes concepts related to transactional volumes.

Chapter 18 explains how to perform tasks related to transactional volumes.

Chapter 19 describes concepts related to disk sets.

Chapter 20 explains how to perform tasks related to disk sets.

Chapter 24 provides information about troubleshooting and solving common

Appendix A lists important Solaris Volume Manager files.

18 Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide • May 2002

Accessing Sun Documentation Online

TABLE P–1 Typographic Conventions

Typeface or Symbol Meaning Example

AaBbCc123 What you type, contrasted with machine_name% su

AaBbCc123 Command-line placeholder: replace with To delete a file, type rm

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

TABLE P–2 Shell Prompts

C shell prompt machine_name%

C shell superuser prompt machine_name#

Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt $

Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt #