Veritas Volume Manager

VM daemons

vxconfigd	Maintains system configuration in the kernel & disk (private region). If the daemon is stopped it does not disable any configuration state loaded into the kernel, it only affects the ability to make configuration changes until vxconfigd is restarted. It can be in three states: Enable = Normal mode Disable = Most operations cannot be be used Booted = Normal startup while using boot disk group
vxrelocd	Monitors for failure events and relocates failed subdisks
vxconfigbackupd	Used to backup configuration chnages, the files created can be used with vxmake to restored lost groups.
vxnotify	Display veritas volume manager events used with the vxconfigd daemon
vxcached
vxattachd
Kernel Info
Kernel States	The kernel can be in three states: Enabled - both private and public regions are accessible Disabled - no private or public regions are accessible Detached - only private regions are accessible

VM utilities

VxVM debug	vxconfigd -k -m enable -x <debug option> -x log                                log to /var/vxvm/vxconfigd.log -x logfile = <name>              log to filename -x syslog                            log to syslog -x timestamp                      date and timestamp every entry -x tracefile=name                log all possible tracing to file
vxiod	The vxiod utility starts, stops, or reports on VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM) I/O daemons. An I/O daemon provides a process context for performing I/O in VxVM.Manage extended disk i/o & handles dirty regions, logging vxiod set <number> = set number of runnning viod daemon Note: when run on its own it displays # of vxiod daemons that are running.
vxdctl [option]	The vxdctl utility manages aspects of the state of the volume configuration daemon vxconfigd and also manages aspects of configuration for bootstrapping the rootdg disk group. mode = what mode the vxconfigd is running in enable = enable the vxconfigd daemon (reread the db) disable = disable the vxconfigd daemon stop = kill the vxconfigd daemon  (Use 'vxconfigd -k -m enable' to start again) license [init] = print out license info or reread licenses support = display version and components list = display entries in /etc/vx/volboot init [dmp] = recreate /etc/vx/volboot Note: when in disabled or stopped mode no VX commands will be able to run
vxinstall	Install volume manger (use /etc/vx/disk to exclude any disks or controllers)

Disk Regions

Private	This is were veritas holds the meta data regarding the disk. A copy of the configuration database is copied to each private region within the disk group. Veritas will try and keep 5 copies of the configuration database. Normally configured as slice 3 Once the private region is created it cannot be changed, thus if it fills up then you have to reinitize the disk with a new private region length, see disks -> initialize disk
Public	This is the area that will store the users data. Normally configured as slice 4.
Disk Layouts
Sliced Disk layout	private and public region slices are on separate partitions (3 & 4), this type of disk is not suitable for moving between different O/S's but are suitable for boot partitions Can be converted to CDS	format=sliced
CDS (Cross-platform Data Sharing)	private and public regions are one slice (slice 7) , this type is suitable for moving between different O/S's but not suitable for boot partitions.	format=cdsdisk
Simple	Private and public are the same partition but continuous (slice 3) Can be converted to CDS	format=simple
None	No partitioning	n/a

VxVM Configuration Database

DB size	vxdg list <group> | grep permlen - the size of the configuration db
DB location	vxdisk list <disk> | grep -i configs - db location

File Locations

vxinstall has not be run	/etc/vx/reconfig.d/state.d/install-db
Host ID's	/etc/vx/volboot
backup config files (vxconfigbackupd)	/etc/vx/cbr/bk Note: you must have at least run vxconfigbackup once, otherwise the directory does not exist or you have specified another location.
delete or deported disk group config files	/etc/vx/dgcfg/deport
All commands logs	/var/adm/vx/cmdlog /var/adm/vx/veacmdlog
Licenses	/etc/vx/licenses/lic
Imported disk groups info	/var/vxvm/tempdb Note: to clear the tempdb file: vxconfigd -k -x cleartempdir - clear the /var/vxvm/tempdb
vxconfigd log file	/var/adm/vx/vxconfigd.log

Backup & Restore

Backup	/usr/lib/vxvm/bin/vxconfigbackup -l /var/vxvm/backups -l = location where to store backup
Restore (precommit/commit)	vxconfigrestore -p <group> # either one of the below after the precommit vxconfigrestore -d <group> vxconfigrestore -c <group> Note: -p = when you want to check that the restore is correct (use vxprint to check) -d = abort the precommit -c = commit the precommit

Disks

Initialize disk	## increase the private region size default 1024 vxdisksetup -i c2t0d0 privlen= 2048 ## change the default of a disk vxdisksetup -i <device> format=sliced   - initialized a disk as a sliced disk Note: format can be either sliced, simple, cdsdisk or none (see above - Disk Regions)
Uninitialize disk	vxdiskunsetup -C c2t0d0
Disk Information	vxdisk -g <group> list <disk> vxdisk -s list
Resize a LUN	vxdisk -g <group> resize <disk> length=8G
Add a disk slice to volboot	vxdctl add disk <device> type=simple
Add a disk slice	vxdisk –f <device> type=simple
Add a disk	vxdiskadd c1t0d0 or c1 (all disk on controller) vxdisksetup -i <device>
Remove a disk totally from VM	vxdisk rm <device>
Remove a disk from a volume	vxdg -g <group> rmdisk <diskname>
Remove a disk slice from VM	vxdctl rm disk <device>
Clear any host ID flags	vxdisk clearimport <disk name>
Renaming a disk	vxedit -g <disk> rename <old disk name> <new disk name>
Move disk to different disk group	vxdg move <source dg> <target dg> <disk>
Offline a disk	vxdisk offline <dev name> Note: disk must not be in a disk group
Online a disk	vxdisk online <dev name> Note: disk must have a private region otherwise you need to initialise the disk
Hot spare	vxedit –g <group> set spare=on <disk>
NoHotUse	vxedit –g <group> set nohotuse=on <disk>
Turn off failing flag	vxedit -g <group> set failing=off <disk>
Encapsulate a disk	vxdisk define c0t0d0s0 type=nopriv
Reattach disk (SAN)	vxreattach [-br | -c <device>] -b = Background process -r = Recover volumes -c = Checks to see if reattach is possible
Discover new disks	vxdisk scandisks [new | fabric ]
Disk Comment	vxedit -g <group> set comment="......." <disk>
Private region problem	## Here i am fixing a "online altused" issue but search the web for different issues as there are a number of ways to the same thing, just remember the vxprivutil command ## obtain the disks private region tag 15 prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c2t0d0s2 ## dd the content sto a file dd if=/dev/rdsk/c2t0d0s3 of=/tmp/c2t0d0s3_privreg ## run the below script fix_script ## if now errors reported above and in the file, then dd back to disk dd if=/tmp/c2t0d0s3_privreg.good of=/dev/rdsk/c2t0d0s3 ## repeat for any other bad disks

Disk Group

Create a disk group	vxdg init group <disk>=<device> vxdg init <group> <disk>=<device> cds=off    - initialize a non-cds disk group
Remove a group	vxdg destroy <group>
Add a disk to a group	vxdg –g <group> adddisk <disk>=<device>
Remove a disk from a group	vxdg –g <group> rmdisk <disk>
Replace failed disk	vxdg -k -g <group> adddisk <disk>=<device> -k = forces vxvm to take media name of the failed disk & assign it to the new disk
Import a group	vxdg import <group> vxdg -n <new-group-name> import <old-group-name> vxdg -C import <group>
Import group (clear any flags)	vxdg import -C <group> -C - clears any exist host flags
Deport a group	vxdg deport <group> vxdg -n <new-group-name> deport <old_group_name>
List no hot use on disk	vxdg –g <group> nohotuse <disk>
List spare space on disk	vxdg –g <group> spare <disk>
Display free space	vxdg –g <group> free
Backup disk group (vxvm 4.0)	vxconfigbackup
Restore disk group (vxvm 4.0)	vxconfigrestore [-p|-d|-c]
Diskgroup Version	vxdg list <group> | grep -i version
Upgrade disk version	vxdg upgrade <group>                       - upgrade to current version vxdg -T 50 upgrade <group>                 - upgrade to version 50 vxdg -T 50 init <group> <disk>=<device>    - creater new group @ version 50
Boot/Default DG	vxdg bootdg vxdg defaultdg vxdctl defaultdg <group> - set defaultdg

Volume

Adding mirror to root	/etc/vx/bin/vxrootmir <alternate> create rootvol, swap vol,
Create a simple volume	vxassist make <volume> <size> <disk> vxassist -g <group> make <vol> <size> !ctrl:c2     - don't use controller 2 vxassist make <volume> <size> <disk> layout=[stripe-mirror|concat-mirror|mirror-concat|mirror-stripe] stripe-mirror = layered volume concat-mirror = layered volume mirror-concat = non-layered volume mirror-stripe = non-layered volume
Mirror a simple volume	vxassist mirror <volume> >disk> vxassist -g <group> remove mirror <vol> !disk01    - remove the disk01 mirror
Create a stripped volume	vxassist make <volume> <size> layout=stripe vxassist -g <group> -o ordered make <vol> <size> layout=stripe ncol=3 <disk1> <disk2> <disk3>
Create mirrored volume with log	vxassist make <volume> <size> layout=mirror, log nmirror=# nlog=#
Create a raid volume	vxassist make <volume> <size> layout=raid5
Create a raw volume	vxassist -U <usage_type> make <volume> <size> alloc='<disk>' types: fsgen - filesystems gen - raw volumes raid - supports raid5 root - suuports root filesystems for booting swap - performs no recovery on startup relayout - used temporary for disk relayout operations
Remove a volume	vxedit –rf rm <volume> vxassist -g <group> remove volume <vol> Note: you must disable the volume first
Initializing a volume	vxvol init state <volume> [plex]state=clean,enable,active
Online Relayout	vxassist -g <group> relayout <vol> layout=stripe ncol=2 vxassist -g <group> relayout <vol> layout=stripe ncol=+1 vxassist -g <group> relayout <vol> layout=stripe ncol=-1 vxassist -g <group> relayout <vol> layout=stripe stripe=32k ncol=5 vxassist -g <group> relayout <vol> layout=raid5 stripeunit=32k ncol3 vxassist -g <group> convert <vol> layout=stripe-mirror # Display the relayout operation vxrelayout -g <group> [status|reverse|start] <vol> vxtask list
Remove a volume off a particular disk	## either make sure there is a another disk in the group, you can even specify it vxassist -g <group> move <vol> \!<disk> [<disk>]
Rename a volume	vxedit -g <group> <old_vol_name> <new_vol_name>
Starting a volume	vxvol start <volume>
Start a disabled volume	vxrecover –sb <volume> -s = start volume after recovery -b = background the recovery task
Disable a volume	vxvol -g <group> stop <volume>
Evacuate a volume	vxevac -g <group> <from-disk> <to-disk>
Maintenance mode	vxvol maint <volume>
Not clean	vxmend mirror clean <plex>
No kernel state	vxplex att <vol_name> <plex>
Extending a volume size	vxresize <volume> <new length> vxresize -g <group> <volume> +100m       - increase the volume by 100Mb
Shrinking a volume size	vxresize <volume> <new length> vxresize -g <group> <volume> -100m       - decrease the volume by 100Mb
add a DRL log to a volume	vxassist addlog <volume>
remove a DRL log from a volume	vxassist remove log <volume>
Extending log size	vxvol set loglen = 2m <volume/log>
Detering volume size	vxassit -g <group> maxsize layout=mirror - the maximum size you can create a mirror vxassist -g <group> maxgrow <volume>     - the maximum size the volume can grow too
Recover a volume	Vxmend fix clean <plex>
Change volumes permissions	vxedit -g <group> set owner=<user> group=<group> mode=<perms> <vol> # to display the permissions ls -l /dev/vx/rdsk/<group>

Plexs

Creating a plex	vxmake plex <plex> sd =<sub disk name>
Remove a plex	vxplex –o rm dis <plex> vxplex -g <group> dis <plex> vxedit -g <group> -rf rm <plex>
Moving a plex	vxplex mv <original plex> <new plex>
Copying a plex	vxplex cp <volume> <new plex>
Attaching a plex	vxplex att <volume> <plex>
Detaching a plex	vxplex det <plex>
Offlining a plex	vxmend off vol01-02

Sub-disks

Creating sub-disk	vxmake sd <sub-disk> <disk>, offset, len
Removing sub-disk	vxedit rm <sub-disk>
Moving sub-disk	vxsd mv <old sub-disk> <new sub-disk>
Associating with a plex	vxmake plex <plex> sd=<sub-disk>, … i.e vxmake plex home-1 sd= disk02-01, disk02-00, disk02-02
Dissociating	vxsd dis <sub-disk>
Splitting	vxsd –s<size> split sd<new sub><newsub2>
Joining	vxsd join <sub-disk1><subdisk2><new subdisk>
relocating a sub disk	## either make sure there is a another disk in the group, you can even specify it vxassist -g <group> move <vol> \!<disk> [<disk>]
relocating a whole disk sub disks	vxprint -g rootdg -se 'sd_orig_dmname="disk02"' vxunreloc -g rootdg disk02

Volume Manager Information 

Disks
Display all the physical disks	vxdisk list vxdisk -o alldgs list
Display detailed disk info	vxdisk list <disk>
Check for disk failures	vxstat –g <group>–ff –d
Disk Group
Display group properties	vxdg list
Display detailed group info	vxdg list <group>
	vxinfo -p -g <group>
Volume
Display volume info	vxprint –Aht <vol>
Display volume properties	vxprint –vl
Display unstartable volume	vxinfo -g <group> <vol>
Check for volume failures	vxstat –g <group>–ff -v
Plex
Display plex properties	vxprint –vp
Check for plex failures	vxstat –g <group>–ff -p
Sub-Disks
Display sub-disk properties	vxprint –st
Veritas Tasks
Display tasks	vxtask list vxtask monitor   - continuously monitor States: r = running p = pause a = aborting
Statistics and Tracing
Iostats	vxstat -g <group> -r –d <disks>       - reset all stats on disk vxstat -g <group> -d                  - display stats vxstat -g <group> -i 1 -d <vol>       - display stats every 1 sec intervals for volume vxstat -g <group> -i 10 -c 5 -d       - display 5 sets @ 10 secs intervals
Tracing	vxtrace -d <filename> -o dev,disk <vol> vxtrace -f <filename> -o dev,disk <vol> | more

Licensing

Add	vxlicinst               - versions greater than 3.5 vxlicense -c            - versions below 3.5
View	vxlicrep                - versions greater than 3.5 vxlicense -p            - versions below 3.5
Paths	/etc/vx/licenses/lic    - versions greater than 3.5 /etc/vx/elm             - versions below 3.5
Reload new license	vxdctl license init

VEA

Start/Stop	/etc/init.d/isisd [start|stop|restart]
Status	vxsvcctrl status vxsvc [-m|-k|-v] -m = status -k = kill -v = version
Daemons	/opt/VRTSob/bin/vxsvc /opt/VRTSob/bin/vxsvcctrl
Start VEA GUI	/opt/VRTSob/bin/vea You must have X-windows running

Logging
Logging help in recovery and can speed it up dramatically, the main form of logging in veritas is the DRL (dirty region log) which performs the following

• log keeps track of changed regions
• if system fails only the changed regions of the volume are recovered

Add	vxassist -g <group> addlog <vol> logtype=drl vxassist -g <group> addlog <vol>                       - used for raid logs (no type)
Remove	vxassist -g <group> remove log <vol> [nlog=n] <vol>

Volume Read Policy
Policies can be used if you have slower disks within a volume and you wish to use the faster disks.

Round Robin	vxvol -g <group> rdpol round <vol>
Preffered Plex	vxvol -g <group> rdpol prefer <vol> <plex>
Selected Plex	vxvol -g <group> rdpol select <vol>

Storage Expert (vxse)
Veritas have created some scripots that can check the integrity of the vxvm setup i.e mirrored volumes, spares, etc. The scripts are based on rules and there are a number of differents rules veritas has set, look in the rules directory to see all of them.

Display Description	vxse_raid5log1 info
Check rules	vxse_raid5log1 -g <group> check
List spare rules	vxse_spares list
Run spare run	vxse_spares run Note: you need to run "/etc/init.d/isisd start" to start the necessary daemons first
VXSE Paths
Rules	/opt/VRTS/vxse/vxvm
Default Parameters	/etc/default/vxse

VxDMP
see VxDMP for more information
Veritas links

Recovery features

http://prefetch.net/articles/veritasrecoveryfeatures.html

Courtesy by http://www.datadisk.co.uk