Use the following procedure when creating FlashCopy logical drives on a host running Solaris 2.6, 2.7 (Solaris 7), and 2.8 (Solaris 8) using Veritas Logical Drive Manager logical drives. Failure to complete the steps listed may result in an inaccurate point-in-time image of the base logical drive.
For a process overview of the FlashCopy logical drive creation process, refer to Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Process Overview - Unix with Logical Drive Manager Logical Drives.
FlashCopy logical drives may be reused (for frequent or nightly backups) or may be created for one-time usage (for speculative change or upgrade testing). For instructions on how to reuse a disabled FlashCopy logical drive, see Reusing FlashCopy Logical Drives.
Caution: FlashCopy logical drives created on a host running Solaris (where the base logical drive is under Veritas Logical Drive Manager control) may not be mapped to the same host as the base logical drive.
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Important: All I/O activity to the base logical drive should be stopped at this point (or data transfer suspended). This will ensure that an accurate point-in-time image of the base logical drive is captured. |
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Unmount the disk representing the base logical drive. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: umount mount-point where mount-point is the name of the disk being unmounted. |
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Start the storage management software. Result: The Enterprise Management Window is displayed. |
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Launch an Subsystem Management Window, using one of the following methods: Note: If your plex spans across a number of storage subsystems, ensure that the procedure is repeated for each storage subsystem.
Result: The Subsystem Management Window is opened in a separate window. |
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Perform a sync to ensure that all previously unwritten system buffers are flushed out to disk, ensuring that all file modifications up to that point will be saved. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: sync Result: All unwritten system buffers are flushed. |
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Within the Logical View of the Subsystem Management Window, select a standard logical drive and create a FlashCopy logical drive using one of the following methods:
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Assign a logical drive-to-LUN mapping between the FlashCopy logical drive and the host that will access the FlashCopy logical drive. Important: FlashCopy logical drives created on a host running Solaris (where the base logical drive is under Veritas Logical Drive Manager control) may not be mapped to the same host as the base logical drive. Logical Drive-to-LUN mappings can be defined using one of the following methods:
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If supported by the operating system, run the hot_add Once logical drives have been created and logical drive-to-LUN mappings have been defined, the hot_add utility is run to ensure that the operating system is aware of the newly created logical drives, without having to reboot the host. For information on which operating systems support the hot_add utility, refer to the Storage Manager Software Installation Guide. |
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Run the SMdevices Once logical drives have been created and logical drive-to-LUN mappings have been defined, the SMdevices utility is run to ensure that the logical drive name and the operating system device name (assigned by the operating system) correlate. |
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Open Veritas Logical Drive Manager Storage Administrator and scan all the mounted disks. To perform a scan, use one of the following methods:
Result: A scan of all the mounted disks is performed. |
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Import the disk group which will enable access to a disk group for the selected host.
Note: If importing the disk group fails using the above method (or using the Veritas Logical Drive Manager System Administrator main screen), at the host prompt, type the following then press Enter: vxdg -C import disk group where disk group is the name of the disk group to be imported. Result: All import locks are cleared and the disk group is imported. |
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Start the logical drive to make it available for use. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: vxvol start logical drive where logical drive is the name of the FlashCopy logical drive. Result: The defined logical drive changes state from Disabled to Enabled, and is now ready for use. |
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In the Veritas Logical Drive Manager System Administrator, mount the filesystem associated with the disk group. Select the filesystem associated with the disk group, and select the Filesystem >> Mount from the right-mouse pop-up menu. Result: The disk groups associated with the filesystem are mounted. |
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On the host where the FlashCopy logical drive resides, ensure that the filesystem was mounted correctly. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: df-k |
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At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: cd mount-point where mount-point is the directory where the FlashCopy logical drive is mounted. Locate the directory where the FlashCopy logical drive was mounted, and ensure that the FlashCopy logical drives contents match the original contents of the base logical drive. |
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Use the FlashCopy logical drive in conjunction with your backup application (reusing a FlashCopy logical drive) or for speculative change and upgrade testing (one-time usage). |
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Once the FlashCopy logical drive is no longer required, disable or delete the FlashCopy logical drive. If you disable the FlashCopy logical drive instead of deleting it, you can retain the FlashCopy logical drive and its associated FlashCopy repository logical drive. Then, when you need to create a different FlashCopy of the same base logical drive, you can re-create the disabled FlashCopy logical drive. This takes less time than creating a new FlashCopy logical drive, and will stop any reduction in performance that may occur if the FlashCopy logical drive remains available. For more information, see Disabling a FlashCopy Logical Drive and Deleting a Logical Drive. For command reference information on disabling or deleting a FlashCopy logical drive, refer to the Enterprise Management Window online help. |
Typically, once a FlashCopy logical drive has been created, it is disabled until a new point-in-time image of the same base logical drive is required. To create a new point-in-time image of the same base logical drive, complete the following steps.
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Important: All I/O activity to the base logical drive should be stopped at this point (or data transfer suspended). This will ensure that an accurate point-in-time image of the base logical drive is captured. |
1 |
Unmount the disk representing the base logical drive and the disk representing the FlashCopy logical drive. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: umount moint-point where mount-point is the name of the disk being umounted. |
2 |
Perform a sync to ensure that all previously unwritten system buffers are flushed out to disk, ensuring that all file modifications up to that point will be saved. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: sync Result: All unwritten system buffers are flushed. |
3 |
In the storage management software, re-create the FlashCopy logical drive's using one of the following methods: Note: If your plex spans across a number of storage subsystems, ensure that the procedure is repeated for each storage subsystem.
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4 |
In the Veritas Logical Drive Manager System Administrator, mount the filesystem associated with the disk group: Select the filesystem associated with the disk group, and select the Filesystem >> Mount from the right-mouse pop-up menu. Result: The disk groups associated with the filesystem are mounted. |
5 |
On the host where the FlashCopy logical drive resides, ensure that the filesystem was mounted correctly. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: df-k |
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Use the FlashCopy logical drive in conjunction with your backup application (or another application). |
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Once the FlashCopy logical drive is no longer required, disable the FlashCopy logical drive. If you disable the FlashCopy logical drive instead of deleting it, you can retain the FlashCopy logical drive and its associated FlashCopy repository logical drive. Then, when you need to create a different FlashCopy of the same base logical drive, you can re-create the disabled FlashCopy logical drive. This takes less time than creating a new FlashCopy logical drive, and will stop any reduction in performance that may occur if the FlashCopy logical drive remains available. For more information, see Disabling a FlashCopy Logical Drive and Re-creating a FlashCopy Logical Drive. For command reference information on disabling and re-creating a FlashCopy logical drive, refer to the Enterprise Management Window online help. |
Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Additional Instructions
Learn About Creating FlashCopy Logical Drives
Creating a FlashCopy Logical Drive Using the FlashCopy Wizard