Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Additional Instructions for AIX - LVM Logical Logical Drives

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Use the following procedure when creating FlashCopy logical drives on a host running AIX 5.0 (or higher), using LVM logical 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.

How to Create a FlashCopy Logical Drive

1

Start the storage management software.

Result: The Enterprise Management Window is displayed.

2

Launch an Subsystem Management Window using one of the following methods:

  • Select the storage subsystem in either the Device Tree View or the Device Table, then select the Manage Device toolbar button, or the Tools >> Manage Device pull-down menu option.
  • Right-click the storage subsystem in the Device Tree View or Device Table, then select Manage Device from the right-mouse pop-up menu.
  • Double-click on a storage subsystem node in the Device Table.
  • Select the storage subsystem in either the Device Tree View or the Device Table, then press Enter.

Result: The Subsystem Management Window is opened in a separate window.

3

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:

  • Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard, accessed using an Subsystem Management Window. For more information, see Creating a FlashCopy Logical Drive Using the FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard.
  • Create a FlashCopy logical drive using either the Script Editor or a command line shell on the host operating system. Type the following command and press Enter:

    create FlashCopyLogicalDrive

    For command reference information on creating a FlashCopy logical drive, refer to "Using the create Command" in the Enterprise Management Window online help.

4

Assign a logical drive-to-LUN mapping between the FlashCopy logical drive and the host that will access the FlashCopy logical drive.

Logical Drive-to-LUN mappings can be defined using one of the following methods:

  • Storage Partitioning Wizard. The Storage Partitioning Wizard helps you to quickly define a single storage partition. It guides you through the major steps required to specify which host will access a logical drive, and the associated Logical Unit Numbers . For more information, see Using the Storage Partitioning Wizard.
  • Create a FlashCopy logical drive using either the Script Editor or a command line shell on the host operating system. Type the following command and press Enter:

    create mapping logical drive

    For command reference information on creating a logical drive-to-LUN mapping, see "Using the create Command" in the Enterprise Management Window online help.

5

Determine the relationship between the operating systems filesystems and the base logical drive (which the point-in-time image is to be based). Complete the following steps to locate the name and mount point information for the base logical drive.

a

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

lsvg

Result: The available arrays are listed.

b

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

lsvp

Result: A list of all of the physical logical drive recognized by the operating system is displayed.

c

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

lsvg -l logical drive-group

where logical drive-group is the array for which you wish to list logical drives for.

Result: A list of the AIX logical logical drives available in the defined array is displayed. Also displayed, are the mount points of the logical logical drives in the array.

6

Run the SMdevices utility to associate the LUN with a host operating system device, and to ensure that the FlashCopy logical drive is recognized by the host.

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.

7

Disable the FlashCopy logical drive. FlashCopy logical drives may be disabled using one of the following methods:

  • Select the Logical Drive >> FlashCopy >> Disable pull-down menu option in the Subsystem Management Window. For more information, see Disabling a FlashCopy Logical Drive.
  • Create a FlashCopy logical drive using either the Script Editor or a command line shell on the host operating system. Type the following command and press Enter:

    disableFlashCopy logical drive

    For command reference information on disabling a FlashCopy logical drive, see "Using the disableFlashCopy Command" in the Enterprise Management Window online help.

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.

8

Unmount the filesystems to ensure filesystem cache is written to the storage subsystem. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

unmount filesystem-name

Result: The write cache is flushed to the storage subsystem.

9

Verify that all the filesystems in the array have been unmounted.

10

In the storage management software, re-create the FlashCopy logical drive using one of the following methods:

  • Select the Logical Drive >> FlashCopy >> Re-create pull-down menu option in the Subsystem Management Window. For more information see Re-creating a FlashCopy Logical Drive.
  • Create a FlashCopy logical drive using either the Script Editor or a command line shell on the host operating system. Type the following command and press Enter:

    recreateFlashCopy logical drive

    For command reference information on recreating a FlashCopy logical drive, see "Using the recreateFlashCopy Command" in the Enterprise Management Window online help.

11

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

lspv

Result:  A list of all the physical logical drives recognized by the host operating system is displayed.

12

Import the FlashCopy logical drive into the second host, and create a new array.

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

importvg -y logical drivegroupname diskname

  • where logical drivegroupname is the user-defined name to be assigned to the array.
  • where diskname is the disk that represents the FlashCopy logical drive.

Result: The array is defined and imported into the second host.

13

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

lspv

Result:  A list of all the physical logical drives recognized by the host operating system is displayed.

14

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

lsvg -l logical drivegroupname

where logical drivegroupname is the name of the array imported into the second host.

Result: A list of the existing logical logical drives recognized by the host operating system is displayed.

Mount the filesystem to its mount points. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

mount mount-point

At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter:

df -k

Result: A list of the mounted disks is displayed.

12

Use the FlashCopy logical drive in conjunction with your backup application, for speculative testing, or with another application.

13

Unmount the FlashCopy logical drive.

14

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 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 information on disabling or recreating a FlashCopy, see Disabling a FlashCopy Logical Drive and Recreating a FlashCopy Logical Drive. For information on deleting a FlashCopy logical drive, see Deleting a Logical Drive.

For command reference information on disabling, recreating, and deleting a FlashCopy logical drive, refer to the Enterprise Management Window online help.

Reusing FlashCopy Logical Drives

Typically, once a FlashCopy logical drive has been created, it would be 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.

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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Related Topics

Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Additional Instructions

Learn About Creating FlashCopy Logical Drives

Creating a FlashCopy Logical Drive Using the FlashCopy Wizard