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.
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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:
Result: The Subsystem Management Window is opened in a separate window. |
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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 Logical Drive-to-LUN mappings can be defined using one of the following methods:
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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.
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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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Disable the FlashCopy logical drive. FlashCopy logical drives may be disabled using one of the following methods:
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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 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. |
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Verify that all the filesystems in the array have been unmounted. |
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In the storage management software, re-create the FlashCopy logical drive using one of the following methods:
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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. |
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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
Result: The array is defined and imported into the second host. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Mount the filesystem to its mount points. At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: mount mount-point |
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At the host prompt, type the following, then press Enter: df -k Result: A list of the mounted disks is displayed. |
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Use the FlashCopy logical drive in conjunction with your backup application, for speculative testing, or with another application. |
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Unmount the FlashCopy logical drive. |
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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 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. |
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.
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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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Create FlashCopy Logical Drive Wizard: Additional Instructions
Learn About Creating FlashCopy Logical Drives
Creating a FlashCopy Logical Drive Using the FlashCopy Wizard