Export and import of file systems based on ECE recovery groups

IBM Storage Scale Erasure Code Edition offers support for exporting and importing file systems based on vdisks within recovery groups. This feature can be used to move one or more file systems from one cluster to another, or to temporarily remove file systems from a cluster and restore them later.

The mmexportfs and mmimportfs commands can be used to perform the following migration process:

Export the current file system and recovery group configuration by using the mmexportfs command.
Physically move all disk drives associated with a recovery group from the old servers within the previous cluster to the new servers in the new cluster.
Use the mmimportfs command to import the file system and recovery group configuration into the new cluster.

Note: SED-enabled recovery groups do not support export and import of file systems.

Important considerations

Before initiating the file system export or import process, ensure that both the file system and its associated recovery groups are in a healthy state.
Verify that there are no ongoing rebuild or rebalancing operations, and confirm that all physical disks (pdisks) are in good state. Import process might not succeed if missing or damaged disks are detected in the new cluster.
Before migrating the disk drives to the destination cluster, ensure that the servers in the destination cluster have the capability to manage the disk drives correctly. It is recommended to test the same type of drives on the new cluster servers to ensure compatibility and functionality.
The destination cluster must maintain the same number of servers designated for the recovery groups as in the original configuration.
Destination cluster must not have file systems or recovery groups with the same name as in the original one.
Before migrating the disk drives, the system must be prepared with a mapping drives configuration file. For more information, see Setting up IBM Storage Scale Erasure Code Edition for disk slot location.