Repairing storage pools in an environment with both a replication server and container-copy storage pool volumes

If files, directories, or storage pools on a source server are damaged, you can repair data extents in a directory-container storage pool on the source replication server by retrieving the deduplicated data extents from either the target replication server or from container-copy storage pool tape volumes.

Before you begin

Complete the following steps:
  1. Evaluate your storage environment to determine whether outages, network issues, or hardware failures are causing damage to data or causing the data to appear damaged. If issues in your environment are causing damage to data, identify and resolve the issues.
  2. Ensure that enough space is available in the directory-container storage pool for the recovered data. The PREVIEW=YES parameter in the REPAIR STGPOOL command specifies how much data will be repaired. If the space is insufficient, use the DEFINE STGPOOLDIRECTORY command to provision space.
  3. Back up the IBM Spectrum® Protect server database by using one of the following methods:
    • On the Operations Center Overviews page, click Servers, select a server, and click Back Up.
    • Issue the administrative command, BACKUP DB.
  4. Review the latest information about repairing and recovering data in technote 2013682.
  5. To plan the next steps, review the following restrictions about using the AUDIT CONTAINER command.
    Attention:
    • If you issue the AUDIT CONTAINER command with the ACTION=MARKDAMAGED setting for an entire storage pool, referenced data is unavailable for restore operations until the storage pool is repaired. Depending on the database size, network bandwidth, media speed, and other factors, the REPAIR STGPOOL command might run for hours or days. For this reason, if some of the data in the storage pool is available, or the status of data in the storage pool is unknown, follow these guidelines:
      1. Consider running the AUDIT CONTAINER command with the ACTION=SCANALL setting first. The ACTION=SCANALL setting identifies database records that refer to data extents with inconsistencies. Only those data extents are marked as damaged in the database.
      2. After the extents are marked as damaged, you can run the REPAIR STGPOOL command.
    • If you plan to run the AUDIT CONTAINER command with the ACTION=REMOVEDAMAGED setting, follow these guidelines:
      1. Considering running the QUERY DAMAGED command first to determine the scope of damaged data extents in the storage pool.
      2. After that, you can run the REPAIR STGPOOL command to repair damaged extents in the storage pool.
      3. Finally, you can run the AUDIT CONTAINER command with the ACTION=REMOVEDAMAGED setting to remove any damaged data extents that remain in the storage pool.

About this task

Use the procedure to repair the following types of damage:
  • Minor damage that is caused by accidental deletion of files or directories, overwritten files, accidental changes in file permissions, or disk errors caused by hardware issues.
  • Moderate damage that is caused by disk errors or disk mount errors. This type of damage results in the loss of one or more directories, but not a loss of the entire storage pool.
Damaged deduplicated extents are repaired with extents that were protected to the target replication server or to container-copy storage pools on a source server.
Restriction: You can issue the REPAIR STGPOOL command for a specified storage pool only if you already copied the data to another storage pool on a target replication server or to container-copy storage pools by using the PROTECT STGPOOL command.
When you repair a directory-container storage pool from a target replication server, the REPAIR STGPOOL command fails if any of the following conditions occur:
  • The target replication server is unavailable.
  • The target storage pool is damaged.
  • A network outage occurs.
When you repair a directory-container storage pool from container-copy pools, the REPAIR STGPOOL command fails if any of the following conditions occur:
  • The container-copy storage pool is unavailable.
  • The container-copy storage pool is damaged.
  • The container-copy storage pool volumes are unavailable or damaged.

Procedure

  1. Attempt to repair the storage pool from the target replication server by completing the steps in Repairing storage pools from a target replication server.
  2. If the damaged extents cannot be repaired from the target replication server, repair the damaged extents from container-copy storage pools by completing the steps in Repairing storage pools from container-copy storage pool volumes.
  3. If you repaired damaged extents from container-copy storage pools, issue the PROTECT STGPOOL command and specify the TYPE=REPLSERVER parameter for the storage pools on the source replication server.

What to do next

If you continue to detect damaged data over time, issue the AUDIT CONTAINER command for the directory-container storage pool to determine whether there is more widespread damage. For example, to audit a storage pool that is named STGPOOL1, issue the following command:
audit container stgpool=stgpool1