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Mirroring rootvg for PowerVM Virtual I/O Server

Troubleshooting


Problem

This document describes how to mirror rootvg for PowerVM Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) using mirrorios command.
This applies to VIOS 3.1.

Cause

Rootvg is not mirrored and needs to create mirror copy on a second disk for disk or adapter redundancy.

Environment

VIOS 3.1

Diagnosing The Problem

To check whether VIOS is mirrored, login as padmin, and run:

$ lsvg -lv rootvg               If # of LPs = # of PPs, then rootvg is not mirrored as in the example below.

Resolving The Problem

To mirror rootvg use mirrorios command.
In the following example, hdisk0 is the only physical volume in rootvg and hdisk1 will be added to the volume to be used as the target disk.

To list current physical volumes in rootvg:
$ lsvg -pv rootvg



To list free physical volumes, use lspv command:
$ lspv -free

Note 1: To free up hdisk used by old_rootvg post-viosupgrade, use alt_rootvg_op command.  For details, refer to Why can't i perform viosupgrade on my alternate disk ?

To add hdisk1 to rootvg:
$ extendvg rootvg hdisk1



Note 2:  If rootvg is being remirrored after replacing a bad disk and the Virtual Media Repository, /var/vio/VMLibrary, had to be removed, it can be re-created at this point.

To mirror rootvg:
$ mirrorios <target_hdisk#>

To confirm mirroring:
$ lsvg -lv rootvg                    Notice # of PPs is double the # of LPs



Note 3:  By default, the dump device, lg_dumplv, is the only logical volume that is not mirrored.

Note 4:  By default, mirrorios command automatically updates the bootlist to include the new mirrored disk (hdisk1 in this case). To verify, use bootlist command:
$ bootlist -mode normal -ls



To modify the bootlist, to remove the network adapter, ent0, and leave the mirrored disks, run:
$ bootlist -mode normal hdisk0 hdisk1

To unmirror rootvg use unmirrorios command.
$ unmirrorios hdisk#             Removes the mirror copy from the specified hdisk#

[{"Type":"MASTER","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB57","label":"Power"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SSPHKW","label":"PowerVM Virtual I\/O Server"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z0000001i2sAAA","label":"PowerVM VIOS-\u003ELVM"}],"ARM Case Number":"","Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"3.1.1;3.1.2;3.1.3"}]

Document Information

Modified date:
06 July 2022

UID

isg3T1010980