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Migrate an IASP in conjunction with Migrate While Active

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Abstract

Details on how to migrate an IASP from one system to another using PowerHA while using IBM i Migrate While Active.

Content

Db2 Mirror
Migrate an IASP in conjunction with Migrate While Active
 

The migration of an independent auxiliary storage pool (IASP) is not supported by IBM i Migrate While Active at this time. This document provides a process to perform IASP migration in conjunction with Migrate While Active. The basic idea is to take an existing node with IASPs configured (source node), use Migrate While Active to perform the migration of SYSBAS to a new node (copy node), and then use PowerHA with geographic mirroring to migrate the IASPs prior to final cutover to the new node.

This process requires PowerHA to be installed on all nodes along with the following PTFs.

 Known Issues IBM i 7.6
Fix Info		 IBM i 7.5
Fix Info		 IBM i 7.4
Fix Info
DT400920 Base MJ02654 MJ02653


NOTE:  A PTF of Base indicates that the recommended fix is available in the base release.

If there is an existing cluster on the node you are migrating, ensure that it is shut down cleanly before the outage that occurs as part of the migration of SYSBAS using Migrate While Active. End any cluster resource groups (CRGs) and vary off any IASPs on the source node. After the outage, clustering can be restarted on the source node.

  1. Vary off each IASP on the source node: 
    VRYCFG CFGOBJ(<iasp-name>) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*OFF)
  2. End each CRG: 
    ENDCRG CRG(<crg-name>)
  3. End clustering on the source node: 
    ENDCLUNOD NODE(<source-node-name>)

Perform the actions described in this document to migrate an IASP. Most of the actions need to occur after the system migration stage of Migrate While Active is complete but before cutover, unless otherwise specified. You want to migrate your IASPs while the SYSBAS data synchronization stage of Migrate While Active is in progress. At that point, both the source and copy nodes involved in the migration are active in the cluster and in the same device domain.

The actions you take to migrate an IASP depend on the type of high availability you are already using. Visit the appropriate subsection within this document for the actions applicable to your environment.

Quick links to individual service categories

Standalone IASP
 

A standalone IASP is one that has not been made highly available.

Follow these steps to use geographic mirroring to migrate an IASP after the system migration stage of Migrate While Active is complete but before cutover.

  1. Create a CRG for the IASP. The source node should be the Primary node in the group, and the copy node should be Backup 1. Make sure you specify site names and IP addresses in the CRTCRG command. 
    CRTCRG CRG(<crg-name>) CRGTYPE(*DEV) 
       RCYDMN((<source-node-name> *PRIMARY *LAST SITE1 ('<source-node-ip>')) 
              (<copy-node-name> *BACKUP *LAST SITE2 ('<copy-node-ip>'))) 
       CFGOBJ((<iasp-name> *DEVD *CURRENT))
  2. Vary off the IASP on the source node: 
    VRYCFG CFGOBJ(<iasp-name>) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*OFF)
  3. Configure geographic mirroring for the IASP. The IASP will be automatically varied on and synchronization will start. 
    CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*CREATE) SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  4. Monitor the synchronization progress. Wait until synchronization is complete before continuing. 
    DSPASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  5. Optional: Before completing the Migrate While Active cutover process, you may want to vary on the IASP on the copy node to verify your applications work as expected on the new node before cutover. After testing is complete, a reattach and resync is required. Wait until synchronization is complete before continuing. 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*DETACH)
CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*REATTACH)
DSPASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  6. When you are ready to cutover to the copy node, detach and then deconfigure geographic mirroring on the copy node. This will convert the two copies of the IASP to independent, standalone copies. 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*DETACH)
CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*DELETE)
  7. Delete the CRG: 
    DLTCRGCLU CRG(<crg-name>)
  8. Complete the Migrate While Active cutover process.

At this point, the IASP will still exist on both the source and copy nodes, but no more replication will occur since geographic mirroring is no longer configured.


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Metro Mirrored or Global Mirrored IASP
 

An IASP made highly available using Metro Mirror or Global Mirror is already in an HA relationship with another node.

Follow these steps to migrate an IASP using geographic mirroring without entirely severing the existing HA configuration. During the migration, the Metro Mirror or Global Mirror replication between storage servers does not need to be stopped, but the PowerHA management of that replication does need to be ended.

First, follow these steps before the outage that occurs on the source node as part of the migration of SYSBAS using Migrate While Active.

  1. Vary off the IASP on the source node.
  2. End the PowerHA Session for the metro or global mirror. You can leave the copy descriptions.
  3. End the CRG that is being used for the current HA configuration.
  4. End clustering on the source node.

Then, follow these steps to use geographic mirroring to migrate the IASP after the system migration stage of Migrate While Active is complete but before cutover.

  1. Create a new CRG for the IASP. The source node should be the Primary node in the group, and the copy node should be Backup 1. Make sure you specify site names and IP addresses in the CRTCRG command. 
    CRTCRG CRG(<crg-name>) CRGTYPE(*DEV) 
       RCYDMN((<source-node-name> *PRIMARY *LAST SITE1 ('<source-node-ip>'))
              (<copy-node-name> *BACKUP *LAST SITE2 ('copy-node-ip>'))) 
       CFGOBJ((<iasp-name> *DEVD *CURRENT))
  2. Vary off the IASP on the source node. 
    VRYCFG CFGOBJ(<iasp-name>) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*OFF)
  3. Configure geographic mirroring for the IASP. The IASP will be automatically varied on and synchronization will start. Changes will continue to replicate from the source node to the HA node as long as the replication between storage servers is not stopped. 
    CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*CREATE) SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  4. Monitor the synchronization progress. Wait until synchronization is complete before continuing. 
    DSPASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  5. Optional: Before completing the Migrate While Active cutover process, you may want to vary on the IASP on the copy node to verify your applications work as expected on the new node before cutover. After testing is complete, a reattach and resync is required. Wait until synchronization is complete before continuing. 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*DETACH)
CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*REATTACH)
DSPASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  6. When you are ready to cutover to the copy node, detach and then deconfigure geographic mirroring on the copy node. This will convert the two copies of the IASP to independent, standalone copies. 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*DETACH)
CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*DELETE)
  7. Delete the CRG: 
    DLTCRGCLU CRG(<crg-name>)
  8. Optional: Restart the CRG for the Metro Mirror / Global Mirror configuration between the source and HA nodes.
  9. Complete the Migrate While Active cutover process.

At this point, the IASP will still exist on both the source and copy nodes, but no replication between these two nodes will occur because geographic mirroring is no longer configured. However, the replication between the source and HA node is active. You should set up replication from the copy node to HA node now instead.


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Multi-target Geographic Mirrored IASP
 

An IASP made highly available using geographic mirroring is already in an HA relationship with another node. Starting in IBM i 7.5, you can take advantage of multi-target geographic mirroring, which allows the IASP to be replicated to both the HA node and the copy node at the same time.

If the HA node is IBM i 7.4, then use the instructions described in the IBM i 7.4 Geographic Mirrored IASP section. Otherwise, follow the steps listed below to use multi-target geographic mirroring to migrate an IASP after the system migration stage of Migrate While Active is complete but before cutover.

  1. Add the copy node to the CRG. It should be in the same site as the source node. 
    ADDCRGNODE CRG(<crg-name>)
           RCYDMN(<copy-node-name> *BACKUP *LAST <source-node-site> ('<copy-node-ip>'))
  2. Vary off the IASP on the source node. 
    VRYCFG CFGOBJ(<iasp-name>) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*OFF)
  3. Configure geographic mirroring on the copy node for the IASP. The IASP will be automatically varied on and synchronization will start. 
    CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*CREATE) SSN(GEOMIRSSN) 
          TGTNODE(<copy-node-name>)
  4. Monitor the synchronization progress. Wait until synchronization is complete before continuing. 
    DSPASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  5. Optional: Before completing the Migrate While Active cutover process, you may want to vary on the IASP on the copy node to verify your applications work as expected on the new node before cutover. After testing is complete, a reattach and resync is required. Wait until synchronization is complete before continuing. 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*DETACH) TGTNODE(<copy-node-name>)
CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*REATTACH) TGTNODE(<copy-node-name>)
DSPASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN)
  6. When you are ready to cutover to the copy node, detach and then deconfigure geographic mirroring on the copy node. This will convert the two copies of the IASP to independent, standalone copies. 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(GEOMIRSSN) ACTION(*DETACH) TGTNODE(<copy-node-name>)
CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*DELETE) TGTNODE(<copy-node-name>)
  7. Remove the copy node from the CRG: 
    RMVCRGNODE CRG(<crg-name>) NODE(<copy-node-name>)
  8. Complete the Migrate While Active cutover process.

At this point, the IASP will still exist on both the source and copy nodes, but no replication between these two nodes will occur because geographic mirroring is no longer configured. However, the replication between the source and HA node is active. You should set up replication from the copy node to HA node now instead.


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IBM i 7.4 Geographic Mirrored IASP
 

An IASP made highly available using geographic mirroring is already in an HA relationship with another node. Due to the restrictions of geographic mirroring in IBM i 7.4, the existing geographic mirroring configuration must be removed before using geographic mirroring for migration.

First, perform the following tasks to deconfigure the existing geographic mirroring relationship before the outage that occurs as part of the migration of SYSBAS using Migrate While Active.

  1. Ensure that geographic mirroring is currently Active: 
    DSPASPSSN SSN(<session-name>)
  2. If geographic mirroring was suspended, resume it and wait for it to go Active: 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(<session-name>) OPTION(*RESUME)
DSPASPSSN SSN(<session-name>)
  3. Vary off the IASP on the source node: 
    VRYCFG CFGOBJ(<iasp-name>) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*OFF)
  4. Detach the existing mirror copy: 
    CHGASPSSN SSN(<session-name>) OPTION(*DETACH)
  5. End the CRG used for the current HA configuration: 
    ENDCRG CRG(<crg-name>)
  6. Deconfigure geographic mirroring. A copy of the IASP will remain on both the source node and the HA node as independent, standalone copies. 
    CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*DELETE)
  7. Delete the CRG. If you plan to reconfigure geographic mirroring between these nodes again after migration, use the DSPCRGINF command to save the current CRG parameters so you can later recreate it. 
    DSPCRGINF CRG(<crg-name>) OUTPUT(*PRINT)
DLTCRGCLU CRG(<crg-name>)
  8. End clustering on the source node: 
    ENDCLUNOD NODE(<source-node-name>)

Next, use the instructions described in the Standalone IASP section to configure geographic mirroring to migrate the IASP from the source node to the copy node.

After the IASP is migrated to the copy node, you may choose to configure geographic mirroring between the copy node and HA node, or you can choose to leave them as independent copies.

To configure geographic mirroring between the copy node and HA node, perform the following tasks.

  1. Delete the IASP copy on the HA node: 
    CFGDEVASP ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*DELETE)
  2. Create the CRG. You can refer to the spool file results from the DSPCRGINF command issued in step 7 (above) to identify the original parameters. 
    CRTCRG CRG(<crg-name>) CRGTYPE(*DEV) 
       RCYDMN((<copy-node-name> *PRIMARY *LAST <copy-node-site> ('<copy-node-ip>')) 
              (<ha-node-name> *BACKUP *LAST <ha-node-site> ('<ha-node-ip>')) 
       CFGOBJ((<iasp-name> *DEVD *CURRENT))
  3. Configure geographic mirroring to the HA node. The IASP will be automatically varied on and synchronization will start. 
    CFGGEOMIR ASPDEV(<iasp-name>) ACTION(*CREATE)


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Document Information

Modified date:
30 June 2025

UID

ibm17177936

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