Configuration files

/etc/lvm/md.tab
1. The file is empty by default. The file is only used when metainit command is issued by the
administrator. It is configured manually.
2. It can be populated by appending the output of # metastat -p. For example #metastat -p
>> /etc/lvm/md.tab.
3. It can be used to recreate all the metadevices in one go. Best used in recovery of SVM
configurations.
For example
# metainit -a

(to create all metadevices mentioned in md.tab file)

# metainit dxx

(create metadevice dxx only)

4. DO NOT use it on root file system though.

/etc/lvm/mddb.cf
SVM uses the configuration files /etc/lvm/mddb.cf to store the location of state database
replicas. Do not edit this file manually.

/etc/lvm/md.cf
The configuration file /etc/lvm/md.cf contains the automatically generated configuration
information for the default (unspecified or local) disk set.
This file can also be used to recover the SVM configuration If your system loses the
information maintained in the state database.
Again do not edit this file manually.
/kernel/drv/md.conf
The configuration file md.conf contains fields like nmd (i.e. number of volumes
(metadevices) that the configuration supports) etc. The file can be edited to change the default
values for various such parameters.
/etc/rcS.d/S35svm.init
The RC script configures and starts SVM at boot and can be used to start/stop the daemons.
/etc/rc2.d/S95svm.sync
The RC script checks the SVM configuration at boot, start sync of mirrors if necessary and
start the active monitoring daemon (mdmonitord).

Metadb related command

Metadb command syntax :
# metadb -help
usage: metadb [-s setname] -a [options] mddbnnn
metadb [-s setname] -a [options] device ...
metadb [-s setname] -d [options] mddbnnn
metadb [-s setname] -d [options] device ...
metadb [-s setname] -i
metadb -p [options] [ mddb.cf-file ]
options:
-c count number of replicas (for use with -a only)
-f force adding or deleting of replicas
-k filename alternate /etc/system file
-l length specify size of replica (for use with -a only)
To create 3 replicas on c0t0d0s7 (-f required only if you are creating metadb for the first
time on the slice):
# metadb -a -f -c 3 c0t0d0s7
To create 2 more replicas on the same disk slice :
# metadb -a -c 2 c0t1d0s7
To delete the replicas :
# metadb -d c0t1d0s7/
To delete the last replica (all SVM configuration wii be gone) :
# metadb -d -f c0t0d0s7
To check the status of meta database replicas :
# metadb -i
flags

first blk

block count

a m pc luo
a

pc luo

W pc l

16
16

8192
8192

unknown

/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s7

8192

/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s7

Check for the W flag or unknown first block for the 3rd replica. W or unknown indicates a
failed replica.

Creating different layouts

RAID 0(stripe and concatenation)
1. Creating a concatenation from slice S2 of 3 disks :
# metainit d1 3 1 c0t1d0s2 1 c1t1d0s2 1 c2t1d0s2
d1 - the metadevice
3 - the number of components to concatenate together
1 - the number of devices for each component.
2. Creating a stripe from slice S2 of 3 disks :
# metainit d2 1 3 c0t1d0s2 c1t1d0s2 c2t1d0s2 -i 16k
d2

- the metadevice

- the number of components to concatenate

- the number of devices in each stripe.

-i 16k - the stripe segment size.

3. Creating three, 2 disk concatenation and stripe them together :
# metainit d3 3 2 c0t1d0s2 c1t1d0s2 -i 16k 2 c3t1d0s2 c4t1d0s2 -i 16k 2 c6t1d0s2 c7t1d0s2
-i 16k
d3

- the meatadevice

- the number of stripes

- the number of disk (slices) in each stripe

-i 16k - the stripe segment size.

RAID 1 or Mirroring
In SVM mirroring is a 2 step procedure create the 2 sub-mirrors (d11 and d12) first and
associate them with the mirror (d10).
# metainit -f d11 1 1 c0t3d0s7

# metainit -f d12 1 1 c0t4d0s7

# metainit d10 -m d11
# metattach d10 d12
Here d10 is the device to mount and and d11 and d12 hold the 2 copies of the data.
In case of mirroring root partition you need to follow few more steps. Refer the post SVM
root encapsulation and mirroring [SPARC] for more information.
RAID 5
To setup a RAID 5 mirror using 3 disks :
# metainit d1 -r c0t1d0s2 c1t1d0s2 c2t1d0s2 -i 16k
To concatenate a disk at the end of RAID 5 mirror :
# metattach d1 c4t3d0s2
To add a hot spare pool hsp01 to the RAID 5 mirror d1 :
# metaparam -h hsp01 d1
Extending a metadevice
To grow a metadevice we need to attach a slice to the end and then grow the underlying
filesystem:
# metattach d1 c3t1d0s2
If the metadevice is not mounted :
# growfs /dev/md/rdsk/d1
If the metadevice is mounted :
# growfs -M /export/home /dev/md/rdsk/d1
Removing the metadevices
The metadevice can be removed if they are not open (i.e. not mounted):
# metaclear d3
To delete all the metadevices (use it carefully as it blows away entire SVM configuration):
# metaclear -a -f
View the configuration and status
To view the entire SVM configuration and status of all the metadevices :

# metastat -p
To check the configuration and status of a particular device :
# metastat d3
Hot spare pools
To create a hot spare pool with no disks :
# metainit hsp01
To add a slice/disk to the hot spare pool :
# metahs -a hsp01 c0t1d0s4
Remember to add hot spare disk/slice in a order smallest to largets. So when there is a need of
hot spare disk smallest capable disk will be used from the host spare pool to replace the failed
one.
To add a slice to all hot spare pools :
# metahs -a all c1t1d0s4
To make hot spare pool hsp01 available to metadevice d1 (submirror or RAID 5) :
# metaparam -h hsp01 d1
Replacing the disk slice in hot spare (c1t1d0s4 is replaced by c2t1d0s4) :
# metahs -r hsp001 c1t1d0s4 c2t1d0s4
Remove a disk slice (c1t1d0s4) from all hot spares :
# metahs -d all c1t1d0s4
Remove a disk slice from the host spare pool hsp01 :
# metahs -d hsp01 c1t1d0s4
Re-enable a hot spare that was previously unavailable :
# metahs -e c1t1d0s4
To remove a hot spare pool :
# metahs -d hsp001
To check the status of hot spare pools :
# metahs -i
# metastat

Disksets
The syntax of command to use on metasets is similar to those of the metadevices :
# command -s options

The location of metadevices in the shared disksets is :

/dev/md//{dsk|rdsk}/dn
The hot spare pool inside a shared diskset are named as :
{setname}/hspnnn
To add hosts to a set :
# metaset -s [setname] -a -h [hostname1] [hostname2]
To add disks to disk set (Do not specify slices) :
# metaset -s [setname] -a c2t0d0 c2t1d0 c2t2d0 c2t3d0
Similarly to remove disks and hosts from disk set :
# metaset -s [setname] -d c2t3d0
# metaset -s [setname] -d -h [hostname]
To take the control of a disk set :
# metaset -s [setname] -t
To release the control of a disk set :
# metaset -s [setname] -r
To check the status of metasets :
# metastat -s [diskset]

Troubleshooting commands
Below are some of the troubleshooting commands. Use the -s [metaset] option when using
the commands on the metasets.
# metastat
# metastat -t
state/status.)
# metastat -p

(with option -t it will print date/time when the metadevice changed

# metadb -i
# prtvtoc (on relevant devices)
# mount
# iostat -iE
# format
Also check for any changes or errors in the files :
/var/adm/messages
/etc/lvm/md.cf
/etc/lvm/mddb.cf