ptx/SVM V2.1.3 Release Notes


Introduction

These release notes support ptx®/SVM V2.1.3, which is a powerful tool for managing disk-drive usage and disk space. Read this document before you install or run this release of ptx/SVM.


Product Compatibility

This version of ptx/SVM can be used with the following products:


ATTENTION

ptx/SVM V2.1.3 cannot be used to manage shared storage on clusters containing more than 2 nodes. ptx/SVM can be used for mirroring root and primary swap on local disks on the nodes of 3- and 4-node clusters. It can also be used to manage private storage on shareable disks on nodes in 3- and 4-node clusters. Shareable disks are disks that are accessible from more than one node but are reserved by ptx/SVM for private use on one node only. See the section later in these release notes entitled "Disabling ptx/SVM Sharing in 3- and 4-Node Clusters" for more information on ptx/SVM limitations in 3-and 4-node clusters.



Converting to ptx/SVM V2.x from ptx/SVM V1.x

This release of ptx/SVM contains a considerable amount of new functionality and significant configuration differences from ptx/SVM V1.x. If you are currently running ptx/SVM V1.x, do not install DYNIX/ptx V4.4.x or any layered products until you have contacted Customer Support.

If you have already upgraded to ptx/SVM V2.0.2, V2.0.3, V2.1.1, or V2.1.2, you can install this release of ptx/SVM along with DYNIX/ptx and any other layered software products through a single installation process. The DYNIX/ptx and Layered Products Software Installation Release Notes tell how to use this process to install all DYNIX/ptx software.


Deinstall ptx/SVM

Although it is not necessary to deinstall ptx/SVM before installing a new version of the software, should you wish to deinstall ptx/SVM, the automatic deinstallation process through the ptx/ADMIN menu system will fail because root and swap volumes are in use. Follow these steps before deinstalling ptx/SVM through ptx/ADMIN to ensure the deinstallation will succeed:


ATTENTION

Issuing the following command will disable all volumes. Make sure your system does not depend on any volumes for filesystems, swap space, or other uses that your system requires to boot.


  1. Prevent vxconfigd from starting during the boot process:

    # touch /etc/vx/reconfig.d/state.d/install-db

  2. Disable the use of early-access volumes on the next reboot:

    # bp /unix vol_disable_early_access_volumes 1

  3. Reboot the system.


Usage Notes

The following sections discuss important usage considerations with this release of ptx/SVM.


Disabling ptx/SVM Sharing in 3- and 4-Node Clusters

ptx/SVM's sharing must be disabled in a cluster with more than 2 nodes. On these systems, ptx/SVM can still be used for managing storage on local disks and on shareable disks using private disk groups. Any private disk groups that will be failed over to another node must be imported with the failover attribute, described in the previous section.

To disable sharing in ptx/SVM, follow these steps:

  1. Change directory to /usr/conf/uts/io/vol_sqnt.

  2. Edit the vol_sqnt_space.c file and change the value of vol_disable_clust to 1. Change the line int vol_disable_clust = 0 to int vol_disable_clust = 1. Save the changes to the file.

  3. Recompile the kernel and reboot the node.


Hot Sparing Does Not Work

Because hot-spare disk takeover currently fails (Problem Report #242311), it is recommended that you do not use hot sparing.


Use of vxdiskadm Not Recommended

Because the ptx/SVM menu system, vxdiskadm, currently fails to work with shared disks (Problem Report #236943) and does not properly perform OLR of sliced and simple disks (Problem Report #242863), it is recommended that you do not use vxdiskadm.


ptx/SVM V2.x Does Not Support Shareable "nopriv" Spindles

ptx/SVM V2.x requires that every shareable private spindle have at least one private region. A shareable disk is one that is on the QCIC or Fibre Channel and that could be shared. Shareable spindles that are of type nopriv cannot be added to private disk groups, therefore, because nopriv disks do not contain private areas.

In order to place a shareable nopriv spindle under ptx/SVM control, you will have to re-partition the disk to create a type-8 slice on it for the private configuration database area. To determine if a disk is shareable, examine the output of the dumpconf -d command. Look for an "S" in the fifth column of the output. "S" signifies that a device is shareable.


Using VTOC Drivers on Disks Under ptx/SVM Control

If you wish to place a disk containing a VTOC driver under ptx/SVM control and use the disk in a cluster, then you must make an entry in each node's /etc/devtab file for the disk and issue the devbuild command on each of the nodes in the cluster.

If you build the VTOC driver for a disk on one node (where the disk will be recognized as a "sliced" or "nopriv" disk), but not on the other node(s) (where the disk will be recognized as a "simple" disk), then the ptx/SVM shared disk groups will not match across the cluster and you will not be able to use them.


Performance Better in Private Disk Groups Than in Shared

Object manipulation performance in private disk groups in a cluster is significantly better than in shared disk groups. Use shared disk groups only when absolutely necessary (for data that must be shared among cluster nodes) to avoid incurring a performance penalty.


Disk Media Record Can Be Removed from Active Volume

ptx/SVM lets you use the vxdg -k rmdisk medianame command to remove a disk media record even if the volume containing the disk is active. This operation is not recommended, especially if the data to be removed is not mirrored elsewhere. Should you use the vxdg -k rmdisk medianame command, use extra caution if the disk belongs to ROOTVOL, SWAPVOL, or a secondary swap volume. If you issue the command on a disk media record that is part of non-mirrored swap or a secondary swap volume, then the machine will crash or failover.


Product Documentation

The following ptx/SVM documentation is available on the online HTML documentation CD-ROM:

The ptx/SVM Quick Reference Card is shipped with each order of ptx/SVM.


Problem Reports

This section lists fixed and open problems in this release of ptx/SVM. The numbers in parentheses identify the problems in the problem-tracking system.


Fixed Software Defects


Open Software Defects


A Volume in rootdg Will Prevent Autoimport of a Disk Group with the Same Name (221607)

If you create a volume in rootdg with the same name as a disk group, that disk group cannot be imported automatically on subsequent reboots.

Workaround. Import the disk group manually with a different name, or rename the volume.


Invalid Values for loglen Are Ignored (221620)

The command-line parser for vxdisk init ignores invalid values for loglen.

Workaround. None. Use only valid values for the loglen parameter.


maxgrow and maxsize Arguments to vxassist Are Not Described in Man Page (227112)

The vxassist arguments maxgrow and maxsize were inadvertently omitted from the man page for vxassist.

The command vxassist [ -g diskgroup] maxgrow volume_name will tell you how large the volume could grow given the current available disks in the specified disk group (or in the root disk group, if no disk group is specified).

The command [vxassist -g diskgroup] maxsize will tell you how large the largest volume could be made in the specified disk group (or in the root disk group, if no disk group is specified).

Workaround. None.


vxconfigd Does Not Send Errors to Log File or Through syslog (227276)

By default, vxconfigd sends errors to the console. It should also send errors to a log file or through syslog.

Workaround. None.


vxmake Cannot Handle Arbitrarily Large Files (228192)

The vxmake command limits the number of objects that can be created in a single invocation. The formula for determining the limits depends on the names of the objects involved as well as the kinds of objects and the values of some other fields in the objects. If the request fails with the message Configuration too large, you should try splitting the description file into two files and running vxmake twice.

When attempting to determine the size of the configuration database (private area) of a disk, a good rule of thumb is to allow about 400 bytes for each object. A 20,000 object database, for example, would require a minimum of 7800 blocks (1024-byte blocks).

Workaround. If the configuration database is undersized and you receive the message Not enough space in database, the problem affects only the disk group containing the database. To enlarge the database, make sure that all copies of the database are made larger by evacuating all volumes from them (see vxevac(1M)). Next, reinitialize them (in the case of simple disks) or repartition them (in the case of sliced disks).


Performance Slow When 100 Volumes Started in Parallel (229764)

ptx/SVM performance is slow when a large number of volumes (on the order of 100) are started at the same time.

Workaround. None.


vxrecover Returns Errors When Trying to Recover Volumes in Deported Disk Groups (229772)

If, while vxrecover is running, you attempt to deport disk groups on which vxrecover still intends to perform recovery, vxrecover will return messages saying that it can't find volumes on the disk groups you are attempting to deport.

Workaround. Although the messages are harmless, you can avoid receiving them by not deporting disk groups until recovery is complete (when no volumes are in the SYNC or NEEDSYNC state).


The privslice Attribute of vxdisk init Does Not Work (229808)

The vxdisk man page incorrectly states that you can specify the private area of a disk when you initialize the disk, but this operation will fail.

Workaround. None.


vxstat Command Accessible Only by root (231132)

The vxstat command is restricted for use by the root user only.

Workaround. None.


Hot-Spare Disks May Not Be Tamper-Proof (231406)

Ordinarily, ptx/SVM prevents other applications and users from opening any device which has been added to a disk group. However, if a disk has been involved in hot sparing, it may be opened by users and applications, even though the device is under ptx/SVM control and in use by ptx/SVM.

Workaround. The problem corrects itself after the system is rebooted.


Mirrored Volume Will Not Recover if It Has Been Modified Outside of ptx/SVM Control (231419)

Mirrored volumes cannot detect any tampering done to them outside of ptx/SVM control. The tampering can be accomplished by modifying the underlying devices before ptx/SVM is started, such as from the stand-alone kernel on NUMA 2000 systems. In the case of the root volume, remounting the root filesystem so that it is writable from either the stand-alone kernel or single-user mode will undetectably render the volume out of sync such that successive reads of the same area will return different results.

Workaround. Before tampering with any component of a ptx/SVM volume, modify the volume so that it is not mirrored.


Automatic Deinstallation of ptx/SVM Does Not Work (231421)

Automatic deinstallation of ptx/SVM (through the ptx/ADMIN® menu system) fails because root and swap volumes are in use.

Workaround. Before attempting to deinstall ptx/SVM, execute the commands touch /etc/vx/reconfig.d/state.d/install-db and bp /unix vol_disable_early_access_volumes 1 and reboot the system.


ATTENTION

Issuing these commands will disable all volumes. Make sure your system does not depend on any volumes for filesystems, swap space, or other uses that your system requires to boot.



Multiple Subdisks Are Allowed in ROOTVOL (231844)

ptx/SVM allows you to attach a plex containing more than one subdisk to ROOTVOL.

Workaround. Attach only one subdisk to a plex in ROOTVOL.


vxresize Returns Erroneous Messages (233342)

vxresize increases the size of the volume but fails to increase the size of the filesystem.

Workaround. Resize the volume and then follow the filesystem-type procedure to increase the filesystem.


vxdiskadm Option to Offline a Disk Does Not Work (233530)

The vxdiskadm option to offline a disk does not work.

Workaround. Use the devctl -d -D command to offline a disk.


vxiod Processes Are Started When ptx/SVM Is Not Enabled (234686)

When ptx/SVM is installed but not enabled, vxiod processes are started anyway.

Workaround. This is expected behavior and there is no workaround.


ptx/SVM Can Create a Volume with Length Shorter than Plex (234848)

When creating a volume with vxassist, if the length of the volume is not divisible by the number of subdisks to be associated with the volume, then vxassist will create a volume whose length is shorter than the length of the plex (sum of the subdisks).

Workaround. None.


Root Volume Mount Point Changes Across Machines in a Cluster (235520)

In a cluster, ROOTVOL sometimes mounts under /dev/vx/dsk/rootdg and sometimes under /dev/vx/dsk.

Workaround. None.


vxrecover Ignores noattach Option (235530)

While starting volumes, the vxrecover command ignores the startopt=noattach option.

Workaround. None.


dumpcfg Does Not Handle Multiple Disk Groups (236142)

ptx/SVM support for dumpcfg (/etc/dumpcfg.d/vx) does not correctly handle disk groups other than rootdg.

Workaround. None.


vxconfigd -k May Fail to Reimport Disk Groups (236238)

The vxconfigd -k command may fail to reimport all disk groups.

Workaround. Import the disk groups manually.


Disk Failure Can Hang vxmake (236469)

If a disk in a subdisk fails and you try to create a plex with that subdisk with vxmake, vxconfigd will terminate and hang vxmake.

Workaround. None.


vxdiskadm Does Not Work on Shared Disks (236943)

The vxdiskadm OLR option fails on shared disks

Workaround. None.


vxvol start Sometimes Fails and Returns No Error Message (237191)

When a volume is in an unstartable state because a disk is missing, vxvol start will fail and return no error message, leading the user to believe the volume started successfully.

Workaround. None.


Can't Move Volume Out of "sync" State (237221)

Once a single-plex volume is in an ENABLED/SYNC state (accessible but in read/writeback mode), there is no action available that removes the SYNC state.

Workaround. If an unmirrored volume is in the ENABLED/SYNC state and you want to remove the SYNC state, stop the volume and restart it.


"Volume Locked by Another Utility" Message Appears (237430)

The following message may appear after a node goes down, while a vxplex att operation is in progress, or if a vxplex/vxrecover operation is killed locally:

vxplex -g diskgroup det plex
vxvm:vxplex: ERROR: Volume volume is locked by another utility

Workaround. Clear the "tutil0" field of the volume and plex with the following commands:

# vxmend clear tutil0 volume
# vxmend clear tutil0 plex


Stale Disk Access Records Not Always Purged (237459)

Output from the vxdisk command shows disknames that have been renamed by devctl and no longer exist on the system after a vxdctl enable (or even a vxdisk rm operation followed by a vxdctl enable operation).

Workaround. Delete the device from ptx/SVM altogether with the OLR process.


Offset Not Returned to Zero When vxvol -o force stop Is Used (237461)

When a mirrored volume is stopped with vxvol -o force stop, a resynchronization is started on the volume. If the volume is forced to stop again, the offset counter remains partway through the volume when the volume is restarted again. The offset counter should be reset to zero.

Workaround. Do not use the -o force option to stop mirrored volumes. If you use the -o force option and the offset is not returned to zero, reboot the system to return the offset to zero.


vxassist Man Page Incorrectly Lists "ctrl" Option (238325)

The vxassist man page incorrectly includes information about an unsupported option (mirror=ctrl).

Workaround. Ignore all references to the ctrl option.


Restarting vxconfigd on Slave Can Confuse Master and Slave (239284)

Problems can arise when the vxconfigd -k command is issued on the slave node and, while the command is processing, a shared disk group is deported from the master. When the slave finishes with the new vxconfigd, it reports the shared disk group is disabled but imported. The master does not show the shared disk group as imported. You cannot deport the disk group because the master does not see it. You cannot import it again because the slave cannot see one or more of the disks in the disk group.

Workaround. Restart vxconfigd on the slave again.


Partitions on Same Spindle Can Belong to Two Different Disk Groups (239776)

If you force a disk into a disk group with vxdisk -f, but the disk previously belonged to a different disk group, the disk can end up belonging to both disk groups.

Workaround. Do not use the -f (force) option when adding a disk to a disk group.


Asynchronous Reads at 32 KB I/O Size Cause Performance Problems (239950)

Asynchronous reads at 32 KB I/O size cause performance problems because the system is set up for reads at 128 KB I/O size.

Workaround. None.


vxdg free on Slave Node Does Not Provide Private Disk Group Information (240316)

When you run vxdg free on a slave node, only data concerning the rootdg and shared disk groups is returned.

Workaround. None.


A Problem Exists when Each Cluster Node Contains an Identical Private Disk Group Name (240451)

When both cluster nodes have a private disk group with the same name that contains shared disks, they receive a warning message when the nodes are booted because although the group name matches, the disk IDs point to the wrong side.

Workaround. If using shared disks in private disk groups, you should not have the same disk group name on both nodes. Otherwise, you can just ignore the error message.


ptx/SVM Doesn't Realize a Disk Has Changed When a Private Area on a Spindle is Reinitialized (241205)

When you replace a mirrored disk that is part of a two-disk disk group, ptx/SVM does not recognize that this has occurred and data may become corrupted.

Workaround. None.


Master Node Appears Hung After Quorum Is Lost and Regained (241732)

If quorum is lost and then regained, resilvering seems to hang.

Workaround. Stop the resilvering and restart it manually.


S03reconfig Outputs an Inappropriate Error Message (241733)

The S03reconfig script outputs the following incorrect error message:

vxvm:vxdisk: TO FIX: Usage:
vxdisk [-f] [-g diskgroup] [-qs] list [disk ...]

Workaround. Ignore the message.


vxconfigd Lists Wrong Disk Group Name (242245)

If you change the name of a shared disk group and the master node panics, the new master may only partially pick up the name change. This may make the output of vxdisk list and vxdg list confusing.

Workaround. Deport the disk group from the new master and reimport it before bringing the node that is down back into the cluster.


Hot Sparing Fails (242311)

Hot-spare disk takeover fails.

Workaround. None. Do not use hot sparing.


vxdiskadm OLR Fails on Sliced and Simple NODEVICE Disks (242863)

vxdiskadm fails to execute an OLR procedure on a sliced disk or on a simple disk that is in a state of NODEVICE, and gives no indication of the failure.

Workaround. Do not use svmadmin to perform OLR. Use the manual procedure described in the ptx/SVM Administration Guide.


Volumes Are Left in SYNC State If Plexes Are Offlined (244168)

If a mirrored volume is in read-writeback mode and n-1 plexes are offlined before the resynchronization operation is completed, the volume is left in either the NEEDSYNC or the SYNC state.

Workaround. Stop and restart the volume.


Extremely Large Systems May Run Out of KVA (244717)

Systems containing a large number of disks (on the order of 1600 disks) may run out of KVA between the time when vxconfigd is in boot mode and the time it is enabled.

Workaround. None.


Shared Dirty-Region Logging Volumes Can Cause Looping in the S03svm-awaitjoin Script (244807)

If you create a dirty-region log (DRL) subdisk on a shared volume and the master crashes when the system comes back up, the system will hang in S03svm-awaitjoin upon reboot.

Workaround. Do not use dirty-region logging on shared volumes.


vxencap Can Overwrite Data (245105)

In certain circumstances, vxencap can overwrite data by rewriting a VTOC to a "sliced" disk. This situation can occur when the VTOC contains a type-8 partition at the beginning and a large type-1 partition for the rest of the disk, mimicking the private/public areas for "simple" disks.

Workaround. Do not use vxencap.


vxdisk list Generates I/O Errors on Disks Owned by Other Nodes (245185)

In a cluster, each time vxdisk list or vxdisk list disk is run from one of the nodes, multiple lines will be generated in the ktlog for each disk not in a shared disk group and owned by another node. The ktlog entries will look similar to the following:

3692ad76 16:25:26 note q0/e0/p51 vxvm:vxio: Cannot open disk: kernel error 16

Workaround. None.


Private Disk Groups with the Same Name Can Be Created on Different Nodes (245708)

ptx/SVM lets you create private disk groups that use shared disks and lets you give the disk groups the same name. If you create such disk groups on multiple nodes and then attempt to import one of the disk groups by name, ptx/SVM will arbitrarily choose which of the disk groups to import. (ptx/SVM will report, however, that there are other disks in the configuration in similarly named disk groups.)

Workaround. Import the disk group using its ID instead of its name. To determine a disk group's ID, issue the vxdg list command. Then use vxdg import ID instead of vxdg import name to import the disk.


"Invalid device close flags" Entries Appear in ktlog When Closing Disks in a Private Disk Group (246033)

When private disk groups on shared disks are deported, messages similar to the following appear in the ktlog:

36c3854c 17:35:08 warn q0/e2/p55 release_dev_locks: Invalid device close flags.
36c38585 17:36:05 warn q0/e2/p55 release_dev_locks: Invalid device close flags.
...

Workaround. None. You can safely ignore the ktlog messages about "Invalid device close flags."


vxtrace Does Not Perform Consistently (246092)

The vxtrace command only tracks local I/O; it does not work clusterwide.

Workaround. Use vxtrace on each individual node, or just for local I/O traffic on one node.


ptx/SVM Administration Guide Procedure for Plex Detach Protocol Is Incorrect (246636)

The ptx/SVM Administration Guide in Chapter 7, "'Fixing' Objects and Moving Between Plex States," states that if an I/O error occurs on a last complete plex, then the incomplete plex(es) mapping to the region of I/O failure should be disabled. In reality, however, the partial plexes mapping to the region of I/O failure (on the complete plex) are NOT disabled, but continue to be in the enabled state.

Workaround. Use of partial plexes is not recommended. Once write errors occur on the only complete plex (which maps to regions on the corresponding partial plex(es), if read I/Os are issued by the user, they might return inconsistent data. This may happen since the complete plex remains enabled even after the previous I/O write error on it.


The "vxplex mv" Command May Cause Data Loss (246898)

The vxplex mv command lets you move data off an active plex onto a new plex that is smaller than the original plex, which results in data loss. ptx/SVM should prevent this from occurring.

Workaround. Be sure to use vxplex mv only when the destination plex is at least as large as the origination plex.


All Significant Events Should Be Logged By Default (246980)

To aid in debugging of ptx/SVM problems, ptx/SVM should log all significant events by default. Currently, errors against klog writes or klog detaches are not logged.

Workaround. None.


Renaming the Plex for ROOTVOL Leads to Loss of I/O to the Root Partition (246992)

After the plex for ROOTVOL was renamed, all I/O to root was lost and then the system panicked.

Workaround. Reboot the system.


ptx/SVM Does Not Provide an Easy Way to Locate the SVM Objects Used by a Disk (247220)

ptx/SVM V2.x does not provide an easy way to locate the ptx/SVM objects used by a particular disk media record or disk.

Workaround. None.


A Missing Disk Media Record Disables a Shared Disk Group After the Master Transitions (247365)

If a disk group has a disk media record in the removed state and the master goes away, the slave will disable the disk group if it is doing I/O to it. If there is no I/O, the disk group simply goes away. In either case, there is no output to the console or to cmn_err() that this is occurring.

Workaround. Deport the disk group and reimport it.


The vxdiskadm OLR Procedure Does Not Complete Properly (247525)

The vxdiskadm OLR procedure does not complete everything that it should. Disks are left in a removed state and plexes are left in a DISABLED REMOVED state.

Workaround. Use the manual OLR procedure described in the ptx/SVM Administration Guide. Do not use vxdiskadm to perform OLR.


Volumes Manually Placed in NEEDSYNC or SYNC State May Have Poor Performance (247700)

Manually resilvering of shared volumes from the slave is possible but not recommended. There are two reasons for this. First, there is a slight performance cost, since the master must still be involved in some aspects of the resilvering. Second, if the master dies while resilvering, the resilvering will hang until the slave becomes the master. If, during this time, the slave also dies, it is possible these volumes will be left in read/writeback mode, incurring no data loss but a moderate performance penalty.

Workaround. Rebooting both nodes can clear the condition in some cases, but can be disruptive. In other cases, it may still be necessary to manually remove and recreate the volumes to clear this state. Removing and recreating these volumes without disrupting normal operation may be difficult or in some cases impossible; customers may need to call Customer Support for assistance.


vxassist Lets You Shrink Active Volumes (247990)

vxassist lets you shrink active volumes.

Workaround. Do not attempt to shrink active volumes.


System Can Boot from a Disk No Longer in the root Disk Group (248086)

It is possible to boot the system from a disk that was once in the root disk group, but is not there now.

Workaround. Only boot the system from disks that are in the root disk group.


vxassist Cannot Be Used to Create a Mirror on the Same Disk as First Plex (248105)

Do not use vxassist to create a mirror on the same disk as the first plex. vxassist will return the following error:

# vxassist mirror ROOTVOL disk
vxvm:vxassist: ERROR: Cannot allocate space to mirror nnnnnn block volume

Workaround. To use vxassist, specify a different spindle. Otherwise, use vxmake.


Disabled klogs During Cluster Transition Terminates Failover (248107)

When a node is disabled, the other node may receive an uncorrectable write error on the ptx/CTC database when it tries to perform failover under the following conditions: During the time of the attempted write, all klog copies for the disk group the ptx/CTC database is in are disabled, and a join process is underway for the disk group. An open operation on the ptx/CTC volume succeeds, but a write to the volume fails.

Workaround. None.


A Panic Occurs in volsiodone() (248346)

A panic occurs on the system in volsiodone when parent->sio_ops->sop_childdone is NULL.

Workaround. Reboot the system.


"vxvol start" May Fail Without Warning for Single-Plex Volumes (248620)

A vxvol start command may fail to start a single-plex volume without warning.

Workaround. Start the volume by issuing the vxvol init active volume command.


vxassist Man Page Contains Error (248696)

The vxassist man page should state that the snapstart and snapshot options do not work for alternate root partitions.

Workaround. None. Mirror ROOTVOL instead.


Confusing Error Message Returned After Volume Usage Type Changed to "root" (248773)

The following confusing error message appears when an fsgen volume is reset to type root:

# vxedit set use_type=root volume
vxvm:vxedit: ERROR: Volume volume usage type is root: not gen or fsgen

This error message is confusing because the volume's usage type is fsgen.

Workaround . None.


A Plex Cannot Be Created Containing a Subdisk with Punctuation in its Name (248798)

A plex cannot contain subdisks that have punctuation (such as plus signs or apostrophes) in their names. (Underscores are acceptable.)

Workaround. None.


ptx/SVM On a Slave Node Spins when a CCI Is Down (248817)

On NUMA and Symmetry systems, when a CCI link is down, ptx/SVM on the slave node spins.

Workaround. Issue the vxconfigd -k command on the slave node.


Import of Disk Group Bypasses Check for Spindle in Duplicate Group (248945)

ptx/SVM does not allow you to have the same spindle in multiple disk groups, but it is possible to bypass this check by having one of the disk groups deported while adding a "nopriv" disk to another disk group.

Workaround. None.


vxconfigd Drops Core in memset() (249013)

vxconfigd drops core in memset() under the following conditions: The core file is generated on the master node of a two-node cluster. The nodes previously were distinct, unclustered nodes. When the nodes were brought together, the disk groups were imported as shared.

Workaround. Reboot the system.


nopriv Disks Can Be Added to Shared Disk Groups (249045)

A disk with no VTOC can be specifically defined as type "nopriv" (for example, vxdisk define sd5 type=nopriv). This disk could then be added to a shared disk group (where sd5 is on a shared spindle) with vxdg -g shareddg adddisk sd5, where shareddg is a previously defined shared disk group. However, a "nopriv" ptx/SVM disk has no private area to store the configuration database, and this could lead to data corruption since the disk can be added to different disk groups at different points in time.


ATTENTION

The default for a vxdisk define operation is to create a disk of type "simple." So a vxdisk define sd5 command will create sd5 to be a "simple" ptx/SVM disk.


Another manifestation of this problem is that a "nopriv" ptx/SVM disk (on a disk which has a VTOC on it) on a non-shared spindle can be added to different private disk groups at different points in time when no other partition from the same disk is added to the shared disk group. This could also lead to data corruption.

Workaround. None. Avoid defining disks on shared spindles (with no VTOCs) as "nopriv" ptx/SVM disks and then adding these disks to different disk groups at different points in time. Also avoid adding "nopriv" ptx/SVM disks (with VTOCs on non-shared spindles) to different disk groups at different points in time when no other partition from the same disk is added to the disk group. Either of these actions could lead to data corruption.


"vxmend fix active" Fails When Many Plexes Are Given as Argument (249133)

The vxmend fix active command fails when many plexes are provided as an argument to the command.

Workaround. Do not use vxmend fix active.


RAID Devices Have Public Length of Zero (250049)

RAID devices may report a public length of zero.

Workaround. None.


Too Many Log Copies in a Disk Group (250252)

Of 554 "simple" disks in a disk group, 252 of the disks have active configuration and log copies. The disk group is composed of disks from EMC arrays. This results in poor performance of operations against the disk group.

Workaround. None.


A Spindle's Last Disk Label Cannot Be Removed (250254)

The following error may occur on a ptx/SVM V2.1.x system:

vxvm:command: ERROR: Failed to obtain locks:
volume: Cannot remove spindle's last disk label

Workaround. There are three possible ways to work around this problem:

  1. Reboot the system.

  2. Restart vxconfigd with the -k option.

  3. Issue vxdg rmdisk on the "nopriv" disks first, followed by the "sliced" disks.


vxconfigd Holds Read of volop_rwsleep While Asking for a Write Operation (250270)

When vxconfigd was restarted on the slave node, the command did not complete because vxconfigd was holding a read of volop_rwsleep while simultaneously asking for a write operation on volop_rwsleep.

Workaround. Reboot the system.


Disk Group Becomes Disabled When Adding in a New Disk Access Record (250318)

A disk group can become disabled when new disks are added to a disk group that already contains several (over 500) disks.

Workaround. None.


Shared Volumes in the SYNC State Can Severely Degrade Performance (250507)

A volume stranded in the SYNC state, when mounted as a UFS filesystem on a slave node, will have extremely poor performance.

Workaround. None.


vxconfigd Drops Core in xalloc() (250519)

vxconfigd hung on the master node under the following conditions: two nodes were booted to single-user mode and then the rc2.d scripts for ptx/SVM were manually started. The slave node was started first and then the master. The disk groups had to be imported manually. Finally, when both nodes were taken to multiuser mode, vxconfigd hung on the master node.

Workaround. Reboot the nodes.


vxdg Reports Error "Invalid attribute specification" (250602)

When a subdisk is split with the vxsd command, the following error may appear:

vxvm:vxsd: ERROR: creating subdisk subdisk
Invalid attribute specification

Workaround. Restart vxconfigd with -k or rename the subdisk.


SVMPRIVDG Method Should Only Attempt "vxdg -C -x import" (250690)

The current /usr/service/ctc/methods/SVMPRIVDG script first attempts to import a disk group without clearing the hostid field (vxdg -x import diskgroup). If that fails, it retries with a clear option (vxdg -x -C import diskgroup). This nearly doubles the SVMPRIVDG execution time in the event that the disk group was previously imported on a node that crashed.

Workaround. None.


Disk Group Rename Command Does Not Work Properly (250830)

Once a shared disk group is renamed (with vxdg -n), and the master node is rebooted, information for the disk group is inconsistent and confusing; vxdg and vxdisk information do not agree on the new master.

Workaround. None.