1) System name
Check description: Checks that the value in the hostid field of the /etc/vx/volboot file is the same as the value returned by the hostname command.
Check procedure:
· Retrieves the value stored in the hostid field of the /etc/vx/volboot file and the output of the hostname command.
· Compares the values to ensure that they match.
Check recommendation: Change the value in the hostid field of the /etc/vx/volboot file to match the host name. Do not edit the /etc/vx/volboot file by hand. To change the value, run the command:
# vxdctl init
The vxdctl init command does not interrupt any Volume Manager services and is safe to run in a production environment.
Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) uses the hostid value to identify the disk group host during boot up, and automatically imports the disk group host whether or not the disk group is flagged as imported.
If two systems with the same hostid configured in their /etc/vx/volboot file share access to the same disk group, both systems will import that disk group at start up; this could cause corruption since the disk group might already be imported on the other system.
# vxdctl init
The vxdctl init command does not interrupt any Volume Manager services and is safe to run in a production environment.
Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) uses the hostid value to identify the disk group host during boot up, and automatically imports the disk group host whether or not the disk group is flagged as imported.
If two systems with the same hostid configured in their /etc/vx/volboot file share access to the same disk group, both systems will import that disk group at start up; this could cause corruption since the disk group might already be imported on the other system.
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Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks the completeness of boot volumes, such as root, swap, and var. Verifies that the plex size is at least equal to the volume size.
Check procedure:
· Determines the boot disk group present on the system.
· Obtains the list of volumes residing in the boot disk group.
· Checks whether the plex size of the volumes in the boot disk group is equal to the volume size.
Check recommendation: Fix the boot configuration for the boot volumes present on the system boot disk group; the volume size appears to be greater than the plex size.
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Hot relocation
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether the hot relocation feature is turned on on the system and whether any disks in the disk group are marked as spare disks.
Check procedure:
· Verifies whether the vxrelocd daemon is running on the system.
· For each disk group on the system, verifies whether at least one disk in the disk group is marked as a spare disk.
Check recommendation: The hot relocation feature increases overall availability in case of disk failures. You may either keep hot relocation turned on to take advantage of this functionality, or turn it off. Recommendations are:
Case 1: Spare flag set to ON for at least one disk in the disk group and vxrelocd is not running: Symantec recommends switching on the vxrelocd daemon on the system. In case of disk failure, the hot relocation feature can then attempt to use the disks marked as spare.
Case 2: Spare flag set ON for at least one disk in the disk group and vxrelocd is running: In case of disk failure, hot relocation may occur.
Case 1: Spare flag set to ON for at least one disk in the disk group and vxrelocd is not running: Symantec recommends switching on the vxrelocd daemon on the system. In case of disk failure, the hot relocation feature can then attempt to use the disks marked as spare.
Case 2: Spare flag set ON for at least one disk in the disk group and vxrelocd is running: In case of disk failure, hot relocation may occur.
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Mirroring across enclosure
Check category: Availability
Check description: Verifies whether mirroring is done across disks coming from different enclosures.
Check procedure:
· Identifies all the mirrored volumes present on the system.
· Verifies whether the subdisks that constitute the mirrored volume are coming from different enclosures.
· In case of layered volumes (concat-mirror/stripe-mirror), this check verifies the sub-volumes.
Check recommendation: Ensure that the mirror copies are placed across storage enclosures; to do so, take the disks in one data plex from one enclosure and the disks in the other data plex from a second enclosure. This arrangement ensures continued availability of the volume should either of the enclosures become unavailable.
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Large mirrored volumes with no mirrored DRL
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for mirrored volumes that do not have a mirrored Dirty Region Log (DRL) and are larger than the value specified in the HC_CHK_LARGE_MIRROR_NO_MIRRORED_DRL_SIZE_GB parameter, which is set in the vosdc.conf file.
Check procedure:
· Identifies any mirrored volumes present on the system that are larger than the configurable threshold size on the system.
· Checks whether the identified volumes have a mirrored DRL.
Check recommendation: Ensure that you mirror the DRL for faster read operation during recovery after disk failure. A mirrored DRL also ensures availability of the DRL if the disk fails where the DRL resides.
Learn More...
How to create a Volume with DRL enabled
Adding traditional DRL logging to a mirrored volume
Determining if DRL is enabled in a volume
Disabling and re-enabling DRL
Adding traditional DRL logging to a mirrored volume
Determining if DRL is enabled in a volume
Disabling and re-enabling DRL
Hard disk errors
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for disk errors on the system.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the disks under the control of the Veritas Volume Manager.
· Checks whether any of the disks are in an error state.
Check recommendation: Inspect the hardware configuration to confirm that the hardware is functional and configured properly.
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Large mirror without DRL
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for mirrored volumes that do not have a Dirty Region Log (DRL) and are larger than the value specified in the HC_CHK_LARGE_MIRROR_NO_DRL_SIZE_GB parameter, which is set in the vosdc.conf file.
Check procedure:
· Identifies any mirrored volumes present on the system that are larger than the configurable threshold size on the system.
· Checks whether a DRL is present in the identified volumes.
Check recommendation: Ensure that you create a DRL for any large mirrored volumes. A DRL tracks those regions that have changed. Having a DRL helps with data recovery after a system crash. The DRL uses the tracking information to recover only those portions of the volume that need to be recovered. Without a DRL, recovery involves copying the full content of the volume between its mirrors; this process is lengthy and I/O intensive.
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ASL and APM Consistency level
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks the Array Support Library (ASL) and Array Policy Module (APM) levels across systems in a single cluster. Ensures that each system in the cluster has the same operating system and Storage Foundation version, as well as connectivity to the same enclosures.
Check procedure:
· Identifies systems that are part of the same cluster and that have the same version of Storage Foundation installed.
· Discovers the ASLs and the APMs installed on the systems.
· Checks whether the ASL and APM versions are consistent across all systems in the cluster.
Check recommendation: Ensure that the ASL versions are consistent for all systems in a cluster that have the same operating system and Storage Foundation version, and are connected to the same storage enclosure.
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Boot volume geometry
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether the boot volumes present on the system are simple mirrors, and are not striped or concatenated volumes.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the boot disk group present on the system.
· Verifies whether the root volumes under the boot disk group are simple mirrors.
Check recommendation: Ensure that the boot volumes present on the system are simple mirrors. The boot volumes should not be striped or concatenated volumes; correct the boot geometry for any striped or concatenated volumes.
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Root mirror validity
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks to see that the root mirrors are set up correctly.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the root volumes of the boot disk group present on the system.
· Checks whether the root volumes are mirrored.
· Verifies that the root volumes are not spanned across subdisks and are at the same level of redundancy.
Check recommendation: The root volumes of the boot disk group are not mirrored properly. Symantec recommends that you fix the mirroring of the root disk.
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Rootability
Mirroring root disk
Boot-time volume restrictions
Mirroring other file systems on the root disk
Mirroring root disk
Boot-time volume restrictions
Mirroring other file systems on the root disk
Verify I/O fencing for Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System (SFCFS)
Check category: Availability
Check description: Verifies I/O fencing for Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System (SFCFS).
Check procedure:
· Checks whether Cluster File System (CFS) is configured on the system.
· Determines the fencing mode using the 'vxfenadm' commans and verifies whether fencing mode is set to SCSI-3.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends configuring I/O fencing with fencing mode set to SCSI-3 when using SFCFS to avoid file system corruption.
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Large RAID-5 volume unmirrored log
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for large RAID-5 volumes that do not have mirrored RAID-5 logs.
Check procedure:
· Checks whether Veritas Volume Manager is installed on the system.
· Retrieves all the RAID-5 volumes on the system larger than the threshold size defined in the vosdc configuration file.
· Verifies whether the large RAID-5 volumes have mirrored logs.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends creating a mirrored RAID-5 log for each large RAID-5 volume. A mirror of the RAID-5 log protects against loss of log information due to disk failure.
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Verify installation of VRTSspt package
Check category: Availability
Check description: Verifies whether the VRTSspt package is present on the system.
Check procedure:
· Checks whether the VRTSspt package is installed on the system.
Check recommendation: The VRTSspt package is not installed on the system. Symantec recommends installing the VRTSspt package, which provides time-saving troubleshooting tools. These tools do not run unless they are invoked by root.
Learn More...
How to download the VRTSspt package
How to use VRTSexplorer
How to collect a metasave from a mounted file system
How to use VRTSexplorer
How to collect a metasave from a mounted file system
Large mirrored-stripe volume
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for mirrored-stripe volumes larger than the threshold value in the HC_CHK_MIRROR_STRIPE_GB parameter, which is set in the vosdc.conf file.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the mirror-striped volumes present on the system.
· Verifies whether the size of the volumes is greater than the threshold value.
Check recommendation: Ensure that the size of any mirrored-stripe volumes on the system is smaller than the expected default. Reconfigure large mirrored-stripe volumes as striped-mirror volumes to improve redundancy and enhance recovery time after a failure.
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Striping plus mirroring
Mirroring plus striping
Creating a striped-mirror volume
Converting between layered and non-layered volumes
Mirroring plus striping
Creating a striped-mirror volume
Converting between layered and non-layered volumes
vxconfigbackupd daemon
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether the vxconfigbackupd daemon is running on the system.
Check procedure:
· Checks whether the vxconfigbackupd daemon is running on the system.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends you start the vxconfigbackupd daemon. The vxconfigbackupd daemon monitors changes to the disk group configuration in Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM), and stores any output in the configuration directory. This assists in recovering lost or corrupt disk groups/volumes when there are no backup copies of their configuration. Restart the vxconfigbackupd by running the following command: # /etc/vx/bin/vxconfigbackupd &
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Concat volumes across arrays
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for concat volumes whose LUNs span two or more arrays
Check procedure:
· Generates a list of the concatenated volumes on the system.
· Checks whether the subdisks that constitute the concatenated volume are coming from different storage array ports and enclosures.
Check recommendation: Reconfigure the volume(s) so that all LUNs on the volume are exported by a single storage array. When a concat volume's component LUNs span two or more arrays, failure of any one array brings the entire volume offline. Therefore, Symantec recommends that all LUNs in a concatenated volume be exported from one array.
The high-level procedure is as follows:
1. Decide on which array you want the volume to reside (referred hereafter as Array1).
2. Identify and record the name and size of the LUN(s) to be replaced, that is, those LUN(s) exported by arrays other than Array1.
3. Export new, or unused existing, LUN(s) to the server from Array1. Each LUN will typically be the same size and redundancy as the LUN to be replaced.
4. Initialize those LUNs as VxVM disks, typically with the vxdisksetup command.
5. Use the vxdg adddisk command to add those VxVM disks to the diskgroup.
6. Use the vxconfigbackup command to backup the diskgroup configuration.
7. Use the vxsd mv command to move contents of the old LUN onto the new LUN. This command operates online while the volume is active and in-use.
8. Optionally, remove the replaced LUN(s) from the diskgroup.
The high-level procedure is as follows:
1. Decide on which array you want the volume to reside (referred hereafter as Array1).
2. Identify and record the name and size of the LUN(s) to be replaced, that is, those LUN(s) exported by arrays other than Array1.
3. Export new, or unused existing, LUN(s) to the server from Array1. Each LUN will typically be the same size and redundancy as the LUN to be replaced.
4. Initialize those LUNs as VxVM disks, typically with the vxdisksetup command.
5. Use the vxdg adddisk command to add those VxVM disks to the diskgroup.
6. Use the vxconfigbackup command to backup the diskgroup configuration.
7. Use the vxsd mv command to move contents of the old LUN onto the new LUN. This command operates online while the volume is active and in-use.
8. Optionally, remove the replaced LUN(s) from the diskgroup.
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Temporary license keys
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for temporary product license keys that are about to expire.
Check procedure:
· Identifies products with temporary license keys.
· Checks whether the license key will expire within the specified number of days, and whether there is a permanent license key installed for that product.
Check recommendation: Ensure that valid license keys are installed for Storage Foundation products.
Stripe volume
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for striped volumes whose stripe unit is not an integer multiple of the disk group alignment value. The check is not run against striped-mirrored volumes or mirrored-striped volumes.
Check procedure:
· Identifies all the stripe volumes on the system, and retrieves the stripe unit size for each one.
· Determines the disk group alignment value of the disk group where each the stripe volume resides.
· Checks whether the stripe unit size of the stripe volume is a multiple of the disk group alignment value.
Check recommendation: Ensure that the stripe volumes have a stripe unit size that is a multiple of the disk group alignment value. Symantec recommends that the stripe unit be a multiple of the disk group alignment value for consistent I/O performance across platforms.
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Mirroring across disk controllers
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for mirrored volumes whose plexes (mirrors) are on the same disk controllers.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the mirrored volumes on the system.
· For each mirrored volume, identifies the subdisks present and the disk controller through which it is visible.
· Checks whether the volume is mirrored across different disk controllers.
Check recommendation: The mirrored volumes listed in output details are not mirrored across controllers. A single controller failure will compromise the volume. Create a plex (mirror) on a different controller. Attach that new plex to the volume (for a total of three plexes). Detach one of the two original plexes.
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Non-mirrored concatenated volume
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for non-mirrored concatenated volumes consisting of multiple disks.
Check procedure:
· Generates a list of the non-mirrored concatenated volumes on the system.
· Checks whether the concatenated volumes consist of multiple disks.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you mirror the concatenated volumes. That way, if one of the disks in the volume fails, you will not lose the volume.
Learn More...
Adding a mirror to a volume
Creating a concatenated-mirror volume
Creating a mirrored-concatenated volume
Creating a concatenated-mirror volume
Creating a mirrored-concatenated volume
Missing operating system patch
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for missing operating system patches required for the installed product.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the product installed on the system.
· Checks whether all the required operating system patches are installed on the system.
Check recommendation: You should install the missing operating system patches on the system.
Missing Array Support Library (ASL)
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for a missing Array Support Library (ASL) for the disk array connected to the system.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the connected disk array on the system.
· Checks whether the required ASL for the disk array is installed on the system.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you install the missing ASL for the connected disk array on the system.
Encapsulated boot disk
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether the disk arrays on which the boot disks reside are listed in the hardware compatibility list (HCL) as supported for storage area network (SAN) bootability.
Note: This check is only performed on Linux and Solaris systems.
Note: This check is only performed on Linux and Solaris systems.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the boot disk group present in the system.
· Gets the list of disks in the boot disk group.
· Identifies the disk array the disks in the boot disk group belong to.
· Verifies in the HCL whether the disk array supports SAN bootability.
Check recommendation: Disks in the book disk group do not support SAN bootability. The disk arrays where disks in a disk group reside, should support SAN bootability. The disk arrays should be listed in the HCL as supporting SAN bootability.
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Encapsulating SAN Disks
Hardware Compatibility List for Veritas Storage Foundation (tm) and High Availability Solutions 5.0 Maintenance Pack 1, 5.0 Maintenance Pack 2 (including SFCFS for Oracle RAC for RHEL, SLES and OEL) and 5.0 Maintenance Pack 3
Hardware Compatibility List for Veritas Storage Foundation (tm) and High Availability Solutions 5.0 Maintenance Pack 1, 5.0 Maintenance Pack 2 (including SFCFS for Oracle RAC for RHEL, SLES and OEL) and 5.0 Maintenance Pack 3
Veritas Volume Manager Snapshot/SmartMove Corruption
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for the use of instant snapshots and SmartMove. Data corruption can occur with Storage Foundation 5.1 when you use instant snapshots and SmartMove with certain combinations of I/O and administrative operations.
Check procedure:
· Checks if VRTSvxvm package version is 5.1.
· Checks if SmartMove is enabled.
· Detects whether any full-sized or space-optimized instant snapshots exists in any of the disk groups.
· Checks whether the volumes which have instant snapshots discovered have Veritas File System (VxFS) on them, either mounted or unmounted.
Check recommendation: If you plan to use instant snapshots (either full-sized or space-optimized), turn off SmartMove. Enter:
# vxdefault set usefssmartmove none
Do one of the following:
# vxdefault set usefssmartmove none
Do one of the following:
· Verify if SmartMove is disabled. Enter:
# vxdefault list usefssmartmove
# vxdefault list usefssmartmove
· Upgrade to Storage Foundation 5.1SP1, which fixes the issue.
Disk group configuration database
Check category: Best practices
Check description: Checks whether the disk group's configuration database free space is reaching a critical low point.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the disk groups present on the system.
· Checks whether the percentage of used space in the configuration database is greater than the threshold value.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you split the disk group(s) present on the system when the percentage of used space for the configuration database reaches the threshold value.
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Disk group spare space
Check category: Best practices
Check description: Checks whether the disk group has enough spare disk space available for hot-relocation to occur in case of a disk failure.
Check procedure:
· Verifies whether the vxrelocd daemon is running on the system.
· Identifies the disk groups present on the system.
· For each disk group, calculates the total space available for hot-relocation.
· Calculates whether the total space available in the disk group is enough for a hot-relocation to occur.
Check recommendation: Ensure that any disk groups present on the system have enough spare disk space available for hot-relocation to occur in case of disk failure. Symantec recommends designating additional disks as hot-relocation spares.
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Disk group detach policy for A/P arrays
Check category: Best practices
Check description: Checks whether disk group's detach policy is set to global when the disk group consists disks from an A/P disk array.
Check procedure:
· Determines the disk detach policy set for all the disk groups present on the system.
· Checks whether the disk group has any disks from an A/P disk array.
· Checks whether the disk detach policy for the disk group is set to global.
Check recommendation: When Veritas Dynamic Multi-Pathing (DMP) is used to manage multipathing on A/P arrays, set the detach policy to global; this ensures that all nodes correctly coordinate their use of the active path.
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Click here for the reference from the VxVM Administrator's Guide
How to set the disk detach policy on a shared diskgroup
About disk array types
How to set the disk detach policy on a shared diskgroup
About disk array types
Non-CDS disk group
Check category: Best practices
Check description: On systems with VxVM version 4.0 or greater and disk group version 110 or greater, checks whether any disks in a disk group are configured as portable using the Cross-platform Data Sharing (CDS) feature.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the format of the disks in the disk groups present on the system.
· Checks whether the format of the disks is compatible with CDS.
Check recommendation: Ensure that any disk groups present on the system have disks that are configured as portable and compatible with CDS; this optimizes the portability and migration of data between platforms.
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Number of disk group configuration copies
Check category: Best practices
Check description: Checks if each disk group has enough configuration copies.
Check procedure:
· Determines the number of disks present in each disk group.
· Verifies that each disk group has the optimal number of configuration and log copies.
Check recommendation: Increase the number of configuration copies.
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Large DRL
Check category: Performance
Check description: Checks whether the Dirty Region Log (DRL) size of any volume is greater than the default DRL size, and displays the region size of those volumes.
Check procedure:
· Determines the length of the DRL for each volume on the system.
· Checks whether the DRL size is greater than the default DRL size.
· Calculates the region size of each volume.
Check recommendation: The DRL size of the volume is greater than the default DRL size. A large DRL reduces the performance for random writes because DRL updates increase when the region size is small. A smaller DRL, on the other hand, increases the region size, which increases the recovery time after a crash.
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Input/output access time
Check category: Performance
Check description: Checks a volume's I/O access times and identifies volumes with I/O access times greater than the value specified in the HC_CHK_IO_ACCESS_MS parameter of the vosdc.conf file. Note: Run this check during a normal I/O load.
Check procedure:
· For each disk group, collects the vxstat command output.
· Calculates the I/O access times for each of the volumes in the disk group.
· Checks whether the access time is less than the threshold value.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you work to improve I/O access times. Verify that multiple volumes do not use the same underlying physical storage, consider an online relayout to enhance performance, or check for hardware configuration problems by comparing the iostat output with the vxstat output.
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Input/output fragment
Check category: Performance
Check description: Checks whether the Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) buffer size set on the system is greater than or equal to the default threshold value.
Check procedure:
· Determines the value of the vol_maxio parameter in the VxVM kernel for the system.
· Checks whether the value set is less than the default threshold value.
Check recommendation: The vol_maxio parameter on the system is less than the default threshold value. Symantec recommends that you increase the VxVM buffer size using the vol_maxio parameter.
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Input/output wait
Check category: Performance
Check description: Checks whether the system is experiencing unacceptable I/O waits (that is, blocked processes). Note: Run this check during a normal I/O load.
Check procedure:
· Collects the vmstat command output and determines the total number of processes blocked for I/O.
Check recommendation: Ensure that this system does not have one or more kernel threads/processes that are blocked for I/O resources. Narrow down the root cause using iostat or similar tools.
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Volume stripe unit size
Check category: Performance
Check description: Checks whether the unit size of the volume stripe is a multiple of 8K (the default stripe unit size).
Check procedure:
· Identifies the simple stripe volumes present on the system.
· Checks whether the stripe width of each of the volumes is a multiple of 8 K.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you relayout the volumes to ensure that the stripe unit size is a multiple of 8 K (the default stripe unit size).
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Unused volumes
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Checks for unused volumes on hosts with no mounted file systems and no input/output.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the volumes present on the system.
· Checks whether any file systems are mounted or I/O is running.
Check recommendation: If the volume is not in use, consider removing it to reclaim storage.
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Underutilized disks
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Checks whether the disk is underutilized.
Check procedure:
· Determines the size of the disks in each of the disk groups (excluding disks that are marked as spare or coordinator).
· Calculates the used disk space and compares it to the threshold value.
Check recommendation: Underutilized disks were found. Symantec recommends that you use all the storage disk(s) available to the system.
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Removing disks
Removing a disk with subdisks
Removing a disk with no subdisks
Removing a disk from VxVM control
Removing a disk with subdisks
Removing a disk with no subdisks
Removing a disk from VxVM control
Unused volume components
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Checks for unused objects (such as plexes and volumes present in a disk group) and violated objects (such as disabled, detached or failed plexes, stopped or disabled volumes, disabled logs, and volumes needing recovery).
Check procedure:
· For each of the disk groups on the system, generates a list of volumes along with its state and kernel state.
· Checks for the stopped volumes, disabled volumes, and the volumes that require recovery.
· Identifies the volume plexes and checks for disabled or detached plexes, disabled logs, dissociated plexes, and failed plexes.
Check recommendation: The disk groups on the system contain unused or violated objects. Symantec recommends that you either remove these objects or make them re-usable.
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Displaying volume and plex states
Recovering an unstartable mirrored volume
Recovering an unstartable volume with a disabled plex in the RECOVER state
Forcibly restarting a disabled volume
Recovering an unstartable mirrored volume
Recovering an unstartable volume with a disabled plex in the RECOVER state
Forcibly restarting a disabled volume
Unmounted Veritas File System
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for unmounted Veritas File Systems with entries in fstab and valid underlying devices.
Check procedure:
· Reads the Veritas File System entries in the fstab file.
· Checks whether these file systems are mounted.
· For any file system that is not mounted, checks whether an underlying volume exists.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends removing any stale entries and deleting the corresponding underlying volumes to reclaim space.
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Veritas File System disk layout version
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether the Veritas File System disk layout version is compatible with the installed Storage Foundation version, and whether the file system size is close to the maximum supported by the disk layout version and block size.
Check procedure:
· Determines the Storage Foundation version installed on the system.
· Determines the size of the file systems mounted on the system.
· Checks whether the file system disk layout version is compatible with the Storage Foundation version installed on the system.
· Checks whether the file system size is close to the maximum supported by the disk layout version and block size.
Check recommendation: The recommendations are summarized in the following two cases:
i) Case 1 : Ensure that any Veritas File Systems mounted on the system are the most recent disk layout version. Once you upgrade a disk layout, you cannot downgrade it. Refer to the upgrade recommendations below.
ii) Case 2 : Ensure that the Veritas File Systems mounted on the system are not approaching the maximum allowed by that disk layout version and block size. Symantec recommends upgrading the file system disk layout version. Refer to the following table to view the maximum file system size supported by various file system disk layout versions:
i) Case 1 : Ensure that any Veritas File Systems mounted on the system are the most recent disk layout version. Once you upgrade a disk layout, you cannot downgrade it. Refer to the upgrade recommendations below.
ii) Case 2 : Ensure that the Veritas File Systems mounted on the system are not approaching the maximum allowed by that disk layout version and block size. Symantec recommends upgrading the file system disk layout version. Refer to the following table to view the maximum file system size supported by various file system disk layout versions:
| FS block size (in K) | Maximum FS size supported (in TB) for FS disk layout Version 5 | Maximum FS size supported (in TB) for FS disk layout Version 6 and higher |
| 1 | 4 | 32 |
| 2 | 8 | 64 |
| 4 | 16 | 128 |
| 8 | 32 | 256 |
Symantec recommends upgrading the file system disk layout version in the following cases:
i) When the system has any Storage Checkpoints. On older version file systems, Storage Checkpoints take a long time to create and can make fsck run longer in the event of a crash.
ii) When the system does not have too many inodes. In an upgrade to a higher file system disk layout version, every inode is modified.
iii) When the system is running Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System, Symantec recommends that you upgrade the file system disk layout version to Version 7 or higher, which provides significant performance gains.
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Veritas File System resize anomaly
Check category: Availability
Check description: When the size of a Veritas File System is either a multiple of or just under a multiple of 32 K file system blocks, you cannot grow the file system when it is 100% full. This check identifies the file systems that meet this size criteria.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the Veritas File Systems present on the system.
· Obtains the size of all the Veritas File Systems present on the system.
· Verifies whether the file system size is a multiple of or just under a multiple of 32 K blocks.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you address the issue in one of the following ways:
i) Upgrade to the 5.1 or higher version of your product (for example, Storage Foundation 5.1). This issue does not exist in 5.1 and higher version.
ii) Resize the file system so that it is either:
a) Larger than the multiple of 32 K file system blocks. For example, if your file system is 32768 KB in size, it contains 1 32 K block. Resize the file system to x KB where 32768 < x < 65536.
b) Less than the multiple of 32 K blocks minus 68 K file system blocks. For example, if your file system is 32768 KB in size, it contains 1 32 K block. Resize the file system to less than 32768 - 68 = 32700 KB.
iii) Create a 64 K placeholder file in the lost+found directory on the mounted file system. When the file system is 100% full, delete the placeholder file and extend the file system. Use the following command to create the placeholder file:
dd if=/dev/zero of=DELETE_ONLY_WHEN_FS_FULL_TO_AVOID_FS_RESIZING_PROBLEM bs=64K count=1
i) Upgrade to the 5.1 or higher version of your product (for example, Storage Foundation 5.1). This issue does not exist in 5.1 and higher version.
ii) Resize the file system so that it is either:
a) Larger than the multiple of 32 K file system blocks. For example, if your file system is 32768 KB in size, it contains 1 32 K block. Resize the file system to x KB where 32768 < x < 65536.
b) Less than the multiple of 32 K blocks minus 68 K file system blocks. For example, if your file system is 32768 KB in size, it contains 1 32 K block. Resize the file system to less than 32768 - 68 = 32700 KB.
iii) Create a 64 K placeholder file in the lost+found directory on the mounted file system. When the file system is 100% full, delete the placeholder file and extend the file system. Use the following command to create the placeholder file:
dd if=/dev/zero of=DELETE_ONLY_WHEN_FS_FULL_TO_AVOID_FS_RESIZING_PROBLEM bs=64K count=1
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Veritas File System old Storage Checkpoint
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for Veritas File System Storage Checkpoints that are older than the threshold value in the HC_CHK_FS_OLD_CHECKPOINT_DAYS_OLD parameter, which is set in the vosdc.conf file.
Check procedure:
· Identifies all the Veritas File System mount points present on the system.
· Identifies all the mounted Storage Checkpoints in the mount points, and checks whether they are older than the threshold value.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends that you delete any old Veritas File System Storage Checkpoints that you no longer require in order to reclaim file system space.
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Quick I/O (QIO) in a Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System (SFCFS) cluster
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks the quick I/O (QIO) license across all nodes in a single cluster to ensure that each node has the same QIO license feature.
Check procedure:
· Checks whether Veritas Volume Manager, Veritas Cluster Server, and Cluster File System packages are installed on the system.
· Verifies whether the QIO license feature is consistent across all nodes in the cluster.
Check recommendation: The QIO license feature should be consistent across all nodes in the cluster.
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Full fsck required
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether the Veritas File Systems mounted on a system are marked for a full file system check (fsck).
Check procedure:
· Checks whether the Veritas File System package is installed on the system.
· Identifies all available Veritas File Systems on the system, and determines whether the full fsck flag is set for each one.
Check recommendation: Repairing file systems that require a full fsck is a time-consuming operation; the time required is proportional to the size of the file system. These files systems will require a full fsck before they can be mounted again; plan any downtime accordingly.
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Removable Veritas File System checkpoints
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether all the Storage Checkpoints of the mounted Veritas File Systems are removable.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the mounted Veritas File Systems on the system.
· Checks whether the Storage Checkpoints of each of the mount points were created with the removable attribute.
Check recommendation: The Storage Checkpoints are not removable. In most configurations, Storage Checkpoints should be removable to reduce the chance of an ENOSPC error on the primary data.
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Sufficient memory for full fsck
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks whether enough memory is available on the system for a full file system check (fsck) to run on a mounted Veritas File System.
Check procedure:
· Identfies any mounted Veritas File Systems on the system.
· For each of the file systems, determines the number of file system blocks, inodes and allocation units.
· Collects system information such as the available physical and swap memory.
· Calculates the memory required to perform a full fsck on each file system.
· Determines whether the required memory is available on the system.
Check recommendation: You do not have enough physical and virtual memory to run a full file system check (fsck) of this file system. In most situations, VxFS replays the intent log, avoiding the need for a full fsck. In rare circumstances, however, a full fsck is required. If you are not at or above Storage Foundation version 5.0 MP3, consider upgrading. 5.0MP3 and higher have reduced memory requirements for a full fsck. Alternately, you can add physical or virtual memory. Physical memory is preferred because using swap space increases the time to complete the check.
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Missing operating system patch
Check category: Availability
Check description: Checks for missing operating system patches required for the installed product.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the product installed on the system.
· Checks whether all the required operating system patches are installed on the system.
Check recommendation: You should install the missing operating system patches on the system.
Fragmented Veritas File System
Check category: Best practices
Check description: Checks whether the Veritas File System is fragmented and, when necessary, suggests de-fragmentation.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the mounted Veritas File Systems on the system.
· Checks whether the file systems are fragmented.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommends defragmenting the Veritas File Systems present on the system; defragmenting can improve performance and reduce recovery time.
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Veritas File System intent log size
Check category: Performance
Check description: If the disk layout is version 6 or later, this check compares the size of the Veritas File System and the size of the intent log. If the intent log is too small compared to the file system, the report recommends resizing the intent log to Symantec standards.
Check procedure:
· For each mounted Veritas File System with disk layout version 6 or greater, determines both the intent log size and the file system size.
· Compares the actual intent log size with the recommended intent log size.
Check recommendation: The file system(s) have undersized intent logs, which can impact performance. Symantec recommends increasing your intent log size to meet Symantec standards.
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I/O accelerators for databases
Check category: Performance
Check description: Checks whether or not the Oracle database is using Veritas Extension for Oracle Disk Manager (ODM) for the Veritas File System.
Check procedure:
· Checks if the VRTSodm pkg present.
· Checks if the ODM feature is licensed.
· Checks if Oracle 9i or later is present.
· Checks if VERITAS libodm present.
· Checks if Oracle ODM is linked to VRTSodm.
Check recommendation: You can use the ODM Extension for Veritas File System to provide better I/O performance to applications using Oracle9i or later. This feature is recommended over the Veritas Quick IO (QIO) or Concurrent IO (CIO) features for file system. As of now, this check does not check for QIO/CIO usage.
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Underutilized Veritas file system
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Checks whether a Veritas File System is underutilized.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the used space for all the Veritas File Systems present on the system.
· Checks whether the percentage of used space is greater than the threshold value.
Check recommendation: Underutilized Veritas File System(s) were found. Symantec recommends that you shrink the file system and its volume, and make use of the freed space elsewhere.
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Veritas Storage Foundation thin provisioning
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Determines whether the storage enclosure on your system is ready to use the Storage Foundation thin provisioning feature.
Check procedure:
· Checks whether the storage enclosure connected to the system supports thin provisioning and is certified by Veritas Storage Foundation.
· Checks whether there are any Veritas File Systems not on thin provisioned storage that can potentially be migrated.
· Determines the Veritas Storage Foundation version installed on the system.
· Checks which Veritas Storage Foundation features are licensed and configured.
Check recommendation: Symantec recommendations are :
Case I: The file system resides on thin provisioned storage, but the system does not have a Storage Foundation enterprise license installed. You require a Storage Foundation enterprise license to mirror the storage.
Case II: The file system storage enclosure appears to support thin provisioning but the Storage Foundation software is not detecting it as thin provisioned storage. Ensure you have the correct ASL installed for this storage.
Case III: Your system appears to be attached to a storage enclosure that supports thin provisioning, and the necessary Storage Foundation product is installed; however, the Veritas File System does not reside on thin provisioned storage. Possible reasons for this are:
a) Thin provisioning is not used.
b) Thin provisioning is not enabled on the storage enclosure.
c) Your version of the storage enclosure may be an older version that does not support thin provisioning.
For reasons (a) or (b), check the thin provisioning support with your storage vendor.
For reason (c), if you are considering migrating to thin provisioned storage, consider the following:
Case I: The file system resides on thin provisioned storage, but the system does not have a Storage Foundation enterprise license installed. You require a Storage Foundation enterprise license to mirror the storage.
Case II: The file system storage enclosure appears to support thin provisioning but the Storage Foundation software is not detecting it as thin provisioned storage. Ensure you have the correct ASL installed for this storage.
Case III: Your system appears to be attached to a storage enclosure that supports thin provisioning, and the necessary Storage Foundation product is installed; however, the Veritas File System does not reside on thin provisioned storage. Possible reasons for this are:
a) Thin provisioning is not used.
b) Thin provisioning is not enabled on the storage enclosure.
c) Your version of the storage enclosure may be an older version that does not support thin provisioning.
For reasons (a) or (b), check the thin provisioning support with your storage vendor.
For reason (c), if you are considering migrating to thin provisioned storage, consider the following:
· Read the white paper on thin provisioning listed in the Learn More section below.
· Ensure that your system has the required Storage Foundation enterprise license installed.
· Ensure that you have enabled the SmartMove feature in Storage Foundation. To do so, set the variable usefssmartmove=yes in the file /etc/default/vxsf. Ensure that you have the necessary level of Storage Foundation 5.0 MP3 RP installed before you turn on the SmartMove feature.
· Upgrade to Storage Foundation 5.0 MP3 RP1 for access to the full feature set of thin provisioning supported in Storage Foundation.
Note:If you have 5.0 MP3 with HF1, you may not need RP1.
Case IV:The file system's disk group version is less than 110. Symantec recommends that you upgrade to a disk group version greater than 110 before attempting to migrate.
Case V:The Storage Foundation with thin provisioning feature does not support the storage enclosure on which the file system resides.
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White Paper on: Veritas Storage Foundation and Thin Provisioning
About Stop Buying Storage
Veritas Volume Manager Administrator's Guide
Visit Patch Central: SF 5.0MP3RP1
Visit Patch Central: SF 5.0MP3HF1
About Stop Buying Storage
Veritas Volume Manager Administrator's Guide
Visit Patch Central: SF 5.0MP3RP1
Visit Patch Central: SF 5.0MP3HF1
Volume and file system size
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Checks if any of the Veritas File system and underlying Veritas volume size is different and the size difference is greater than the size specified in the user-defined parameter HC_CHK_FS_VOLS_SIZE_DIFF_THRESHOLD, which is set in the vosdc.conf file.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the mounted Veritas File Systems and determines their size.
· Identifies the volumes or volume set used to mount each of the file systems and determines its size.
· Compares the size of the file system to the size of the underlying volume or volume set and checks whether the size difference is greater than the user-defined parameter HC_CHK_FS_VOLS_SIZE_DIFF_THRESHOLD, which is set in the vosdc.conf file.
Check recommendation: The file system should be the same size as the volume or volume set to maximize volume space. Consider doing one of the following:
· Grow the file system by using the fsadm command.
· Shrink the volume size using the vxassist command.
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Multi-volume storage tiering
Check category: Utilization
Check description: For multi-volume file systems with storage tiering, checks whether any tier is full or low on space.
Check procedure:
· Identifies the Veritas File Systems mounted on the system.
· Checks whether the file system is mounted on a volume set.
· For each file system, collects the list of volumes, storage tiers, and space utilization per storage tier.
· Warns when low space is detected in any of the storage tiers.
Check recommendation: The storage tier for the multi-volume file system has little available space on it. Symantec recommends adding more volumes to this tier using the vxvoladm command.
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About Multi Volume Filesystem
About Volume Sets
Creating and Managing Volume Sets
Creating Multi-volume Filesystem
About Dynamic Storage Tiering
vxvoladm: manual page
Learn from technote
About Volume Sets
Creating and Managing Volume Sets
Creating Multi-volume Filesystem
About Dynamic Storage Tiering
vxvoladm: manual page
Learn from technote
Veritas File System full
Check category: Utilization
Check description: Checks for Veritas File System full error messages in the system's syslog.
Check procedure:
· Retrieves any Veritas File System full error messages from the system's syslog.
· Reads the date and file system type or device name associated with each message.
· Compare the message date with the current date and warns you if the violation occurred within the number of days specified in the HC_CHK_FS_FULL_MSG_NUM_DAYS parameter set in vosdc.conf file.
Check recommendation: File System full error messages were found in the system's syslog. Symantec recommends that you:
1. Provide more free space by either growing the file system or by removing unnecessary files.
2. Check for scripts or applications that are not behaving as expected.
1. Provide more free space by either growing the file system or by removing unnecessary files.
2. Check for scripts or applications that are not behaving as expected.
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