2nd EMC BCV split fails fsck

[Stuart Abramson_2]

We are implementing a 2nd BCV off of the primary STDs. The 2nd split volumes failed fsck. I got a message:

Checking logical volumes in vbkp01.
log replay in progress
vxfs fsck: file system does not contain a valid log
vxfs fsck: cannot perform log replay
file system is not clean, full fsck required
full file system check required, exiting ...
Mounting /dev/vbkp01/lvol01 to /u30.
vxfs mount: /dev/vbkp01/lvol01 is corrupted. needs checking

Here is the time sequence:

2300: First BCV syncs
0115: Shut down Oracle
0030: split 1st BCV
0100: 2nd BCV syncs
0118: 2nd BCV splits
0119: fsck fails
0300: restart Oracle

The code is the same. The commands look like this:

symmir -f ${BCVFILE} -sid ${SID} -instant split -nopromt

fsck -F vxfs /dev/${VOLUME}/${LV}

When I do a "full" fsck with the "-y" option, the fsck is successful, and the filesystems mount:

fsck -y -F vxfs /dev/vbkp03/lvol05

And, the filesystems are identical, and Oracle starts on the 2nd BCV.

So, am I doing something wrong?:
Is there something different about a 2nd split after a 1st split?
Should I not use "instant split" on the 2nd split?
Should I wait more time?

We don't have "concurrent sync/split" capability. Our microcode is 5566.

[John Poff]

Hi,

I've done a good bit of BCV work with EMC arrays before but I haven't seen anything like that before.

Are you mounting the second set of BCVs on the same system? If so, are you doing a vgchgid and then vgimporting the volume group?

Are you doing a cold shutdown of Oracle or just putting the tablespaces into backup mode [I think that's the right term-I'm not a DBA]?
I wonder if some processes could still be open when the split happens which causes some filesystem problems.

The only part of it I've never tried before is the instant split. We just did regular splits on our EMC BCVs. You asked about waiting, and with the regular split the command doesn't finish until the split is done. I'd suggest trying it without the 'instant' split and see how that works.

If you can, you should upgrade your microcode level and software level so that you can do the concurrent BCVs. It lets you keep up to eight sets of BCVs associated with a standard device at one time. It really works great for keeping multiple sets of BCVs in play with the same set of standard disks.

JP