HPUX 11i SAN device ID's have changed after reboot

[David I Whitehouse]

Hi,

We've just reboot one of our RP3440s and all of the SAN attached device ID have changed.
This means that all of the LVM information is out of date and hence we can't mount any SAN volumes.

I can see the devices through secure path and I can see the device ID have changed by checking the current LVM config.

My question is "How to I update the LVM config to point at the correct devices?"

Any help apprecited.

[freddy_21 · Accepted solution]

1.move your /etc/lvmtab to another directory, and run vgscan -a. it will create new lvmtab with new devices
2.please backup your ioconfig at /stand and /etc, so if you get device changes you can copy at both diectory and restart the server.
3. Difficult to fix the device changes to original configuration. You must remember all instant number from your device, and run some command like ioinit.

thanks
freddy

[Torsten.]

Is this a new secure path installation or an upgrade?

[David I Whitehouse]

Freddy.

Thanks for your prompt response. I've just done a vgscan and it has updated the LVM information correctly. I've been able to mount a the volumes back on the system after a vgchange -a y

Thanks again for a fast and accurate response, much appreciated.

[Jorge Osorio_1]

David, HP-UX relies on the Domain, Area, Port information to create the fcid and the device files for any SAN Attached volumes. This means that if you move a cable at the switch, that info will change and your device files will have to be re-generated. Here is my suggestion to minimize the overhead of recreating device files correctly maping them etc..

a) Proactively make copies of mapfiles of volume groups. Use the vgexport command

b) Proactively capture ioscan -fn to see where the devices are and their device files.

c) Proactively capture the boot path variables with a setboot (if booting from SAN) command to display

d) Once booted, then re-import from the mapfiles to recover their lvm structures, or:
1) Move /etc/lvmtab to /etc/lvmtab.(date) and then issue an ioscan -fn.
2) Once ioscan is complete, cd /dev and issue an insf -e.
3) Execute ioscan -fn again and verify all devices show device files now.
4) Issue vgscan -v and wait for completion.
5) Once vgscan completes, issue vgchange -a y to re-activate all volume groups.

Issue a mount -a command to mount all mount points. Verify data is visible and restart hp-ux.

If no physical cable or port changs took place I would check to make sure that your Fibre Channel switch is at the latest revision of firmware as this could be a result of a previously documented defect.

Regards,