vxvm startup and LVM conversion

[Wessam Aly]

I have decided to start using vxvm and want to migrate some of my LVM vgs to vxvm.
while starting testing on a test server (hpux 11.11), I try to start vxvmconvert and i get the following error:

The Volume Configuration Daemon (vxconfigd) is either not running or not enabled.
Please correct the problem before re-running vxvmconvert.

I want to know how can I get vxconfigd to start in enabled mode. everytime i start it, it says it starts in disabled mode.

running vxinstall reports that all disks on the system are LVM disks and ignores them.

also, anyone knows any resources with a quick guide to starting with vxvm.. I really mean something quick. I have a short timeframe to migrate my vg to vxvm.
does dmp need a seperate license ? (i need the same functionality as pv links in lvm but with balanced I/O.)

thanks

[John Guster]

VxVM doesn't have a control variable in /etc/rc.config.d to determine whether the VxVM daemons(vxconfigd, vxrelocd, and vxnotify) should start during the boot process. However, /sbin/init.d/vxvm-startup script check to see if /etc/vx/reconfig.d/state.d/install-db exists. The this file exists, the VxVM daemons don't starte during the boot process. If it don't exist, the daemons start.
I think you have this file. So remove this file install-db, then /sbin/init.d/vxvm0startup start to start the VxVM daemons.
Cheers.

[Wessam Aly]

I tried that and I got this error when starting using vxvm-startup

vxvm:vxconfigd: ERROR: enable failed: Error in disk group configuration copies
No valid disk found containing disk group; transactions are disabled.
vxvm: Vold is not enabled for transactions
No volumes started

[George Neill · Accepted solution]

I recently had simular problem. Try running /usr/sbin/vxinstall. You will need to know the path to a disk that can be used for the initial rootdg. Once rootdg is configured everything should start working.

Good luck, I am just starting to use vxvm also.
George

[John Guster]

get the version info from swlist on VxVM. If it is 3.5, then you need a non LVM disk to be configured as rootdg under vxvm and for you to start the vxvm daemons. If it is 4.1, then you don't need rootdg. In order to start the vxvm daemons at the first time, one needs enabling VxVM by execute vxinstall, then answer the questions...enjoy

[Wessam Aly]

As stated before, it seems that in vxvm 3.5 which comes by default with 11.11 needs to define rootdg with at least one disk in order for vxconfigd daemon to start in enabled mode.

if vxconfigd starts in disabled mode, vxvmconvert will fail to convert any LVM VGs to VxVM dg.

Regards to all who helped.
It would be great if anyone has a reference to a "quick and dirty" VxVM guide, as the original HP documention is very good but too lengthy for my taste..

thanks all