"ERROR: V-3-21268: /dev/vx/dsk/diskgroup/volume is corrupted. needs checking" is reported by Storage Foundation, suggesting filesystem corruption within a VxFS volume

Problem

This article discusses how to troubleshoot VxFS filesystem corruption.
 

Error Message

Error : UX:vxfs mount: ERROR: V-3-21268: /dev/vx/dsk/disk group/volume is corrupted. needs checking

Solution

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Gathering information about the file system, including a metasave
3. Replaying a metasave

1. Introduction

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When VxFS file system corruption is suspected, the degree of corruption can be often assessed *before* attempting to run “fsck –y."

Note: Once "fsck -y" has been performed, permanent changes to the metadata have already occurred.  As a result, further analysis of the file system is unlikely to be productive.

2. Gathering a metasave, and other information about the file system

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Gathering a "metasave" of the filesystem, along with other information, makes it possible to safely run fsck against a "replay" of the filesystem metadata instead of running it against actual production data. This can be used to "predict" the effect that running fsck -y will have on a file system without actually running it on production data.
 

3. Replaying a Metasave

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The benefit of replaying a metasave on a temporary volume is that it allows the use of utilities that affect file system metadata, such as fsck and fsdb, without affecting the original file system.