Veritas InfoScale™ 7.3.1 Troubleshooting Guide - Linux

To replace a failed root disk

1. Use the vxplex command to remove the plex records that were on the failed disk:

   # vxplex -g bootdg -o rm dis rootvol-01 swapvol-01

   This example removes the plexes rootvol-01, and swapvol-01 that are configured on the failed root disk. You may need to modify the list of plexes according to your system configuration.

2. Shut down the system, and then power it down.
3. Replace the failed disk with a disk of the same or larger capacity.
4. Power up the system, and boot it from Linux installation CD number 1.
5. On a Red Hat system, run the following command at the boot prompt to put the system in rescue mode:

   boot: linux rescue

   On a SUSE system, choose the Rescue option from the menu.

   Log in as root, select your language and keyboard, and choose to skip finding your installation.

6. Use the fdisk command to ensure that the root mirror disk (sdb) and the replacement root disk (sda) have the same geometry:

   # fdisk -l /dev/sdb
   # fdisk -l /dev/sda

   See the fdisk(8) manual page.

7. If the replacement disk already contains a VxVM private region, use the fdisk command to change the partition type for the private region partition to a value other than 7f.

   # fdisk /dev/sda

8. Make a temporary mount point, /vxvm, and mount the root partition on it:

   # mkdir /vxvm
   # mount -t ext3 /dev/sdb1 /vxvm

   In this example, the mirror of the root partition is /dev/sdb1, and the root file system type is ext3. You may need to modify this command according to your system configuration. For example, the root file system may be configured as a reiserfs file system.

9. If the disk has a separate boot partition, mount this on /vxvm/boot:

   # mount -t ext3 /dev/sdb2 /vxvm/boot

   In this example, the mirror of the boot partition is /dev/sdb2, and the boot file system type is ext3. You may need to modify this command according to your system configuration.

10. Install the master boot record (MBR) on the replacement disk (in this example, sda).

    For the GRUB boot loader:

    Create a backup copy of the GRUB configuration file (/vxvm/boot/grub/menu.lst or /vxvm/etc/grub.conf as appropriate), for example:

    # cp /vxvm/etc/grub.conf /vxvm/etc/grub.conf.b4repldisk

    Run the sync command:

    # sync

    In the configuration file, change all occurrences of sda to sdb, except for the boot= statement.

    In the configuration file, change all occurrences of hd0 to hd1.

    After saving your changes to the configuration file, run the following commands to install the boot loader:

    # /vxvm/sbin/grub
        grub> root (hd1,1)
        grub> setup (hd0)
        grub> quit

    For the LILO boot loader:

    Create a backup copy of the LILO configuration file, for example:

    # cp /vxvm/etc/lilo.conf /vxvm/etc/lilo.conf.b4repldisk

    Run the sync command:

    # sync

    In the configuration file, change all occurrences of sda to sdb, except for the boot= statement.

    In the configuration file, add a root= statement to the boot entries where this is missing. This statement specifies the device that is to be mounted as root, for example, /dev/sdb1. The following example is for the vxvm_root entry:

        image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.ELsmp
        label=vxvm_root
        initrd=/boot/VxVM_initrd.img
        root=/dev/sdb1

    After saving your changes to the configuration file, run the following command to install the boot loader:

    # /vxvm/sbin/lilo -r /vxvm

11. Unmount the partitions, run sync, and then exit the rescue shell:

    # cd /
    # umount /vxvm/boot
    # umount /vxvm
    # sync
    # exit

12. Shut down and power cycle the system. Enter the system's BIOS settings mode (this is usually achieved by pressing a key such as Esc, F2 or F12 on the console keyboard). Verify in the BIOS settings that the system is set to boot from the new root disk (in this example, sdb). Otherwise the system may not be bootable.
13. Reboot the system, selecting vxvm_root at the GRUB or LILO boot prompt as appropriate.
14. Run the following command to mirror the volumes from the root mirror disk onto the replacement disk:

    # /etc/vx/bin/vxrootmir sda rootdisk

    This example assumes that the disk media name of the replacement root disk is sda. You may need to modify this name according to your system configuration.

15. Restore the contents of the boot loader configuration file, and recreate the original MBR on the root disk (in this example, sda).

    For the GRUB boot loader:

    Restore the original boot loader configuration file:

    # mv /etc/grub.conf.b4repldisk /etc/grub.conf

    Run the sync command:

    # sync

    Run the following commands to recreate the boot loader:

     # /sbin/grub
        grub> root (hd0,1)
        grub> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0)
        grub> quit

    For the LILO boot loader:

    Restore the original boot loader configuration file:

    # mv /etc/lilo.conf.b4repldisk /etc/lilo.conf

    Run the sync command:

    # sync

    Run the following command to recreate the boot loader:

    # /sbin/lilo