topic Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only in ONTAP Discussions

Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

MRJORDANG — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 06:22:37 GMT

Hello,

I am looking into the ability to "copy" a vfiler and all assigned resources (volumes) to a new HA-Pair. I've been looking into the vfiler dr configure and vfiler migrate commands but, when run in their entirety, they both "de-activate" the source vfiler.

I'd like to copy a vifiler to a new HA-Pair w/out affecting the source vfiler. Essentially, the copied vfiler on the destination would be completely independent of the source vfiler. Is there any way to do this using the vfiler command? If not, what would be the best way to perform this action? We are using ONTAP 8.1 7-mode.

FYI: The use case for this action is disaster recovery testing.

Thanks,

Jordan

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

thomas_glodde — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:30:06 GMT

Hi Jordan,

snapmirror all the needed volumes over and run a vfiler create to build a new vfiler with existing datavolumes?

Kind regards,

Thomas

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

MRJORDANG — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:43:07 GMT

I think that will work. Very simple solution but effective solution that I didnt think of. Thanks for the response!

I read a bit more and it looks like I can do a vfiler dr configure sourceVfiler@sourceFiler on the destination HA-pair. Then after that, I can do a vfiler dr activate sourceVfiler@sourceFiler on the destination HA-pair which will "activate" (break the dependency on the source vfiler) the vfiler on the destination while leaving the source vfiler intact. The net result is that I've copied the source vfiler to the destination and left the source intact. This still needs to be tested but the "What activating the disaster recovery vFiler unit does" section of the ONTAP 8.1 Multistore Management Guide seems to indicate that the vfiler dr activate command does not do anything to the source vfiler.

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

SUDHEER_H21 — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:50:09 GMT

I got this VFiler DR Creation manual. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Sudheer.

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

scottgelb — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:51:16 GMT

dr configure will not disable the source vFiler... migrate will but only when you run migrate copmplete.

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

scottgelb — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:51:42 GMT

Correct

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

HENRYPAN2 — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:54:07 GMT

Cool Sudheer,

Thanks for sharing this intesrting lab guide on vFiler DR

Henry

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

scottgelb — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:02:34 GMT

This is an excerpt from my labs the older version 3-4 years ago that we gave in Athens, Vegas and Prague. I've been published! Although my info removed from the pdf.

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

scottgelb — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:04:21 GMT

Here is the latest and greatest and FINAL vFiler lab guide. There likely won't be more additions to the product in 7-Mode so this should cover the life of 7-mode. See attachment (the real guide).

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

HENRYPAN2 — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:04:49 GMT

Wow Scott,

Would you please share your latest guide ?

Thanks

Henry

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

scottgelb — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:05:59 GMT

posted on this thread

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

scottgelb — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:08:19 GMT

One of my customers actually had all the PDFs too (we used to give in 8 or 9 separate labs) with my info (and Roger Weeks who co-presented and edited all the docs too) removed so they are out there which is all good for people to learn, but the latest one (all labs in one pdf below) is the most updated resource for the labs. The ONTAP multistore guide is a very good reference too but this guide provides the hands-on. For NetApp and VAR employees, the Lab On Demand folks posted the virtual machines that correspond to these labs and you can run through the lab on demand for a very good hands-on experience.

Re: Multistore - Copy Vfiler to New HA-Pair Only

SKC64750 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:23:30 GMT

This can also be done with Datamotion for vfiler, which will move the vfiler on to the destination filer with 120 second I/O delay, where you can set in a way that it deletes the source vfiler once migrated or it can keep intact even after migration.