topic moving root volume in netapp 9 in ONTAP Discussions

moving root volume in netapp 9

alv86 — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 09:53:19 GMT

I need to move the root volume to another volume in another aggregate to then do the sanitization.

Netapp version is 9.1 and all the documents are saying I need to create a new volume by using the following command:

vol create

But I get the following error:

vol: no such command "create"
for more information type "vol help".

any suggestions?

Re: moving root volume in netapp 9

Ontapforrum — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 10:41:58 GMT

'Vol create' command is available to cluster and Vserver administrators at the admin privilege level. Do you have the right privileges to 'create' ? Are you logged in as 'admin' role ?

Also, as you are running Ontap 9, you can follow the NetApp kb to relocate the root volume (Non-disruptively).

How to non-disruptively migrate a node's root volume/aggregate onto new disks in ONTAP 9?
https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/ONTAP_OS/How_to_non-disruptively_migrate_a_nodes_root_volume_aggregate_onto_new_disks_in_ONTAP_9

https://docs.netapp.com/us-en/ontap/system-admin/relocate-root-volumes-new-aggregates-task.html

Re: moving root volume in netapp 9

alv86 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 06:23:12 GMT

Thank you for your respond.

I have used the non-disruptive migration on one node that had 3 SSD spare, and managed to sanitize all disks.

But for the other node, I had no spare disk, so decided to change owner of 3 sanitized disks to the 2nd node and they become shared. I disabled the ADP and unpartitioned the 3 disks using the link below

https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/ONTAP_OS/How_to_change_disk_ownership_between_HA_pairs_in_ONTAP_platforms

then tried the non-distruptive migration but this time the node is stocked with repeating the following error.

ERROR: Invalid arguments given to the boot menu option "replace_root".

Disk 0a.00.4 is not a spare disk

Bootarg set for initiating replace-root automatically.
Initiating replace-root. Command: replace_root new_root -t raid_dp -d 0a.00.4 0a.00.6 0a.00.8bootarg.bootmenu.selection is |replace_root new_root -t raid_dp -d 0a.00.4 0a.00.6 0a.00.8|

Feb 07 17:16:02 [MELSANCTRL01:raid.assim.tree.noRootVol:error]: No usable root volume was found!
ERROR: Invalid arguments given to the boot menu option "replace_root".
Disk 0a.00.4 is not a spare disk

Can you please advise how can I restore this?

Thank you in advance

Re: moving root volume in netapp 9

Ontapforrum — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 10:01:59 GMT

No usable root volume found:
https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/ONTAP_OS/Unable_to_boot_2nd_node_when_re-initializing_HA_pair%2C_no_usable_root_volume_found

Also, kindly let us know:

1) Ontap version you are initializing with?

2) Filer Model ?

3) Is there a Production data on the Storage - ? You need to think about it, before repurposing it using the kb above.

To resolve - Please follow the "repurpose' kb below.
https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/ONTAP_OS/How_to_repurpose_an_HA_Pair_with_ONTAP_9

Re: moving root volume in netapp 9

alv86 — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 07:43:32 GMT

Thank you for the links, but most of the actions in that KB does not apply, as the controller can't be reach to be halted,.. or do any config.

The Version is 9.1 and in the boot menu I only can see 8 items as the picture attached. I tried (5) maintenance mode but it does not boot.

There is no Data on the device and I just need to Sanitize all disk to decommission the device.

Any suggestion is highly appreciated.

Thanks