Disk Assign when moving an aggregate with software based disk ownership

[romeotheriault]

Hello, I'm going to be moving an aggregate that is currently on a system that is using software based disk ownership to another system which is using software based disk ownership. In a doc I found that covers the process:

http://now.netapp.com/NOW/knowledge/docs/ontap/rel732_vs/html/ontap/smg/GUID-85C8CF29-1FF6-4DC1-9835-EB89E7EA1BF6.html

In this doc they say, boot into maintenance mode, offline the aggregate, boot back into Data OnTap and remove ownership from each of the disks in the aggregate.

My question is, Are either of these steps necessary or important?

Do I really have to take the aggr offline and then manually remove the disk ownership? The reason I ask is that in several threads on this site I've read comments that have suggested to me that when you are using software based disk ownership on both filers you can just power-off the source filer, unplug cables, etc.. move the aggr over to the new head and power it on. The new filer will offline the aggr as foreign upon which time you can just reassign the disks to the current filer with a "disk assign all" and then online the aggregate.

Is this true or do I need to follow the docs?

Thanks for any clarification on this,

Romeo

[pascalduk]

romeotheriault wrote:
The new filer will offline the aggr as foreign upon which time you can just reassign the disks to the current filer with a "disk assign all" and then online the aggregate.

It will not offline the aggregate because the filer will see that the disks, and therefore the aggregate, are still owned by the other filer. Also "disk assign all" will fail because the disks are not unowned. Of course you can still get around this on the target filer.

Safest method is to follow the documentation, because you need down time on the source filer anyway to disconnect the shelves.

[romeotheriault]

Ok, this is fair enough. Thanks for taking the time to respond.