Sanitize entire netapp

[denskie22]

Hi,

I'm really new to netapp so forgive me that i don't know the commands and options from the system.

We have a older Netapp (FAS940, ontap version 7.0.5) which should be totally wiped before we get rid of it.

The netapp has 2 disk shelf's, then 2 heads and another 3 disk shelf's. (heads both see their own disks and the others as partner disks)

I managed to get the above 2 disk shelfs wiped (with some help) by moving the root volume to a newly created aggegate.

There was a arregate with 3 disks so we just rebuild that one, moved the root volume to it and sanitized the other 25 disks.

Now, the other one has only 1 arregate with 42 disks divided into 3 raid groups.

There is only 1 spare disk available. The root volume is also on this arregate.

How can i possible wsanitize these disks?

I want to have the same setup as the other head, so 3 disks for the root volume and all other disks for the data. (meaning sanitized and set to spare)

But i cant find a way to get 2 disks of the other arregate, or any other way to get 2 additional spare disks to create a new arregate for a root volume.

How can i get this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

(netapp is no longer in use / production. It contains no data and should be prepared for selling. That's why I need to have all disks sanitized so data recovery will be impossible. I just need a working netapp like it came from the factory)

[jscott]

The first thing that comes to mind is to reboot the filer and enter ^C (holding control key and C key together) early in the boot process where it says (in effect) type ^C to get the boot options menu. From the menu select item 4) Initialize ...  This will zero the disks and install the default root volume. It will take about an hour depending on disk type and size. NOTE: This is not a triple over-write used by the high security systems.

[denskie22]

Hi,

Ok, i assume you mean by oening a terminal session then reboot it and the preform this action?

will it then create a new arregate for the root volume with only 3 disks (or can i specify the disks?) so i can sanitize the rest?

[jscott]

These steps are taken from the filer console, you cannot do it through a

telnet/rsh/ssh connection. After you have selected option 4, you should

be prompted by

Zero disks and install a new filesystem? Answer "y"

and

This will erase all the data on the disks, are you sure? Answer "y"

The size of the root volume does not matter.

[denskie22]

Ad then i have 1 arregate with 3 disks and can sanitize the disks?

It is really inportant that we sanitize the disks, only on that way there will be no data recovery possible.

This head had 42 disks so i want 39 disks to be spare.

[jscott]

Oh, I see what you mean. The initialization process will write zeros to

all the disks in parallel. If you need to reduce the possibility of

recovery further (I do not think you can get it to zero -- I think that

requires a hammer) you can either add all

the disks to the root volume (assuming that adds up to less than 16 TB)

or you can create a separate aggregate/volume to hold all the disks.

Turn off snapshots and fill-up the volume(s) with data (usually 1s) then

delete all the data files. Repeat at least two times. I hope you have

plenty of time. This could take several days.

[denskie22]

and how do i create a separate arrgete if all disks are used in the first arregate?

i need all the disks to be  spares in order to get the sanitation running.

to get them spare, they need to be removed from the arregate and to do that they must be NO root volume on that arregate.

I will let someone on-site connect a console cable to the netapp so i can see what the re-initilaize process does.

[jscott · Accepted solution]

We have wondered into an area that I do not have experience, sanitizing

spares. If you know that part (or I can research it for you), then

follow most of the instructions I gave you to initialize your filer

choosing option 4a. This will create a RAID4 root volume (vol0) using 2

disks (rather than the 3 required for RAID DP). All other disks will be

zeroed and available as spares.

[denskie22]

this is the solution indeed!

I used option 4a and that created 1 arregate with 3 disks for the root volume.

All other disks are spare now and i'm going to start the sanitize for them.

Thanks for your help!

[scottgelb]

This is a good thread... after you sanitize all the disks and if you want to sanitize the 3 disks used for root, create a new aggregate for root, then reclaim the 3 drives not sanitized..

To get disks back after sanitize... "priv set advanced ; disk unfail -s x.xx"... you could do this for 3 drives then "aggr create newroot -d x.xx x.xx x.xx" for those 3 disks... "vol create newroot newroot nnng" "vol restrict newroot", "vol copy start -S currentroot newroot", "vol online newroot", "vol options newroot root", "reboot", then after reboot, offline and destroy the old root and the 3 drives, then you can sanitize those too.

[melanies411]

This is definitely the best advice on this thread, taken into account that most banks require higher level sanitization. Thanks.

[SteveAPMA]

I love it when a decade old post is still useful.  Thanks!