8.0 root volume

[rkaramchedu1]

Environment: 8.0 - 7Mode

Turns out that a root volume in 8.0 cannot be migrated to a 64 bit aggregate. I would like to find out why this is the case? Also, it is a best practice to create 64 bit aggregates in 8.0 systems? If it is, why is it not the default option?

Thanks

[tirtha]

Hi,

I guess, "the root volume can not be created on a 64-bit aggregate", is one of the restrictions in Ontap 8.0 that too both in 7-mode and C-mode, I believe. Configuring a system with a 64-bit root aggregate in 8.0 is not recommended by NetApp. So that's why i guess it is not allowing to migrate root volume to a 64-bit aggregate. Please confirm this from NOW (now.netapp.com) or NGS.

However as an additional piece of information, autoroot is allowed in 64-bit aggregate to bring up the system  quickly when the existing root can't be brought up online. After the  system is brought up, it is recommended that root volume should be switched to a 32-bit volume  as soon as possible.

In Ontap 8.0, additional aggregates can be created in 64-bit aggregate but the default is 32-bit only but traditional volumes are still restricted to 32-bit format.

Thanks

-Tirtha

[rkaramchedu1]

Configuring a system with a 64-bit root aggregate in 8.0 is not recommended by NetApp

Why is this the case? Is there a technical and/or support reason?

However as an additional piece of information, autoroot is allowed in 64-bit aggregate to bring up the system  quickly when the existing root can't be brought up online. After the  system is brought up, it is recommended that root volume should be switched to a 32-bit volume  as soon as possible.

Will autoroot be created in a 32bit aggregate if one is present?

Also, why is the 32bit aggregate a default, if the 64bit is the recommended aggregate type for 8.0 and above..?

[tirtha]

Configuring a system with a 64-bit root aggregate in 8.0 is not recommended by NetApp
Why is this the case? Is there a technical and/or support reason?

Tirtha: As far as I know, the feature of 64-bit aggregate mainly aimed to allow users to create aggregates of size more than 16 TB and this feature has been introduced in 8.0. Ontap 8.0 though allows 64-bit and 32-bit aggregate to reside and function side-by-side, it comes with some restrictions. But sorry to say that the deep dive over 32-bit default and restriction of root volumes to 32-bit, would be possible if u refer to the technical support documents of Ontap 8.0 available in NOW or you can contact NGS.

However as an additional piece of information, autoroot is allowed in 64-bit aggregate to bring up the system  quickly when the existing root can't be brought up online. After the  system is brought up, it is recommended that root volume should be switched to a 32-bit volume  as soon as possible.
Will autoroot be created in a 32bit aggregate if one is present?

Tirtha: Yes. AutoRoot Feature is mainly a recovery feature. In case due to some corruption or other inevitable reasons, you can recreate root volume by AUTOROOT feature. So anytime you can set up a 32-bit aggregate as root aggr and if that doe not contain a volume marked as root, Autoroot feature will create one as default.

Also, why is the 32bit aggregate a default, if the 64bit is the recommended aggregate type for 8.0 and above..?

I already answered this question of yours.

Post if you have any other doubt, if not me, others will pitch in and clear them for sure.

Thanks

-Tirtha

[amiller_1]

Configuring a system with a 64-bit root aggregate in 8.0 is not recommended by NetApp
Why is this the case? Is there a technical and/or support reason?

My understanding is that it's currently a technical reason -- 64 bit aggregates are a 1.0 features in ONTap 8....brand new.

However as an additional piece of information, autoroot is allowed in 64-bit aggregate to bring up the system  quickly when the existing root can't be brought up online. After the  system is brought up, it is recommended that root volume should be switched to a 32-bit volume  as soon as possible.
Will autoroot be created in a 32bit aggregate if one is present?
Also, why is the 32bit aggregate a default, if the 64bit is the recommended aggregate type for 8.0 and above..?

64 bit aggregates are not "recommended" per se....they're just another option that's available if you have a need for very large aggregates.

[sshapiro]

With Data ONTAP 8.0.1, a 7-Mode root volume can reside on a 64-bit aggregate.  In addtion, Cluster-Mode now supports 64-bit aggregates - for both data and root volumes - as of Data ONTAP 8.0.1.

Data ONTAP 8.0.1 RC1 has been available for two months and RC2 for about 10 days. There are already several hundred systems using 8.0.1.  Join the growing crowd!

Skip

[tjosselin]

Since, by default, root volume resides on a 32-bit agregate, what is the recommended procedure to migrate a 32-bit agregate containing root volume to a 64-bit agregate ?

Should we prefer to separate the root agregate in 32-bit from the data agregate which could be in 64-bit ?

Thanks

[radek_kubka]

Hi and welcome to the Communities!

I actually don't think there are any differences between separating / moving root volume to a new 64-bit aggregate vs. 32-bit aggregate.

Re separate root aggregate:

http://communities.netapp.com/message/10877#10877

Re root vol migration:

http://communities.netapp.com/message/7031#7031

(not quite sure though whether vol copy operation works between 32-bit & 64-bit volume; if it doesn't, ndmp copy will surely work)

Regards,

Radek

[scottgelb]

correct...vol copy is like a snapmirror init so it won't work 32-->64 but ndmpcopy will work well.

[aadedipe]

So is there a recommended way to migrate the root volume from a 32bit aggregate to 64bit aggregate?  I don't see how its possible short of mounting a 64bit and 32bit volumes on a unix host and running rsync. Has anyone done this in practice?

Thanks in advance,

Ayo

[scottgelb]

Basic procedure...assuming root is the name of the root volume...and also assumes only /etc is in root (not /home, etc...copy anything else you may need in that root volume too)

vol size root                                         # view current size

vol create newroot aggrname xxxxg   # aggrname is an aggr you created with "-B 64"

ndmpcopy /vol/root /vol/newroot         # options ndmpd.enable on if not enabled

priv set advanced ; rm /vol/newroot/etc/restore_symboltable    # don't need this file after

vol options newroot root                      # mark new volume as root

vol status                                             # root is still root and newroot is "diskroot" showing it will be root on reboot

reboot                                                  # downtime here...will mark newroot as root

vol rename root oldroot

vol rename newroot root                      # modify cifs shares, nfs exports as needed (the share/export follows the rename so newroot won't have prior root settings)

when all is good... vol offline oldroot, vol destroy oldroot...

[scottgelb]

I actually did include all contents of root, but you could "ndmpcopy /vol/root/etc /vol/newroot/etc" then rm /vol/newroot/etc/restore_symboltable to just copy etc which is what you need to mark a new volume root... in the example above "rm /vol/newroot/restore_symboltable" since I didn't specify etc in the copy...you get the idea..