New-EQLReplicaClone

Question

I'm trying to use the powershell cmdlet to create a clone of a replica for off-host backup purposes. Powershell fails with this error:

New-EqlReplicaClone : PsApiCmdletCommon.NewReplicaClone failed due to error: 432345564379286669 -

At line:1 char:20
+ New-EQLReplicaClone <<<< -ReplicaSetName MyReplicaSet -CloneName MyReplicaSet-BKCLONE
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (PsApiCmdletCommon.NewReplicaClone:String) [New-EqlReplicaClone], PSAPI
ErrorException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Failed PsApiCmdletCommon.NewReplicaClone.,PsApiCmdletCommon.NewReplicaClone

I saw one post indicating this is not possible, however why is this part of the cmdlet if it's not possible?

I have tried this with the most recent version of HIT, 4.7, to no avail.

I'm giving up on powershell for now and will look into using SSH connection (because I need a solution quickly), but if anyone has any ideas on this, or lude and crude comments, I'd love to hear any and all.

Using snaps from the primary is not an option, the backup hardware sits in our recovery site.

Thanks in advance!

TBoneMNP · Accepted Answer

I did open a case with support. After they started sending me down a path of verifying the communication between the ASM utility and the array, I chose to do my own troubleshooting.

I was able to determine that the powershell function does not work entirely. My volumes have a dash in the name (Sitename-VolumeName) and this doesn't work. Using quotes does not make a difference.

To verify I created a volume without dashes and I was able to run my command fine.

TBoneMNP · Accepted Answer

The powershell cmdlet assumes a 100% snapshot reserve when creating clones and there is no way to change this with the current powershell add-in. Since Equallogic is so bloated, my array is full and cannot accommodate the 8 TB required to create a 4 TB clone. 21 TB usable capacity, 12.5 TB used, unable to use any automation method to clone the most recent replica.

I asked how long until the updated cmdlet would be out, waiting on that response. It won't be available in any amount of time that matters to me though, so I'm abandoning this altogether and I guess I'll have to backup from the raw file system.

What a waste of time this has been.

TBoneMNP · Accepted Answer

Regarding my previous post, the cmdlet assumes 100% snapshot reserve and this cannot be modified in any way. So, the only method available which will allow me to choose the most recent replica simply does not work. To top it off, I can't even open any of the documents that I can use for reference to write up a PERL script, some issue with the Dell site, which I have a case open for that as well.

Arrrgggg, when will the madness end, seriously?

TBoneMNP · Answer

Sorry, manually create the clone.

TBoneMNP · Answer

Sorry, manually create the clone

TBoneMNP · Answer

I am able to manually create the replica via the GUI without pausing replication. There is enough free space if I set the snap reserve to 0, however when at default 100% I cannot create the replica. This is a 4 TB volume.

Thanks

TBoneMNP · Answer

I changed the default snap reserve to 0 and when cloning via GUI it's showing 0 and create successfully, however when I use pshell I get the same error I originally got in my initial post.

TBoneMNP · Answer

Oh cool, I didn't think I could get support on powershell stuff. I will do that. Thanks for the prompt response! I'll post back with my results.

TBoneMNP · Answer

After opening a case with support they starting asking me to verify the communication between ASM and the array. This VM has no iSCSI access, so there is no point troubleshooting this.

I was able to determine through my own troubleshooting that the cmdlet doesn't work entirely.

My volumes have a dash in the name (SiteName-VolumeName) and the cmdlet doesn't like this. I created a volume with no dashes and built the replica. I was able to run this command fine. Looks like the powershell cmdlet doesn't work properly, which is what I suspected in the beginning.

Thanks for your help on this one.

TBoneMNP · Answer

I have tried to post my response twice now. Everytime I mark the question as answered I get an error "Resource Not Found". When I got back to the post my entries are gone. This is the last time I'm going to try, since I copied the text the second time. Below is the answer, I'm not going to mark it as answer since the post is deleted when I do.

After opening a case with support they starting asking me to verify the communication between ASM and the array. This VM has no iSCSI access, so there is no point troubleshooting this.

I was able to determine through my own troubleshooting that the cmdlet doesn't work entirely.

My volumes have a dash in the name (SiteName-VolumeName) and the cmdlet doesn't like this. I created a volume with no dashes and built the replica. I was able to run this command fine. Looks like the powershell cmdlet doesn't work properly, which is what I suspected in the beginning.

Thanks for your help on this one.

TBoneMNP · Answer

I've been going back and forth with tier 3. Long story short this is only affecting one replicaset on this array. Any other volume, whether the name has dashes or not, works just fine.

So it seems to relate to my specific volume, which I'm still waiting for a result.

TBoneMNP · Answer

I did leave an answer for this and marked it as resolved, however it has since disappeared for whatever reason. I'm going to assume some kind of bug in the website which caused the issues I had previously with this post.

Long story short, powershell cmdlet assumes a 100% volume reserve when trying to create the clone. in my case this is a 4 TB volume, which turns out to be 8 required. the system has 6 TB free, so pshell fails.

Giving up and reverting to on-host backups. So far I've been nothing but disappointed with this Equallogic array.

EqualLogic

New-EQLReplicaClone

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