Enlarge Windows system volume

Question

Hi all

We are requested to enlarge the system volume of a Windows server. The volume is currently a single hyper of 11GB, the new size is twice that amount. I built a meta device and restored a physical backup to that meta, but the new filesystem was corrupt. As Open Migrator is not an option (system volume) I'm running out of options now. Has anyone an idea, how to solve that problem?

Thanks in advance

Uwe

dynamox · Accepted Answer

so you are booting from SAN ? This should work but test it on non production server first

1) shutdown the server

2) unmap device from FA (make it write_disable first)

3) create meta by adding another device

4) map it back to FA (also make it read/write again)

5) mask it to an available Windows system, use diskpart on that system to extend the partition.

6) unmask it and mask it back to the original server

7) try to boot.

RRR · Answer

As long as the original server is down, you don't even need to unmask it from that server. Simply mask it to a 2nd server, do the diskpart trick and unmask it afterwards. Then boot the original server again.

UweB1 · Answer

Thanks for the information.

I just tried it and got an error. After masking it to another server to extend the partition, I got the error 'The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable'. I thoroughly followed your list point by point and the symconfigure ended successfully.

Did you try this before?

Thanks

Uwe

RRR · Answer

Make sure the server whose c-drive it is is switched off. 2 Servers may NOT access the same LUN at the same time. That's why Dynamox mentioned to unmask the bootLUN from that server and that's why I made the comment to make sure the boot-LUN server is switched off.

UweB1 · Answer

Finally it worked! My scripts create striped metas under the hood, what is not helpful for this task. After creating a concatenated meta from the hyper and adding an additional hyper to the new meta, I was able to expand the partition and boot the original server from the new meta.

Thanks

Uwe

dynamox · Answer

what process did you use to extend the partition ?

UweB1 · Answer

Hi dynamox,

I used your list preceded by a clone to keep the original as fallback. At pt 3 I created a concatenated meta and then increased the filesystem after masking the new meta to a test server. The final boot of the original server with the new disk was ok.

Thanks for your support

Uwe

Symmetrix

Enlarge Windows system volume

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