The "symrdf failover" command returns the error: "Cannot proceed in the current RDF Consistency state except if the force flag is used"

Summary: The "symrdf failover" command returns the error: "Cannot proceed in the current RDF Consistency state except if the force flag is used."

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Symptoms


The "symrdf failover" command returns the error: "Cannot proceed in the current RDF Consistency state except if the force flag is used."

Cause

Customer had enabled consistency mode on devices in this group.

This can be checked by running the following command:

C:\>symrdf -sid xxxx query -rdfg 86

Symmetrix ID                 : 0001976xxxxx    (Microcode Version: 5978)
Remote Symmetrix ID          : 0001976yyyyy    (Microcode Version: 5978)
RDF (RA) Group Number        :  86 (55)

        Source (R1) View                 Target (R2) View     FLAGS
---------------------------------    ------------------------ ----- ------------
               ST                 LI       ST
Standard        A                  N        A
Logical  Sym    T R1 Inv  R2 Inv   K Sym    T R1 Inv  R2 Inv        RDF Pair
Device   Dev    E Tracks  Tracks   S Dev    E Tracks  Tracks  MCES  STATE
--------------------------------- -- ------------------------ ----- ------------
N/A      00266 RW       0   45909 NR 00266 NR       0       0 AX.E  Suspended
N/A      00267 RW       0   30032 NR 00267 NR       0       0 AX.E  Suspended

Total             ------- -------             ------- -------
  Track(s)              0   75941                   0       0
  MB(s)               0.0  4103.8                 0.0     0.0

Legend for FLAGS:

 (M)ode of Operation : A = Async, S = Sync, D = Adaptive Copy Disk Mode
                     : T = Active
 (C)onsistency State : X = Enabled, . = Disabled, M = Mixed, - = N/A
 (E)xempt            : X = Enabled, . = Disabled, M = Mixed, - = N/A
 R1/R2 Device (S)ize : E = R1 EQ R2, 1 = R1 GT R2, 2 = R2 GT R1, - = N/A
 

When the consistency mode is enabled, you would be required to either disable it, or use the -force flag.

Resolution

The customer can use the -force flag to proceed with the command, or alternatively they can disable consistency on the relevant group:

symrdf -g <dgname> disable

Additional Information

In the Solutions Enabler Symmetrix SRDF Family CLI Product Guide, the following is noted: "If consistency is enabled on SRDF/A-capable devices within the group, then the -force option must be applied for the failover, split, and suspend commands."

Affected Products

Solutions Enabler
Article Properties
Article Number: 000082813
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 02 Sept 2025
Version:  3
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