PowerScale SyncIQ "Target path overlap" error

Summary: SyncIQ may fail with "Target path overlap" error.

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Symptoms

The report displays an error, similar to the following: 
Target path overlap. Previous policy datatest from cluster01 has path /ifs/users/dataset. New policy(or mirror policy of) datamove from cluster01 has path /ifs/users/dataset (unrunnable)"

Cause

SyncIQ prevents overlap on a target path to maintain source and target cluster data integrity.
If a SyncIQ policy has governance over a target path, a new policy targeting the same path fails.
If a SyncIQ policy is deleted using the "--local-only" flag, the target governance of the deleted policy can remain.

Resolution

If a SyncIQ target exists on the target cluster, run the following to remove the overlapping target.

  1. Open an SSH connection on any node in the target cluster and log in using the "root" account.
  2. Run the following command to identify the policy name that must be removed: 
    # isi sync target list
    Output similar to the following appears: 
    target-1# isi sync target list

Name                    Source    Target Path                              Last Job State  FOFB State
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
datamov                cluster01  /ifs/source/dataset                     finished          writes_disabled
home1                  cluster01  /ifs/home1                              finished          writes_disabled
  3. Run the following command, where <Policy> is the name of the policy from the previous step:
    NOTE: Breaking an association causes a full sync so be sure to use it here to clean up an incorrect or unneeded target path. 
    target-1# isi sync target break datamov
  4. Type yes to the warning about breaking the policy's target association, and then press ENTER.
    1. Example warning: 
      Breaking a policy's target association will result in requiring a full synchronization of all data on the next sync.
Are you sure? (yes/[no]):
  5. Open an SSH connection on any node in the source cluster and log in using the "root" account.
  6. Run the following command to resolve the conflict of the new policy, where <Policy> is the name of the new policy: 
    cluster01-1# isi sync policies resolve dataset
  7. Run the new policy: 
    cluster01-1# isi sync job start dataset

Additional Information

In rare cases, the target path overlap happens when the source cluster attempts to sync to its own path due to the following configuration issues:

  • Duplicate IP ranges between source and target cluster.
  • The target host on the sync policy configuration resolves back to the source cluster.

    Check network pools on both clusters for overlapping IP ranges.
# isi network pools list -v |grep "IP Ranges"


Verify that the target hostname or IP does not reside on or resolve to the source cluster.

  1. Get the target host or IP.
isi sync policies view <POLICYNAME>

       2. If name resolve to get the IP.

nslookup <HOSTNAME>

       3. Check the source cluster for the IP.

isi_for_array -sX 'ifconfig |grep <IP>'

Affected Products

Isilon, Isilon SyncIQ

Products

PowerScale OneFS
Article Properties
Article Number: 000119018
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 04 Nov 2025
Version:  5
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