VPLEX: Renaming backups is not supported and may cause backup rotation to fail.
Сводка: This article describes an issue where the automated meta-volume backup process may fail if the underlying storage-volume component used to create the meta-volume has been renamed. This article provides the workaround steps to resolve the issue. ...
Симптомы
What is VPLEX Metadata?
VPLEX metadata contains virtual-to-physical mappings, and information about devices, virtual volumes, and system configuration settings. This metadata is stored in the cache and backed up to specially designated external volumes known as meta-volumes.
Backup meta-volumes represent point-in-time snapshots of the metadata, providing an additional layer of protection prior to major configuration changes, refresh operations, or migrations.
Issue:
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Automated metadata backups may fail to run. The metadata backup may have an older date timestamp appended at the end of the backup name which is outside the scheduled backup period.
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Firmware logs may report
sms/6orutl/1events where they are described as the following:-
sms/6 The automated backup of the meta-volume could not be completed. -
utl/1 NDU procedural event: automated metadata backup failed with error: com.emc.vplex.cli.CommandExecutionException: Evaluation of <<meta-volume backup -c /clusters/cluster-1 --storage-volumes XXXXXXXXX --force>> failed
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The end user may receive a call-home email alert with symptom code
0x8a4a6006with the following description:
This e-mail notification is to let you know that Dell EMC received a call home alert from VPLEX XXXXXXXXXXXXX for call-home event 0x8a4a6006. This e-mail notification is to let you know that "VPlex triggered a call home with an error that the automated meta-volume backup failed." and that we need customer's/Local team/Field team intervention, initially, to follow the Knowledge Base Article 000458412 which provides appropriate actions required for investigating the issue. As a result, a Service Request has not been generated for this event.
Symptoms:
How to identify if a metadata backup storage-volume component has been renamed:
Listing the system volumes may indicate old dates being appended to the meta-volume backups that are clearly outside the automated backup schedule:
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/
/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes:
Name Volume Type Operational Health Active Ready Geometry Component Block Block Capacity Slots
-------------------------------------- ----------- Status State ------ ----- -------- Count Count Size -------- -----
-------------------------------------- ----------- ----------- ------ ------ ----- -------- --------- -------- ----- -------- -----
cluster1_meta meta-volume ok ok true true raid-1 2 20971264 4K 80G 64000
cluster1_meta_backup_2017Mar10_020012 meta-volume ok ok false true raid-1 1 20971264 4K 80G 64000
cluster1_meta_backup_2018May04_020021 meta-volume ok ok false true raid-1 1 20971264 4K 80G 64000
Listing the metadata backup components shows the underlying storage-volume which may show a human-readable name:
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2017Mar10_020012/components/
/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2017Mar10_020012/components:
Name Slot Type Operational Health Capacity
------------------------- Number -------------- Status State --------
------------------------- ------ -------------- ----------- ------ --------
XtremIOXXXXX_Metadata_Lun2 0 storage-volume ok ok 80G
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2018May04_020021/components/
/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2018May04_020021/components:
Name Slot Type Operational Health Capacity
------------------------- Number -------------- Status State --------
------------------------- ------ -------------- ----------- ------ --------
XtremIOXXXXX_Metadata_Lun1 0 storage-volume ok ok 80G
Listing the associated storage-volume may show a human readable name. By default the storage-volume name should identically match the logical unit ID:
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes/
/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes:
Name VPD83T3 ID Capacity Use Vendor IO Type Thin Provision Thin
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- -------- --------- ------- Status ----------- Rebuild Type Capable
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- -------- --------- ------- ------ ----------- ------- --------- -------
XtremIOXXXXX_Metadata_Lun2 VPD83T3:514f0c50de000227 80G meta-data XtremIO alive traditional false legacy true
XtremIOXXXXX_Metadata_Lun1 VPD83T3:514f0c5de9a00001 80G meta-data XtremIO alive traditional false legacy true
Причина
Renaming the automated metadata backup components such as the underlying storage-volume component, is not supported as this causes the automated backup rotation to fail. This is because once the storage-volume is renamed, the original context path becomes invalid. The storage-volume can then only be accessed using the new context path (by a new name).
Also, although users are allowed to use custom names for manual backups, we should not rename the automated backups nor their underlying storage-volume components. For the automated backup process, VPLEX decides the latest backup. VPLEX then rotates the existing backup based on the date and timestamp appended to the backup name. If the automated backup meta-volume is renamed, the timestamp information is lost. As a result, the scheduled automated backups stop working.
Разрешение
Workaround Steps:
If a storage-volume component was already renamed to a human-readable name, it is likely not possible to rename it back to a LUN Identifier (For example: VPD83T3:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) due to special character limitations such as ":" . Therefore, the only way to rename the storage-volume component back to a LUN Identifier is to re-create the metadata backup volume and avoid any storage-volume name modifications.
Pre-requisites to re-create metadata backup volumes:
- Identify two or more storage-volumes from different storage-arrays.
- Ensure that these storage-volumes are unclaimed.
- Confirm that the storage-volumes have at least 78 GB capacity.
Steps to re-create the metadata backup volume:
To re-create the metadata backup volume, refer to KB article VPLEX: automated backup of the metavolume could not be completed for an in-depth guide to reconfigure the metadata backups.
How to confirm if the new metadata backups have been re-created correctly:
After successfully re-creating the metadata backups, we can list out the system-volumes and observe that the date appended meta-volume backup name should contain a current date and timestamp within the automated backup schedule:
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/
/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes:
Name Volume Type Operational Health Active Ready Geometry Component Block Block Capacity Slots
------------------------------------- -------------- Status State ------ ----- -------- Count Count Size -------- -----
------------------------------------- -------------- ----------- ------ ------ ----- -------- --------- -------- ----- -------- -----
cluster1_meta meta-volume ok ok true true raid-1 2 20447264 4K 78G 64000
cluster1_meta_backup_2018May05_235036 meta-volume ok ok false true raid-1 1 20447264 4K 78G 64000
cluster1_meta_backup_2018May06_235031 meta-volume ok ok false true raid-1 1 20447264 4K 78G 64000
When relisting the metadata backup components after recreation, we should observe that the underlying storage-volume should show a non-human readable name format (For example: VPD83T3:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX):
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2018May05_235036/components/
/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2018May05_235036/components:
Name Slot Type Operational Health Capacity
---------------------------------------- Number -------------- Status State --------
---------------------------------------- ------ -------------- ----------- ------ --------
VPD83T3:60000970000197000748533030303432 0 storage-volume ok ok 78G
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2018May06_235031/components/
/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/cluster1_meta_backup_2018May06_235031/components:
Name Slot Type Operational Health Capacity
---------------------------------------- Number -------------- Status State --------
---------------------------------------- ------ -------------- ----------- ------ --------
VPD83T3:60000970000197000748533030303431 0 storage-volume ok ok 78G
When relisting the associated storage-volume, we should also observe that the storage-volume name is in a non-human readable format. The storage-volume name should be identical to the LUN ID:
VPlexcli:/> ll clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes/
/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes:
Name VPD83 ID Capacity Use Vendor IO Type Thin Provision Thin
------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- -------- --------- ------ Status ----------- Rebuild Type Capable
------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- -------- --------- ------ ------ ----------- ------- --------- -------
VPD83T3:60000970000197000748533030303431 VPD83T3:60000970000197000748533030303431 78G meta-data EMC alive traditional false legacy true
VPD83T3:60000970000197000748533030303432 VPD83T3:60000970000197000748533030303432 78G meta-data EMC alive traditional false legacy true