Windows Knowledge Base

[DMX]How to set up dynamic RDF pairs using SYMCLI?

Assuming that Solutions Enabler is 5.0 or higher and microcode is at 5568 level or higher, the following steps are required.

STEP 1 Validate host running CLI can see participating symmetrix system

Perform a symcfg list from the CLI host.  The source (R1) Symmetrix and target (R2) Symmetrix need to be visible as Local/Local, Local/Remote, or Remote/Local respectively.  If one of the Symmetrix is not visible to the CLI host, then a static RDF group with a gatekeeper device pairing needs to be created to establish a pseudo RDF link.  This will allow the CLI host to see both Symms, through the RDF link, and the previously not visible Symmetrix will appear as 'Remote'.  The CLI host needs to see the configuration and status of devices of both Symmetrix in order to perform the CLI commands.  If a static RDF group is required, please contact your local EMC service representative for assistance, a configuration bin file with the pseudo RDF group and device pair must be created and loaded to both Symmetrix to create the RDF link.

NOTE: It is not advisible to attempt the remaining steps in this solution until both Symmetrix are visible to the CLI host.

STEP 2 Ensure Symmetrix Environment Setup for Dynamic RDF.
You can use symcfg list -v command to check if Dynamic RDF is enabled, see sample output below shown both source and target DMX which have dynamic RDF enabled.

 

C:\>symcfg list -v

Symmetrix ID: 000190101234 (Local)

Time Zone : Eastern Daylight Time

 

Product Model : DMX3-24

Symmetrix ID : 000190101234

 

Microcode Version (Number) : 5772 (168C0000)

Microcode Date : 02.28.2008

 

Microcode Patch Date : 02.28.2008

Microcode Patch Level : 88

 

Cache Size (Mirrored) : 49152 (MB)

# of Available Cache Slots : 1229436

# of PermaCache Slots In Use : 81

Max # of System Write Pending Slots : 984508

Max # of DA Write Pending Slots : 492254

Max # of Device Write Pending Slots : 49220

 

Symmetrix Total Operating Time : 539 days, 01:57:24

Symmetrix Power ON Time : Tue Oct 09 13:19:07 2007

Symmetrix Last IPL Time (Cold) : Tue Oct 09 14:04:15 2007

Symmetrix Last Fast IPL Time (Hot) : Thu Mar 19 23:03:33 2009

 

Host DB Sync Time : Tue Mar 31 15:16:30 2009

Symmetrix CLI (SYMCLI) Version : V6.4.2.0 (Edit Level: 845)

Built with SYMAPI Version : V6.4.2.0 (Edit Level: 845)

SYMAPI Run Time Version : V6.4.2.0 (Edit Level: 845)

SYMAPI Server Version : unavailable

 

Number of Configured (Sym) Devices : 3252

Number of Visible (Host) Devices : 7

Number of Configured Actual Disks : 244

Number of Configured Hot Spares : 8

Number of Unconfigured Disks : 0

Maximum number of hypers per disk : 255

 

Number of Powerpath Devices : 0

Powerpath Run Time Version : N/A

 

SDDF Configuration State : Enabled

Configuration Change State : Enabled

WORM Configuration Level : N/A

WORM Characteristics : N/A

 

Symmetrix Configuration Checksum : 10366C5

Switched RDF Configuration State : Enabled

Concurrent RDF Configuration State : Enabled

Dynamic RDF Configuration State : Enabled

Concurrent Dynamic RDF Configuration : Enabled

RDF Data Mobility Configuration State: Disabled

Access Control Configuration State : Enabled

Device Masking (VCM) Config State : Enabled

VCMdb Access Restricted State : N/A

Multi LRU Device Assignment : BY_NUMBER

Disk Group Assignments : In Use

Hot Swap Policy : Permanent

Symmetrix Disk Library : Disabled

FBA Geometry Emulation : Native

3 Dynamic Mirrors : Disabled

Cache Partitioning : Disabled

 

Parity Raid Configuration : N/A

Raid-5 Configuration : RAID-5 (3+1)

Raid-6 Configuration : N/A

PAV Mode : DynamicStandardPAV

PAV Alias Limit : 31

 

SRDF/A Maximum Host Throttle (Secs) : 0

SRDF/A Maximum Cache Usage (Percent) : 94

 

 

Symmetrix ID: 000190101235 (Remote)

Time Zone : Eastern Daylight Time

 

Product Model : DMX3-24

Symmetrix ID : 000190101235

 

Microcode Version (Number) : 5772 (168C0000)

Microcode Date : 02.28.2008

 

Microcode Patch Date : 02.28.2008

Microcode Patch Level : 88

 

Cache Size (Mirrored) : 49152 (MB)

# of Available Cache Slots : 1229436

# of PermaCache Slots In Use : 55

Max # of System Write Pending Slots : 984508

Max # of DA Write Pending Slots : 492254

Max # of Device Write Pending Slots : 49220

 

Symmetrix Total Operating Time : 543 days, 01:06:37

Symmetrix Power ON Time : Fri Oct 05 14:09:54 2007

Symmetrix Last IPL Time (Cold) : Fri Oct 05 15:00:50 2007

Symmetrix Last Fast IPL Time (Hot) : Sat Mar 28 23:10:50 2009

 

Host DB Sync Time : Tue Mar 31 15:16:31 2009

Symmetrix CLI (SYMCLI) Version : V6.4.2.0 (Edit Level: 845)

Built with SYMAPI Version : V6.4.2.0 (Edit Level: 845)

SYMAPI Run Time Version : V6.4.2.0 (Edit Level: 845)

SYMAPI Server Version : unavailable

 

Number of Configured (Sym) Devices : 3252

Number of Visible (Host) Devices : 0

Number of Configured Actual Disks : 244

Number of Configured Hot Spares : 8

Number of Unconfigured Disks : 0

Maximum number of hypers per disk : 255

 

Number of Powerpath Devices : 0

Powerpath Run Time Version : N/A

 

SDDF Configuration State : Enabled

Configuration Change State : Enabled

WORM Configuration Level : N/A

WORM Characteristics : N/A

 

Symmetrix Configuration Checksum : 101EDEE

Switched RDF Configuration State : Enabled

Concurrent RDF Configuration State : Enabled

Dynamic RDF Configuration State : Enabled

Concurrent Dynamic RDF Configuration : Enabled

RDF Data Mobility Configuration State: Disabled

Access Control Configuration State : Enabled

Device Masking (VCM) Config State : Enabled

VCMdb Access Restricted State : N/A

Multi LRU Device Assignment : BY_NUMBER

Disk Group Assignments : In Use

Hot Swap Policy : Permanent

Symmetrix Disk Library : Disabled

FBA Geometry Emulation : Native

3 Dynamic Mirrors : Disabled

Cache Partitioning : Disabled

 

Parity Raid Configuration : N/A

Raid-5 Configuration : RAID-5 (3+1)

Raid-6 Configuration : N/A

PAV Mode : DynamicStandardPAV

PAV Alias Limit : 31

 

SRDF/A Maximum Host Throttle (Secs) : 0

SRDF/A Maximum Cache Usage (Percent) : 94

 

If this is disabled, it can be enabled using the following syntax in a text file and submitting this file to the symconfigure command to commit the changes:

 

set Symmetrix dynamic_rdf=enable;

 

Make sure remote Symmetrix also has this setting enabled. To submit the changes, run the following commands:

 

symconfigure -sid 1234 -f filename preview -v

symconfigure -sid 1234 -f filename prepare -v

symconfigure -sid 1234 -f filename commit -v

 

STEP 3 DEFINE and CONFIG SYM devices to DYN_RDF

On both the local and remote Symmetrix, select the devices which are to become dynamic RDF and create script text file with syntax below:

 

set dev <Device#> attribute=dyn_rdf;

 

Here is a sample text:

###########################################

# Set Sym devices to DYN_RDF on DMX-3 1234#

# 31/03/2009 By David (see design Doc) #

###########################################

 

set dev 06A3 attribute=dyn_rdf;

set dev 06A4 attribute=dyn_rdf;

set dev 06A5 attribute=dyn_rdf;

set dev 06A6 attribute=dyn_rdf;

set dev 0904 attribute=dyn_rdf;

set dev 0905 attribute=dyn_rdf;

 

Make sure to set this attribute on remote devices also.
After created script text run symconfigure to preview and commit the change:

 

symconfigure -sid 1234 -f filename preview -v

symconfigure -sid 1234 -f filename prepare -v

symconfigure -sid 1234 -f filename commit -v

 

After the symconfigure complete successfully, you can validate if those devices attribute are set accordingly by running symdev list -dynamic command. 
You can use symdev show <dev#>, see sample output below.

 

 

C:\>symdev show 03C3

 

Symmetrix ID: 000190101235

 

Device Physical Name : Not Visible

 

Device Symmetrix Name : 03C3

Device Serial ID : N/A

Symmetrix ID : 000190101235

……………….., ……………………, ……………

Device Configuration : RDF1+R-5 (Meta Head,

Non-Exclusive Access)

 

Device is WORM Enabled : No

Device is WORM Protected : No

 

SCSI-3 Persistent Reserve: Disabled

 

Dynamic Spare Invoked : No

 

Dynamic RDF Capability : RDF1_OR_RDF2_Capable

……………….., ……………………, ……………

 

STEP 4 PAIRING DYNAMIC RDF

create a text file with two columns with each line representing a proposed dynamic RDF pair as below sample script text file shown.

#################################

# Column 1 Site A DMX-3 1234 #

# Column 2 Site A DMX-3 1235 #

#################################

 

06A3 06E6

06A4 06E7

06A5 06E8

06A6 06E9

 

Please note that when creating the device file the first column should contain the devices for the Symmetrix specified in the command in step 5.  Also, the devices in the first column will become the type specified in the same command i.e. if -type RDF1 is specified then the devices in the first column will be created as R1 devices, if -type RDF2 is specified then the devices in the first column will be created as R2 devices.
To prevent any confusion and help to troubleshoot, normally I always put comment in the title of the text device pair file with description of the site and SYM #.

STEP 5 CREATE RDF GROUP

Please note you can only create RDF Group using SYMCLI, ECC is not supported.
The syntax to create RDF Group(RA Group) is :

symrdf addgrp -label <GrpName> -rdfg <GrpNum> -sid <SID> -dir <Dir#> -remote_rdfg <GrpNum> -remote_sid <SID> -remote_dir <Dir#>

 

GrpName= Label for specific group to be used to modify or delete the group later.
GrpNum= Select a number in decimal form for the RA group both for the local and remote Symmetrix.  Make sure that the group number is not already in use by viewing current Dynamic RA groups on the Symmetrix.
SID= Symmetrix serial number must be specified for both the local and remote Symmetrix (remote Symmetrix serial number must be the entire serial number).
Dir# = Symmetrix Remote Director that will be grouped in the RA Group.  Specified for both the local and remote Symmetrix.

Sample command to create empty RDF Group,

Example 1:

symrdf addgrp -label Grp1 -rdfg 1 -sid 1234 -dir 7D -remote_rdfg 4 -remote_sid 1235 -remote_dir 7D

Example 2:

symrdf addgrp -label rdfgroup2 -rdfg 2 -sid 000287890643 -dir 3D,4D,7D,8D,9D,10D,13D,14D -remote_rdfg 2 -remote_sid 000287890669 -remote_dir 3D,4D,7D,8D,9D,10D,13D,14D

Example 3:
Is to Add dynamic RDF group 58 local & remote. Create includes director 4D from local sym and 3C from remote symmetrix.

symrdf -v addgrp -label grp58 -rdfg 58 -sid 1234 -dir 4D -remote_rdfg 58 -remote_sid 1235-remote_dir 3C -nop

Once you complete the creation of RA group, you can view the current RA group by running symcfg list -ra all see sample output below.

 

C:\>symcfg list -ra all

 

Symmetrix ID: 000190101234 (Local)

 

S Y M M E T R I X R D F D I R E C T O R S

 

 

Remote Local Remote

Ident Symb Num Slot Type Attr SymmID RA Grp RA Grp Status

 

RF-7D 07D 55 7 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101235 2 (01) 2 (B) Online

RF-10D 10D 58 10 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101235 2 (01) 2 (B) Online

 

Symmetrix ID: 000190101236 (Remote)

 

S Y M M E T R I X R D F D I R E C T O R S

 

 

Remote Local Remote

Ident Symb Num Slot Type Attr SymmID RA Grp RA Grp Status

 

RF-7D 07D 55 7 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101235 1 (00) 1 (00) Online

RF-10D 10D 58 10 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101235 1 (00) 1 (00) Online

 

 

Symmetrix ID: 000190101235 (Remote)

 

S Y M M E T R I X R D F D I R E C T O R S

 

 

Remote Local Remote

Ident Symb Num Slot Type Attr SymmID RA Grp RA Grp Status

 

RF-7D 07D 55 7 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101236 1 (A) 1 (00) Online

RF-3D 03D 50 3 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101234 2 (B) 2 (01) Online

RF-10D 10D 58 10 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101236 1 (A) 1 (00) Online

RF-14D 14D 14 14 RDF-BI-DIR - 000190101234 2 (B) 2 (01) Online

 

STEP 6 CREATE RDF PAIRING

After Created RA group, run the symrdf command to create the RDF pair using the script file created in STEP 4, at a minimum the following options are required with the symrdf command:

symrdf createpair -f <Script File> -sid <SID> -rdfg <GrpNum> -type rdf1|rdf2 -invalidate R1|R2  -rdf_mode <sync|semi|acp_wp|acp_disk|async> -g NewDg

Invalidate=R1: sync direction will be R2==> R1, it will cause data on the R1 device to be overwritten (sync direction will be R2--> R1)
Invalidate=R2: sync direction will be R1==> R2, it will cause data on the R2 device to be overwritten (sync direction will be R1--> R2)
Note that incorrect Invalidate option will cause data loss.

If using -invalidate option, you will be prompted to write disable both local and remote devices. Many customers will not want to do this as proposed R1 volumes are running production live data. In this case, -establish flag can be used instead of -invalidate (or -restore if good data on R2 side).

Note: For Solutions Enabler SYMCLI 6.2, the restriction of write disabling both R1 and R2 devices has been lifted.  Now, you only need to write disable the side which is being invalidated. See EMC documentation for more detail.  Also you can specify the rdf mode that you wish to use, for initial copy of data you may wish to put your devices into adaptive copy disk mode to prevent any knock-on performance hit on your R1 while your initial sync is taking place.  You can later switch to sync or Async mode once the number of invlaid tracks reduces.

STEP 7 Validate RDF PAIRING
Once complete, symrdf list -dynamic will show you the RDF relationship and current state of the dynamic RDF pairs.
Please see below sample output

 

C:\>symrdf list -dynamic

Symmetrix ID: 000190101234

 

Local Device View

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

STATUS MODES RDF S T A T E S

Sym RDF --------- ----- R1 Inv R2 Inv ----------------------

Dev RDev Typ:G SA RA LNK MDA Tracks Tracks Dev RDev Pair

---- ---- ------ --------- ----- ------- ------- --- ---- -------------

 

010A 010A R1:1 ?? RW NR C.D 0 0 RW WD Suspended

01D3 027F R2:1 ?? WD RW S.. 0 0 WD RW Synchronized

01D4 0280 R2:1 ?? WD RW S.. - - WD RW Synchronized

3D2 030E R1:1 RW RW RW S.. - - RW WD Synchronized

03D3 03D3 R2:1 RW RW NR S.. 0 0 RW RW Split

03D4 03D4 R2:1 RW RW NR S.. - - RW RW Split

03D5 03D5 R2:1 RW RW NR S.. - - RW RW Split

03D6 03D6 R2:1 RW RW NR S.. - - RW RW Split

090C 0516 R2:1 ?? WD RW S.. 0 0 WD RW Synchronized

0AA0 0AA0 R1:1 RW RW RW S.. 0 0 RW WD Synchronized

0AA1 0AA1 R1:1 RW RW RW S.. - - RW WD Synchronized

0AA2 0AA2 R1:1 RW RW RW S.. 0 0 RW WD Synchronized

0AA3 0AA3 R1:1 RW RW RW S.. - - RW WD Synchronized

0AA4 0AA4 R1:1 RW RW RW S.. - - RW WD Synchronized

Total -------- --------

Track(s) 0 0

MB(s) 0.0 0.0

 

 

Legend for MODES:

 

M(ode of Operation): A = Async, S = Sync, E = Semi-sync, C = Adaptive Copy

D(omino) : X = Enabled, . = Disabled

A(daptive Copy) : D = Disk Mode, W = WP Mode, . = ACp off