Create a Hardware Mirrored Volume of the Default Boot Device

Due to the volume initialization that occurs on the disk controller when a new volume is created, the volume must be configured and labeled using the format(1M) utility prior to use with the Solaris Operating System (see Configure a Hardware RAID Volume for the Solaris OS). Because of this limitation, raidctl(1M) blocks the creation of a hardware RAID volume if any of the member disks currently have a file system mounted.

This section describes the procedure required to create a hardware RAID volume containing the default boot device. Since the boot device always has a mounted file system when booted, an alternate boot medium must be employed, and the volume created in that environment. One alternate medium is a network installation image in single-user mode. (Refer to the Solaris 10 Installation Guide for information about configuring and using network-based installations.)

1. Determine which disk is the default boot device.

   From the OpenBoot ok prompt, type the printenv command, and if necessary the devalias command, to identify the default boot device. For example:

   ok printenv boot-device
   boot-device =         disk
    
   ok devalias disk
   disk                  /pci@0/pci@0/pci@2/scsi@0/disk@0,0

2. Type the boot net –s command.

   ok boot net –s

3. Once the system has booted, use the raidctl(1M) utility to create a hardware mirrored volume, using the default boot device as the primary disk.

   See Create a Hardware Mirrored Volume. For example:

   # raidctl -c –r 1 c1t0d0 c1t1d0
   Creating RAID volume c1t0d0 will destroy all data on member disks, proceed (yes/no)? yes
   ...
   Volume  c1t0d0  is created successfully!
   #

4. Install the volume with the Solaris OS using any supported method.

   The hardware RAID volume c1t0d0 appears as a disk to the Solaris installation program.

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   Note - The logical device names might appear differently on your system, depending on the number and type of add-on disk controllers installed.

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Related Information

• Disk Slot Numbers

• Create a Hardware Mirrored Volume

• Configure a Hardware RAID Volume for the Solaris OS