Solaris Volume Manager metahs -e Command Fails on Copper Cable Storage Boxes When Failed Hot Spare Disk Has Been Swapped Out (4644106)

The metahs -e command might fail if you encounter the following circumstances:

1. A hot-spare device encounters a problem, such as an induced error, when using the metaverify test utility.

2. Solaris Volume Manager software attempts to activate the hot spare when an error occurs on a metadevice. The hot spare is marked broken.

3. The system is brought down. The failed disk that contains the hot spare is replaced with a new disk at the same location.

4. When the system is booted, Solaris Volume Manager software does not recognize the new hot spare.

5. The metahs -e command is used to enable the hot spare on the new disk.

The following message is displayed:

WARNING: md: d0: open error of hotspare (Unavailable)

The failure occurs because the Solaris Volume Manager software does not internally recognize the new hot-spare disk that was swapped into the same physical location. The Solaris Volume Manager software continues to display the device ID of the disk that is no longer in the system.

This failure is not known to occur on a Photon or storage enclosures where the device number changes when a disk is replaced.

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds:

• Follow these steps to update the device ID for the hot-spare disk in the Solaris Volume Manager state database:

  1. Become superuser.

  2. Type the following command to update the device ID for the hot-spare:

     # metadevadm -u logical-device-name

  3. Type the following command to make the new hot-spare disk available:

     # metareplace -e logical-device-name

• Follow these steps to manage hot spares and hot-spare pools on the system:

  1. Become superuser.

  2. Type the following command to delete the entry for the hot-spare slice:

     # metahs -d hsphot-spare-pool-number logical-device-name

  3. Type the following command to create a new entry for the hot-spare slice at the same location with the correct device ID:

     # metahs -a hsphot-spare-pool-number logical-device-name