When adding a disk shelf to a loop on an existing filer there is a need to change the ownership of the disks contained within the disk shelf so that the new filer has ownership. Whether you are connecting a new or a previously used disk shelf you will still need to change ownership.
You will need to boot a filer into maintenance mode in order to run the commands necessary to change ownership. You probably don’t want to do this using a production filer so if you have a non-production filer you can use that would be best. Boot the filer making sure to press CTRL-C when prompted so that you will be presented with the special boot menu. When the special menu is presented select option 5, maintenance mode boot.
Fiber connect the new shelf (or shelves) to the filer head. If there is more than 1 shelf and the shelves are compatible you can connect them to be on the same loop so that the filer can see all of the disks and you can change ownership all at once.
You may need to temporarily change the ID’s and speeds of the new shelves so that the filer properly sees all of the disks. If you do make any changes make sure to note the original settings if required so that you can change them back after making the ownership changes.
Once the new shelves are connected to the filer and powered on you should be able to see the disks on the filer console. In fact you may see a message for each disk stating that it has been inserted into the system. The command “disk show -n” will show all of the newly connected disks as well as the current ownership. Unless the current ownership of the disks matches the “sysid” of the filer you are adding the disks to then you need to change the ownership.
Obtain the correct sysid of the filer by running the command “disk show” on the filer that will receive the new disks. Make note of the sysid.
On the non-production filer run the command “disk assign all -s ” using the sysid you made note of in the previous step. You will receive the message “WARNING! This command will convert this system into one which uses software-based disk ownership. Do you want to continue (y/n)?” Select Y to continue. Messages should display showing the changing of ownership.
Run the command “disk show -a” and you should see that all disks are now owned by a blank owner name but with the sysid you specified.
You have now completed the change in ownership procedure which will allow you to use this new disk shelf with the intended filer.
-- Thiers Family -- 