Setting a command device

Use this procedure to set a command device for RAID Manager in-band operations.

If you plan to execute RAID Manager commands from an open-systems host (in-band method), you must set at least one logical device as a RAID Manager command device. The command device functions as the interface to the RAID Manager software on the host. The command device is dedicated to RAID Manager operations and cannot be used by any other applications. You can configure more than one command device (primary and alternate command devices) to ensure continued operations in the event the primary command device is blocked.

A command device can be any OPEN-x device that is accessible to the host on which RAID Manager is installed. A Virtual LUN volume as small as 36 MB can be used as a command device. Make sure the volume to be used as a command device does not contain any user data. The command device will be inaccessible to host applications.

NoteThe following volumes cannot be specified as a command device:
  • Volume whose access attribute is other than read/write.
  • TrueCopy pair volume.
  • Global-active device pair volume.
  • ShadowImage pair volume.
  • Universal Replicator pair volume.
  • Virtual volume (V-VOL) for Thin Image.
  • Volume reserved by Data Retention Utility.
  • Journal volume.
  • Pool volume that includes a DP-VOL with the direct mapping attribute enabled.
  • Remote command device.
  • LDEV with the ALU attribute.
  • Quorum disk for global-active device.
  • LDEV with ALUA mode enabled.
  • LDEV with the T10 PI attribute enabled.
  • LDEV with NAS Platform (User LU) enabled.
  • LDEV with NAS Platform (System LU) enabled.

Procedure

  1. Click Storage Systems, expand the Storage Systems tree, and click Logical Devices.

  2. On the LDEVs tab, select the volume, and then click More Actions Edit Command Devices.

  3. For Command Device, select Enable.

  4. In Command Device Attributes, enable the desired attributes.

    OptionDescription
    Command Device SecurityEnable this attribute if you plan to use the RAID Manager Data Protection Facility.
    User AuthenticationEnable this attribute if you plan to execute provisioning commands (raidcom) on the storage system.
    Device Group DefinitionEnable this attribute if you plan to use device groups.
    For details about these functions, see the RAID Manager User Guide.

  5. Click Finish.

  6. In the Confirm window, verify the settings, and enter the task name.

    You can enter up to 32 ASCII characters and symbols, with the exception of: \ / : , ; * ? " < > |. The value "date-window name" is entered by default.

  7. Click Apply.

    If Go to tasks window for status is selected, the Tasks window appears.

Next steps

After you set the command devices on the storage system, you must define the command devices in the RAID Manager configuration definition file. For details, see the RAID Manager documentation.

Parent Topic
  • Managing logical volumes

    After provisioning your system, you can begin to manage open-system logical volumes. Managing logical volumes includes tasks such as configuring hosts and ports, configuring LU paths, setting LUN security on ports, and setting up Fibre Channel authentication. LUN Manager is required to manage logical volumes.