HP Veritas Volume Manager 5.0 -UX 11i v3 Using vxassist, Assisted approach

Creating volumes 239

Using vxassist

3Associate plexes with the volume using vxmake vol; see “Creating a volume using vxmake” on page 258.

4Initialize the volume using vxvol start or vxvol init zero; see “Initializing and starting a volume created using vxmake” on page 261.

See “Creating a volume using a vxmake description file” on page 259 for an example of how you can combine steps 1 through 3 using a volume description file with vxmake.

See “Creating a volume using vxmake” on page 258 for an example of how to perform steps 2 and 3 to create a RAID-5 volume.

Assisted approach

The assisted approach takes information about what you want to accomplish and then performs the necessary underlying tasks. This approach requires only minimal input from you, but also permits more detailed specifications.

Assisted operations are performed primarily through the vxassist command or the Veritas Enterprise Administrator (VEA). vxassist and the VEA create the required plexes and subdisks using only the basic attributes of the desired volume as input. Additionally, they can modify existing volumes while automatically modifying any underlying or associated objects.

Both vxassist and the VEA use default values for many volume attributes, unless you provide specific values. They do not require you to have a thorough understanding of low-level VxVM concepts, vxassist and the VEA do not conflict with other VxVM commands or preclude their use. Objects created by vxassist and the VEA are compatible and inter-operable with objects created by other VxVM commands and interfaces.

For more information about the VEA, see the Veritas Enterprise Administrator User’s Guide and VEA online help.

Using vxassist

You can use the vxassist utility to create and modify volumes. Specify the basic requirements for volume creation or modification, and vxassist performs the necessary tasks.

The advantages of using vxassist rather than the advanced approach include:

■Most actions require that you enter only one command rather than several.

■You are required to specify only minimal information to vxassist. If necessary, you can specify additional parameters to modify or control its actions.