328Administering volume snapshots

Creating instant snapshots

If required, you can use the following command to test if the synchronization of a volume is complete:

#vxprint [-g diskgroup] -F%incomplete snapvol

This command returns the value off if synchronization of the volume, snapvol, is complete; otherwise, it returns the value on.

You can also use the vxsnap print command to check on the progress of synchronization as described in Displaying instant snapshot information” on page 342.

See Controlling instant snapshot synchronization” on page 344 for more information.

If you do not want to move the snapshot into a separate disk group, or to turn it into an independent volume, specify the syncing=off attribute. This avoids creating unnecessary system overhead. For example, to turn off synchronization when creating the snapshot of the volume, myvol, you would use the following form of the vxsnap make command:

#vxsnap -g mydg make source=myvol/snapvol=snap1myvol\ /syncing=off

2Use fsck (or some utility appropriate for the application running on the volume) to clean the temporary volume’s contents. For example, you can use this command with a VxFS file system:

# fsck -F vxfs /dev/vx/rdsk/diskgroup/snapshot

3If you require a backup of the data in the snapshot, use an appropriate utility or operating system command to copy the contents of the snapshot to tape, or to some other backup medium.

4You now have the following choices of what to do with a full-sized instant snapshot:

Refresh the contents of the snapshot. This creates a new point-in-time image of the original volume ready for another backup. If synchronization was already in progress on the snapshot, this operation may result in large portions of the snapshot having to be resynchronized. See Refreshing an instant snapshot” on page 337 for details.

Reattach some or all of the plexes of the snapshot volume with the original volume. See Reattaching an instant snapshot” on page 338 for details.

Restore the contents of the original volume from the snapshot volume. You can choose whether none, a subset, or all of the plexes of the snapshot volume are returned to the original volume as a result of the operation. See Restoring a volume from an instant snapshot” on page 340 for details.