Using NVFAIL

How NVFAIL works with LUNs

If an NVRAM failure occurs on a volume, Data ONTAP detects the failure at boot up time. If you enabled the vol options nvfail option for the volume and it contains the LUNs, Data ONTAP performs the following actions:

Offlines the LUNs in the volumes that had the NVRAM failure
Stops exporting LUNs over FCP
Sends error messages to the console stating that Data ONTAP took the LUNs offline or that NFS file handles are stale (this is also useful if the LUN is accessed over NAS protocols.)
Caution
NVRAM failure can lead to possible data inconsistencies.

How you can provide additional protection for databases

In addition, you can protect specific LUNs, such as database LUNs, by creating a file called /etc/nvfail_rename and adding their names to the file. In this case, if NVRAM failures occur, Data ONTAP renames the LUNs specified in /etc/nvfail_rename file by appending the extension .nvfail to the name of the LUNs. When Data ONTAP renames a LUN, the database cannot start automatically. As a result, you must perform the following actions:

Examine the LUNs for any data inconsistencies and resolve them
Remove the .nvfail extension with the lun move command (for information about this command, see Renaming a LUN

How you make the LUNs accessible to the host after an NVRAM failure

To make the LUNs accessible to the host or the application after an NVRAM failure, you must perform the following actions:

Ensure that the LUNs data is consistent
Bring the LUNs online
Export each LUN manually to the initiator

For information about NVRAM, see the Data ONTAP 6.5 Data Protection Online Backup and Recovery guide.

Enabling the NVFAIL option

To enable the NVFAIL option on WAFL volumes, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Enter the following command: *vol options volume-name* nvfail on**

Creating the nvfail_rename file

To create the nvfail_rename file, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Use an editor to create or modify the nvfail_rename file in the filer's /etc directory.
2	List the full path and file name, one file per line, within the nvfail_rename file. Example /vol/vol1/home/dbs/oracle-WG73.dbf
3	Save the file.

Step

Action

Use an editor to create or modify the nvfail_rename file in the filer's /etc directory.

List the full path and file name, one file per line, within the nvfail_rename file.

Example

/vol/vol1/home/dbs/oracle-WG73.dbf

Save the file.