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Using EMC VPlex Batch Migration

Using EMC VPlex Batch Migration

Introduction

In a recent project I was tasked to bring a new EMC PowerMAX 2000 system and migrate from an EMC VMAX3 400K storage array. This was a new thing for me since my experience with VPlex was limited to only adding and create vvols (Virtual Volumes)  from different arrays and presenting to the target hosts being either Windows, AIX, Linux (RHEL) and ESXi. The task at hand is to migrate the terabytes of data non-disruptively.  Thanks fully using batch-migrate commands this is possible but not without a lot of preparation and back end work. If you have visited my site you know I post on alot of different topics but my day job is a Storage Engineer and 20+ plus years as a Server administrator for Windows and Linux systems. Figured it was time to start writing about some of the stuff I do day to day and not the fun stuff for a change.

The Process  Using VPlex

So let’s get to the main steps we need. First step is to zone the the new array to the Vplex, you need to have a minimum of 8 ports zoned. This should be four ports per SAN switch assuming you have a left and right side for you SAN switch environment.

Zone minimum 8 paths to array to Vplex or 4 paths per side.

Create LUNs for VPlex migration

symaccess -sid XXXX create -name <SG> -type storage -devs

Add as child SG to Vplex SG

symsg -sid XXXX -sg <parent SG> add sg <Child SG>

 

Vplex Migration plan

Create batch plan

cd /clusters/cluster-1/devices
batch-migrate create-plan hqttc046_migrate.txt --sources device_Symm0776_0B05-hqttc046_1 --targets device_Symm1084_0411-hqttc046_1
Edit file in /var/log/VPlex/cli make sure they match. Use logging in putty for the connection to be able to edit the file.
Verify the plan is good and no errors.
batch-migrate check-plan hqttc046_migrate.txt
Start migration
batch-migrate start hqttc046_migrate.txt -s 2M --paused --force
Check progress
batch-migrate summary hqttc046_migrate.txt --verbose
Once the migration is 100% you will need to commit the changes

batch-migrate commit hqttc046_migrate.txt
Next step is to cleanup the migration. This step will perform a teardown of the migrated devices and remove them from the Storage View.

batch-migrate clean hqttc046_migrate.txt
Now we can remove the Migration job.
batch-migrate remove hqttc046_migrate.txt

Delete the batch-migrate file.
rm /var/log/VPlex/cli/hqttc046_migrate.txt
Additional Migration Commands
Pause Job if needed
batch-migrate pause --file hqttc046_migrate.txt
Resume Job
batch-migrate resume --file hqttc046_migrate.txt
Change Transfer speed, best performance at 2M
rebuild set-transfer-size --devices /clusters/cluster-1/devices/MIGRATE_BR0_2   --limit 1M
Some handy additional cleanup commands
dm migration cancel -f -m BRX_*
dm migration remove -f -m BRX_*

Cleanup

At this point you are ready to remove the migrated devices and reclaim the storage. Here area a few commands for the VMAX array to accomplish this task.
Remove from Storage group
symaccess -sid XXXX remove -name <SG>-type storage -devs
Remove empty SG from parent
symsg -sid XXXX -sg <parent SG> <SG>
Reclaim devices
Make sure to login to the Vplex and run a rediscover array to remove the migrated storage.

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