One of the primary benefits of using software RAID is the ability to dynamically add, remove and resize virtual devices as storage requirements change. Because this may involve adding or deleting physical partitions or disks from a virtual device definition, the Software RAID Recovery Kit includes a mechanism for modifying an existing resource hierarchy to reflect such a change.
All virtual device and file system reconfigurations should be performed outside of LifeKeeper prior to modifying the LifeKeeper hierarchy to reflect the changes. Refer to the Software RAID HowTo document referenced in the Documentation and References section for information about how this is done. If any of the steps require a resource that is being protected by LifeKeeper to be unmounted or unconfigured, be sure to use the LifeKeeper GUI to do so, using the Out-of-Service operation.
To update a LifeKeeper hierarchy following these changes, first access the Resource Properties dialog for the modified md resource, either by right-clicking on the md resource and selecting Properties, or by using the Edit > Resource > Properties menu selection and selecting the appropriate md resource in the Select Resource field. The resulting Resource Properties dialog should look like the one pictured in Figure 7: Software RAID Resource Properties Dialog below, including the Status and Reconfigure buttons near the bottom.
Clicking the Status button will display an information box displaying the current status of the virtual device. Figure 8: Software RAID Status below shows an example of the status of a virtual device where all components are functioning properly.
Clicking the Reconfigure button initiates the mechanism for reconfiguring your hierarchy to reflect any modifications to the virtual device resource. After a brief pause, an information box will display the modifications that LifeKeeper has detected.
The following three figures show examples of the status and configuration information boxes that would be displayed when a device is removed from a virtual device.
As stated in the information box, to reconfigure the LifeKeeper virtual device to reflect the changes that have been detected, simply click the Reconfigure button. To cancel the LifeKeeper hierarchy modification, click Cancel.
After clicking the Reconfigure button, an information box will appear, showing the progress of the reconfiguration procedure, as shown in Figure 11: Software RAID Completed Reconfiguration for Deleted Device below. When the process has been completed successfully, the Done button will become enabled. Clicking Done will close the information box and display the Resource Properties dialog.
The following four figures show examples of the status and configuration information boxes that would be displayed when a device is added to a virtual device.
While the component is being configured into the virtual device, the Status button will show the synchronization progress.
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