Capturing state information
Use the
Capture State Information
option to capture information about the current state of your storage array and save the captured
information to a text file. You can then send the captured information to your Technical Support representative for analysis.
CAUTION:
Potential to cause an unresponsive storage array – The Capture State option can cause a storage array to become
unresponsive to both the host and the storage management station. Use this option only under the guidance of your Technical
Support representative.
1
From the AMW, select
Monitor
>
Health
>
Capture State Information.
2
Read the information in the
Confirm State Capture
dialog, and type
yes
to continue.
3
In the
Specify filename
text box, enter a name for the file to be saved, or browse to a previously saved file if you want to overwrite an
existing file.
Use the convention filename.dmp for the name of the file. The suffix .dmp is added to the file automatically if you do not specify a
suffix for the file.
4
Click
Start
.
NOTE:
Each test shows a status of Executing while it is in progress. The test then shows Completed when it successfully
finishes. If any of the tests cannot be completed, a Failed status is displayed in the Execution summary window.
5
Monitor the progress and completion status of all the tests. When they finish, click
OK
to close the
State Capture
dialog.
Clicking
Cancel
stops the state capture process, and any remaining tests do not complete. Any test information that has been
generated to that point is saved to the state capture file.
SMrepassist utility
SMrepassist (replication assistance) is a host-based utility for Windows platforms. This utility is installed with MD Storage Manager. Use
this utility before and after you create a virtual disk copy on a Windows operating system to ensure that all the memory-resident data for
file systems on the target virtual disk is flushed and that the driver recognizes signatures and file system partitions. You can also use this
utility to resolve duplicate signature problems for snapshot virtual disks.
From a command prompt window on a host running Windows, navigate to: C:\Program Files\Dell\MD Storage Manager\util and run the
following command:
SMrepassist -f <filesystem-identifier>
Where,
-f
flushes all the memory-resident data for the file system indicated by
<filesystem-identifier>
, and
<filesystem-identifier>
,
specifies a unique file system in the following syntax:
drive-letter:<mount-point-path>
The file system identifier may consist of only a physical disk letter, as in the following example:
SMrepassist -f E:
NOTE:
In Windows, the mount point path is a physical disk letter.
An error message is displayed in the command line when the utility cannot distinguish between the following:
•
Source virtual disk and snapshot virtual disk—for example, if the snapshot virtual disk has been removed.
•
Standard virtual disk and virtual disk copy—for example, if the virtual disk copy has been removed.
Unidentified devices
An unidentified node or device occurs when the MD Storage Manager cannot access a new storage array. Causes for this error include
network connection problems, the storage array is turned off, or the storage array does not exist.
NOTE:
Before beginning any recovery procedure, make sure that the Host Context Agent software is installed and running. If you
started the host before the host was connected to the storage array, the Host Context Agent software is not able to find the
storage array. If so, make sure that the connections are tight, and restart the Host Context Agent software.
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Storage array software
