Sometimes it may be necessary to disable a controller; this can be done from the command line using vxdmpadm. A common example is in the case of HDS or EMC disk arrays,  when the microcode of the controllers needs to be upgraded so the disk paths need to be disabled while the upgrade takes place. In the example below,  it shows the stages involved in disabling the controller in a step by step manner.


1. First list alldisks:

sptsunserv2 # vxdisklist
DEVICE      TYPE      DISK        GROUP        STATUS
c0t0d0s2    sliced    rootdisk     rootdg      online
c0t1d0s2    sliced    -            -            online
c2t3d0s2    sliced    -            -            online
c2t8d0s2    sliced    disk31      Terrydg      online
c2t9d0s2    sliced    disk32      Terrydg      online
c2t10d0s2    sliced    disk33      Terrydg      online
c2t11d0s2    sliced    disk34      Terrydg      online
c2t12d0s2    sliced    disk35      Terrydg      online


2. Each disk should show two paths if it is set up correctly:

sptsunserv2 # vxdisk listc2t8d0s2
Device:    c2t8d0s2
devicetag:c2t8d0
type:      sliced
hostid:    sptsunserv2
disk:      name=disk31id=1014027460.3884.sptsunserv1
group:    name=Terrydgid=1016097425.3520.sptsunserv2
flags:    online ready private autoconfig autoimportimported
pubpaths:  block=/dev/vx/dmp/c2t8d0s4char=/dev/vx/rdmp/c2t8d0s4
privpaths:block=/dev/vx/dmp/c2t8d0s3char=/dev/vx/rdmp/c2t8d0s3
version:  2.1
iosize:    min=512(bytes) max=256(blocks)
public:    slice=4offset=0 len=17678493
private:  slice=3 offset=1len=3590
update:    time=1018448612seqno=0.61
headers:   0248
configs:   count=1len=2630
logs:      count=1len=398
Definedregions:
config   priv000017-000247[000231]: copy=01 offset=000000disabled
config   priv000249-002647[002399]: copy=01 offset=000231disabled
log      priv 002648-003045[000398]: copy=01 offset=000000disabled
Multipathinginformation:
numpaths:   2 <---------------------------------------------------------------------------------paths.
c2t8d0s2        state=enabled
c5t8d0s2        state=enabled


3.If it is necessary to suppress one of the paths, perhaps when c5 is getting amicrocode upgrade for example:

sptsunserv2 #vxdmpadm listctlr all   <----list all dmpcontrollers.
CTLR-NAME      ENCLR-TYPE      STATE      ENCLR-NAME
=====================================================
c0              OTHER_DISKS    ENABLED    OTHER_DISKS
c2              VERITAS        ENABLED    VERITAS0
c5              VERITAS        ENABLED    VERITAS0
c2              Disk            ENABLED    Disk
c5              Disk            ENABLED    Disk <------this controller is being upgraded.


sptsunserv2 # vxdmpadm disablectlr=c5

sptsunserv2 # vxdmpadmlistctlr all  
CTLR-NAME      ENCLR-TYPE      STATE      ENCLR-NAME
=====================================================
c0              OTHER_DISKS    ENABLED    OTHER_DISKS
c2              VERITAS        ENABLED    VERITAS0
c5              VERITAS        DISABLED  VERITAS0
c2              Disk            ENABLED    Disk
c5              Disk            DISABLED  Disk   <----Now showing as disabled.

4. Now the status of the disk shows the C5 path as disabled:

sptsunserv2 # vxdisk listc2t8d0s2
Device:    c2t8d0s2
devicetag:c2t8d0
type:      sliced
hostid:    sptsunserv2
disk:      name=disk31id=1014027460.3884.sptsunserv1
group:    name=Terrydgid=1016097425.3520.sptsunserv2
flags:    online ready private autoconfig autoimportimported
pubpaths:  block=/dev/vx/dmp/c2t8d0s4char=/dev/vx/rdmp/c2t8d0s4
privpaths:block=/dev/vx/dmp/c2t8d0s3char=/dev/vx/rdmp/c2t8d0s3
version:  2.1
iosize:    min=512(bytes) max=256(blocks)
public:    slice=4offset=0 len=17678493
private:  slice=3 offset=1len=3590
update:    time=1018448612seqno=0.61
headers:   0248
configs:   count=1len=2630
logs:      count=1len=398
Definedregions:
config   priv000017-000247[000231]: copy=01 offset=000000disabled
config   priv000249-002647[002399]: copy=01 offset=000231disabled
log      priv 002648-003045[000398]: copy=01 offset=000000disabled
Multipathinginformation:
numpaths:  2
c2t8d0s2        state=enabled
c5t8d0s2        state=disabled   <----disabled

5. Re-enable the path after the upgrade was complete:

sptsunserv2 # vxdmpadm enablectlr=c5