Description

The following document attempts to explain how one can remove a plex from a volume when it is "locked by another utility".

The vxplex command fails because a previous operation to attach a plex did not complete. The vxprint command should show that one or both of the temporary and persistent utility fields (TUTIL0 and PUTIL0) of the volume and one of its plexes are set.

If the "vxtask list" command does not show a task running for the volume, use the vxmend command to clear the TUTIL0 and PUTIL0 fields for the volume and all its components for which these fields are set.
 

In this instance, the user wishes to remove EMC PowerPath device "emcpower288" from the datadg diskgroup.

# vxprint -htg datadg |grep -i emcpower288
dm sanss544_288 emcpower288s2 auto    68863    456806400 -
sd sanss544_288-01 %19       sanss544_288 0    228433920 456867840  emcpower288 ENA
 

The temporary plex "%19" cannot be dissociated from volume "us6lb" within the diskgroup "datadg" as shown below:
 

Depending on the VxVM version, the error message may differ:

# vxplex -g datadg dis us6lb
VxVM vxplex ERROR V-5-1-809 Plex %19 in volume us6lb is locked by another utility
 

# vxplex -g datadg dis us6lb
vxvm:vxplex: ERROR: Plex %19 in volume us6lb is locked by another utility


The vxsd CLI command also fails:


# vxsd -g datadg dis sanss544_288-01
VxVM vxsd ERROR V-5-1-975 Subdisk sanss544_288-01 in plex %19 is locked by another utility


vxprint output


# vxprint -qhtg datadg us6lb
v  us6lb        -            ENABLED  ACTIVE   2663383040 SELECT  -        fsgen
pl %19          us6lb        ENABLED  TEMPRM   685301760 CONCAT   -        WO
sd sanss544_288-01 %19       sanss544_288 0    228433920 456867840 emcpower288 ENA
pl us6lb-01     us6lb        ENABLED  ACTIVE   2663385600 CONCAT  -        RW
sd dmx-56r-01   us6lb-01     sanss544_071 0    228433920 0        emcpower191 ENA
sd dmx-190r-01  us6lb-01     sanss544_086 0    228433920 228433920 emcpower176 ENA
sd dmx-191r-01  us6lb-01     sanss544_087 0    228433920 456867840 emcpower175 ENA
sd dmx-192r-01  us6lb-01     sanss544_088 0    228433920 685301760 emcpower174 ENA
sd dmx-193r-01  us6lb-01     sanss544_089 0    228433920 913735680 emcpower173 ENA
sd dmx-194r-01  us6lb-01     sanss544_098 0    178156800 1142169600 emcpower164 ENA
sd dmx-194r-02  us6lb-01     sanss544_098 178156800 190740480 1320326400 emcpower164 ENA
sd dmx-195r-01  us6lb-01     sanss544_099 0    178099200 1511066880 emcpower163 ENA
sd dmx-196r-02  us6lb-01     sanss544_090 35654400 190682880 1689166080 emcpower172 ENA
sd dmx-65r-04   us6lb-01     sanss544_076 107811840 120622080 1879848960 emcpower186 ENA
sd dmx-195r-02  us6lb-01     sanss544_099 178099200 249600 2000471040 emcpower163 ENA
sd dmx-195r-03  us6lb-01     sanss544_099 178348800 138374400 2000720640 emcpower163 ENA
sd sanss544_201-01 us6lb-01  sanss544_201 0    419435520 2139095040 emcpower237 ENA
sd sanss544_202-01 us6lb-01  sanss544_202 0    104855040 2558530560 emcpower238 ENA
 

Recommendation:
 

The following commands should to be executed against the problematic plex first, followed by the associated volume name.
 

In this instance, the problematic plex that cannot be dissociated is "%19".

# vxmend -g datadg-us -r clear all %19


The related volume name is "us6lb".

# vxmend -g datadg-us -r clear all us6lb
 

Important: Confirm using "vxprint -qhtg ", that the problematic plex is not associated with any volume, prior to running the following plex clean-up operation.

To delete the stale subdisk records associated with the problematic plex "%19 (for which is not associated with any volume at this time), type:

# vxedit -g datadg -rf rm %19
 

At this time, the problematic plex should have been deleted, releasing the disk from any subdisk association, enabling the disk to be removed from the diskgroup.

In this instance, the disk media name for disk access name "emcpower288" is sanss544_288

# vxdg -g datadg rmdisk sanss544_288

The disk can now be removed from the server or associated with another diskgroup following its release from the "datadg" diskgroup.