The conventions are as follows:

• Any parameter that is optional for the command syntax has square brackets ([ ]) around it. For example:

  [-b] or [-o keepplex]

• Required command words and parameters for the command do not have square brackets around them. For example:

  vxvol volinfo or <VolumeName>

• Command words and parameters that are typed as shown in the command syntax are displayed in the Courier bold font. For example:

  vxvol volinfo or [-b]

• Parameters that require the user to enter something in their place are displayed in Helvetica Italic font and have angle brackets around them. They are placeholders for information the user enters. For example:

  <VolumeName>

  If a parameter is enclosed within both angle brackets and square brackets, it is an optional parameter for the command. For example:

  [<DiskName>]

• The | character is a separator that allows two or more choices for a given parameter. The user can use any one of the choices for the command. For example:

  <VolumeName | DriveLetter>

  [volume|mirror|log]

• Ellipses (...) after a parameter indicate more items. For example, the parameter <DiskName>... means to enter one or more disk names. The parameter [DriveLetter={A|B|...|Z}] means to enter DriveLetter= and a drive letter in the range of A to Z.

• The parameter !<DiskName> is used with three commands - vxassist break, vxassist remove, and vxassist snapshot. The exclamation mark is needed to make these commands consistent with the Volume Manager for UNIX versions of these commands.

• About Volume Names

  • Assigning a Volume Name

    When you create a volume with vxassist make, the <VolumeName> parameter is a name you assign to the volume.

    Note:

    A volume name is limited to 18 ASCII characters. It cannot contain spaces, slash mark (/), backslash (\), exclamation point (!), angle brackets (< >), or equal sign (=). Also, a period cannot be the first character in the name.

    The volume name you assign in either the command line or the GUI is the internal name of the volume. SFW makes that internal volume name into the operating system volume label. However, if you later change the volume label through the operating system, the internal SFW volume name does not change.

    Note:

    The name you assign for the <VolumeName> parameter when creating a volume in the CLI is equivalent to the volume name that is specified in creating a volume with the New Volume command in the VEA GUI.

    The internal volume name supplies an identifier for the volume that stays the same. The operating system may reassign drive letters. A persistent name is especially important in scripts. If you want to use the internal volume name in the command line to refer to the volume, you must precede it with its disk group parameter, -g<DynamicDiskGroupName>, for example, -gDG1 Salesvolume.

    If you do not assign a volume name, SFW assigns the name, in the form of volume1, volume2, etc. The program assigns the internal volume name only to dynamic volumes.

  • Other Ways to Designate a New Volume

    A basic or dynamic volume can also be indicated by a drive letter, <DriveLetter>. If the volume has been mounted at an NTFS folder, the volume name is indicated by the drive path parameter <DrivePath>, which is the path to the folder.

  • Referring to an Existing Volume

    There are four methods for referring to an existing volume in the CLI:

    • The full path name of the volume, which has the following syntax:

      \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\<DynamicDiskGroupName>\
      <VolumeName>
      										

      For example:

      \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\DynDskGrp1\Volume1

    • With a drive letter, such as D:

    • With its internal volume name, which requires the disk group option

      For example, -gDG1 Salesvolume or -gDG1 Volume1

    • With a <DrivePath> parameter if the volume is mounted on an NTFS folder, such as D:\Sales.

      Note:

      In commands that involve existing volumes, the internal volume name is referred to as <VmName> in the command line syntax.

      You can identify the internal volume name through the vxvolinfo command, or you can see the internal volume name in the right pane of the GUI when a volume is selected.

• About Disk Names

  A disk can be specified in the command line in different ways:

  • With the device name, such as Harddisk2

  • With a path name, such as \Device\Harddisk2

  • With the internal disk name assigned by the SFW program, such as Disk2

  • With p#c#t#l#, where the #'s correspond to port, channel, target, and LUN

  The internal disk name is a persistent name that remains even when the operating system changes the disk name, and thus it is useful in scripts. It requires a disk group parameter whenever it is used (for example, -gDG1 Disk2). You cannot assign this name. You can identify a disk's internal name by using the vxdisk diskinfo command. An internal disk name is assigned only to dynamic disks, not basic disks.

  You can also see the device name and the internal disk name on the right pane of the VEA GUI when a disk or disks are selected.