Expanding volumes by using the CLI

You can use the command-line interface (CLI) to expand a volume on Windows, AIX®, or Linux systems.

About this task

The system disables expanding a volume if the selected volume is performing quick initialization. After the quick initialization completes, you can expand the volume.

Run Windows Update and apply all recommended updates to your system before you attempt to expand a volume that is mapped to a Windows host.

Determine the exact size of the source or master volume by issuing the following CLI command:

lsvdisk -bytes vdiskname

Where vdiskname is the name of the volume for which you want to determine the exact size.

Volumes can be expanded under Windows concurrently with I/O operations.

You can expand volumes for the following reasons:

To increase the available capacity on a particular volume that is already mapped to a host.

You cannot expand the capacity of any volume in a Global Mirror with change volumes relationship or in a HyperSwap® relationship.

You can expand the capacity of volumes in Metro Mirror and Global Mirror relationships that are in consistent_synchronized state if those volumes are using thin-provisioned or compressed copies. You cannot expand the following types of volumes:

Volumes in HyperSwap relationships or in Global Mirror relationships that are operating in cycling mode.
Volumes in relationships where a change volume is configured.
Volumes that have a fully allocated copy.

You must expand both volumes in a relationship to maintain full operation of the system. Expand the secondary volume by the required capacity, and then expand the primary volume.

A volume that is not mapped to any hosts and does not contain any data can be expanded at any time. If the volume contains data that is in use, you can expand the volume if your host has a supported AIX or Microsoft Windows operating system.

For more information and restrictions on expanding volumes, see the software restrictions page on the following website: www.ibm.com/support