Expanding volumes by using the CLI

You can use the command-line interface (CLI) to expand the size of a volume.

About this task

The system supports expanding the size of a volume concurrent with I/O operations, when supported by the host operating system.

You can expand volumes for the following reasons:
  • To increase the available capacity on a particular volume that is already mapped to a host.
  • To increase the size of a volume so that it matches the size of another volume, so that it can be used in a FlashCopy® mapping or remote-copy relationship.
You can determine the exact size of a volume by issuing the following CLI command: 
lsvdisk -bytes vdisk_name/vdisk_id
Where vdisk_name or vdisk_id is the name or ID of the volume.
The following types of volumes cannot be expanded:
  • Volumes that are completing quick initialization. After the quick initialization completes, you can expand the volume.
  • Volumes that are mapped for FlashCopy.
  • Volumes in Global Mirror relationships that are operating in cycling mode.
You can expand the size of volumes in Metro Mirror and Global Mirror relationships that are in consistent_synchronized state. To maintain full operation of the system, you must expand both volumes in a relationship. First, expand the secondary volume by the needed capacity, and then expand the primary volume. Volumes in Metro Mirror and Global Mirror relationships cannot be expanded if any of the following conditions are true:
  • Volumes are in relationships where a change volume is configured.
  • Volumes are mirrored with at least one standard-provisioned copy.
You can expand the size of HyperSwap® volumes if the following conditions are true:
  • All copies of the volume are synchronized.
  • All copies of the volume are thin-provisioned or compressed.
  • No mirrored copies exist.
  • The volume is not in a consistency group. To work around this limitation, you can remove the active-active relationship for the volume from the remote copy consistency group, and then expand the volume. After the volume is expanded, add the active-active relationship for the volume back to the consistency group.

Procedure

  1. Enter the following CLI command to expand a non-HyperSwap volume: 
    expandvdisksize -size disk_size -unit data_unit vdisk_name/vdisk_id
    Where
    • disk_size is the capacity by which you want to expand the volume.
    • b | kb | mb | gb | tb | pb is the data_unit to use with the capacity.
    • vdisk_name/vdisk_id is the name of the volume or the ID of the volume to expand.
  2. Enter the following CLI command to expand a HyperSwap volume: 
    expandvolume -size disk_size -unit data_unit volume_name/volume_id
    Where
    • disk_size is the capacity by which you want to expand the volume.
    • b | kb | mb | gb | tb | pb is the data_unit to use with the capacity.
    • volume_name/volume_id is the name of the volume or the ID of the volume to expand.