Re: Clearing an iASP

Graap, Kenneth wrote:

I¡¯m noticing something on my system that is interesting and I was
wondering if anyone else has seen this¡Š

I¡¯ve created an iASP which will eventually be used in an PowerHA
SystemMirror for IBMi environment.

As part of my testing I was doing a Scratch/Install tape recovery
of the system that will eventually be the source system.

Prior to doing the Scratch/Install I cleared the iASP using an
option available in in System iNavigator ¡Š

That option ran really fast. I thought ¡°that was cool¡± !

Well the Scratch/Install process was moving right along and it was
time to vary on the iASP so I could restore some data there. The
vary on process, that usually takes about 3-4 minutes¡Š has been
running for about 2 hours (so far).

I called IBM Support and they told me that when you do a CLEAR of
an iASP all that happens is a flag gets set and the actual clear
happens the next time the iASP is varied on!

There is no feedback, no SRC, no way to interrupt the job using
SysReq ¡Š In other words, I really don¡¯t know if this is doing
anything or not¡Š The screen on the console just sits there
telling me nothing.

It probably would have been quicker to delete the iASP, returning
the disk to non-configured status and then recreate the iASP. At
least you get some feedback indicating something is happening.

Has anyone experienced this happening on their system?


Kenneth
AKA ¡Š ÐéÒùÞÖ or Äɳלº
Kenneth E. Graap
System Administrator
503.226.4211 x5537
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethgraap

When you clear an ASP at DST level, the system sets a flag and the real
operation is done at operating system IPL time. It could be a long
operation if the ASP is large enough, but you can track what the system
does on the console.

When you vary on an IASP you can track the operations using DSPASPSTS
command (with another session, of course, and this is one of the reason
I always vary on an IASP in batch mode). Did you try it ? I have never
cleared and IASP but I believe you may find on this display the same
information you have on the console for clearing an ASP.

I am not sure that deleting/recreating would be faster, because the
disk initialize steps may be long too, if you use internal disks.