Expanding volumes using the CLI

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

Volumes that are mapped for FlashCopy or that are in Metro Mirror relationships cannot be expanded.The system disables expanding a volume if the selected volume is currently performing quick initialization. After the quick initialization completes, you can expand the volume.

Ensure that you have run Windows Update and have applied 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.
To increase the size of a volume so that it matches the size of the source or master volume and so that it can be used in a FlashCopy mapping or Metro Mirror relationship.

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 MicrosoftWindows operating system.

See the software restrictions page on the following website for supporting information and restrictions on expanding volumes: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/servers/lenovo-storage