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Keld_Norman
Contributor

How to add a new disk and expand the log file system

Here is a small guide on how to add a new disk >2 TB to your firewall and expand the size of /var/log

harddisk

Check for if we are running a 64 bit kernel (it is needed for handling >2TB disk sizes)

[Expert@firewall:0]# uname -a

Linux firewall 2.6.18-92cpx86_64 #1 SMP Sun Jan 21 10:26:26 IST 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

List the disks..

 

List the disk with fdisk -l or parted -l

[Expert@firewall:0]# parted -l

Model: Msft Virtual Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 100GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 313MB 313MB primary ext3 boot
2 313MB 8900MB 8587MB primary linux-swap
3 8900MB 107GB 98.5GB primary lvm

Model: Msft Virtual Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 34.4GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 65.5kB 34.4GB 34.4GB primary ntfs

Model: Msft Virtual Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 4295GB <-- THIS IS THE NEW DISK 
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 4295GB 4295GB primary lvm

Now to the LVM part..

Prepare the new disk to be used in LVM using the parted utility

[Expert@firewall:0]# parted -s /dev/sdc mklabel gpt

[Expert@firewall:0]# parted -s /dev/sdc unit mib mkpart primary 1 100%

[Expert@firewall:0]# parted -s /dev/sdc set 1 lvm on

[Expert@firewall:0]# # Ask the kernel to re-read the partition table

[Expert@firewall:0]# partprobe

One could skip this step of creating a logical volume and just add the "lvm physical disk" created in the next step, but I do it this way to ensure there is information on the disk (about it is used) so when other sysadmins or tools list the disk they can see the partition on the disk instead of a disk that appears empty ..  this might stop them from assume it is "free" to use.

 

Creating the LVM disk and add it to the existing volume group

[Expert@firewall:0]# # Tag/prepare/reserve the disk so it can be used in the LVM/VG

[Expert@firewall:0]# pvcreate /dev/sdc1

[Expert@firewall:0]# Then add the new LVM disk to the volume group 

[Expert@firewall:0]# vgextend vg_splat /dev/sdc1

 

Now I will list the current location of /dev/vg_splat/lv_log (that is where the /var/log file system resides) and see where the data is placed on the two disks I now have in the volume group vg_splat.

My goal is to have the log file system reside on the new disk only and not on the OS disk..

List the current location of the /var/log file system (the lv_log logical volume)

[Expert@firewall:0]# lvs -o +devices # use "pvdisplay -m" for more detailed view

  LV         VG       Attr   LSize  ...  Devices      

  lv_current vg_splat -wi-ao 20.00G      /dev/sda3(0) 

  lv_log     vg_splat -wi-ao 63.00G      /dev/sda3(640) <- Now we want to move this data to sdc1

(The above command shows that lv_log resides on the disk sda partition 3 (/dev/sda3) and we want to move it to the new disk called sdc.)

Now lets move the existing /var/log data residing on the same disk as the operative system to speed up the I/O and to ensure we only allocate data for log files on the new disk. We can do this in the background without blocking existing I/O during the move.

 

I would recommend doing this in the background by adding the extra option "--background". That way you could also just disconnect the secure shell session and not need to wait for the command to finish (it could take hours to finish)

Move the existing log file system from the system disk to the dedicated logfile disk (shown as a forground process)

[Expert@firewall:0]# # NB: I recommend adding the extra option --background to the below command 

[Expert@firewall:0]# #                       Move [FROM disk] [TO disk]

[Expert@firewall:0]# pvmove -n /dev/vg_splat/lv_log /dev/sda3 /dev/sdc1

  /dev/sda3: Moved: 0.6%

  /dev/sda3: Moved: 1.4%

  ...

  /dev/sda3: Moved: 100%

 

Then verify that the data has been moved correctly..

List the location of the logical volumes again on the PV disks.

[Expert@firewall:0]#lvs -o +devices

  LV         VG       Attr   LSize  Origin Snap%  Move Log Copy%  Devices    

  lv_current vg_splat -wi-ao 20.00G                               /dev/sda3(0)

  lv_log     vg_splat -wi-ao 63.00G                               /dev/sdc1(0) <-- Perfect Smiley Happy 

(the above command shows that lv_log only resides on /dev/sdc1 now)

Now I want to expand the file system on THE NEW DISK only.

TIP:

When you expand a filesystem on a logical volume you can utilize all the free space by using  "100%FREE" (without the quotation)  instead of my example below where I use  "+3910G" 

.. so lets expand the logical volume with /dev/sdc1 as an option.

Extend the log file system to utilize the new space

[Expert@firewall:0]# lvextend -L +3910G /dev/vg_splat/lv_log /dev/sdc1 

  Extending logical volume lv_log to 3.88 TB

  Logical volume lv_log successfully resized

The we resize the file system to fit the logical volume..

Resizing the file system

[Expert@firewall:0]# resize2fs /dev/vg_splat/lv_log

resize2fs 1.39 (29-May-2006)

Filesystem at /dev/vg_splat/lv_log is mounted on /var/log; on-line resizing required

Performing an on-line resize of /dev/vg_splat/lv_log to 1041498112 (4k) blocks.

The filesystem on /dev/vg_splat/lv_log is now 1041498112 blocks long.

 

Check that data still resides on /dev/sdc1 for lv_log

List the LVM / PV location again..

[Expert@firewall:0]# lvs -o +devices

  LV         VG       Attr   LSize  Origin Snap%  Move Log Copy%  Devices    

  lv_current vg_splat -wi-ao 20.00G                               /dev/sda3(0)

  lv_log     vg_splat -wi-ao  3.88T                               /dev/sdc1(0)

 An extra check to see the file system size in human format (-h) 

Verify that the log file system had been expanded

[Expert@firewall:0]# df -h /var/log

Filesystem                       Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on

/dev/mapper/vg_splat-lv_log      3.8T   40G  3.6T   2% /var/log

 

An extra check to ensure we can write/read the filesystem..

Verify that the system can write to the file system

[Expert@firewall:0]# touch /var/log/deleteme && ls -al /var/log/deleteme && rm /var/log/deleteme

-rw-rw---- 1 admin users 0 Oct 22 13:42 /var/log/deleteme

[Expert@firewall:0]# ls -al /var/log/deleteme

ls: /var/log/deleteme: No such file or directory

 That's it Smiley Happy 

A "Quickie" to run in expert mode

parted -s /dev/sdc mklabel gpt

parted -s /dev/sdc unit mib mkpart primary 1 100%

parted -s /dev/sdc set 1 lvm on

partprobe

pvcreate /dev/sdc1

vgextend vg_splat /dev/sdc1

pvmove --background -n /dev/vg_splat/lv_log /dev/sda3 /dev/sdc1 

lvextend -L +3910G /dev/vg_splat/lv_log /dev/sdc1 

resize2fs /dev/vg_splat/lv_log

The end

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11 Replies
G_W_Albrecht
Legend
Legend

Just a question - why not use lvm_manager ? Also, sk105065 gives a slightly different procedure...

CCSE CCTE CCSM SMB Specialist
Kim_Moberg
Advisor

I can confim Keld Norman solution are working because he reconfigurered our splat-partition in that way on our system.

First I wasnt aware of the SK so on my virtual machine I extended the hdd of vmdk file BUT Gaia did not see the extended hdd part. If I wanted to do so I had to add a new hdd in vm and then via lvm manager add the new storage to Gaia. So Keld moved around some partition that was blocking for a normal partition and extended the existing Gaia and the splat partition.

I think the SK is the recommend users to easily add storage whitout risk of destroying your installation, and then Check Point would have some unsatisfying customers.

BR

Kim


Best Regards
Kim
0 Kudos
Keld_Norman
Contributor

because i read here : lvm_manager successor on R80.10  that lvm_manager was not supported anymore.

0 Kudos
G_W_Albrecht
Legend
Legend

If you read more, you will find that it is still supported - but you have to enter maintenance mode before running the script.

SK95566 now clearly says:

  • Perform a backup/snapshot before proceeding!!!
  • Reboot and perform the operation in Maintenance Mode only!!!
CCSE CCTE CCSM SMB Specialist
Kaspars_Zibarts
Employee Employee
Employee

Very nicely written, we did a while ago. Just remember that it took forever / can't remember which command but it was 4hrs I think Smiley Happy

Nuno_Thome
Explorer

Nice!

0 Kudos
HeikoAnkenbrand
Champion Champion
Champion

Yes, it is very nicely written and helpful. I gave you some points for it. Smiley Happy

THX

Heiko

➜ CCSM Elite, CCME, CCTE
0 Kudos
Henning_Hillebr
Explorer

Just used this very nice guide, until the part with "pvmove" , then I used lvm_manager to expand the lv_log dir.

It worked like a charm !

This was done on CP R80.20 manager

Garrett_DirSec
Advisor

how does the new XFS filesystem complicate this with R80.20 and beyond?
does XFS work well with VLM?   Is the specific filesystem irrelevant when talking about LVM?
thanks -GA

0 Kudos
Garrett_DirSec
Advisor

nudge on topic and whether XFS changes anything in this dialog (part of GAIA kernel 3.xx)?

0 Kudos
Martin_Raska
Advisor
Advisor

Thank you for the guide. If you have XFS file system as a last step use
xfs_growfs /dev/vg_splat/lv_log

instead
resize2fs /dev/vg_splat/lv_log
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