Adding journal device for FlashArray nodes

Adding Journal Device to an existing node.

This section illustrates how to add a journal device to an existing node.

1. Enter maintenance mode

In order to add journal device to a node, the node must be put in maintenance mode:

pxctl service maintenance --enter

This is a disruptive operation, PX will restart in maintenance mode.
Are you sure you want to proceed ? (Y/N): Y

Check if the node is in maintenance mode:

pxctl status

PX is in maintenance mode.  Use the service mode option to exit maintenance mode.
Node ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-c9d0eb597668
	IP: X.X.X.185
 	Local Storage Pool: 0 pool
	Pool	IO_Priority	Size	Used	Status	Zone	Region
	No storage pool
	Local Storage Devices: 0 device
	Device	Path	Media Type	Size		Last-Scan
	No storage device
	total		-	0 B
Cluster Summary
	Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0242ac110002
	Node IP: X.X.X.185 - Node ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-c9d0eb597668 In Maintenance
Global Storage Pool
	Total Used    	:  0 B
	Total Capacity	:  0 B

AlertID	Resource	ResourceID				Timestamp	Severity	AlertType		Description
39	CLUSTER		xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3	Jan 8 06:01:22 UTC 2017	ALARM		Node state change	Node xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3 has an Operational Status: Down
48	NODE		xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-c9d0eb597668	Jan 8 21:45:25 UTC 2017	ALARM		Cluster manager failure	Cluster Manager Failure: Entering Maintenance Mode because of Storage Maintenance Mode

2. Add the journal device to the node

A journal device is recommended to be an SSD/NVME:

pxctl service drive add --drive /dev/nvme01 --journal

Successfully added journal device /dev/nvme010p1

note

The journal device is expected to not have any filesystem on it, This can be verified by running blkid /dev/nvme01. If it has a filesystem on it and you still want to use it as a journal device, the filesystem should be removed by running wipefs -a /dev/nvme01.

3. Exit maintenance mode

pxctl service maintenance --exit