Preparing the drives

This section covers the steps required for preparing new drives to be added to the storage enclosure.

Ensure that the size of the drive and its firmware level match with the drives that are already part of the target storage enclosure.

Note

To check the drive firmware level, use the following command and check the values in the FW Rev column:

$ nvme list

Node   SN               Model   Namespace   Usage    Format    FW Rev
------ ---------------- ------- ----------- -------- --------- ------

You must destroy the existing namespace on the drive and rescan using on of the following options:

Option 1

Use a new storage enclosure.

CAUTION

Do not attempt this option on the enclosure where you are adding or removing disks. Use a new enclosure that is not currently in use.

If the disks are part of an existing ThinkAgile CP storage block array, follow these steps to destroy the namespace:

1. Execute the following command:

   # /usr/share/tacp/encryption/ignite_build_sed -f -d -v

2. Rescan the PCI bus by executing the following commands:

   modprobe -r nvme:echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/rescan:modprobe nvme

Option 2

Use this option if you do not have access to another storage enclosure.

1. List all the namespaces on the drive

   nvme list-ns /dev/nvme0

2. Delete the namespaces

   For example, to delete the first namespace use the following command:

   nvme delete-ns /dev/nvme0 -n 1

   Attention

   You must delete all namespaces on all the drives you are installing.

3. Verify that no namespaces exist on the drives:

   $ nvme list