Your Browser is Out of Date

Nytro.ai uses technology that works best in other browsers.
For a full experience use one of the browsers below
Dell PowerScale OneFS: Writable Snapshots
Executive summary Overview Writable snapshots prerequisite Configuring and managing writable snapshots
Overview
Creating a writable snapshot
Deleting a writable snapshot
Monitoring and reporting Writable snapshots and OneFS domains Nested writable snapshots Symbolic and hard links with writable snapshots Licensing requirements Writable snapshots performance Writable snapshots and OneFS data services Writable snapshots and data replication Writable snapshots workflows Best practices and considerations Conclusion Technical support and resources

Creating a writable snapshot

Home > Storage > PowerScale (Isilon) > Product Documentation > Data Protection > Dell PowerScale OneFS: Writable Snapshots > Creating a writable snapshot

Creating a writable snapshot

  • In OneFS 9.3 and later releases, a writable snapshot can easily be created from the CLI with the following command syntax.

    Usage:

    isi snapshot writable create <src-snap> <dst-path>

    The source snapshot (src-snap) is an existing read-only snapshot (prod1), and the destination path (dst-path) is a new directory within the /ifs namespace (/ifs/test wsnap1). A read-only source snapshot can be generated as follows:

    # isi snapshot snapshots create prod1 /ifs/test/prod

    # isi snapshot snapshots list

    ID     Name                             Path

    -------------------------------------------------------

    7142   prod1      /ifs/test/prod

    More information about configuring and managing OneFS SnapshotIQ is available in the document Data Protection with Dell PowerScale SnapshotIQ.

    Next, the following command creates a writable snapshot in an ‘active’ state.

    # isi snapshot writable create prod1 /ifs/test/wsnap1

    # isi snapshot snapshots delete -f prod1

    Snapshot "prod1" can't be deleted because it is locked

    While the OneFS CLI is not explicitly prevented from unlocking a writable snapshot’s lock on the backing snapshot, it does provide a clear warning.

    # isi snap lock view prod1 1

         ID: 1

    Comment: Locked/Unlocked by Writable Snapshot(s), do not force delete lock.           

    Expires: 2106-02-07T06:28:15

      Count: 1

    # isi snap lock delete prod1 1

    Are you sure you want to delete snapshot lock 1 from s13590? (yes/[no]):

    Be aware that a writable snapshot cannot be created on an existing directory. A new directory path must be specified in the CLI syntax, otherwise the command will fail with the following error:

    # isi snapshot writable create prod1 /ifs/test/wsnap1

    mkdir /ifs/test/wsnap1 failed: File exists

    Similarly, if an unsupported path is specified, the following error will be returned:

    # isi snapshot writable create prod1 /isf/test/wsnap2

    Error in field(s): dst_path

    Field: dst_path has error: The value: /isf/test/wsnap2 does not match the regular expression: ^/ifs$|^/ifs/ Input validation failed.

    A writable snapshot also cannot be created from a source snapshot of the /ifs root directory, and will fail with the following error:

    # isi snapshot writable create s1476 /ifs/test/ifs-wsnap

    Cannot create writable snapshot from a /ifs snapshot: Operation not supported

    OneFS 9.3 and later releases do not support scheduled or automated writable snapshot creation.