To automatically check your Solaris Volume Manager configuration for errors, create a script that the cron utility can periodically run.

The following example shows a script that you can adapt and modify for your needs.

#
#!/bin/ksh
#ident "@(#)metacheck.sh   1.3     96/06/21 SMI"
# ident='%Z%%M%   %I%     %E% SMI'
#
# Copyright (c) 1999 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
#
# metacheck
#
# Check on the status of the metadevice configuration.  If there is a problem
# return a non zero exit code.  Depending on options, send email notification.
#
# -h
#	help
# -s setname
#	Specify the set to check.  By default, the 'local' set will be checked.
# -m recipient [recipient...]
#	Send email notification to the specified recipients.  This
#	must be the last argument. The notification shows up as a short 
#	email message with a subject of 
#		"Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.who.nodename.setname"
#	which summarizes the problem(s) and tells how to obtain detailed 
#	information. The "setname" is from the -s option, "who" is from 
#	the -w option, and "nodename" is reported by uname(1).
#	Email notification is further affected by the following options:
#		-f	to suppress additional messages after a problem 
#			has been found. 
#		-d	to control the supression.
#		-w	to identify who generated the email.
#		-t	to force email even when there is no problem.
# -w who
#	indicate who is running the command. By default, this is the
#	user-name as reported by id(1M). This is used when sending
#	email notification (-m).
# -f 
#	Enable filtering.  Filtering applies to email notification (-m).
#	Filtering requires root permission.  When sending email notification
#	the file /etc/lvm/metacheck.setname.pending is used to 
#	controll the filter.  The following matrix specifies the behavior
#	of the filter:
#
#	problem_found	file_exists
#	  yes		  no		Create file, send notification
#	  yes		  yes		Resend notification if the current date 
#					(as specified by -d datefmt) is 
#					different than the file date.
#	  no		  yes		Delete file, send notification 
#					that the problem is resolved.
#	  no		  no		Send notification if -t specified.
#	
# -d datefmt
#	Specify the format of the date for filtering (-f).  This option 
#	controls the how often re-notification via email occurs. If the 
#	current date according to the specified format (strftime(3C)) is 
#	identical to the date contained in the 
#	/etc/lvm/metacheck.setname.pending file then the message is 
#	suppressed. The default date format is "%D", which will send one 
#	re-notification per day.
# -t
#	Test mode.  Enable email generation even when there is no problem.
#	Used for end-to-end verification of the mechanism and email addresses.
#	
#
# These options are designed to allow integration of metacheck
# into crontab.  For example, a root crontab entry of:
#
# 0,15,30,45 * * * * /usr/sbin/metacheck -f -w SVMcron \
#   -d '\%D \%h' -m [email protected] [email protected]
#
# would check for problems every 15 minutes, and generate an email to
# [email protected] (and send to an email pager service) every hour when 
# there is a problem.  Note the \ prior to the '%' characters for a 
# crontab entry.  Bounced email would come back to root@nodename.
# The subject line for email generated by the above line would be
# Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.SVMcron.nodename.local
#

# display a debug line to controlling terminal (works in pipes)
decho()
{
    if [ "$debug" = "yes" ] ; then
	echo "DEBUG: $*"	< /dev/null > /dev/tty 2>&1
    fi
}

# if string $1 is in $2-* then return $1, else return ""
strstr()
{
    typeset	look="$1"
    typeset	ret=""

    shift
#   decho "strstr LOOK .$look. FIRST .$1."
    while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
	if [ "$look" = "$1" ] ; then
	    ret="$look"
	fi
	shift
    done
    echo "$ret"
}

# if string $1 is in $2-* then delete it. return result
strdstr()
{
    typeset	look="$1"
    typeset	ret=""

    shift
#   decho "strdstr LOOK .$look. FIRST .$1."
    while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
	if [ "$look" != "$1" ] ; then
	    ret="$ret $1"
	fi
	shift
    done
    echo "$ret"
}

merge_continued_lines()
{
    awk -e '\
	BEGIN { line = "";} \
	$NF == "\\" { \
	    $NF = ""; \
	    line = line $0; \
	    next; \
	} \
	$NF != "\\" { \
	    if ( line != "" ) { \
		print line $0; \
		line = ""; \
	    } else { \
		print $0; \
	    } \
	}'
}

# trim out stuff not associated with metadevices
find_meta_devices()
{
    typeset	devices=""

#   decho "find_meta_devices .$*."
    while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
	case $1 in
	d+([0-9]) )	# metadevice name
	    devices="$devices $1"
	    ;;
	esac
	shift
    done
    echo "$devices"
}

# return the list of top level metadevices
toplevel()
{
    typeset	comp_meta_devices=""
    typeset	top_meta_devices=""
    typeset	devices=""
    typeset	device=""
    typeset	comp=""

    metastat$setarg -p | merge_continued_lines | while read line ; do
	echo "$line"
	devices=`find_meta_devices $line`
	set -- $devices
	if [ $# -ne 0 ] ; then
	    device=$1
	    shift
	    # check to see if device already refered to as component
	    comp=`strstr $device $comp_meta_devices`
	    if [ -z $comp ] ; then 
		top_meta_devices="$top_meta_devices $device"
	    fi
	    # add components to component list, remove from top list
	    while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
		comp=$1
		comp_meta_devices="$comp_meta_devices $comp"
		top_meta_devices=`strdstr $comp $top_meta_devices`
		shift
	    done
	fi
    done > /dev/null 2>&1
    echo $top_meta_devices
}

#
# - MAIN
#
METAPATH=/usr/sbin
PATH=//usr/bin:$METAPATH
USAGE="usage: metacheck [-s setname] [-h] [[-t] [-f [-d datefmt]] \
    [-w who] -m recipient [recipient...]]"

datefmt="%D"
debug="no"
filter="no"
mflag="no"
set="local"
setarg=""
testarg="no"
who=`id | sed -e 's/^uid=[0-9][0-9]*(//' -e 's/).*//'`

while getopts d:Dfms:tw: flag
do
    case $flag in
    d)	datefmt=$OPTARG;
	;;
    D)	debug="yes"
	;;
    f)	filter="yes"
	;;
    m)	mflag="yes"
	;;
    s)	set=$OPTARG;
	if [ "$set" != "local" ] ; then
		setarg=" -s $set";
	fi
	;;
    t)	testarg="yes";
	;;
    w)	who=$OPTARG;
	;;
    \?)	echo $USAGE
	exit 1
	;;
    esac
done

# if mflag specified then everything else part of recipient
shift `expr $OPTIND - 1`
if [ $mflag = "no" ] ; then
    if [ $# -ne 0 ] ; then 
	echo $USAGE
	exit 1
    fi
else
    if [ $# -eq 0 ] ; then 
	echo $USAGE
	exit 1
    fi
fi
recipients="$*"

curdate_filter=`date +$datefmt`
curdate=`date`
node=`uname -n`

# establish files
msg_f=/tmp/metacheck.msg.$$
msgs_f=/tmp/metacheck.msgs.$$
metastat_f=/tmp/metacheck.metastat.$$
metadb_f=/tmp/metacheck.metadb.$$
metahs_f=/tmp/metacheck.metahs.$$
pending_f=/etc/lvm/metacheck.$set.pending 
files="$metastat_f $metadb_f $metahs_f $msg_f $msgs_f"

rm -f $files							> /dev/null 2>&1
trap "rm -f $files > /dev/null 2>&1; exit 1" 1 2 3 15

# Check to see if metadb is capable of running
have_metadb="yes"
metadb$setarg 							> $metadb_f 2>&1
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
    have_metadb="no"
fi
grep "there are no existing databases"  	< $metadb_f	> /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
    have_metadb="no"
fi
grep "/dev/md/admin"				< $metadb_f	> /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
    have_metadb="no"
fi

# check for problems accessing metadbs
retval=0
if [ "$have_metadb" = "no" ] ; then
    retval=1
    echo "metacheck: metadb problem, can't run '$METAPATH/metadb$setarg'" \
								>> $msgs_f
else
    # snapshot the state
    metadb$setarg 2>&1 | sed -e '1d' | merge_continued_lines	> $metadb_f
    metastat$setarg 2>&1 | merge_continued_lines		> $metastat_f
    metahs$setarg -i 2>&1 | merge_continued_lines		> $metahs_f

    #
    # Check replicas for problems, capital letters in the flags
    # indicate an error, fields are seperated by tabs.
    #
    problem=`awk < $metadb_f -F\t '{if ($1 ~ /[A-Z]/) print $1;}'`
    if [ -n "$problem" ] ; then
	retval=`expr $retval + 64`
	echo "\
metacheck: metadb problem, for more detail run:\n\t$METAPATH/metadb$setarg -i" \
								>> $msgs_f
    fi

    #
    # Check the metadevice state
    #
    problem=`awk < $metastat_f -e \
		'/State:/ {if ($2 != "Okay" && $2 != "Resyncing") print $0;}'`
    if [ -n "$problem" ] ; then
	retval=`expr $retval + 128`
	echo "\
metacheck: metadevice problem, for more detail run:" \
								>> $msgs_f

	# refine the message to toplevel metadevices that have a problem
	top=`toplevel`
	set -- $top
	while [ $# -ne 0 ] ; do
	    device=$1
	    problem=`metastat $device | awk -e \
		'/State:/ {if ($2 != "Okay" && $2 != "Resyncing") print $0;}'`
	    if [ -n "$problem" ] ; then
		echo "\t$METAPATH/metastat$setarg $device"	>> $msgs_f
		# find out what is mounted on the device
		mp=`mount|awk -e '/\/dev\/md\/dsk\/'$device'[ \t]/{print $1;}'`
		if [ -n "$mp" ] ; then
		    echo "\t\t$mp mounted on $device"		>> $msgs_f
		fi
	    fi
	    shift
	done
    fi

    #
    # Check the hotspares to see if any have been used.
    #
    problem=""
    grep "no hotspare pools found"	< $metahs_f		> /dev/null 2>&1
    if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
	problem=`awk < $metahs_f -e \
	    '/blocks/ { if ( $2 != "Available" ) print $0;}'`
    fi
    if [ -n "$problem" ] ; then
	retval=`expr $retval + 256`
	echo "\
metacheck: hot spare in use, for more detail run:\n\t$METAPATH/metahs$setarg -i" \
								 >> $msgs_f
    fi
fi

# If any errors occurred, then mail the report
if [ $retval -ne 0 ] ; then
    if [ -n "$recipients" ] ; then 
	re=""
	if [ -f $pending_f ] && [ "$filter" = "yes" ] ; then
	    re="Re: "
	    # we have a pending notification, check date to see if we resend
	    penddate_filter=`cat $pending_f | head -1`
	    if [ "$curdate_filter" != "$penddate_filter" ] ; then
		rm -f $pending_f				> /dev/null 2>&1
	    else
	 	if [ "$debug" = "yes" ] ; then
		    echo "metacheck: email problem notification still pending"
		    cat $pending_f
		fi
	    fi
	fi
	if [ ! -f $pending_f ] ; then
	    if [ "$filter" = "yes" ] ; then
		echo "$curdate_filter\n\tDate:$curdate\n\tTo:$recipients" \
								> $pending_f
	    fi
	    echo "\
Solaris Volume Manager: $node: metacheck$setarg: Report: $curdate"		>> $msg_f
	    echo "\
--------------------------------------------------------------" >> $msg_f
	    cat $msg_f $msgs_f | mailx -s \
		"${re}Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.$who.$set.$node" $recipients
	fi
    else
	cat $msgs_f
    fi
else
    # no problems detected,
    if [ -n "$recipients" ] ; then
	# default is to not send any mail, or print anything.
	echo "\
Solaris Volume Manager: $node: metacheck$setarg: Report: $curdate"		>> $msg_f
	echo "\
--------------------------------------------------------------" >> $msg_f
	if [ -f $pending_f ] && [ "$filter" = "yes" ] ; then
	    # pending filter exista, remove it and send OK
	    rm -f $pending_f					> /dev/null 2>&1
	    echo "Problem resolved"				>> $msg_f
	    cat $msg_f | mailx -s \
		"Re: Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.$who.$node.$set" $recipients
	elif [ "$testarg" = "yes" ] ; then
	    # for testing, send mail every time even thought there is no problem
	    echo "Messaging test, no problems detected"		>> $msg_f
	    cat $msg_f | mailx -s \
		"Solaris Volume Manager Problem: metacheck.$who.$node.$set" $recipients
	fi
    else
	echo "metacheck: Okay"
    fi
fi

rm -f $files							> /dev/null 2>&1
exit $retval

For information on invoking scripts by using the cron utility, see the cron ( 1M ) man page.