To troubleshoot storage management problems that are related to Solaris Volume Manager, you need to do the following:
Have root privilege
Have a current backup of all data
You should have the following information on hand when you troubleshoot Solaris Volume Manager problems:
Output from the metadb command
Output from the metastat command
Output from the metastat -p command
Backup copy of the /etc/vfstab file
Backup copy of the /etc/lvm/mddb.cf file
Disk partition information from the prtvtoc command (SPARC® systems) or the fdisk command (x86 based systems)
The Solaris version on your system
A list of the Solaris patches that have been installed
A list of the Solaris Volume Manager patches that have been installed
Any time you update your Solaris Volume Manager configuration, or make other storage or operating system-related changes to your system, generate fresh copies of this configuration information. You could also generate this information automatically with a cron job.
Although no single procedure enables you to evaluate all problems with Solaris Volume Manager, the following process provides one general approach that might help.
Gather information about current the configuration.
Review the current status indicators, including the output from the metastat and metadb commands. This information should indicate which component is faulty.
Check the hardware for obvious points of failure:
Is everything connected properly?
Was there a recent electrical outage?
Have there been equipment changes or additions?