VALRAID

VALRAID is a utility program that can be used to validate policy files against inventory files generated by the INVRAID utility.

The VALRAID utility has two modes of operation:

Simulation mode simulates the effect a policy file would have on a controller.
Check mode determines if the policy file matches the configuration represented in the inventory file.

Simulation mode

Used in simulation mode, VALRAID simulates the effect that a policy file has on a RAID configuration if it is applied by using the PRAID utility. You can use this capability when you create PRAID policy files to test the policy files without running PRAID on the target system.

Check mode

Used in check mode, VALRAID determines if the policy file specified matches the RAID configuration represented in the inventory file. Use this capability in operating system deployment scripts to bypass the RAID configuration step if the controller is already configured with the required RAID configuration. With this process, you can avoid restarting the system before installing the operating system. To indicate that the policy file does not match the configuration represented by the inventory file, VALRAID sets the return code to 20.

Usage

Although the two modes of operation share most parameters, the syntax is mode-specific.

The simulation mode syntax is:

valraid -ini:input_inventory_file -inp:input_policy_file -outi:output_inventory_file 
-outp:output_policy_file -raid:inifiles

The check mode syntax is:

valraid -c -ini:input_inventory_file -inp:input_policy_file -raid:inifiles

Table 1. VALRAID parameters
Parameter	Description	Example
`-ini:input_inventory_file`	Specifies the input inventory file. Generate the inventory file by running INVRAID against a target system.	`valraid -ini:myfile.inv -inp:policy.ini -outi:newfile.inv -outp:newpolicy.ini -raid:/inifiles`
`-inp:input_policy_file`	Specifies the input policy file.	`valraid -ini:myfile.inv -inp:policy.ini -outi:newfile.inv -outp:newpolicy.ini -raid:/inifiles`
`-outi:output_inventory_file`	Specifies the file name for the output inventory file. This inventory file represents the RAID configuration that would result from using the PRAID utility to apply `input_policy_file` to the system described in `input_inventory_file`. This option is valid only for simulation mode.	`valraid -ini:myfile.inv -inp:policy.ini -outi:newfile.inv -outp:newpolicy.ini -raid:/inifiles`
`-outp:output_policy_file`	Specifies the file name for the output policy file. This file can be applied to a target system by using the PRAID utility. This option is valid only for simulation mode.	`valraid -ini:myfile.inv -inp:policy.ini -outi:newfile.inv -outp:newpolicy.ini -raid:/inifiles`
`-raid:inifiles`	Specifies the directory that contains the RAID .ini files. The default is /opt/ibm/sgtk/sgdeploy/sgtklinux/.data/valraid	`valraid -ini:myfile.inv -inp:policy.ini -outi:newfile.inv -outp:newpolicy.ini -raid:/inifiles`
`-c`	Specifies check mode. Check mode compares the configuration from the `input_inventory_file` file to the configuration represented in the `input_policy_file` file. The default is simulation mode.	`valraid -c -ini:myfile.inv -inp:policy.ini -raid:/inifiles`

Return codes

VALRAID uses the following return codes:

0 – The execution was successful.
1 – An error occurred while parsing the input policy file.
2 – An error occurred while parsing the input inventory file.
3 – The controller is not supported.
4 – The RAID level is not supported.
5 – The Stripesize is not supported.
6 – The number of arrays is not supported.
7 – The number of drives in the array is not supported.
8 – The number of logical volumes in the array is not supported.
9 – There are not enough drives to create a hot-spare.
10 – There are not enough drives of the same size.
11 – An error occurred while opening the input policy file.
12 – An error occurred while opening the input inventory file.
13 – An error occurred while opening the output inventory file.
14 – An error occurred while writing to the output inventory file.
15 – An error occurred while opening the output policy file.
16 – An error occurred while writing the output policy file.
17 – Partial drive sizing is not supported.
18 – Command line syntax error occurred.
19 – No policy match.
20 – Controller not configured, does not match policy file