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sword12

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Change Vdisk store path

HI

we have two  PVS  running on vmware cluster  using  raw device . hosted on fiber data store . we are using as cluster file system Melio FS  (( please check the attached file ))

so now we have VSAN cluster and we are moving all systems to VSAN . and it is look like VSAN dose not support raw device mapping

so today i create on our EMC VNX filer CIFS share and i mounted this share on these two PVS  .

so i am thinking to move the Vdisks store path from Melio FS to this  shared CIFS  

the steps will be like this

1- arrange down time and shutdown all XENAPP servers
2- right now Melio FS drive mounted  D  i will leav it as it is  and mount the CIFS share on E
3- copy vdisks store directory from D  to E
4- change the store path from D:\vdisks-Store\XA01i.vhd    to E:\vdisks-Store\XA01i.vhd
5- start the xenaap servers and make sure the all servers booted normally

i am afraid by doing this will it create any issues with image assignment to the target devices?

i found online this information and i don't know if this right

(( If setting an override store path on the Server's Properties dialog, the path must be set prior to creating a new version of the vDisk. Because this path information is stored and referenced in the .VHD header information, changing the path after versioning may cause unexpected results. ))

I would like to avoid those "unexpected" results if possible since I do have versions on my images. Are there any steps I should take as precaution?

thank you in advance
Sword
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amichaell
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I would merge (base plus updates) to a new .vhd just in case something goes wonky and you need to import the .vhd.
Avatar of Coralon
As amichaell said, merge your image(s) to a single base image.
Then reimport your image from the new location and assign it to your VM's in the PVS console.

That should be it.. the client OS' are not going to care, and as long as you point PVS to the correct location, it will read the disk into memory as called, and you shouldn't have any issue.

Coralon
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sword12

ASKER

HI amichaell and Coralon

i just start merging and sunday i will shutdown all xenapp server and start copying the vdisk store to the new location but
i need your help to give some sort of step by step answer for these questions pls

1- permissions issue between the cluster file system which is melio fs  in this case and the future production shared file system which is CIFS from EMC filer in this case .
in Melio FS the permissions has local users which i cant assing the same on shard file system . so you think this will cause me problem after i move the Vdisk store to the CIFS share (( please check the attached file called permissions ))  

2- please check the attached files and tell me step by step how can i do it

i found this online
https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/provisioning/7-1/pvs-vdisks-lifecycle-wrapper/pvs-vdisks-versioning-import-export.html

but i hope if  Coralon can write for me step by step this will be big help

and in case something went wrong i want to bring the old store  if this possible


thank you in advance
Sword
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Because it is PVS, only your PVS service account needs access to the file system where the vhd's are stored.  Feel free to lock it down - you don't want someone to accidentally delete the vhd's.  Your users simply do not require any access to the filesystem..

I would love to be able to do the step by step, but I don't have access to a PVS system anymore unfortunately.  

But the article you linked covers the necessities..  
1. Merge the disks first -- far less of any risk if you have a single merged file instead of the chain of files to deal with.  The XML file becomes much less important if you have a merged disk.  Keeping the chain makes the XML critical.  You *can* import the disk without the XML file, but you have to reset some of the parameters when you import it.  (I would still try to keep the XML..)
2. You can simply leave your old disk store alone while you do the migration & reimport.  That way you can revert easily enough if there is an issue.  

One question for you (primarily to think about).. do you have your file system set to read-only?  This is a perfectly valid option, but it requires you to change it to read/write to do updates, or to move it to a different location to do updates and then return it.  If you have it read-only, then you can have multiple PVS servers accessing the same vhd file without any issue.  But, if it is read/write, you risk having one of the servers locking the image and preventing the other servers from accessing it.   If they are read/write, then you typically need to have a copy per-server and keep them in sync.

Coralon
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ASKER

Hi Coralon

XML ? i find no XML file in the vdisks store ?

I don’t have special service account in out active directory for PVS service. Because we used to run everything on PVs locally. It is look like we are using the domain administrator
In this case please take a look for the attached file and advise me what the best  I can do for permissions on this CIFS share to avoid problems  
And this is the Steps as I imagen
0-      Shutdown all xenapp servers
1-      Merge to the base
2-      Copy to the CIFS share
3-      Change the path on the global store
4-      Import the existing V disks  
5-      Make sure the vdisk path located to the new path plus the target devices  

Backup plan in case something went wrong

0-      Shutdown xenapp serves
1-      Change the path back to the old local Melio FS
2-      Import the vdiks
3-      Make sure all paths ok on all level  

I think this should work but my biggest concern the CIFS permissions.

Thank you for your help
Sword
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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Coralon
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