Administrator's Reference

DELETE VOLUME (Delete a Storage Pool Volume)

Use the DELETE VOLUME command to delete a storage pool volume and, optionally, the files within the volume. This command can be used to delete a volume assigned to either a primary or copy storage pool. If during the processing of this command for a primary storage pool volume, ADSM deletes the primary copy of a file (not a cached copy), ADSM also deletes any copies of that file residing in copy storage pools.

If you are deleting several volumes, it is recommended that you delete the volumes one at a time. Concurrent volume deletion can adversely affect server performance.

To determine the contents stored on a volume, use the QUERY CONTENT command.

Before you can delete a storage volume, you must do one of the following:

• Use the MOVE DATA command to move all files to another volume.

• Explicitly request to discard all files in the storage volume by specifying DISCARDDATA=YES.

Storage pool volumes may not be totally empty after a move data operation completes if one or more files cannot be relocated to another volume due to input/output errors on the device or if integrity errors were found in the file's structure. In this case, a DELETE operation with DISCARDDATA=YES is required to fully delete the volume. The files with I/O or integrity errors are then lost.

If you specify DISCARDDATA=YES, ADSM creates a server process that deletes files as a series of batch database transactions. If the DELETE VOLUME operation is canceled during processing or if a system failure occurs, a partial deletion can occur. In this case, a subsequent DELETE VOLUME command for the same volume continues deleting the remaining files.

Storage pool volumes cannot be deleted if they are already in use. For example, volumes cannot be deleted if a user is restoring or retrieving a file residing in the storage volume, if ADSM is writing information to the volume, or if reclamation is in process.

Do not use the DELETE VOLUME command with DISCARDDATA=YES if a restore process (RESTORE STGPOOL or RESTORE VOLUME) is running. The DELETE VOLUME command could cause the restore to be incomplete.

Privilege Class

To issue this command, you must have system privilege, unrestricted storage privilege, or restricted storage privilege for the storage pool to which the volume is defined.

Syntax

                            .-DISCARDdata--=--No-------.
>>-DELete Volume--volname---+--------------------------+-------->
                            '-DISCARDdata--=--+-No--+--'
                                              '-Yes-'
 
     .-Wait--=--No-------.
>----+-------------------+-------------------------------------><
     '-Wait--=--+-No--+--'
                '-Yes-'
 

Parameters

volname

Specifies the name of the volume to be deleted. This parameter is required.

DISCARDdata=discardvalue

Specifies whether all files stored in the specified volume are deleted from the storage pool. This parameter is optional. No sequential access media mounts are required for this type of deletion. The default value is NO. Possible values are:

No

Specifies that all files stored in the specified volume are not deleted.

Yes

Specifies that all files stored in the specified volume are deleted.

When this option is specified for a primary storage pool volume, the command deletes from the volume both primary copies of files and files that are cached copies (copies left behind by migration processes). When primary copies of files are deleted from the volume, any copies of these files in copy storage pools are also deleted.

Wait=waitvalue

Specifies whether to wait for the server to complete processing this command in the foreground. This parameter is optional. The default value is No.

Note:

You cannot specify Wait=Yes from the server console.

Possible values are:

No

Specifies that the server processes this command in the background. You can continue with other tasks while the command is being processed. Messages created from the background process are displayed either in the activity log or the server console, depending on where messages are logged.

Yes

Specifies that the server processes this command in the foreground. You wait for the command to complete before continuing with other tasks. The server then displays the output messages to the administrative client when the command completes.

Examples

Task

Delete storage pool volume stgvol.1 from the storage pool FILEPOOL.

Command:

delete volume stgvol.1

Related Commands

Table 88. Commands Related to DELETE VOLUME

Command	Description
CANCEL PROCESS	Cancels a background server process.
DEFINE VOLUME	Assigns a volume to be used for storage within a specified storage pool.
MOVE DATA	Moves data from a specified storage pool volume to another storage pool volume.
MOVE DRMEDIA	Moves DRM media onsite and offsite.
QUERY CONTENT	Displays information about one or more files currently residing in a storage pool volume.
QUERY DRMEDIA	Displays information about disaster recovery volumes.
QUERY PROCESS	Displays information about one or all background server processes.
QUERY VOLUME	Displays information about one or more storage pool volumes.
UPDATE VOLUME	Updates the attributes of one or more storage pool volumes.