Reactivate the original ONTAP SnapMirror source SVM

01/15/2026 Contributors

You can reestablish the original data protection relationship between the source and destination SVM when you no longer need to serve data from the destination. The procedure is largely identical to the procedure for volume replication, with one exception. You must stop the destination SVM before reactivating the source SVM.

Before you begin

If you have increased the size of destination volume while serving data from it, before you reactivate the source volume, you should manually increase max-autosize on the original source volume to ensure it can grow sufficiently.

When a destination volume grows automatically

The cluster administrator should pause writes from the client before reactivating the original source SVM to avoid data loss.

About this task

Beginning with ONTAP 9.11.1, you can reduce resynchronization time during a disaster recovery rehearsal by using the CLI -quick-resync true option of the snapmirror resync command while performing a reverse resync of an SVM DR relationship. A quick resync can reduce the time it takes to return to production by bypassing the data warehouse rebuild and restore operations. Learn more about snapmirror resync in the ONTAP command reference.

Quick resync does not preserve the storage efficiency of the destination volumes. Enabling quick resync might increase the volume space used by the destination volumes.

This procedure assumes that the baseline in the original source volume is intact. If the baseline is not intact, you must create and initialize the relationship between the volume you are serving data from and the original source volume before performing the procedure.

Beginning with ONTAP 9.8, you can use System Manager to reactivate a source storage VM after a disaster.

Steps

You can perform this task using System Manager or the ONTAP CLI.

System Manager ONTAP 9.17.1 and later

On the destination cluster, select the desired protection relationship: click Protection > Replication.
Hover your cursor over the source name, click , and click Reverse resync.
In the Reverse resync relationship window, click Reverse resync.

The relationship disappears from the Replication table and is now being managed by the original source cluster.
On the original source cluster, click Protection > Replication, and verify the reverse resync is complete by checking that the state displays Mirrored.
On the original destination cluster, navigate to Cluster > Storage VMs.
Locate the storage VM, hover your cursor over the storage VM name, click , and click Stop.
In the Stop storage VM window, click Stop.
On the source cluster, navigate to Protection > Replication, and locate the storage VM you want to reactivate, hover your cursor over the storage VM name, click , and click Activate destination storage VM.
In the Activate destination storage VM window, select Activate the destination storage VM and break the relationship, and click Activate.
When you return to the Replication page, hover your cursor over the storage VM name again, click , and click Reverse resync.

System Manager ONTAP 9.16.1 and earlier

On the destination cluster, select the desired protection relationship: click Protection > Relationships.
Hover your cursor over the source name, click , and click Reverse resync.
In the Reverse resync relationship window, click Reverse resync.

The relationship disappears from the Relationships table because it's now being managed by the original source cluster.
On the original source cluster, click Protection > Relationships and verify the reverse resync is complete by checking that the state shows as Mirrored.
On the original destination cluster, navigate to Storage > Storage VMs.
Locate the storage VM, hover your cursor over the storage VM name, click , and click Stop.
In the Stop storage VM window, click Stop.
On the source cluster, locate the storage VM (which is now the source SVM of the reversed relationship), hover your cursor over the SVM name, click , and click Activate destination storage VM.
In the Activate destination storage VM window, select Activate the destination storage VM and break the relationship and click Activate.
When you return to the Relationships page, hover your cursor over the storage VM name again, click , and click Reverse resync.

CLI

From the original source SVM or the original source cluster, create a reverse SVM DR relationship using the same configuration, policy, and identity-preserve setting as the original SVM DR relationship:
```
snapmirror create -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example creates a relationship between the SVM from which you are serving data, svm_backup, and the original source SVM, svm1:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror create -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```
Learn more about snapmirror create in the ONTAP command reference.
From the original source SVM or the original source cluster, run the following command to reverse the data protection relationship:
```
snapmirror resync -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

Although resync does not require a baseline transfer, it can be time-consuming. You might want to run the resync in off-peak hours.

The command fails if a common snapshot does not exist on the source and destination. Use snapmirror initialize to reinitialize the relationship.

The following example reverses the relationship between the original source SVM, svm1, and the SVM from which you are serving data, svm_backup:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror resync -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```
Example using -quick-resync option:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror resync -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1: -quick-resync true
```
When you are ready to reestablish data access to the original source SVM, stop the original destination SVM to disconnect any clients currently connected to the original destination SVM.
```
vserver stop -vserver <SVM>
```
The following example stops the original destination SVM which is currently serving data:
```
cluster_dst::> vserver stop svm_backup
```

Verify that the original destination SVM is in the stopped state by using the vserver show command.

cluster_dst::> vserver show
                                  Admin      Operational Root
Vserver        Type    Subtype    State      State       Volume     Aggregate
--------       ------- ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------
svm_backup     data    default    stopped    stopped     rv         aggr1

From the original source SVM or the original source cluster, run the following command to perform the final update of the reversed relationship to transfer all changes from the original destination SVM to the original source SVM:
```
snapmirror update -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example updates the relationship between the original destination SVM from which you are serving data,svm_backup, and the original source SVM, svm1:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror update -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```
Learn more about snapmirror update in the ONTAP command reference.
From the original source SVM or the original source cluster, run the following command to stop scheduled transfers for the reversed relationship:
```
snapmirror quiesce -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example stops scheduled transfers between the SVM you are serving data from, svm_backup, and the original SVM, svm1:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror quiesce -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```
When the final update is complete and the relationship indicates "Quiesced" for the relationship status, run the following command from the original source SVM or the original source cluster to break the reversed relationship:
```
snapmirror break -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example breaks the relationship between the original destination SVM from which you were serving data, svm_backup, and the original source SVM, svm1:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror break -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```
Learn more about snapmirror break in the ONTAP command reference.
If the original source SVM was previously stopped, from the original source cluster, start the original source SVM:
```
vserver start -vserver <SVM>
```
The following example starts the original source SVM:
```
cluster_src::> vserver start svm1
```
From the original destination SVM or the original destination cluster, reestablish the original data protection relationship:
```
snapmirror resync -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example reestablishes the relationship between the original source SVM, svm1, and the original destination SVM, svm_backup:
```
cluster_dst::> snapmirror resync -source-path svm1: -destination-path svm_backup:
```
From the original source SVM or the original source cluster, run the following command to delete the reversed data protection relationship:
```
snapmirror delete -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example deletes the reversed relationship between the original destination SVM, svm_backup, and the original source SVM, svm1:
```
cluster_src::> snapmirror delete -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```
From the original destination SVM or the original destination cluster, release the reversed data protection relationship:
```
snapmirror release -source-path <SVM>: -destination-path <SVM>:
```
You must enter a colon (:) after the SVM name in the -source-path and -destination-path options. See the example below.

The following example releases the reversed relationship between the original destination SVM, svm_backup, and the original source SVM, svm1
```
cluster_dst::> snapmirror release -source-path svm_backup: -destination-path svm1:
```

What's next

Use the snapmirror show command to verify that the SnapMirror relationship was created.

Learn more about snapmirror show in the ONTAP command reference.
Resume write operations from your client to the original source SVM.

Related information

Reactivate the original ONTAP SnapMirror source SVM

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