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Convert a FlexVol volume to a FlexGroup volume

Contributors netapp-lenida netapp-thomi

Beginning with ONTAP 9.7, you can perform an in-place conversion of a FlexVol volume to a FlexGroup volume without requiring a data copy or additional disk space.

What you'll need
  • Transitioned volumes can be converted to FlexGroup volumes beginning in ONTAP 9.8. If you are converting a transitioned volume to FlexGroup, see Knowledge Base article How To Convert a Transitioned FlexVol to FlexGroup for more information.

  • The FlexVol volume that is being converted must be online.

  • The operations and configurations on the FlexVol volume must be compatible with the conversion process.

    An error message is generated if the FlexVol volume has any incompatibility and the volume conversion is aborted. You can take corrective actions and retry the conversion.

  • If a FlexVol volume is very large (for example, 80 to 100 TB) and very full (80 to 100 percent), you should copy the data rather than convert it.

    Note

    Converting a very large FlexGroup volume results in a very full FlexGroup volume member constituent, which can create performance issues. For more information, see the section called "When not to create a FlexGroup volume" in the TR FlexGroup volumes - Best Practices and Implementation Guide.

Steps
  1. Verify that the FlexVol volume is online: volume show vol_name -volume-style-extended,state

    cluster-1::> volume show my_volume -fields volume-style-extended,state
    vserver volume    state  volume-style-extended
    ------- --------- ------ ---------------------
    vs0     my_volume online flexvol
  2. Verify whether the FlexVol volume can be converted without issues:

    1. Log in to the advance privilege mode: set -privilege advanced

    2. Verify the conversion process: volume conversion start -vserver vs1 -volume flexvol -check-only true

      You must rectify all errors before converting the volume.

      Note

      You cannot convert a FlexGroup volume back to a FlexVol volume.

  3. Start the conversion: volume conversion start -vserver svm_name -volume vol_name

    cluster-1::*> volume conversion start -vserver vs0 -volume my_volume
    
    Warning: Converting flexible volume "my_volume" in Vserver "vs0" to a FlexGroup
             will cause the state of all Snapshot copies from the volume to be set
             to "pre-conversion". Pre-conversion Snapshot copies cannot be
             restored.
    Do you want to continue? {y|n}: y
    [Job 57] Job succeeded: success
  4. Verify that the conversion is successful: volume show vol_name -fields -volume-style-extended,state

    cluster-1::*> volume show my_volume -fields volume-style-extended,state
    vserver volume    state  volume-style-extended
    ------- --------- ------ ---------------------
    vs0     my_volume online flexgroup
Results

The FlexVol volume is converted to a single-member FlexGroup volume.

After you finish

You can expand the FlexGroup volume, as required.