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Rebuilding Software RAID (Linux)

This article explains how to rebuild a software RAID after replacing a defective hard disk.

Please Note

After the hard drive has been replaced, it may be recognized as sdc. This always happens with a hot-swap exchange. The only thing that helps here is a reboot so that the hard disk is recognized as sda or sdb again.

Example Scenario

These instructions are based on the following configuration:

# cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid1]
md1 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdb1[1]
4194240 blocks [2/2] [UU]

md3 : active raid1 sda3[0] sdb3[1]
1458846016 blocks [2/2] [UU]

There are 2 arrays:

/dev/md1 as /

/dev/md3 for the log. Partitions /var, /usr, and /home.

Typically, there are two swap partitions (sda2 and sdb2) which are not part of the RAID.

Restoring RAID

The procedure to follow depends on whether hard disk 1 (sda) or hard disk 2 (sdb) was replaced:

If Hard Disk 1 (sda) Was Replaced

If hard disk 1 (sda) was replaced, you must check whether it was recognized correctly. You may need to reboot. Then, boot the server into the rescue system and perform the steps listed below.

  • First, copy the partition tables to the new (empty) hard disk:
    [root@host ~]# sfdisk -d /dev/sdb | sfdisk /dev/sda
    (You may need to use the --force option).

  • Add the partitions to the RAID:
    [root@host ~]# mdadm /dev/md1 -a /dev/sda1
    [root@host ~]# mdadm /dev/md3 -a /dev/sda3
    You can now follow the rebuild of the RAID with cat /proc/mdstat.

  • Then mount the partitions var, usr and home:
    [root@host ~]# mount /dev/md1 /mnt
    [root@host ~]# mount /dev/mapper/vg00-var /mnt/var
    [root@host ~]# mount /dev/mapper/vg00-usr /mnt/usr
    [root@host ~]# mount /dev/mapper/vg00-home /mnt/home

  • So that Grub can be installed later without errors, mount proc, sys and dev:
    [root@host ~]# mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
    [root@host ~]# mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys
    [root@host ~]# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev

  • After mounting the partitions, jump into the chroot environment and install the grub bootloader:
    [root@host ~]# chroot /mnt
    [root@host ~]# grub-install /dev/sda

  • Exit Chroot with Exit and unmount all disks:
    [root@host ~]# umount -a
    Wait until the rebuild process is finished and then boot the server back into the normal system.

  • Finally, you must now enable the swap partition using the following commands:
    [root@host ~]# mkswap /dev/sda2
    [root@host ~]# swapon -a

If Hard Disk 2 (sdb) Was Replaced

If hard disk 2 (sdb) has been replaced, proceed as follows:

  • Perform a reboot so that hard disk 2 (sdb) is displayed.

  • In the local system, copy the partition tables to the new (empty) disk:
    [root@host ~]# sfdisk -d /dev/sda | sfdisk /dev/sdb
    (You may need to use the --force option).

  • Add the partitions to the RAID:
    [root@host ~]# mdadm /dev/md1 -a /dev/sdb1
    [root@host ~]# mdadm /dev/md3 -a /dev/sdb3
    You can now follow the rebuild of the RAID with cat /proc/mdstat.

  • Finally, you must now enable the swap partition using the following commands:
    [root@host ~]# mkswap /dev/sdb2

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