Label a Device

Follow this procedure to label any new or unused devices, or relabel a device that has been unlabeled.

Caution: Labeling a disk device may result in a complete loss of data on that disk device.

  1. On the Tools menu, click File Systems, and then click Label Disks. The Tools > Label Disks page appears.

Figure 1: Label Disks Page

  1. (Optional) Click Scan to initiate a scan of the disk devices in your SAN.

Caution: Before you initiate a scan, be aware that in complex SAN environments frequent disk scanning can lead to SAN instability including timeout errors. Before the scan begins you will receive a reminder and be given the opportunity to confirm whether you want to proceed with the scan.

  1. Select the disk devices to which you want to apply labels. Optionally, click All to select all available disks. If a disk device already has a label, continuing with this procedure overwrites the existing label.

Caution: Overwriting or renaming a disk device label may result in a complete loss of data on that disk device.

  1. Specify the label type by choosing EFI or VTOC.
  2. Enter a label name in the text field to the right of the EFI and VTOC buttons.
  3. Click Label.
  4. When the confirmation message appears, verify that the disk you are labeling is empty, and then click OK to proceed. To cancel the operation, click Cancel.

Note: If you later unlabel a device and then decide to make the unlabeled device usable by the StorNext File System, you must first relabel the device. The relabeling process is identical to labeling initially.