LVM missing after joining cluster

[contoured_solutions]

Greetings! I have two ProxMox systems running in a client's environment: one old (6.3) which houses a single VM for their office. The second (7.3) is a new one I just added that I wanted to move the VM from the old one to. Both have the default local and local-lvm volumes and on both I have a secondary LVM called "primary." I was told that the simplest way to move a VM from one ProxMox instance to another was a create a cluster and simply migrate it. So, I created a cluster on the old one, then added the new one to that cluster (it had nothing on it yet). The join appeared to be successful except the "primary" LVM from the new ProxMox instance no longer appears to be available for use. I can see it if I go to Disks --> LVM, but it does not appear anywhere else. I assumed that it was because it shared the same name as the LVM on the old ProxMox instance, but I need to know what is the best way to make it available again. I was afraid to deleted it and re-create it on my new instance as I was worried it might affect the old one (and my VM disks reside on the "primary" LVM on the old ProxMox instance). Any suggestions? Do I simply need to reinstall ProxMox and join it to the cluster again with the LVMs having different names this time?

Let me know if what I am saying makes sense. Thanks!

 

[sterzy]

First off, we generally do not support mixed major version setups like this. If you are just joining these two nodes to migrate the VM from the old one to the new one, that should be fine. However, if you intend on keeping the old one running, please upgrade to PVE 7.3 as soon as possible by following the guide in the wiki [1].

When you edit the storage under Datacenter > Storage, have you tried setting the “Nodes” option to either “All” or also including the new node? If so, can you post the file /etc/pve/storage.cfg. Thanks!

Please also note that running two node setups is discouraged. Please consider setting up a QDevice if this is a permanent setup [2].

[1]: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Upgrade_from_6.x_to_7.0
[2]: https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#_corosync_external_vote_support

 

[contoured_solutions]

Thank you for your reply! Your solution worked!

I am going to retire the old system. The cluster was only to make transferring the VM as easy as possible.

 

[sterzy]

I am going to retire the old system. The cluster was only to make transferring the VM as easy as possible.

Sounds good, but that may prove a bit tricky. The manual describes how to remove a node in general [1], but this probably won't work as straightforwardly with a two node cluster. There are some forum threads around (e.g., [2]) on how to do that, but I haven't tested the solution recently. So be careful.

Anyway, since your original issue has been resolved, can you please mark this thread as “Solved”? You can do so by editing the thread and adding the “Solved” prefix. This will help others find this solution if they have the same problem.

[1]: https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#_remove_a_cluster_node
[2]: https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/undo-cluster-create.78660/

 

[contoured_solutions]

I mean, the new ProxMox instance does not have anything installed on it yet. Should I reinstall it, destroy the cluster and then move the VM using a different method?

 

[contoured_solutions]

Oh, and how to I mark this as being resolved?

 

[sterzy]

Oh, and how to I mark this as being resolved?

If you scroll up there under the “Reply” button should be an “Edit Thread” button. Click that. It should allow you to set a prefix. Set the Prefix to “Solved”, then click “Save”.

I mean, the new ProxMox instance does not have anything installed on it yet. Should I reinstall it, destroy the cluster and then move the VM using a different method?

Well the cleanest way would be to make a backup and restore that to the new node [1]. Then you never have to create a cluster in the first place. You will need a way to copy the backups over to the new node though. Maybe you already have a separate backup storage (such as a Proxmox Backup Server or an NFS share). Then you simply need to connect that to the new node and restore the backups from the Storage View (Select the Storage in the sidebar, then select Backups, select a specific backup and hit restore in the top bar). Otherwise, you can add a storage device to your old server, create backups on it, remove it from your old server and connect it to the new server.

[1]: https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#_backup_and_restore