Re-creating a fire drill configuration that has changed

Last published : Aug 05, 2026
When you run the Fire Drill wizard, a fire drill service group may already exist for the selected application service group. However, the application service group may have changed since the fire drill service group was created. The wizard compares the resource names of the two service groups. If differences are found, the wizard lists them on the Re-create Fire Drill Service Group panel.
The wizard also checks the RVGs configured for disk groups. If a single RVG is configured per disk, the wizard allows you to re-create the service group; the existing snapshots are retained. If multiple RVGs are configured on a disk, the wizard only allows you to delete the service group; the existing snapshots are deleted. To create a corresponding new one, you need to launch the wizard again and perform the fire drill preparation steps.
Note: The wizard does not check for changes in volume attributes, such as the MountPath attribute. For example, if you have a MountV resource with an attribute that points to drive Y and you change that attribute to point to drive X, the wizard does not identify this change and does not give the option to re-create the fire drill service group. You can choose whether to manually edit the fire drill service group for such changes and then run the fire drill, ignore the differences, or delete the configuration and start over.
You have the following choices from the Re-create Fire Drill Service Group panel:
  • Leave the option checked to re-create the fire drill service group. Proceed with using the wizard to re-create the configuration to match the application service group. The wizard deletes the existing fire drill configuration first, before creating the new one.
For a Volume Replicator replication environment, the wizard handles existing volumes as follows: It does not delete the mirrors for volumes that still exist. When it re-creates the fire drill configuration, it prepares new mirrors only for new volumes. If volumes have been removed, the wizard displays an additional option to snap abort the obsolete snapshot volumes to free up disk space.
  • Clear the option to re-create the fire drill service group. You can then proceed with using the wizard to do either of the following:
    • Run the fire drill, ignoring the differences.
    • Delete the entire fire drill configuration. Then start over with preparing the fire drill configuration.
The following procedure describes the choice of re-creating the fire drill configuration.
Note: Veritas recommends that you do not use this procedure to re-create any existing fire drill service groups after performing an upgrade. Instead, use the Fire Drill Wizard to delete the existing service groups and create corresponding new ones.
To re-create the fire drill configuration if the service group has changed
  1. In the Re-create Fire Drill Service Group panel, leave the option checked to re-create the configuration before running the fire drill.
For a Volume Replicator replication environment, if volumes have been removed, optionally select to snap abort the volumes.
Click Next.
  1. In the Fire Drill Mode Selection panel, Delete Fire Drill Configuration is selected. Click Next, and click** Yes** to confirm the deletion.
  2. The Fire Drill Deletion panel shows the progress of the deletion.
For a Volume Replicator replication environment, the wizard leaves the existing fire drill snapshot volumes so that those snapshot mirrors do not have to be prepared again. If volumes were removed and you selected the option to snap abort, the wizard snap aborts the snapshots of those volumes.
Warning: If you close the wizard after deleting the fire drill configuration without continuing on to the fire drill preparation step, the information of the existing snapshot volumes is lost.
When all tasks are complete, click Next.
  1. In the Fire Drill Prerequisites panel, review the information and ensure that all prerequisites are met. Click Next.
See Prerequisites for a fire drill.
  1. The wizard selects the appropriate panel to display next, depending on the replication method. Fill in any required information on the panel that is displayed.
    Volume Replicator replication If volumes have been added, the Disk Selection panel is displayed. Specify the information for the added volumes.
    If there is not enough disk space, you can use the Veritas Enterprise Administrator to add disks to the disk group. Then click the Refresh button in the wizard.
    See Disk Selection panel details .
    Hitachi TrueCopy replication Horcm Files Path Selection panel
    See Hitachi TrueCopy Path Information panel details .
    HTCSnap Resource Configuration panel
    See HTCSnap Resource Configuration panel details .
    EMC SRDF replication SRDFSnap Resource Configuration panel
    See SRDFSnap Resource Configuration panel details .
Click Next.
  1. The Fire Drill Preparation panel is displayed. Wait while the wizard re-creates the fire drill service group.
For Volume Replicator replication environments, wait while the wizard starts mirror preparation.
Mirror creation can take some time. You may want to minimize the wizard while the task runs in the background. You can also close the wizard and track the mirror preparation progress in the VEA.
  1. Once preparation is complete, click Next. The Summary page is displayed. To continue with running the fire drill, click** Next**.
See Running a fire drill.