When upgrading to VERITAS Storage Foundation 4.2 for Windows on a system running Dell OpenManage Array (DOAM), the installer prematurely modifies several registry entries related to VXIO. In doing so, the critical component, VXIO.SYS,  does not get installed correctly. The upgrade installation will finish normally and display success. To the user, there are no visible signs of error until the system is rebooted (a requirement of installation). Upon reboot, the user may lose access to data on the dynamic disks. While access to data is impaired, there is no danger of data loss.

This condition occurs only if all of the following are true:

1. Dell OpenManage Array Manager (DOAM) is installed on the server

2. VERITAS Storage Foundation 4.1 for Windows is installed on the server

3. The server has been upgraded to VERITAS Storage Foundation 4.2 for Windows

Symptoms related to an invalid installation of VXIO.SYS in this scenario include:

* Upon reboot, disks may appear in the VERITAS Enterprise Administrator GUI as missing

* Disk groups that normally auto-import following reboot may show as deported, requiring the user to import them manually

* Dynamic volumes on disks may show as missing. The user will be unable to access their data on those volumes

* A user may not be able to create new dynamic volumes

Data will be inaccessible until the critical component is properly installed and registered. This issue does not affect an encapsulated system \ boot disk. This issue appears limited to the 4.2 version of Storage Foundation for Windows. Storage Foundation 4.3 for Windows does not exhibit this behavior.

If you have a server that is currently affected by this issue, please contact Symantec Enterprise Technical Support and reference this TechNote during the call. A support representative will be available to assist in troubleshooting and correcting this issue.

Note: If you have not upgraded to VERITAS Storage Foundation 4.2 yet, a utility is available, designed to allow servers using Dell OpenManage Array Manager the ability to upgrade from version 4.0 or 4.1 of Storage Foundation for Windows to version 4.2. To download this utility, refer to TechFile  http://support.veritas.com/docs/274016

Alternatively, users may elect to uninstall the existing Storage Foundation product, uninstall and reinstall DOAM, and then install Storage Foundation 4.2 for Windows. Please don't hesitate to call Symantec Enterprise Technical Support with any questions.

If you have not received this TechNote as a Software Alert from the VERITAS Email Notification Service, please subscribe at the following link:    http://maillist.support.veritas.com/subscribe.asp