SYMCLI (Symmetrix Command Line Interface) is a powerful command-line tool used for managing Dell EMC Symmetrix storage arrays. It provides administrators with comprehensive control over storage provisioning, configuration, and monitoring. SYMCLI commands interact with the Symmetrix Management Server (SYMAPI) to execute operations on storage arrays efficiently.
Key Features of SYMCLI:
- Storage Management: Create, modify, and delete devices, volumes, and storage groups.
- Access Control: Manage masking views, initiator groups, and zoning for secure host-to-storage connectivity.
- Performance Monitoring: Analyze storage utilization, I/O statistics, and system health.
- Replication Management: Configure and control TimeFinder (local replication) and SRDF (remote replication).
- Automation & Scripting: Enables automation of repetitive tasks using scripts for efficient storage administration.
- Backup & Restore: Provides backup and restore options for Auto-Provisioning Groups and storage configurations.
Vmax/PowerMax, Solutions Enabler/Symcli Command Cheatsheet
| CLI | Short description |
| symaccess | Performs Auto-provisioning Group operations on storage, initiator, and port groups. Allows you to create and manage masking views. |
| symacl | Sets up or updates Symmetrix access control information. |
| symapierr | Translates a SYMAPI return code to a string. |
| symaudit | Allows the user to extract records from a Symmetrix audit log file to determine what application on what host initiated actions that directed Symmetrix arrays behavior. Provides a monitor option for displaying the records as they are written to the log file. Provides the ability to determine the date and time of the current log file data and its size. |
| symauth | Sets up or updates Symmetrix user authorization information. |
| symbcv | Performs support operations on one or more Symmetrix BCV (Business Continuance Volume) devices. |
| symcfg | Discovers or displays Symmetrix configuration information. Refreshes the host’s Symmetrix database file or removes Symmetrix information from the database file. Rebuilds the set of devices known to the local host. |
| symcg | Performs operations on a Symmetrix composite group (CG). |
| symcli | Provides a brief description of all the commands included in the Solutions Enabler Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI) and the environment variables. |
| symclient | Description of client server installation, management, and execution. The client would be a SYMCLI command running on a local host. The server would be the SYMAPI Server running on a remote host. |
| symclone | Performs TimeFinder/Clone control operations on a device group, composite group, storage group or devices in a device file. |
| symconfigure | Allows you to create and delete, modify Symmetrix devices. Provides a query option to allow monitoring the progress of a Symmetrix configuration change. Provides a verify option to determine if the Symmetrix configuration complies with the requirements for host-based configuration changes. Provides support to create gatekeeper devices, external disk groups and add/remove external disks to/from external disk groups, and setting parameters on SRPs. |
| symconnect | Allows the administrator to setup or modify the Symmetrix security functionality, including CHAP authentication and Radius server. |
| symdev | Performs operations on a specific Symmetrix device. |
| symdg | Performs operations on a Symmetrix device group. |
| symdisk | Reports on the configuration and status of disks (spindles) for Symmetrix arrays. |
| symdm | Performs a Data Migration of an Application to a PowerMax/VMAX3. Migrations from one PowerMax/ VMAX3/VMAX to another PowerMax/VMAX3 preserve application availability throughout the process, except when the -offline option is used with the create argument. |
| symdrv | Displays information for selected Dynamic Reallocation Volume (DRV) devices. |
| symevent | Enables the monitoring and tracking of events on Symmetrix arrays. |
| syminq | Issues a SCSI INQUIRY command, and optionally a SCSI READ CAPACITY, on one or all devices. In addition, it can be used to obtain a list of the local host’s HBAs. |
| symipsec | Displays or sets parameters that control the behavior of IPSec encryption on Gigabit Ethernet connections. |
| symlabel | Performs device label operations on one or more devices. |
| symlmf | This command is used to manage licenses with Solutions Enabler. |
| symmask | Allows the administrator to set up and modify Symmetrix device masking functionality. |
| symmaskdb | Allows the administrator to back up, restore, initialize, and show the contents of the device masking VCMDB. Also provides limited conversion and attribute options. |
| symmdr | Integrates SRDF/Metro and SRDF/Async to allow highly-available Disaster Recovery (DR) for an SRDF/Metro environment. |
| symmfm | Used to configure the Split and CU image mainframe objects on PowerMax arrays |
| symmir | Performs Symmetrix BCV control operations on a device group, composite group, or on devices within a file. |
| symntctl | Implements the functionality available in the Symmetrix Integration Utility (SIU) on a Windows platform. |
| sympd | Performs operations on a device given the device’s physical (host) name. |
| symppath | Displays or updates Symmetrix configuration information related to PowerPath. |
| symqos | Provides Quality of Service controls on specified devices. |
| symrcopy | Performs remote copy control operations between storage arrays on a collection of device pairs. |
| symrdf | Performs a Symmetrix ping to all Symmetrix arrays or a specified Symmetrix array. Lists all or selected SRDF devices on a Symmetrix array. Performs Symmetrix SRDF control or set operations, and query or verify on a group of device pairs. Performs Symmetrix dynamic SRDF group operations to add, modify, remove SRDF groups. |
| symrecover | Provides the user interface to the EMC SRDF Automated Recovery tool. |
| symreplicate | Performs a coherent, recurrent, background copy of data through an SRDF/TimeFinder configuration. |
| symreturn | Indicates a return value within pre-action and post-action scripts. |
| symrpi | Perform a setup, control or list operation on a RecoverPoint Appliance Cluster. |
| symsan | Lists the ports visible from a given director and the logical unit numbers (LUNs) visible behind a given remote port. Lists the remote SRDF directors and arrays visible from a given array and SRDF director. Shows iSCSI sessions between iSCSI initiators in an initiator group and SE director ports on a given array. Performs ping to Remote IP Address from IP Address configured on SE/RE director. |
| symsg | Performs operations on storage groups located in a specified Symmetrix array. |
| symsnap | Performs TimeFinder/Snap control operations on a device group, composite group, or on devices in a device file. |
| symsnapvx | Performs TimeFinder/SnapVX control, list, and verify operations on a device list, a list of ranges, a device group (DG), composite group (CG), or storage group (SG). Also performs symmetrix wide list operations. |
| symstar | Performs SRDF/Star control operations on a composite group. |
| symvm | Displays the virtual configuration information, including running VMs, datastores, and physical devices attached to the server and the VMs. |
