Problems with Importing a Volume Group in AIX

When using the importvg command to bring an existing volume group (VG) into an AIX system, several issues can occur due to system compatibility or disk configuration problems.

1. AIX Version Compatibility
Each version of AIX introduces new LVM features (like large or scalable volume groups).
These features may modify the VGDA (Volume Group Descriptor Area) format.
Older AIX versions may not recognize newer VG formats.
Always ensure the AIX level supports the VG being imported.

2. Disk Availability and PVID Verification
Before running importvg, confirm that all disks in the VG are recognized by AIX and have valid PVIDs (Physical Volume Identifiers) stored in the ODM:
# lspv
If any disk shows “none” under PVID (e.g., hdisk5 none none), fix it using:
# chdev -l hdisk5 -a pv=yes
This reads the PVID from the disk and updates the ODM (only writes a new PVID if none exists).

3. Reconfiguring Disks
If the PVID issue remains, remove and reconfigure the disk:
# rmdev -l hdisk5 -d
# cfgmgr