How to add two new voting disks to the current cluster

The following example demonstrates how to add two new voting disks to the current cluster. The new voting disks will reside on the same OCFS2 file system in the same directory as the current voting disk. Please note that I am doing this for the sake brevity. Multiplexed voting disks should always be placed on a separate device than the current voting disk to guard against a single point of failure.
Stop all application processes, shut down CRS on all nodes, and Oracle10g R2 users should use the -force flag to the crsctl command when adding the new voting disk(s). For example:

# Query current voting disk configuration.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl query css votedisk
0. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile
located 1 votedisk(s).
#
# Stop all application processes.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# srvctl stop database -d racdb
[root@racnode1 ~]# srvctl stop asm -n racnode1
[root@racnode1 ~]# srvctl stop asm -n racnode2
[root@racnode1 ~]# srvctl stop nodeapps -n racnode1
[root@racnode1 ~]# srvctl stop nodeapps -n racnode2
#
# Verify all application processes are OFFLINE.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# crs_stat -t
Name Type Target State Host
------------------------------------------------------------
ora.racdb.db application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....b1.inst application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....b2.inst application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....srvc.cs application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....db1.srv application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....db2.srv application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....SM1.asm application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....E1.lsnr application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....de1.gsd application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....de1.ons application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....de1.vip application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....SM2.asm application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....E2.lsnr application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....de2.gsd application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....de2.ons application OFFLINE OFFLINE
ora....de2.vip application OFFLINE OFFLINE
#
# Shut down CRS on node 1 and verify the CRS stack is not up.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl stop crs
Stopping resources. This could take several minutes.
Successfully stopped CRS resources.
Stopping CSSD.
Shutting down CSS daemon.
Shutdown request successfully issued.
[root@racnode1 ~]# ps -ef grep d.bin grep -v grep
#
# Shut down CRS on node 2 and verify the CRS stack is not up.
#
[root@racnode2 ~]# crsctl stop crs
Stopping resources. This could take several minutes.
Successfully stopped CRS resources.
Stopping CSSD.
Shutting down CSS daemon.
Shutdown request successfully issued.
[root@racnode2 ~]# ps -ef grep d.bin grep -v grep
#
# Take a backup of the current voting disk.
#
[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ dd if=/u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile of=/home/oracle/VotingDiskBackup.dmp bs=4k
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
10240000 bytes (10 MB) copied, 0.272872 seconds, 37.5 MB/s
#
# Add two new voting disks.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl add css votedisk /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1 -force
Now formatting voting disk: /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
successful addition of votedisk /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1.
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl add css votedisk /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2 -force
Now formatting voting disk: /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
successful addition of votedisk /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2.
#
# Set the appropriate permissions on the new voting disks.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# chown oracle /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
[root@racnode1 ~]# chgrp oinstall /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
[root@racnode1 ~]# chmod 644 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
[root@racnode1 ~]# chown oracle /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
[root@racnode1 ~]# chgrp oinstall /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
[root@racnode1 ~]# chmod 644 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
If the new voting disks will be created on raw devices
#
# Clear out the contents from the new raw devices.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/raw/raw3
[root@racnode1 ~]# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/raw/raw4
#
# Add two new voting disks.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl add css votedisk /dev/raw/raw3 -force
Now formatting voting disk: /dev/raw/raw3
successful addition of votedisk /dev/raw/raw3.
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl add css votedisk /dev/raw/raw4 -force
Now formatting voting disk: /dev/raw/raw4
successful addition of votedisk /dev/raw/raw4.

----

# Verify new voting disk access from node 1.
#
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl query css votedisk
0. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile
1. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
2. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
located 3 votedisk(s).
#
# Verify new voting disk access from node 2.
#
[root@racnode2 ~]# crsctl query css votedisk
0. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile
1. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
2. 0 /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
located 3 votedisk(s).

After verifying the new voting disk(s) can be seen from all nodes in the cluster, restart CRS and the application processes.
Remove a Voting Disk

Oracle Clusterware must be shut down on all nodes in the cluster before adding or removing voting disks. Just as we were required to add the -force flag when adding a voting disk, the same holds true for Oracle10g R2 users attempting to remove a voting disk:
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl delete css votedisk /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror1
Cluster is not in a ready state for online disk removal
[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl delete css votedisk /u02/oradata/racdb/CSSFile_mirror2
Cluster is not in a ready state for online disk removal