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# Set state for SRDF virtual witness instances

The Virtual Witness feature supports a third party that the two storage systems consult when they lose connectivity with each other, that is, their SRDF links go out of service.

## Prerequisites

Unisphere provides monitoring and management for SRDF/Metro Virtual Witness instances on Virtual Witness capable storage systems running HYPERMAX OS 5977 Q3 2016 or later.

The Virtual Witness disable operation may or may not require additional force flags when it is protecting SRDF/Metro sessions and if an alternate witness is available. If the Virtual Witness is protecting SRDF/Metro Sessions, the storage system performs a search for replacement witnesses (virtual or physical) to use.

You cannot disable a Virtual Witness instance that is in use (protecting one or more SRDF/Metro sessions).

See Roles and associated permissions to determine the user roles that can perform this task.

## About this task

The Set State operation changes the state of the Virtual Witness instance from enabled to disabled or from disabled to enabled.

See Understanding Virtual Witness for additional information.

## Steps

1. Select the storage system.
2. Select Data Protection > Virtual Witness to open the Virtual Witness list view.
3. Select a Virtual Witness instance and click Set State.

   Note: When disabling an enabled Virtual Witness instance:

   - Click Advanced Options and select the Use Force check box. The command fails if the virtual Witness is in use (protecting a SRDF/Metro Session) and there is another witness (either virtual or physical) that is available to take over for it. The force flag is needed in order to continue.
   - Click Advanced Options and select the Use SymForce check box. The command fails if the virtual Witness is in use (protecting a SRDF/Metro Session) and there is no other witness (either virtual or physical) that is available to take over for it. The symforce flag is needed in order to continue.
4. Do one of the following:
   - Click Run Now to perform the operation now.
   - Expand Run Now and click Add to Job List to add this task to the job list, from which you can schedule or run the task at your convenience. For more information, see Schedule jobs and Preview jobs.

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