multibos - can I remove hd5 if booted from bos_hd5

alanp36 · #1 07-30-2012

Hi,

I'd like to know - can I simply remove all the standard OS lvs - ie hd2, hd5, hd9var, hd10opt hd4, while the system is running on multibos bos_ lv's, and then re-run multibos to re-create the standard lvs?

I'm having an odd problem with a multibos installation.
The system is currently running on the bos_hd5.
I'd like to do a new multibos clone prior to doing an OS update, but multibos won't let me, saying "Maximum number of standby BOS installations already exist".

multibos -R also exits with the following errors:

Code:

multibos: 0565-080 Error reading LVCB attribute "fs,mb" of logical volume
bos_hd5.
multibos: 0565-082 Unable to verify multibos tag for standby BOS logical volume
bos_hd5
multibos: 0565-084 Error processing primary boot partition.
multibos: 0565-002 ATTENTION: cleanup did not complete successfully.

alanp36 · #2 08-02-2012

Anyone able to help?

gull04 · #3 08-02-2012

Hi Alan,

Multibos allows you to create multiple instances of the AIX OS, however removing the original with the system up and running is likely to cause a major problem.

Although we don't use it on our P695's I have heard the AIX guys talking about it, so I think a bit of research here might be in order.

Regards

Dave

gts1999 · #4 08-09-2012

Howdy,

IBM does support the "bos_hdX" naming convention as being allowable as the "new" name for LVs.
Once you have your bootlist pointed to this and reboot from this new LV, the old LVs are effectively unused.
We like the old naming conventions so we always recreate multibos (which then uses the original naming conventions) and reset bootlist again, thereby putting all naming conventions back to old-skool normal names.
Multibos always toggles between bos_ and "no" bos_ LV naming conventions.
The inactive unused LVs are safe to remove as long as your bootlist points to the correct blv.

HTH

Here's a procedure we use:

Before beginning any update or installation process, confirm filesets and LPP database is sane:

Code:

# lppchk –v 
# Lslpp –l | grep –I applied

alanp36 · #5 08-21-2012

gts1999, thanks for all that info.

Apologies for my slow reply, I got dragged off onto some other tasks for about a week.

The last part of your procedure, where you re-create the standard style lv's by re-running the multibos command and reboot to them, is what I would like to try.

As mentioned before, my current setup seems to be corrupted, so multibos is refusing to run at the moment.

Looking back at the system in question, there is only one of the standard lv's there - hd5. All the rest have disappeared. This system was migrated onto new hardware earlier this year, so I think this maybe where the problem was caused.

What I'm going to do is first try recreating the standard lv's manually, as copies of the bos_* lv's. Then see if multibos will play ball. If not, I'll remove them again, and also remove the old hd5 one, and see if that helps. If not, I may be reduced to looking at a full restore from a mksysb.

Anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to "clone" bos_* lv's to standard lv naming?
Is the system likely to accept copied lv's as "real" OS lv's?
One issue I'm already wondering about is how to "name" hd4, given that "/" already exists as bos_hd4.

Any help/suggestions welcome.

Cheers,
Alan.

gts1999 · #6 08-22-2012

Hi Alan,

Thinking about your current problem and based on your recent post I would suggest the following.

If you have:
(1) ONLY hd5 as your BLV
(2) ONLY bos_hd(2/4/9var) as your /usr, /, and /var

Then the 1st trick would be to "harmonise" your existing hd5 to make it named bos_hd5

I would follow this procedure to get my BLV sorted:

Code:

# bosboot -ad /dev/hdisk0

# shutdown -Fr [ Go into maintenance mode from CD ]

# mklv -y hd5 -t boot -a e rootvg 1 [ Except use bos_hd5 in your mklv command since you are trying to get a BLV called bos_hd5 ]

# bosboot -ad /dev/hdisk0

# Shutdown -Fr now

alanp36 · #7 08-22-2012

Thanks again for your response gts1999.

Just to clarify, my system has all of the multibos "bos_" lv's, and is running correctly on those, including bos_hd5.

It's just that it has a corrupted "normal" image (or at least multibos thinks it has), which has only hd5 left, and which is preventing multibos from running correctly.

Sorry I didn't really outline the current system situation in my first post.

Cheers, Alan.

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