DR using a mksysb image on disk. Post: 302949120

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Operating Systems AIX DR using a mksysb image on disk. Post 302949120 by bakunin on Tuesday 7th of July 2015 11:16:57 AM

07-07-2015

Registered User

Quote:

Originally Posted by gz3xzf

This may be a dumb question and the more I think about it the worst it seems!!

As a matter of fact, there are no dumb questions - just dumb answers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gz3xzf

I have inherited some standalone systems where they are using the mksysb command to create a disk file image; this image is then backed up to Networker.

My dumb question is how would we go about restoring this image should the server need to be replaced (i.e. internal disks as well)?

In fact this is a very good question! Backups are a worthless waste of space if they can't be restored so it is prudent to make sure they indeed can be.

I suppose you are not very proficient with AIX so i will start with some basics:

An mksysb image is a (bootable) backup of the systems default volume group - rootvg, where all the relevant filesystems - "/", "/usr", "/var", etc... are located. Do a

Code:

lsvg -l rootvg

to find out what exactly is in your rootvg. All this is backed up in such an image. There is a command "savevg", which does similar backups for any (non-rootvg) volume group which you may want to read up about.

Still, there is more to an mksysb: it also contains boot code and all the means to restore it to an empty hardware. In principle you can boot from an mkysb image and have the complete system (minus application data in VGs other than the rootvg) restored completely, including network interfaces, users, groups, print queues and whatever you have configured on your system.

So, to answer your question: from a working mksysb image you are able to restore the complete system with every customisation. Alas, there is a catch: You can direct the image to every device or a file like you do, but if you do not take the mksysb either from NIM or to a tape as destination the boot code will not be included. You will need to boot from a generic boot device (system CD-ROM, etc.) and then use the mksysb image to restore the system.

You may want to try this out on spare hardware to understand the process, before you really need to restore a system in the wake of some catastrophe.

I hope this helps.

bakunin

bakunin

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LEARN ABOUT REDHAT

raw2hdf

raw2hdf(1)							     Emulators								raw2hdf(1)

NAME

       raw2hdf - Create an .hdf hard disk image from a raw data file

SYNOPSIS

       raw2hdf rawfile hdffile
DESCRIPTION

       raw2hdf converts a binary dump of a hard disk's data into an IDE disk image in .hdf format for use with Sinclair ZX Spectrum emulators.

OPTIONS

       -v version
	      specifies  the  version of .hdf image to be created. Valid values are `1.0' for a version 1.0 file and `1.1' for a version 1.1 file.
	      Defaults to creating version 1.1 files.

       rawfile
	      specifies a raw data file (or block device corresponding to an actual disk) to be converted.

       hdffile
	      specifies the .hdf file to create.

NOTES

       Since raw2hdf has no knowledge of the geometry of the disk from which the original image was taken (indeed, the input file need not  origi-
       nate  from  a real IDE disk at all), there is no guarantee that the information contained in the .hdf file header accurately represents the
       original disk. However, it will attempt to construct a header that is consistent with the size of the image, to produce an .hdf file  which
       is functionally equivalent.

BUGS

       None known.

SEE ALSO

       fuse(1), fuse-utils(1), libspectrum(3)

       The .hdf format specification, at
       http://www.ramsoft.bbk.org/hdfform.html.

       The comp.sys.sinclair Spectrum FAQ, at
       http://www.worldofspectrum.org/faq/index.html.

AUTHOR

       Matthew Westcott (matthew@west.co.tt).

Version 1.0.0							16th December, 2010							raw2hdf(1)

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