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

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LEARN ABOUT OPENSOLARIS

xfs_mdrestore

xfs_mdrestore(8)					      System Manager's Manual						  xfs_mdrestore(8)

NAME

       xfs_mdrestore - restores an XFS metadump image to a filesystem image

SYNOPSIS

       xfs_mdrestore [ -g ] source target

DESCRIPTION

       xfs_mdrestore  is  a debugging tool that restores a metadata image generated by xfs_metadump(8) to a filesystem. The source argument speci-
       fies the location of the metadump image and the target argument specifies the destination for the filsystem image.  If  the  source  is	-,
       then the metadata image is read from stdin. This allows the output of be another program such as a compression application to be redirected
       to xfs_mdrestore.  The target can be either a file or a device.

       xfs_mdrestore should not be used to restore metadata onto an existing filesystem unless you  are  completely  certain  the  target  can	be
       destroyed.

OPTIONS

       -g     Shows restore progress on stdout.

DIAGNOSTICS

       xfs_mdrestore returns an exit code of 0 if all the metadata is successfully restored or 1 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO

       xfs_metadump(8), xfs_repair(8), xfs_check(8), xfs(5)

BUGS

       Email bug reports to xfs@oss.sgi.com.

																  xfs_mdrestore(8)

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