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Operating Systems AIX AIX 7.2 MKSYSB Backup and Restore Best Practices? Post 303033848 by c3rb3rus on Friday 12th of April 2019 10:57:11 AM
Old 04-12-2019
AIX 7.2 MKSYSB Backup and Restore Best Practices?

Hello,

Running AIX 7.2 on Power9 bare-metal (no LPAR and no NIM server), in the process of creating a guide on MKSYSB process.

I understand that MKSYSB is a backup of the rootvg and we can exclude stuff via exclude.rootvg file, the rest of the data volumes are mapped to the system as LUNs via multi-path FC connection to a SAN and that is backed up separately. The rootvg does not boot off SAN, it has two internal NVMe disks.

In the event that rootvg is corrupt and we need to restore rootvg , the process would be to modify the bootlist and reboot into SMS via SSH/Console or using the ASMI service processor.

Are there any critical steps we need to do pre or post-rootvg restore?
  • Currently the rootvg is mirrored, once restored will it remain mirrored?
  • Will i need to mess with the bootlist at all?
  • Will the configuration of the external filesystems be preserved and mounted ready to use (if set to auto-mount at boot)?
  • Running a power system in 24x7 prodution after a MKSYSB restore is viable or should one plan for a fresh re-install of AIX from install media at some point?
  • Does one need access to AIX 7.2 install media at any point during a MKSYSB restore?

The Power9 system has a LTO tape library which is where I was going to write the MKSYSB backup to and boot off, there is no CD-ROM but there is USB - is it possible to boot MKSYSB off USB? Any cons or pros going with tape vs. USB? Most of the guides out there refer to a tape or dvd, though many of them were written years ago.

My plan is to learn from experience and create a MKSYSB via mksysb -iev /dev/rmt0, corrupt rootvg by rm -rf /etc, and reboot. I am pretty sure it will become very unhappy with a missing /etc - so proceed with another reboot (via FPO using Control Panel or ASMI) and boot to SMS for a MKSYSB restore.

Mainly looking for best practices / tips / suggestions around the process.
 

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

NAME
lilo - install boot loader SYNOPSIS
Main function: /sbin/lilo - install boot loader Auxiliary uses: /sbin/lilo -q - query map /sbin/lilo -R - set default command line for next reboot /sbin/lilo -I - inquire path name of current kernel /sbin/lilo {-u|-U} - uninstall lilo DESCRIPTION
lilo installs a boot loader that will be activated next time you boot. It has lots of options. -v Increase verbosity. Giving one or more -v options will make lilo more verbose. -q List the currently mapped files. lilo maintains a file, by default /boot/map, containing the name and location of the kernel(s) to boot. This option will list the names therein. -m map-file Use specified map file instead of the default. -C config-file lilo reads its instructions about what files to map from its config file, by default /etc/lilo.conf. This option can be used to specify a non-default config file. -d delay If you have specified several kernels, and press Shift at boot-time, the boot loader will present you with a choice of which system to boot. After a timeout period the first kernel in the list is booted. This option specifies the timeout delay in deciseconds. -D label Use the kernel with the given label, instead of the first one in the list, as the default kernel to boot. -r root-directory Before doing anything else, do a chroot to the indicated directory. Used for repairing a setup from a boot floppy. -t Test only. Do not really write a new boot sector or map file. Use together with -v to find out what lilo is about to do. -c Enable map compaction. This will merge read requests from adjacent sectors. Speeds up the booting (especially from floppy). -f disk-tab Specify disk geometry parameter file. (The default is /etc/disktab.) -i boot-sector Specify a file to be used as the new boot sector. (The default is /boot/boot.b.) -l Generate linear sector addresses instead of sector/head/cylinder addresses. -L Generate 32-bit Logical Block Addresses instead of C:H:S addresses, allowing access to all partitions on disks greater than 8.4Gb. -P {fix|ignore} Fix (or ignore) `corrupt' partition tables, i.e., partition tables with linear and sector/head/cylinder addresses that do not corre- spond. -s save-file When lilo overwrites the boot sector, it preserves the old contents in a file, by default /boot/boot.NNNN where NNNN depends on the device. This option specifies an alternate save file for the boot sector. (Or, together with the -u option, specifies from where to restore the boot sector.) -S save-file Normally, lilo will not overwrite an existing save file. This options says that overwriting is allowed. -u device-name Uninstall lilo, by copying the saved boot sector back. A time-stamp is checked. -U device-name Idem, but do not check the time-stamp. -R command line This option sets the default command for the boot loader the next time it executes. The boot loader will then erase this line: this is a once-only command. It is typically used in reboot scripts, just before calling `shutdown -r'. -I label The label of the running kernel can be found in the environment variable BOOT_IMAGE after startup. This command will print the cor- responding path name on stdout. -V Print version number. The above command line options correspond to the key words in the config file indicated below. -b bootdev boot=bootdev -c compact -d dsec delay=dsec -D label default=label -i bootsector install=bootsector -f file disktab=file -l linear -L lba32 -m mapfile map=mapfile -P fix fix-table -P ignore ignore-table -s file backup=file -S file force-backup=file -v verbose=level SEE ALSO
lilo.conf(5). The lilo distribution comes with very extensive documentation. AUTHOR
Werner Almesberger (almesber@bernina.ethz.ch). John Coffman (johninsd@san.rr.com) (lba32 extensions). 20 March 2000 LILO(8)
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