AIX

I am planning to upgrade the Operation system from AIX 4.3.3 to AIX 5L. The problem is that the current machine where the OS is installed will be replaced by a new machine. I understand that I have to make a "New Installation" for the new machine. But what about the volume groups, user volume groups, system configuration, TCP/IP, already connected devices, etc that are running in the current system?. What is the best strategy to make the upgrade to the new release while not affecting the current data?. I appreciate your input.

Make a bootable mksysb (that is: on a tape, for instance) and boot the new machine from there. Restore to the new machine yxour mksysb and you have a clone of your rootvg and all your settings.

External diskspace (storage subsystems, SAN connections, NAS, ...) have to be physically reattached to the new machine. Let the cfgmgr run and varyon the VGs, that should do it.

You could start by:

stop old machine, varyoffvg all VGs residing on external disks
draw a mksysb to tape
(if you have "internal" VGs other than rootvg, make a savevg on a separate tape)
start old machine and resume its operation
disconnect new machine from all networks, boot it from the mksysb and restore it
(restore eventually drawn backups via savevg with restvg)

Test the new machine. You can do this while the old machine still runs (this is why you had to disconnect it from the network, it is a 1:1 clone down to the IP adresses). Now you could upgrade your OS on the new machine, test that and if everything is to your satisfaction (if not, start over and repeat) shut down both machine, recable your external data sources, disconnect old machine from network, connect the new one and start it up. varyonvg all "external" VGs.

Good luck.

bakunin

Thanks for your input. I realy appreciate it

Do you know by the way how long do I need to keep the old machine disconnected on average?.