AIX

working through VIOS backup options. Generally, we store mksysb's on a server and then NFS mount them from it to copy to a VIO optical library, etc.

In the case of a VIO backup, I see the -mksysb option to backupios and understand that it doesn't include the NIM resources in the backup.

Short version: we don't have a NIM server, we're a small installation and have never needed one. Optical library has done me fine.

If I wanted to use installios on the HMC to build a VIO from a nim.resources.tar that I had made using backupios with -mksysb, could I simply mount it from our simple NFS server, or does HMC installios expect to be talking to a NIM server, and will fail if the only thing served is the file itself via an NFS mount ?

In that case, could the mksysb still be useful if I burned it to media and used it from the HMC CD drive ?

Or is the simple answer that I should NOT use -mksysb on backupios, and then follow the installios restore path that appears to have the HMC make use of nim.resources.tar directly ?

Again, we don't have a NIM server. Assume we won't build one. What alternatives for restore (and preceding backup) are available in that case ?

Thanks !

backupios and installios provide what you (seem to) want - with or without a NIM server and you assumptions are correct. But are you sure you need a real backup of the (whole) VIOS? My experience is that with VIOSes you refrain from any customizing you can avoid and leave it as much as possible alone. You need only to back up what you can't get with reinstalling and the amount of this can be quite minimal.

Having said this: even if you are a small installation, if you are big enough to have one (or even several VIOSes) you are big enough to profit from a NIM server. It is about 1 hour to set one up and this time is really a wise investment.

The one major drawback of NIM servers is that they interoperate quite poorly with firewalls. They need that many security-relevant ports open that even the term "firewall" becomes meaningless. But if you are not in a heavily firewalled environment you ought to investigate the option of setting a NIM server up.

I hope this helps.

bakunin

thanks for your reply. I sorted this some more, and figured out that if I did mkdvd on the mksysb created with 'backupios -mksysb' then I'd have a DVD image which I could present to the VIO for an install boot. (Question is how - do I want to burn time burning it to media ? Or get a NIM server together...)

Anyway, I decided to go with the backupios nimres/HMC restore path - if the HMC is good enough to provide me with an ad hoc nimserver to restore a VIO, I'll take it...

(My AIX admin skills are acquired via OJT & managing development envs... I'm finding the places where my mental gymnastics are still novice-level... One reason building a NIM server would be a good exercise, I now remember that the previous shop I worked in had a NIM server we used ubiquitously to install Linux images, it was a good thing to have.)

If you know your way around Linux you can easily jailbreak the HMC and become root. From there it is no problem to loop-mount an ISO-image, no? Basically the HMC is a customized Linux with the "appliance"-part on top.

If you want to set up a NIM-server: i was planning for a longer time to update and expand the article i once wrote, so this would present a good inducement to do so. If you have questiona planning this: just ask (but, please, in a different thread, we like to have our threads focused on one theme at a time).

I hope this helps.

bakunin