Moving file systems from one server to the other


 
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Operating Systems Solaris Moving file systems from one server to the other
# 1  
Old 08-07-2018
Moving file systems from one server to the other

Hi

I have a server running solaris 10 with UFS type file systems, residing on a NetApp storage system, in which I need to move those file systems (all of them) to another solaris 10 server.
The normal procedure to create a file system is to do a format, newfs, mkdir and mount. But on this case I cannot do newfs because I will be destryiong the data already on those LUNs or file systems.
Any hint in how to go about it
# 2  
Old 08-07-2018
Well being professional the first thing you need to do before you mess with anything is to backup the lot. UFS filesystems are dumped using fssnap to take a snapshot (i.e. freeze) a filesystem which outputs a special device name. You then use that special device name to ufsdump the whole filesystem to backup (tape, external drive, whatever). Without doing that first should anything go seriously wrong you are stuffed. Your data is the most important thing!!!

Now, if you are saying that all filesystems are on a SAN then you should be able to get the storage boys to offer the LUNs to your new box. The main thing is whether that new box will boot from the root filesystem without error since I'm assuming that it's not identical hardware so different drivers might need to be loaded. That might take a few tricks. Also, the actual device nodes (e.g. c0t0d0s0) might be different but there are ways to get around that. You will need to manually update files like /etc/vfstab, /etc/system, etc, once the LUN's are swung across to the new box. This way you don't necessarily need to restore anything if you can get away with it.

Alternatively, you get your storage team to allocate new similar capacity LUN's for each and every filesystem, you install Solaris from installation media, and then restore each filesystem from its ufsdump file. You will still need to tackle the issues surrounding different hardware and incorrect drivers being restored.

HOWEVER, provided you have done the ufsdump backups for each and every filesystem, if anything goes bang you can recover. Just be totally professional and backup everything before you mess with it.

Hope that helps.
# 3  
Old 08-08-2018
Hi
thanks for the reply, yes its identical hardware, the origin server is sparc T3-1b server, the destination server is also a sparc T3-1b server on the same chassis sunblade 6000, they also have identical root disks and identical operating systems installed already solaris 10. The NetApp admin, told me he can unmap the LUNs from the origin server, and map them into the new server. The dificulty is once the LUNs are seen on the destination server using the format command, I will not be able to newfs them because they data already...
# 4  
Old 08-08-2018
Is there something that I'm not understanding here?????

If the hardware is identical, and you shutdown the old system in an orderly manner, the LUN's are remapped and seen by the new server, you should be able to just mount them. The data is already on there and coherent for each filesystem. Ensure /etc/vfstab is copied over correctly. You might need to edit the device node names (/dev/dsk, /dev/rdsk) should they change and/or recreate the device node names (using devfsadm) but that's all. A simply remap from one machine to another shouldn't cause any filesystem damage, the UFS filesystems should be remountable on the new system.

Regardless though, backup first in case anything does go wrong. Be professional about it.
# 5  
Old 08-08-2018
you did understand, everything, what I did not tell was the origin server have crash, so the reason for us to move the LUNs from that server to another
# 6  
Old 08-08-2018
That should still be okay. Perhaps some or all of the filesystems will need 'fsck' run on them before they will mount. Other than that, should work, however, you cannot easily backup first so you might have to rely on the last backup before the crash. I assume that the system hasn't been up since then so little work will be lost, however, if you can fsck and mount the remapped LUN's, no work will be lost.

Last edited by hicksd8; 08-08-2018 at 05:06 AM..
# 7  
Old 08-08-2018
the first LUN mapped on the other server (destination) can now be seen using the format command:

Code:
bash-3.00# format
Searching for disks...done


AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c0t5000C5003A0028FFd0 <SUN300G cyl 46873 alt 2 hd 20 sec 625>
          /scsi_vhci/disk@g5000c5003a0028ff
       1. c0t5000C5003A034CFFd0 <SUN300G cyl 46873 alt 2 hd 20 sec 625>
          /scsi_vhci/disk@g5000c5003a034cff
       2. c9t4d0 <NETAPP-LUN-8020 cyl 5630 alt 2 hd 16 sec 256>
          /iscsi/disk@0000iqn.1992-08.com.netapp%3Asn.14224149003E8,0
Specify disk (enter its number): ^D
bash-3.00#

its the NetApp LUN.
From here should goto normal procedure of creating a file system wich is using partition, print, slice 6, label that will result in a /dev/dsk/c9t4d0s6.
Can I follow this procedure?
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