Full backup of HP UX ( included the Oracle ), ignite is enough ?

[DnD_1]

Hi Guys,

We have HP UX server, running Oracle DB and charging gateway software, now I like to do the full backup of them.

Is Ignite backup is enough ? or what should I do to do the FULL BACKUP ?

Thanks !

[Chris Vail · Accepted solution]

No, Ignite is only designed to recover the vg00 volume group which includes the OS itself. It will rebuild from 'bare metal' a failed computer. It is not designed to recover all the applications, utilities and other software that might reside on the computer. In theory, you could put your Oracle applications in VG00 but this is poor design. Better design is to put the application(s) in a separate volume group, and data files in yet another volume group. So by default you have vg00 which is the root/boot system. Add vgOracle for the oracle executables, the vg01, vg02, vg03 for each instance or Oracle database.

If you have sufficient tape resources on your computer then you can backup the other volume groups with fbackup, but I usually use tar (a matter of habit, I confess). If your machine is on a network, I suggest you look into one of the networked backup utilities such as Data Protector, Netbackup, or Tivoli Storage Manager.

Chris


Chris

[Pete Randall]

Ignite is intended to be used as a disaster recovery tool so you can rebuild your root volume group, then use normal backup/restore utilities to restore your data. So, yes, you need a FULL BACKUP, too.


Pete

[DnD_1]

Hi Guys,

Thanks !!

Our system bdf look like these,

You have mail.
CG1:/home/CG1$bdf
Filesystem kbytes used avail %used Mounted on
/dev/vg00/lvol3 163840 53876 103104 34% /
/dev/vg00/lvol1 111637 31332 69141 31% /stand
/dev/vg00/lvol8 7176192 4137821 2855182 59% /var
/dev/vg00/lvol5 983040 732339 235049 76% /usr
/dev/vg00/lvol4 3080192 2475953 594253 81% /tmp
/dev/Vgstore/lvol1 85327872 38805032 46232048 46% /storage
/dev/vg00/lvol7 32768000 16027721 16146854 50% /opt
/dev/vg01/lvol1 70656000 13383520 57102272 19% /data

So you mean, do the Ignite on Vg00 and fbackup on Vg01 and Vgstore ?

So when the CG totally crash, and when I do the recovery, and CG should back to normal immediately without any installations or configuration.... ?

Thanks !!

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi:

> So you mean, do the Ignite on Vg00 and fbackup on Vg01 and Vgstore ? So when the CG totally crash, and when I do the recovery, and CG should back to normal immediately without any installations or configuration.... ?

Yes. Use Ignite to create periodic recovery images of vg00 and some other tool(s) to perform you non-vg00 backups.

Depending upon the frequency with which you make Ignite backups, you probably also want to backup the most volatile configuration files on vg00 separately too. For example, if you have a large number of users who change their passwords, you might want to backup the '/etc/passwd' (or '/etc/shadow') file nightly. Then, if you ever deploy your recovery image to rebuilt vg00, you can apply the volatile file changes close in time.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Chris Vail]

>Hi Guys,

>Thanks !!

>Our system bdf look like these,
>Filesystem kbytes used avail %used Mounted on
>/dev/vg00/lvol3 163840 53876 103104 34% /
>/dev/vg00/lvol1 111637 31332 69141 >31% /stand
>/dev/vg00/lvol8 7176192 4137821 2855182 59% /var
>/dev/vg00/lvol5 983040 732339 235049 76% /usr
>/dev/vg00/lvol4 3080192 2475953 594253 81% /tmp
>/dev/Vgstore/lvol1 85327872 38805032 46232048 46% /storage
>/dev/vg00/lvol7 32768000 16027721 16146854 50% /opt
>/dev/vg01/lvol1 70656000 13383520 57102272 19% /data

>So you mean, do the Ignite on Vg00 and fbackup on Vg01 and Vgstore ?

Yes. Or use another utility as I mentioned in my first post. Alternatives are cpio or even dd. But I recommend one of the backup programs I mentioned in my first reply.


>So when the CG totally crash, and when I
>do the recovery, and CG should back to
>normal immediately without any
>installations or configuration.... ?

The Ignite tape backup will recover your root volume group and configure the computer correctly. Do NOT bet the rent money on the word 'immediately'. The tapes can take a LONG TIME to run. But when it is done, your computer will be operational and ready for the recovery of the non-vg00 volume groups. All the mount points will be there, the filesystems will be built, but there will be no data files. The data files will come from your secondary backup system. So you need Ignite AND another utility to completely recover a crashed system.

[Nyck_1]

I take it that the oracle instances on your server will not be running when u take your full backup?

if they are then you will be able to restore them but getting them working again wil probably never happen!

[DnD_1]

Thanks Chris !

Our DB, Charging and others software are located inside VG00, so I guess the Ignite should be enough?

I did the ignite backup before, anyone could guide me on fbackup command ?

[DnD_1]

Hi Nyck,

No, why not ? Could you explain more ?

[Nyck_1]

I have to say that I have not used ignite before so I'm probably wrong with my statement. I have found that if during the backup the databases change ( control files etc ) then if you come to restore you will be ok to do the restore of the database but when you try to start the database you will find that the control files will be inconsistant and you will have a right ole mare trying to get them running. This wonderful issue has happened with me a few times, we use Legato Networker but the company will not shell out the money to purchase the Oracle RMAN modules. So before you perfrom the full backup ensure that there are no databases running and all should be fine.