Creating a list of essential files that must be backed up....

[Jeffrey Shannon]

I am creating a list of files that must be backed up in case a server were to crash and a restore was necessary...so far i have:

/.profile
/.rhosts
/etc/rc.config.d, /etc/hosts, /etc/password
/etc/group
/sbin
/usr/bin, /usr/sbin, usr/obam, usr/sam,
/usr/share, /usr/ccs, /usr/conf, /usr/lbin,
/usr/contrib, /usr/local, /usr/newconfig,
/var/adm/sw, var/adm/cron, /var/spool/cron

Have I missed any?

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Jeffrey:

You have asked this before. You *really* need to make Ignite recovery tapes. See here for the rationale:

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x10bfa1abbac8d5118ff10090279cd0f9,00.html

Regards!

...JRF...

[Joseph C. Denman]

a couple come to mind.

/etc/nsswitch.conf
/etc/resolv.conf
/etc/inetd.conf
/etc/services

There are many. For a production system, I would not guess about what files I need to backup. Use Ignite to get them all!. It is free and it is good.

...jcd...

[Uday_S_Ankolekar]

Hello,

Disaster Recovery...??

Some of the important files I can add to your list,
output of bdf,output of ioscan, output of lanscan, /etc/lvmtab, /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/passwd, Cron jobs, /etc/fstab , inetd.conf, inetd.sec, create map for all the volume group.
kernel configuration output (sysdef) and backup of /stand output of swlist..
These are the things I can think of now..

Goodluck

-USA..

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Hi Jeffrey,

You're asking the wrong question. The correct question is how can I restore a machine as quickly as possible and KNOW that I've got the crucial files?

The answer to that question is load Ignite/UX and do a make_tape_recovery.

The other approach is to install Mirror/UX and properly configure your box so that even if you lose a drive, you don't even have to shut down. If you also then have a 'lifeboat' dd'ed from your boot disk - then no matter what you are back up in just a few minutes. The lifeboat protects you from really stupid errors and/or bad patches. But to recover from a disaster you need Ignite + backups of your non vg00 data.

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Jeffrey,

You really have to struggle if you want to restore the Operating system if you don't have Ignite UX installed. If you have it, you can take the images of the operating system and you are safe.

You don't really have to take backups of /usr/bin, /usr/sbin etc., as they can be restored very easily when you restore the Operating system through CD. You need to restore the configuration files and install all the softwares that are additional to the OS.

I wrote a small script for my personal use, You can modify it to include whatever you want.

Nothing can be a replacement to Ignite/UX. It's easy and very helpful for disaster recoveries.

-Sri

[Uday_S_Ankolekar]

Hi .. Again,

I forgot to add one very importnat factor of Disaster Recovery process. That is fresh copy of your make_recovery tape.
This is the ignite tape that takes care of most of the essential files to boot the server when disaster strikes.

Following is the website address:
http://www.software.hp.com/products/IUX/index.html
-USA..

[Santosh Nair_1]

This topic has been discussed before. The consensus is to use Ignite/UX to an image of the system. See this thread for details.

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,11866,0x4dec660142b2d5118ff10090279cd0f9,00.html

-Santosh

[John Payne_2]

Ignite is your solution. If you are looking for an easy way to document the iamge of the system, try cfg2html. (Only drawback is that it doesn't see non-depot installed stuff.) Go to: http://come.to/cfg2html

You use it, and store it elseware. Then after a recovery, you run it again and move it to the same place, do a diff on the files, and see what is different.

[Christopher McCray_1]

Ignite/UX, Ignite/UX, Ignite/UX

Please, listen to what we are saying. The software is free, easy to install and the sure-fire way to ensure you have your core volume group saved in bootable format. I hope you take our advise, as I am now begging you to!!!!

Chris