Make_tape_recovery - Volume group active

[Mauro Livi]

Hi all,
Question, when I run a make recovery my progress shows that all is well and things complete with no errors. If I look at the recovery.log (after it completes) I see messages that read "Volume group is still active" as it executes vgexport (see below). Just wondered what that is all about and just wanted to make sure my make_tape_recovery is good (I get no errors).

Messaging while running make_tape_recovery:
-------------------------------------------
* Backing Up Volume Group /dev/vg00
* /usr/sbin/vgcfgbackup /dev/vg00
* Creating Map Files for Volume Group /dev/vg00
* /usr/sbin/vgexport -s -p -m /etc/lvmconf/vg00.mapfile /dev/vg00

Message from recovery.log:
----------------------------
* Creating Map Files for Volume Group /dev/vg00
* /usr/sbin/vgexport -s -p -m /etc/lvmconf/vg00.mapfile /dev/vg00
vgexport: Volume group "/dev/vg00" is still active.

Thanks
Mauro

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi Mauro:

The behavior you describe is quite normal. The 'vgexport' is done in preview mode ('-p') and thus populates '/etc/lvmconf' with a mapfile while leaving the volume group in an active state.

The 'vgcfgbackup' is also run to add a 'vgNN.conf' volume group configuration backup file to the '/etc/lvmconf' directory too should you ever need it.

The fact that your Ignite recovery session completed without errors indicates that your tape was created successfully.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Tim Nelson]

and lets not forget to test your recoveries someplace once in awhile to ensure you know how to recover and that your tapes are good.

[Mauro Livi]

Thanks for your responses.
Tim, you mention restoring them somewhere...you mean like extracting a single file or something? I wouldn't think it would be wise to boot the server from the recovery tape for testing purpose. Just wondering.
Thanks
Mauro

[Tim Nelson]

We typically perform recovery testing twice a year to ensure our process, proceedure and technology still works. (tapes do go bad ya know)

yes you would need additional HW for this if you choose not to blow away your production server(s).

it is well worth the effort, and sometimes required by auditors, to prove your recovery plans actually work.

I also use the ignite images to clone a new server(s) or refresh test environments.

[Mauro Livi]

Yeah, good point...unfortunately I don't have the "extra" server available to do that right now.
Thanks

[Mauro Livi]

Thanks to all