backup/restore boot disk

[Mauro Gatti]

Hi all, I would want make a backup of my boot disk to use in case of disaster.

My disk is a bootable disk and it use LVM with classical 8 filesystems:

/dev/vg00/lvol3 /
/dev/vg00/lvol1 /stand
/dev/vg00/lvol8 /var
/dev/vg00/lvol7 /usr
/dev/vg00/lvol5 /tmp
/dev/vg00/lvol6 /opt
/dev/vg00/lvol4 /home
(lvol2 is swap)

I would make backup via NFS to another disk using fbackup or dump/vxdump.
Do you think possible in case of disaster do a boot using CD-ROM and recreate disk structure?
Which steps would I have to follow?
Thank You

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

Hi Mauro,

If you have a locale tape drive I would advice you to use Ignite.

http://www.software.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=IGNITEUXB

Regards,
Robert-Jan

[Steven E. Protter]

If you want a usable backup, I suggest Ignite.

Its free, installs with the operating system.

If you have a tape drive, you want to use make_tape_recovery

It will create you a bootable tape that you can use to restore your root vg. Its not really good for backups of open databases and such.

make_net_recovery will allow you to back up the vg00 (root/boot) volume group to an NFS mount, anywhere on your network. You need read/write access to the NFS mount.

SEP

[Govinda_1]

hi,

I would go for ignite backup for the boot disk backup.

u can get the ignite-Ux downloaded here.

http://software.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=IGNITEUXB

#cd /opt/ignite/bin
#./Make_tape_recovery -AvC

This will backup entire vg00. (including non os fs also).

restoration is just boot from the tape.

Regards,
Govind.

[Mauro Gatti]

Unluckly I haven't got any tape!

[Govinda_1]

Oops!!!!

u can use fbackup on a remote tape.

#fbackup -f sys1:/dev/rmt/1m -i / -i /stand ---> etc..

u cant backup using ignite on remote tape.

regards,
Govind.

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

Do you have a second hpux server ? You could create a ignite server.

[Mauro Gatti]

First of all I'll try to follow make_net_recovery way... is is a product included in hpux 11.11 cd?

I will try to get more information about ignite ... Does ignite server needs local tape?

And now as "academic" discussion... if I had to use fbackup or similia wich steps I would have to follow?
For example:

-boot from cd
-mount nfs remote backup disck
-pvcreate on new local disk
-vgimport ?
-frestore?
-setboot?

Thank you

[Saurav_1]

HP Recommends the USE of Ignite/UX for these types of Backups because it maked the tape bootable and you can easily restore if the drive is local. In case of any other software also It is must that basic OS is installed to recognise the tape made by fbackup.

Cheers

[V. Nyga]

Hi,

from my opinion, there are two cases of disaster:
- a complete system crash: You'll need a ignite tape or server or a second boot disc.
- a little accident: To recover single files or directories (rm -r * in /opt) I prefer a SAM tape backup or fbackup. (A mirrored disc would do the same).

HTH
Volkmar

[Darrel Louis · Accepted solution]

Mauro,

First I suggest to use Ignite/UX to make a image and then burn the image on CD.
Ignite will save you a lot of time.
Second always mirror your boot disk.

A fbackup or sam backup might not backup all files, if you want to be 100% sure you need to perform the backup in Single user mode(init 1). And after a crash you first need to install the OS and then perform the restore(might take more then 12 hours). A Ignite Recovery can bring your system up and running within 2 hours.

Check the following:
http://www4.itrc.hp.com/service/iv/docDisplay.do?docId=prodITRC/DE_SW_UX_swrec_EN_01_E/SystemRecovery.pdf
also check:
http://docs.hp.com/en/B2355-90872/ch08s04.html on how to create a bootable DVD.

Darrel

[Mic V.]

Ignite is an excellent way to recover systems to the point where they're bootable. The rest of the system recovery can be conducted from your backups.

Mirroring the boot drive is also a great idea. It doesn't help out with small "oops"es, though -- because whatever you've done to the primary is mirrored to the second. They are meant to look like the same thing in case your primary drive dies. Mirroring usually requires the purchase of MirrorDisk/UX. I wouldn't run a production server without it.

It's possible to make copies of stuff via NFS, but it's going to eat up a lot of disk space -- normally, people do something like "full every week, incrementals when no full runs." I recommend investigating a more full-featured product like EMC/Legato Networker, Veritas NetBackup, and the like (if you have a production system and the need for that type of backup).

It all depends on what you mean by "disaster." To me, that means my server/room blew up -- that's why I keep offsite Ignite tapes, full backups, documents, etc. :-)

HTH,
Mic