How do I create a bootable recovery tape off a server that doesn't have a tape drive?

[Glauco Sesta]

Hallo everybody,
I have an HP server that is not equipped with a tape drive. Still I need to create a bootable recovery tape like I usually do with the command "make_tape_recovery -Av -x inc_entire=vg00" on servers that have a tape drive. I do not want the hassle of igniting the recovery archive off an ignite server.
I just want a plain simple bootable recovery tape. Do you know of a way to create it?
Thanks.

[Bill McNAMARA_1]

The real question is how do you recover the system...

Honestly, though, get the tape and connect it up for the duration of the creation.. it's much more reliable that trying to share a tape or network it.

You can alternatively try a make_net_recovery

Bill

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

There are a few postings about this and really it does not work. You could try and make a bootable CD, see the attached document link below, but you either have to do it via make_net_recovery or attach a tape drive temporarily.

http://www.docs.hp.com/hpux/onlinedocs/B2355-90704/B2355-90704.html

Only other item is to have a look at this document on your system.
/opt/ignite/share/doc/makenetrec.txt

Cheers
Michael

[Bill Hassell]

Since the server has no tape drive, what's the point? Use Ignite/UX's make_net_recovery and store the archive on a network server. NOTE: to boot over the network, the server must be on the same subnet, or there must be a boot helper on the subnet to provide an HP-UX kernel that knows networking enough to talk to the Ignite server between subnets.

[Tom Geudens]

Hi,
And now everybody is going to laugh at me, but I occasionally do this. I am going from the assumption that you DO have an Ignite Server and that the particular system does have it's "normal" archives there. If so, take a look at page 172 of the Ignite manual (that is the page in my version, you are looking for "Create a Bootable Archive Tape via the Network").

You can create this tape on any server that has a tapedrive connected to it. Just ftp / rcp the LIF and the archivefile to that server and you're set.

Regards,
Tom

P.S. The reasons I work this way are :
1. I don't have tapedrives on all the systems.
2. I don't like using the boothelper.
3. ... :-)

[Yogeeraj_1]

Hello,

Here what `man make_recovery_net` says:

...
DESCRIPTION
The make_net_recovery tool creates a system recovery archive and
stores the archive on the network. The archive created by
make_net_recovery is specific to the system it was created for and its
identity includes hostname, ip_address, networking information, etc.
In the event of a root disk failure, the recovery archive can be
installed via Ignite-UX to restore the system.

The contents of the system recovery archive will always include all
files and directories which are considered essential to bringing up a
functional system. This "essential" list is pre-defined by
make_net_recovery. By running make_net_recovery in interactive mode,
the directories and files which make up the "essential list" can be
displayed. In addition to the essential list, data can be included in
the archive on a disk/volume group, file, or directory basis. Non-
essential files and directories can also be excluded.
....
The directory used to store the archives must be exported from the
archive server to each client. Exporting the archive directory from
the system where the archive will be stored enables make_net_recovery
to create and access the archive via NFS. The archive server by
default is the Ignite-UX server but can be changed using the -a option
to be a different remote server, or even the local client if you want
to capture the archives as part of the client's regular backup. Note
however, that if the archives are stored on the client itself, they
must be put onto a remote server if the client ever needs to be
recovered using them.
...


So, no need to have a tape drive here! Do it accross the network.

Well, lots of assumptions here! (Do you have another machine where you can send the archive? Speed of network? Affordable downtime? etc.. ;)

Most important when you devise a backup strategy is to do a test recovery!!

Good if Mr. Tom Geudens could post his solution with a good example..

Best Regards
Yogeeraj