make_net_recovery / make_tape_recovery on Itanium

[Clinton A Neill]

I have make_net_recovery archives on a server.

I'd like to create a make_tape_recovery tape to use for DR. Can I somehow use the make_net_recovery image?

Just creaing one with make_tape_recovery isn't an option -- the machine doesn't have a tape drive attached.

Restoring the ignite server first and then the target machine isn't an option.

I know there were references on older ignite manuals about doing this. It seemed to PA_RISC specific. Any ideas?

Answers will be generously rewarded!

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

If I understand your question correctly, this could be your solution:

backup the server to the ignite server. From the stored image, create a bootable DVD.
See the ignite guide for how-to.

[Scot Bean]

Not exactly sure why you would want a tape created if you do not have a tape drive on the target.

But you can take a 'make_net_recovery' image and covert it other media formats. The handy command is /opt/ignite/data/scripts/examples/make_media_install.

See this section of the admin guide:
http://docs.hp.com/en/5992-3336/ch12s03.html

[Torsten.]

I don't know about your environment and strategy, but if you want to create backup periodically - let's say once or twice a week - and transfer and install it on the DR site I would really consider to connect a tape drive to both servers. Keep it fast and simple. I guess you have some more work to do...

[Clinton A Neill]

Thanks for trying to help.

make_media_install doesn't support Itanium tapes, but I was able to get some hints there ...

There aren't drives attached locally to every machine at my shop ...
obviously there are drives at the DR site ...

I don't have free SCSI cards to move the available drives around in my home shop ...

make_ipf_tape may help some, plus some lines from make_sys_image ...

this should not be so hard !

I assigned everyone points ... I appreciate the responses very much ...

[Clinton A Neill]

I'm going to try a number of options ... DR test is in 2 weeks ... we'll see what happens.

[Mouis Yafeh xhp]

Clinton,

I was wondering if your test succeeded? I have a similar situation where I do not want to get a tape for every server.

[Clinton A Neill]

I did succeed in creating tapes for DR using
my network Ignite archives!

Network archives are gzipped, tape archives aren't. So I had to gunzip the network archive into a temporary file.

I had to modify the archive_cfg file in 2 places:
s/archive_type = gzip tar/archive_type = tar
s/archive_path = "1"/archive_path = "22"

I used the /opt/ignite/bin/make_ipf_tape script provided with Ignite to put the boot and install components on the tape.

Then I used dd to add an ANSI user tape label to the tape, and then dd'ed the archive to the tape.

I worked this out by examining a tape created
with make_tape_recovery.

We have used tapes created this way for DR testing successfully.

I attached a script I used to make my tapes. It's specific to my environment, but it might help.