Making an ignite plan & decommissioning a server.

[khilari]

Hi people, i wanted to do a dry run for ignite. Now the tape situation is this:
Class I H/W Path Driver S/W State H/W Type Description
=======================================================================
tape 0 1/0/2/1/0.2.0 stape CLAIMED DEVICE HP C5683A
/dev/rmt/0m /dev/rmt/c4t2d0BESTn
/dev/rmt/0mb /dev/rmt/c4t2d0BESTnb
/dev/rmt/0mn /dev/rmt/c4t2d0DDS
/dev/rmt/0mnb /dev/rmt/c4t2d0DDSb
/dev/rmt/c4t2d0BEST /dev/rmt/c4t2d0DDSn
/dev/rmt/c4t2d0BESTb /dev/rmt/c4t2d0DDSnb
tape 1 1/0/2/1/1.1.0 stape CLAIMED DEVICE HP Ultrium 2-SCSI
/dev/rmt/1m /dev/rmt/c5t1d0BEST
/dev/rmt/1mb /dev/rmt/c5t1d0BESTb
/dev/rmt/1mn /dev/rmt/c5t1d0BESTn
/dev/rmt/1mnb /dev/rmt/c5t1d0BESTnb

And i want to use the dlt tape. So, now i just run the make_tape_recovery -x incl_entire=vg00
and then check it using tar -tvf. But then again which format should i use./dev/rmt/0m or /dev/rmt/0mn.
Thanks.

The other question is how do u decomission a server. I mean erase every thing on the server and format the disks. Any commands????

[Pete Randall]

Ignite require that you use the no rewind device: /dev/rmt/0mn.

The standard decommissioningrecommendation is to use dd:

dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/rdsk/c?t?d? bs=1024k

You could also use mediainit or simply run pvcreate -f, depending on your requirements for security.


Pete

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi:

"Standards" differ depending upon the sensitivity of your data and what reasonable precautions your organization needs to take to protect its assets, as well as the assets (data) of its customers.

Suffice to say, that it is possible to recover data from disks that have been overwritten *many* times (with zeros or random patterns) given the proper equipment, dedication and desire.

An acid bath, and a metal shredder may be necessary in some environments.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Yogeeraj_1]

hi,

see also:
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=13542

kind regards
yogeeraj

[khilari]

Hi people, okay i started the ignite process by the command.
# make_tape_recovery -x inc_entire=vg00 /dev/rmt/0mn
now, i guess i havnt started in an interactive mode thats y i cant see whats going on. When i used the command.
tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0mn after telnetting the system again. I got the error that tar: cannot open /dev/rmt/0mn. Now, what i can i use to see the interactive mode of the ignite happening on the server. And how long does it usually take to make it happen. Now, after i am done, what command should i use to see whats on the tape.????
I wonder y tar tar -tvf didnt work .............

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Had you added '-v' to your 'make_tape_recovery' you would have received verbose messages of the progress of the sesssion.

In my opinion, you should have added '-I' to the command too, in order to cause the system recovery process to be interactive when ooting from the tape. Otherwise, you will have 10-seconds to interrupt the process to engage an interactive recovery session.

To see the contents of the tape once it is made, do:

# mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn fsf 1
# tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0m

If your server is an Itanium running 11.23, use:

# mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn fsf 22
# tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0m

...instead.

Regards!

...JRF...

[khilari]

Hi, okay so now what if i want to take another ignite image on that same tape. What should i do.
I used both approaches and it is giving me an error and no output from the tape

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

1 Ignite image per tape. Need a second tape to hold the second image.

Refer back to Pete's norewind statment.

System decommission. We send the disks out for physical destruction. That is the only way to be sure.

At my prior job, I did a full OS install including all disks and this was considered good enough for organizational standards.

SEP