Replacing Disk

[Robert_146]

Hello all,

My Unix SA left the company and I need to replace a disk on a server.

System details - HP 10.20, HFS, no miror software, no ignite installed, (2) 4GB disks. The secondary disk is being replaced by a 9GB disk.

* How can I best backup the data and transfer the data from the current secondary disk to the new one w/o using ignite?
* Where would the backup be kept since both disks are near full capacity?
*The /logs filesystem on vg00 needs to be made bigger from 500Mb to 1500Mb. What commands would I enter to do this?

- I think its on vg00. Would it make a difference if it were to be on vg01???

I just downloaded ignite from this site. Can burn Ignite-UX-10-20_A.3.7.95_HP-UX_B.10.01_700+800.depot to a CD and do swinstall? or is there more to it than that?
Is this a fully function demo version?
I am not UNIX savvy at all. I just have high-level understanding of what needs to be done.

Thank you for your help.

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Robert:

This is a good opportunity to resize your vg00 and move your /logs directory to a non-vg00 filesystem.

You have the correct version of Ignite for 10.20. Use 'swinstall' to install it on your current disk. When done, make a 'make_recovery_tape' of vg00 and a separate backup of the /logs filesystem.

# /opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery -x inc_entire=vg00 -x exclude=/logs -I -v -a /dev/rmt/0mn

Use either 'tar' or 'fbackup' to create a separate tape of your /logs directory.

Replace your current 4GB disk with the new 9GB one. Boot from the Ignite tape and your operating system will be reinstalled. Choose the "Advanced Installation" tab of the Ignite menu and resize your filesystems.

Since the /logs directory was *not* captured in the above Ignite recovery, choose a disk (perhaps your old 4GB one) and 'pvcreate' it; build a volume group (e.g. "vg01") with 'vgcreate' and a logical volume for the /logs filesystem (with 'lvcreate'). When done, create an entry in 'etc/fstab' and reload the /logs filesystem. SAM can do the work of building the filesystems if you are not comfortable at commandline.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

>> System details - HP 10.20, HFS, no miror software, no ignite installed, (2) 4GB disks. The secondary disk is being replaced by a 9GB disk.

10.20 = discontinued and will be totally obsolete this summer (FYI)

>> * How can I best backup the data and transfer the data from the current secondary disk to the new one w/o using ignite?

Is the secondary disk part of vg00? (hint: vgdisplay -v vg00 | grep "PV Name" and you'll see the disk(s). If the second disk is not there, then it is not part of vg00. As far as a backup strategy, use SAM since it will walk you through the tasks.

>> * Where would the backup be kept since both disks are near full capacity?

On tape of course. If you have no tape drive, you don't have any options.

>> *The /logs filesystem on vg00 needs to be made bigger from 500Mb to 1500Mb. What commands would I enter to do this?

Determine the device file for /logs (hint: bdf /logs) and if it is on vg00, see if there are at least 250 extents (4meg each) unused. If not, then there is no room on vg00.

>> - I think its on vg00. Would it make a difference if it were to be on vg01???

If vg00 doesn't have any space, then after you replace the second disk, you will have enough room for /logs on the new disk in vg01...lots of assumptions are being made here...

>> I just downloaded ignite from this site. Can burn Ignite-UX-10-20_A.3.7.95_HP-UX_B.10.01_700+800.depot to a CD and do swinstall?

HP-UX has no support software for CD writers. If you burn the image using a PC, then you need to spend a LOT of time looking at the many different CD formats (ISO 9660, RockRidge Extensions, Joliet, etc) and pick the right one.



>> or is there more to it than that?

You have to get the Ignite image to your machine and there must be enough space to hold the installed files plus enough workspace in /var to be able to create an Ignite backup. But if this system has no tape drive, there is no point unless this system is connected to a network and there is another HP-UX system with enough space to hold a vg00 backup.

>> Is this a fully function demo version?

Ignite/UX is and always has been free and fully functional.

If this is an important machine, I would not try this task alone as it sounds as if there are too many restrictions. email me for some ideas: blhconsulting@mindspring.com

[MANOJ SRIVASTAVA]

Robert

If you are replacing the secondary or non root disk with a 9.0 gb one then u need to take the backups of the cureent 4.0 gb disk , check how is the disk used like sperate vg's etc. In case it is seprate than the vg00 then all u need is to do a backup of the cureent disk , repalce the disk and recreate th vg inforamtion and then restore the backup.

A good idea is to have ignite of the cureent machine so that you are not handicapped in case of OS failures ,

If u think to resize and restore OS then you need to ignite , ingnite recovery in advance mode as explained by James.


Manoj Srivastava

[Brian M Rawlings]

Here's a first pass at your answers. Some additions and further comments/questions will no doubt be needed.

1> To replace a non-boot disk with a larger drive is pretty straightforward: A) Back up the data to tape; B) Do a 'vgexport' of the volume to remove it from the system; C) Swap the drives (the info is still intact on the old drive, so this is a contingency measure); D) go into SAM and create the new LVM structure & file system(s); E) restore the data onto the new drive.

If you don't have BU software, HP-UX has a built-in backup utility named 'fbackup' (and 'frestore' to restore). It is cryptic and annoying in standard Unix ways, but it works good, and should do what you need fairly easily.

2> To grow the /logs file system, you need to see what space in VG00 is available. You can only grow a LV into space that is available in the VG the LV lives in, and then you grow the FS into the available space in its LV.

I suggest using SAM for this. With HFS, you will have to be able to unmount the /logs FS. You may have to kill some apps, lock out users, etc., to do this. If the FS is in use, use the 'fuser' command to find users and processes that are using it (see man pages for details on these commands).

3> Ignite is not a "demo", it is the whole, live thing, available free from HP. It is not necessary to burn it to a CD to do 'swinstall', just use the following syntax to launch 'swinstall':

# swinstall -s

(the -s indicates the 'source' for the swinstall; the path must be the complete path to the depot file)

This will run the swinstall utility in interactive mode (the "TUI" text-user-interface character screen window-wannabe version), and will pass the depot pathname in so that it gives you less grief about all the stuff it needs.

Obviously, there are command line ways to do all of the above stuff, but until you get into this, SAM is a fairly productive way to do many normal tasks like this. You should try to learn the command line ways, since sometimes you have to do this stuff from 'single-user' mode, where SAM is not available.

It's a start, hope it helps.

Regards, --bmr

[Robert_146]

Thank you all for your help...

OK...so from what I understood from an above post, I will not be able to burn the ignite file i downloaded on my PC and run it on the HP server?

How would I use the fbackup and frestore commands to back up the ENTIRE system.

Found some stuff online...would this work:
fbackup -v -f /dev/rmt/0m?


I wish i could just click and drag the files to the new drive like another OS out there :) - Im really a "techie" finance guy so dont beat me up too bad for liking windows.

I will try and get to the server this afternoon and hack at the fbackup command and see what i need to do.

OFFTOPIC - whats the deal with the points thing? I just noticed that.

[Brian M Rawlings]

Robert: you award points to answers you get, based on how much they helped you or however you feel at the time. The intent is two-fold: to reward those who take time to help you, and to show (with an award of 8, 9, or 10 points) that an answer was particularly useful. Future researchers who find answers with 8/9/10 points (indicated by the magic rabbit) can more easily go straight to the more useful answers as they search.

Points are appreciated, but voluntary. There is a general forum etiquette writeup here, if you'd care to read up on it:

http://66.216.15.50/ITRCForumsEtiquette/

Now, back to your questions.

If you downloaded the .depot file to your PC, click , then , then enter 'cmd' (no quotes) into the command are of the 'run' window. You should get the old DOS prompt.

Now type 'ftp ', substitute your unix host as the hostname. You should get a FTP login session on your unix host. Log in, and CD to the directory you intend to put the .depot file into (ordinarily, /tmp).

Now, enter these commands to FTP the file from your PC to the unix host:

bin
put xxxxxxxx.depot

When the FTP finishes, it will inform you, and you can type 'bye' to exit back to DOS prompt. Type 'exit' to make the DOS prompt window vanish.

Now, on your unix host, go log in, cd /tmp, and the .depot file should be there. Now run

swinstall -s /tmp/xxxxxxx.depot
(use full pathname to the .depot file in the command)

This should launch swinstall, and let you get ignite running on your system once it has been installed.

Whew. OK, I've got to run for now, somebody else gets to tackle fbackup. Or I'll do it when I get back in a couple of hours.

Regards, --bmr

[Robert_146]

Thanks again Brian...
And in the words of Homer Simpson DOH!!! I why didnt FTP cross my mind???


At any rate i would appreciate any tips with regards to fbackup and frestore.

I found this in an HPUX book I have...
fbackup -v -f /dev/rmt/0m -i /etc

so this will back up /etc to the tape drive. But then i would have to run the same command for /usr, /var, /opt..etc..
what can i do so it will backup EVERYTHING at once?

The frecover example isnt clear since they include graph files? Is there any way for me to avoid that extra step?

When I add the 9GB disk and run frecover with the proper commands *should* everything be ok? or are there more steps to be taken at that point?

[Brian M Rawlings]

Robert: glad to help.

I am under the impression that the fbackup command in your last post will back up all mounted file systems, except for NFS-mounted files.

If no 'include' or 'exclude' options are specified, I believe that the default behavior is "everything", rather than "nothing". So, unless you only want certain directories or file systems, you should be good to go with that command.

My suggestion, however, would be to use SAM to execute your backup. SAM uses fbackup behind the scenes, but gives you a kinder, gentler interface, and lets you pick and select things, rather than relying on your knowledge of the inscrutable and arcane.

I would suggest that you always protect your root volume (vg00) with an ignite tape, on a weekly or at least monthly basis. The ignite tape (made with either make_recovery or the newer, better make_tape_recovery) is bootable, and will put everything back onto vg00 with almost no interaction on your part.

Presuming that the disk you want to replace is not in vg00, however, for your purposes, fbackup should do the trick, wether executed via SAM or the command line. If the disk to be replaced is another volume, vg01 or whatever, then you will want to use arguments to fbackup (-i switch) to just fbackup the file systems mounted on vg01, for an easy restore of just vg01 info. This will be easily done in SAM as well. The beauty of using SAM is that, since it is really just an fbackup tape that is made, you can use standard frestore commands to do your restore if SAM is not available at restore time.

One last thing (still on topic, but on a tangential track)... let me encourage you to use the SEARCH function of the forums. There are many extremely useful and illuminating posts on the uses and limitations of fbackup (and nearly everything else). If you do a search on 'fbackup entire server', for instance, you will find scores of threads that will address different forms of the question... some will certainly be of help to you.

Hope this gets you over the rough spots. --bmr

[Bill Hassell]

I would pass on fbackup from the command line. It has great options but far too many for the casual user. Login as root on your HP-UX system and run the program called sam. If you are on an HP terminal, then the arrow keys and the function keys all work. If you run Xwindows on your PC (something like eXceed or WRQ Reflection/X) then set the variable DISPLAY to

DISPLAY="$(who -muR | awk '{print $NF}'):0.0"
export DISPLAY

and then run sam...you'll get a nice GUI to use. Otherwise, you can navigate to the Backup and Recovery window, select the tape and the scope (which directories to include or exclude, or a full backup) and sam will do the rest. There is an Interactive menu which includes a full backup as well as selective.