Cloning linux on multiple DL360's

[Andrew Penney]

After much grief, I've finally gotten Redhat Advanced Server 2.1 to install on a DL360 3.06Ghz system with 2 drive bays, but only one 146Gig Drive. (I had problems getting the network cards to fire up)

I have two DL360s that I want to clone and cluster, so this is what I have done.

I put in the HDD from the non-configured server into /dev/cciss/c0d1 (right-hand slot)then reboot using the CD1 of the Linux install disk into rescue mode:
cd /mnt/sysimage/root
mkdir partition-backup
cd partition-backup
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0d0 of=backup-cciss0.mbr count=1 bs=512

Now, I want to save entries of the extended partitions:

sfdisk -d /dev/cciss/c0d0 > backup-cciss0.sf

Now, I want to put the info on the other disk:
dd if=backup-cciss0.mbr of=/dev/cciss/c0d1
sfdisk /dev/cciss/c0d1 < backup-cciss0.sf

Now, I want to dump the partition data accross:
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0t0p1 of=/dev/cciss/c0d1p1 ==> /boot
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0t0p2 of=/dev/cciss/c0d1p2 ==> swap
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0t0p3 of=/dev/cciss/c0d1p3 ==> /

Now, I should be able to pull out c0d1 and place it back in to the original server and boot, right??? Wrong. The HP SmartArray utility tells me that the drives are not in their proper locations and will not recognize it!!!

If I go into the SmartArray config tool, it sees no logical partitions and asks to create one. I say sure, and bang... everything is wiped off of the disk.

Thanks for any help you can offer on this.
Andrew

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

You will have to use the smart array utility to non-destructively reconfigure the array. Then you might be able to boot.

Or you could boot off a win98 cd with Norton Ghost on it and duplicate the entire machine configuration right through the NIC card or even a parellel cable.

This I've done, you just have to fire up the duplicate box the the main box down and change its hostname and ip config.

Also this methodology involves downtime.

mondo/mindi might have some utilities that perform this function as well.

SEP

[Olivier Drouin]

Use the hardware smartarray mirroring !
You will also be able to clone your drives on other machines...

[Andrew Penney]

This may sound like a silly question, but I haven't used the smartArray utility.(I'm an HP-UX and solaris guy)

Can I use it to mirror the first drive to the second drive after the OS is installed, or do I have to create the mirror, then install the OS and then pull the second drive and break the mirror?

Thanks.

[Andrew Penney]

I got it to finally recognize the drive... Here's how.

Putting in the HDD from the other server into /dev/cciss/c0d1 then:
cd /root
mkdir partition-backup
cd partition-backup
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0d0 of=backup-cciss0.mbr count=1 bs=512

Now, I want to save entries of the extended partitions:

sfdisk -d /dev/cciss/c0d0 > backup-cciss0.sf

Now, I want to put the info on the other disk:
dd if=backup-cciss0.mbr of=/dev/cciss/c0d1
sfdisk /dev/cciss/c0d1 < backup-cciss0.sf

Now, I want to dump the partition data accross:
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0t0p1 of=/dev/cciss/c0d1p1 ==> /boot
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0t0p2 of=/dev/cciss/c0d1p2 ==> swap
dd if=/dev/cciss/c0t0p3 of=/dev/cciss/c0d1p3 ==> /

Now, I should be able to pull out c0d1 and place it back in to the original server and boot, right? Wrong...

Now, the ACU complains about the HD being unusable when I put it into it's original slot. So I go into the ACU config utility and create a logical disk. Then the system reboots. The result is NO OS and the drive is completely blank.

Soooo..., I redo the process of cloning the Drive, when it is finished I pull it out and place it in it's original server.
I then booted using the SmartStart 7.1 disk and went into the drive config utility.
Here, it asks me if I want to create and 'ARRAY' before it can do anything.
So I pick create the Array with a Raid 0.
Then I create the Logical thing and save the config.
I reboot and lo-and-behold... it works.

I editted the HWADDR for the other server and restarted the network service.

Now, it's on to clustering.
Hope this helps someone else.