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Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

 
MattJ123
Frequent Advisor

Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

Hey all,

I'm looking for something in which I can burn a live system to dvdrw, which is bootable and able to restore the system to its last backed up state.

The configuration used is 2 scsi drives, raid 1, and lvm on top of the raid. USB DVDRW, and USB Floppy. mkcdrec doesn't work well with this configuration, and I've tried multiple revisions of mondoarchive. All with little success. The system backed up, but the LVM seemed to confuse both packages.

First of all, with the exception of the two packages already mentioned does any software exist that accomplishes this? Free, or Commercial?

If not, what sort of backup solutions which can be burned to dvdrw and automated would be appropriate for os/database backups? Esentially, bare metal install worst case scenario type stuff.

FYI, the backup would never be bigger than a DVD.

Matt
8 REPLIES 8
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

Up until I checked today, this product did the exact job you desire:

http://www.mondorescue.org/

Seems there has been some kind of legal dispute and the product has been pulled of the Internet.

It was free.

My alternate method of making bootable backups is thus:

Make a Windows 98/Me boot cd or diskette.

Boot the box.

Run Symmantec's Norton Ghost product and image the entire hard disk.

You can go to writeable CD or with intel NIC cards a share on nother server.

Now you have a bootable recovery method.

SEP
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com
MattJ123
Frequent Advisor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

Mondo does not work with my hardware configuration. I did the backups, but the restore is broken. Raid1 + LVM confused it nicely. A dead project is not really an option as this system would be around a while and I need to count on the software being around / supported if need be.
Nobody's Hero
Valued Contributor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

My restore did not work at first either , using mondo. You need to boot from CD and edit lilo. This worked nicely for me. If you need specifics, just ask and I'll post the recovery steps. If you use grub loader, mondo will choke on the restore. At this point you need to use lilo after booting to cd. config lilo then retry the mondo recovery.
UNIX IS GOOD
MattJ123
Frequent Advisor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

that would be great if you could post the steps. before the backup, i was using grub, but i will try editing lilo right away and doing a lilo -v .. thanks in advance.
MattJ123
Frequent Advisor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

actually.. i just tried to boot a recovery with redhat's rescue mode (its a redhat es3 installation). redhat was unable to detect the logical volumes, and on further inspection it appears they were not properly re-created..

mondo does not appear to cut it
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

Mondo appears to be a dead product right now anyway.

Symmatec isn't going to work well on a multi disk setup either.

Suggestion: Contact HP and add your name to the list asking for a Linux Ignite port. They may decide to do it.

I'll see if I can find you a commerical product and post that in later in the day.

SEP
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com
Andrea Rossi
Frequent Advisor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

think the better solution is tapeware, certified for hp storageworks.
MattJ123
Frequent Advisor

Re: Linux Disaster Recovery - Bootable Recovery?

A tape drive is not something I would like to consider at this point, although I agree that it would probably do the best job.

Here's what I've decided on for the backups:
dump(1) will be utilized. Dump will dump the filesystem(s), and then they will be bzip2 compressed and burned to dvd-rw.

For the recovery
1. Redhat Kickstart, this will re-create a base OS and reslice the drive with raid1 and lvm.
2. Boot in rescue mode (or use a rescue distro) and use restore(1) to restore the filesystems.

Thanks for all the input