Operating system backup and network install

[Roberto Volsa]

Hello,
sorry for my neophyte question: i have to upgrade my Red Hat Rel3 from U3 to U6: in the release notes it is suggested a "network" install in order to avoid a scratch instalaltion: how to perform this network installation?
More: i need to backup the operating system before the activity; in hpux there is a tool (make_tape_recovery) that creates a tape able to reinstall the operating system; is there any simialr tool in Red Hat?

Thanks in advance
RV

[Vitaly Karasik_1]

AFAIK, RH suggests to use "up2date" for updating their RHEL. up2date uses RHN server for downloading & installing patches.

As for Linux OS backup - there are several tools, for example Mondo rescue (http://www.mondorescue.org/),
systemImager (www.systemimager.org) and others.

But again - as far as I understand, you don't need backup/restore your system; you should register and update your system using up2date/RHN.

Rgds,
Vitaly

[Alan_152]

For a network install/update from ISOs or distribution files, you'll need a tftp and pxe server. Fortunately, if you work with CD or DVD media, "update OS" is one of the selections you can choose.

Or you can use up2date. Or you can download the newer kernel rpm and use rpm -Uvh on it.

As for making backups, read up on dd, tar, and amanda. I'd personally would stick an additional set of drives in the unit and do a dd of each physical device to a new drive.

[Ivan Ferreira]

The only supported way to update your current red hat to a new "update level" is using up2date (Red Hat Network). The other option is to download the easy iso from RHN, but you must reinstall your server.

To fully backup your server, you can use mondo as described above, or make a backup of all your file systems with the "star" command, like this:

star â c f=/dev/st0 â xdev â sparse â acl /boot
star â c f=/dev/st0 â xdev â sparse â acl â C /
star â c f=/dev/st0 â xdev â sparse â acl â C /usr
star â c f=/dev/st0 â xdev â sparse â acl â C /var
star â c f=/dev/st0 â xdev â sparse â acl â C /home