suse linux image backup on HP 38 server

[riyan]

Hi,
I want to take an OS image backup of my servers with following configuration.

intel xeon quad core
16GB RAM
2 146 HD hardware RAID 5
OS SLES 10 SP3

what i want to do is

take an image backup to external HD using clonezilla and do a bare metal restore to 2 new HD's on the same server.

my question is when i replace the HD with new HD should i reconfigure the RAID again?

[Horia Chirculescu]

Hello,

Having only 2 disks I believe we are not talking about RAID5. Maybe RAID1? For RAID 5 you would need min. 3 disks.

If is a hardware raid and your new installed disks would be identical with the old ones, you should not re-configure RAID.

Horia.

[riyan]

Hello,

Thanks for the update.sorry it is RAID 1+0
when i tried to restore the image to new HD iam getting error.

the partition table in this disk is illegal/invalid : /dev/sdb
does this partition table file fit this disk :/home/partimag/2010-02-01-14-img /sdb-pt.sf?
is this disk too small : /dev/sdb?

ERROR: cant have a partition outside the disk

So does this means i should do any changes or initialization with HP smart start?

Thanks.

[Horia Chirculescu]

>is this disk too small : /dev/sdb?

I believe this is not the case, right? I mean you have inserted a new disk identical as the previous one?

Horia.

[riyan]

Yes that's correct.Both the new 2 HDs are identical size to the old one

[Horia Chirculescu]

HHow exactly did you made your clone?

You should clone your disk1 to clone_of_disk1 and disk2 to clone_of_disk2.

This means that you must break the hardware RAID (eventually install the HDDs on another machine and run the cloning software)

This works for sure.

Horia.

[riyan]

I am sorry.i didn't understand this.if i break the RAID will i lost the existing data.be cause both disks are working together as single disk in the situation right? and it has been recognized by clonezilla as single also.problem is when trying to restore to new HD only.
please correct me if i am wrong.

Thanks.

[wobbe]

If you have a smartarray controller and are using raid one you could do...

1. shutdown the server
2. take out one harddisk
3. rebuild the array using a new disk.
(rebuilding can be done only ore offline and is an automatic process)

The disk you took out would be your clone/spare. If the current raid set would die you only need to put back the disk you have taken out and add a second disk to repeat step 3.

ps. You can't restore to a smaller disk using clonezilla. So if your disks are only a bit bigger you first need to resize the partitions to fit the target disk.

[Horia Chirculescu]

>I am sorry.i didn't understand this.if i break the RAID will i lost the existing data.be cause both disks are working together as single disk in the situation right? and it has been recognized by clonezilla as single also.problem is when trying to restore to new HD only.
please correct me if i am wrong.


You would need 2 HDDs for succesfully clonning your system.

Then pull out the HDD's from your server and install one by one on another hardware.
Install the first hdd and configure the HDD parameters on BIOS (Auto configure would work as expected on new hardware).

Boot the system using clonezilla and make the first clone.

Change the second HDD from your server and repeat the procedure, obtaining the second clone.

The first clone must be installed (when needed) on the same port (IDE master/slave or SATA no.) as the first original.

The same for the second clone. You must labell corectly the cloned HDDs.

Horia.

[riyan]

Hi wobbe,
This will not work because i have 12 servers here and its going to be expensive option.
and i am trying to restore image to same size HD from which it was taken.

Horia,
Thanks for the clarification.Just to make sure i am on the right path i will put the steps i am going to perform.

1.shutdown the server and remove the 2nd HD.

2.boot with Clonezilla and take the image of that 1st HD.

3.repeat the above task for 2nd HD also and take 2nd image.

4.when restoring i will have to test on the same server with 2 new identical HD.so i will replace the 1st HD and restore the 1st image then 2nd Hd for 2nd image (here i have to remove the 1st HD when restoring to 2nd HD right)

please bear with me for all these clarifications.because i have to test this on a soon to be production servers. That's why.please advice if if am wrong in any steps

[Horia Chirculescu · Accepted solution]

>This will not work because i have 12 servers

You have a lot of work to do...

If you would have a station that would recognize all type of HDDs (IDE/SCSI/SATA)that you currently use on your 12 servers would be better because like this you would not have to mess with BIOS settings (Expecially RAID settings which have to be removed...) for your production servers.

>1.shutdown the server and remove the 2nd HD.

you would have also to break the hardware RAID settings.

>2.boot with Clonezilla and take the image of that 1st HD.

>3.repeat the above task for 2nd HD also and take 2nd image.

>4.when restoring i will have to test on the same server with 2 new identical HD.so i will replace the 1st HD and restore the 1st image then 2nd Hd for 2nd image (here i have to remove the 1st HD when restoring to 2nd HD right)

You can restore the image on the prepared station or you must break the hardware RAID first on the production server, then 2. restore one by one the HDDs, then 3. re-create BIOS raid settings.

Horia.

[riyan]

Hi Horia,
Thanks for the explanation.I will give it a try tomorrow.But i am new to this setup.So can you please advice how to break and reconfigure the hardware RAID.and once i reconfigure the raid configuration as it was (RAID 1+0) after the testing if i insert the original production HD will there be any effects?

[Horia Chirculescu]

>But i am new to this setup.

If this is the case, I would recommend against making clones in your original server. Use another station. You should make your first tests on non-production servers.

>So can you please advice how to break and reconfigure the hardware RAID.

You must read the docs for your RAID card.

>and once i reconfigure the raid configuration as it was (RAID 1+0) after the testing if i insert the original production HD will there be any effects?

Of course. Just be sure you re-establish the same BIOS configuration.

Horia.

[riyan]

Hi,

Yeah you are right.I will try this on test environment.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions Horia.

[riyan]

finally issue sorted.here is what i did.
first i took the image backup of the production HD's (since RAID 1+0)this will detect as 1 disk.Then when i plugged the new HD's i have to create a new logical drive equal to or grater than the size of the original disk size ( i missed this part,that's why i got cant have a partition outside the disk error.finally i just restored the image to new HD's.worked perfectly.
Thanks for all the support guys.

[riyan]

please check my above comments.