You can back up the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) base code, applied fix packs, custom device drivers to support disk subsystems, and some user-defined metadata to a remote file system by creating a mksysb file.
Backing up the VIOS to a remote file system will create the mksysb image in the directory you specify. The mksysb image is an installable image of the root volume group in a file.
Before you start, complete the following tasks:
- If you plan to restore the VIOS from a Network Installation Management (NIM) server, verify that the NIM server is at the latest release of AIX®. To find the latest updates, see the Fix Central website.
- Ensure that the remote file system is available and mounted.
- Ensure that the VIOS has root write access to the server on which the backup will be created.
To back up the VIOS to a remote file system, complete the following steps:
- Create a mount directory where the backup image, mksysb image, will be written. For example, to create the directory /home/backup, enter:
mkdir /home/backup
- Mount an exported directory on the mount directory. For example, enter the following command from the VIOS command line:
mount server1:/export/ios_backup /home/backup
where server1 is the NIM server from which you plan to restore the VIOS.
- Run the backupios command with the -file option from the VIOS command line. Specify the path to the mounted directory. For example:
backupios -file /home/backup/filename.mksysb -mksysb
where filename is the name of mksysb image that this command creates in the specified directory. You can use the mksysb image to restore the VIOS from a NIM server.
- If you plan to restore the VIOS to a different host from which it was backed up, back up the user-defined virtual devices.
Restoring the VIOS from a NIM server using a mksysb file
You can restore the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) base code, applied fix packs, custom device drivers to support disk subsystems, and some user-defined metadata from a mksysb image stored in a remote file system.
Before you start, complete the following tasks:
- Ensure that the server to which you plan to restore the VIOS is defined as a Network Installation Management (NIM) resource.
- Ensure that the mksysb file (that contains the backup of the VIOS) is on the NIM server.
To restore the VIOS from a mksysb image in a file system, complete the following steps:
- Define the mksysb file as a NIM resource, specifically, a NIM object, by running the nim command. To view a detailed description of the nim command, see nim Command. For example:
nim -o define -t mksysb -a server=servername -alocation=/export/ios_backup/
filename.mksysb objectname
where:
- servername is the name of the server that holds the NIM resource.
- filename is the name of the mksysb file.
- objectname is the name by which NIM registers and recognizes the mksysb file.
- Define a Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT) resource for the mksysb file by running the nim command. For example:
nim -o define -t spot -a server=servername -a location=/export/ios_backup/
SPOT -a source=objectname SPOTname
where:
- servername is the name of the server that holds the NIM resource.
- objectname is the name by which NIM registers and recognizes the mksysb file.
- SPOTname is the NIM object name for the mksysb image that was created in the previous step.
- Install the VIOS from the mksysb file by using the smit command. For example:
smit nim_bosinst
- Ensure that the following entry fields contain the following specifications.
Table 1. Specifications for the SMIT command
| Field | Specification |
|---|
| Installation TYPE | mksysb |
| SPOT | SPOTname from step 2 |
| MKSYSB | objectname from step 2 |
| Remain NIM client after install? | No |
- Start the VIOS virtual server. For instructions, see step 3, boot the VIOS, of Installing the VIOS using NIM.
- If you restored the VIOS to a different host from which it was backed up, you must restore the user-defined virtual devices.
No comments:
Post a Comment