Backup and restore the VIOS using nim_resources.tar file

Backing up the VIOS to a remote file system by creating a nim_resources.tar file

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 nim_resources.tar file.

Backing up the VIOS to a remote file system will create the nim_resources.tar image in the directory you specify. The nim_resources.tarfile contains all the necessary resources to restore the VIOS, including the mksysb image, the bosinst.data file, the network boot image, and the Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT) resource.

The backupios command empties the target_disks_stanza section of the bosinst.data file and sets the following value:

RECOVER_DEVICES=Default

This setting allows the mksysb file generated by the command to be cloned to another virtual server. If you plan to use the nim_resources.tar image to install to a specific disk, repopulate the target_disk_stanza section of the bosinst.data file and replace this file in the nim_resources.tar image. All other parts of the nim_resources.tar image must remain unchanged.

Before you start, complete the following tasks:

• 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:

1. Create a mount directory where the backup image, nim_resources.tar, will be written. For example, to create the directory/home/backup, enter the following command:

   mkdir /home/backup

2. 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

3. 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

   This command creates a nim_resources.tar file that you can use to restore the VIOS from the IBM® Systems Director Management Console (SDMC).
4. 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 the SDMC using a nim_resources.tar 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 nim_resources.tar image stored in a remote file system.

To restore the VIOS from a nim_resources.tar image in a file system, complete the following steps:

1. Run the smcli psm installios command from the IBM® Systems Director Management Console (SDMC) command line. This action restores a backup image, nim_resources.tar, that was created by using the backupios command.
2. Follow the installation procedures according to the system prompts. The source of the installation images is the exported directory from the backup procedure. For example, server1:/export/ios_backup.
3. When the restoration is finished, open a virtual terminal connection (for example, using Telnet) to the VIOS that you restored. Some additional user input might be required.
4. If you restored the VIOS to a different host from which it was backed up, you must restore the user-defined virtual devices.