Very Computer

Hello Unix Gurus:

I just been told to write a disaster recovery manual for HPUX.  I am not new to
Unix but I am new to HPUX.  I've checked the manual and it is not helpful when
your root disk bite the dust.  This is my environment:

        - HPUX release 9.XX
        - We run logical volume manager.  One disk per volume group.
        - Root disk only has /, /usr and swap.

I couldn't find anywhere in the HPUX manuals the instructions to restore
root disk from tape.  I can do this task on AIX and SunOS fairly painless.
HPUX version 9.XX docs doen't seem to address this problem at all.  

What I need to know is :

        - How do you prepare your backup to restore your root disk?
        - The procedures to rebuild the root disk from backup tape.
        - Is there any documentations which cover this scenerio?

If there is someone who has a disaster recovery for HPUX could you send me a
copy?  I would be forever grateful :-).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Bill Tran

: Hello Unix Gurus:

: I just been told to write a disaster recovery manual for HPUX.  I am not new to
: Unix but I am new to HPUX.  I've checked the manual and it is not helpful when
: your root disk bite the dust.  This is my environment:

:       - HPUX release 9.XX
:       - We run logical volume manager.  One disk per volume group.
:       - Root disk only has /, /usr and swap.

: I couldn't find anywhere in the HPUX manuals the instructions to restore
: root disk from tape.  I can do this task on AIX and SunOS fairly painless.
: HPUX version 9.XX docs doen't seem to address this problem at all.  

: What I need to know is :

:       - How do you prepare your backup to restore your root disk?
:       - The procedures to rebuild the root disk from backup tape.
:       - Is there any documentations which cover this scenerio?

: If there is someone who has a disaster recovery for HPUX could you send me a
: copy?  I would be forever grateful :-).

: Thanks in advance for any help.

: Bill Tran

Hi Bill,

Unfortunately on the 800 series machines there is no mkrs command (this makes
a recovery system) unlike on the 700 workstations.  So if your root disk was
to blow up you would have two options.

1) Boot from Support Tape (this creates a root filesystem in memory) and allows
   you to access your hardware, so you can put back your full backup on to the
   root disk.  You won't find any documentation on using the Support tape  
   because it is meant for HP personnel only!

2) Re-install a minimal HP-UX system back on to the root disk and then put
   put backup back on.    

I suggested that you back your system up with the fbackup command, this is the
HP utility and is very stable.  If you are running 9.04 then make sure that you
have all the relevant patches especially the vgcfgrestore one (PHCO_3827) else
you could be in for alot of work rebuilding your system.

It may be worth you contacting your local HP Customer Education Centre and
asking about a HP-UX Trouble Shooting Course (they run it here in England)
because they cover such things on that.  --

Regards,        

Jason Cook

      =====  MY OPINIONS ARE MY OWN AND NOTHING TO DO WITH H.P. ==========

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Quote:> Unfortunately on the 800 series machines there is no mkrs command (this makes
> a recovery system) unlike on the 700 workstations.  So if your root disk was
> to blow up you would have two options.

> 1) Boot from Support Tape (this creates a root filesystem in memory) and allows
>    you to access your hardware, so you can put back your full backup on to the
>    root disk.  You won't find any documentation on using the Support tape  
>    because it is meant for HP personnel only!

I don't work for HP, so I can give you the basics.  
With the support tape mounted, tell the PDC (Processor Dependent Code) you
want to boot from the tape drive address.  Since the PDC is just that, what
this dialogue looks like varies:  my 825 prints the primary (root disk) and
secondary (tape) boot paths, then asks me to enter one.  My H40 prints both,
then asks if I want to boot from primary; if no, then it asks if I want to
boot from secondary.  Anyway, the next prompt should be along the lines of
"Interact with IPL?"; respond "y".  Next you should get an "ISL>" prompt
(why they use "IPL" to ask the question, then "ISL" for the command prompt
I don't know--in the spirit of Unix, one programmer probably wrote the
first and another the second).  At the ISL prompt, type "support".  This
should get you to a "Support Tape Main Menu".  You'll need to load the
commands you need from the tape, then exit to shell to execute them.  What
you need to do is system configuration dependent, and using lvm on the root
disk complicates things a bit.  If you're using traditional hard partitions,
you just "mkdir /mnt;mount <root-device-file> /mnt" to get to a root disk
that's not physically damaged.  If you're using lvm, you basically have to
mimic what /etc/lvmrc does on your system.  Anyway, once you get it mounted,
you can recover from other tapes, etc.  If you're replacing a physically
damaged disk with a new one, the re-install suggestion will probably be fastest.

Quote:

> 2) Re-install a minimal HP-UX system back on to the root disk and then put
>    put backup back on.    

This is reliable, well-documented, and HP supported.  You might also want to
consider setting up a backup boot partition on another disk if you can afford
the space.  This will almost always provide the quickest recovery capability.

Good luck.

W.C. Epperson
Senior S.E.
Va. Dept. of Ed.