Backing Up Your System

Back up your system before performing a cold-install or update, and again after the cold-install or update. If a problem occurs, you can easily restore the system to its original state. Backing up your system includes the following tasks:

Task 1: Creating an Operating System Recovery Image

To protect your system data, create an operating system recovery image to be used in the event of cold install or update problems. The Ignite-UX server has two commands you can use to create an operating system recovery image:

make_net_recovery
Use this command to create an operating system recovery image and store it on an Ignite-UX server on the network. This command works on any system that has Ignite-UX installed.
make_tape_recovery
Use this command to create an operating system recovery image on a bootable recovery tape. This command works on any system that has a local tape drive and Ignite-UX installed. This command also works on any system without an Ignite-UX server.




	NOTE: The Ignite-UX recovery tools are intended to be used in conjunction with data recovery applications to create a means of total system recovery. HP does not recommend using Ignite-UX recovery tools to backup and recover data other than essential system data.

Using make_net_recovery

The Ignite-UX product has the make_net_recovery command to create an operating system recovery image on another system on the network. The image created by make_net_recovery is specific to the system it was created for and its identity includes host name, IP address, networking information, and so on. In the event of root disk failure, you use the Ignite-UX server to restore the system by installing the operating system recovery image.

The contents of the operating system recovery image always includes all files and directories that are essential to bringing up a functional system. This essential list is predefined by make_net_recovery.

You can run make_net_recovery in its interactive mode to review the directories and files that make up the essential list, and to add or remove other data from the image on a disk/volume group, file, or directory basis.

For more information on using make_net_recovery, refer to the make_net_recovery(1M) manpage or the Ignite-UX Administration Guide. The guide is available at the HP Technical Documentation Web site:

http://docs.hp.com/en/oshpux11iv3.html

You can also locate the Ignite-UX Administration Guide at the Ignite-UX Information Library:

http://www.docs.hp.com/en/IUX/infolib.html

Using make_tape_recovery

The Ignite-UX product’s make_tape_recovery command creates a bootable operating system recovery tape for a system while it is up and running. When a system has a logical volume layout, the recovery tape only includes data from the root volume group, plus data from any non-root volume group containing the /usr directory.

You can run make_tape_recovery locally on the system from which you are trying to make an operating system recovery tape. To create the bootable recovery tape, enter:

/opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery -Av

where A specifies the entire root disk or volume group and v is for verbose mode. Also, you can specify more than one volume group with the -x option.

If you intend to use a tape drive other than the default (/dev/rmt/0m), modify the command to point to the device you want to use, for example, a tape drive at /dev/rmt/3mn:

/opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery -Av -a /dev/rmt/3mn

To recover a failed system disk or volume group after an operating system recovery tape has been made, simply load the recovery tape, boot the system and interrupt the boot sequence to redirect to the tape drive. Allow the install process to complete. Do not intervene. The system will reboot and, because map files for all associated volume groups have been saved on the tape, any other existing volume groups are imported and mounted automatically. Data that is not in the root volume group must be backed up and recovered using normal backup utilities.

For more information on using make_tape_recovery, refer to the make_tape_recovery( 1M) manpage on an Ignite-UX server or the Ignite-UX Administration Guide. The guide is available on the HP Technical Documentation Web site:

http://docs.hp.com/en/oshpux11iv3.html

You can also locate the Ignite-UX Administration Guide at the Ignite-UX Information Library:

http://www.docs.hp.com/en/IUX/infolib.html

Task 2: Backing Up Your Data Files

There are a number of different backup methods you may wish to choose from depending on your system backup needs and your configurations. Some recommended backup methods are:

HP OpenView Storage Data Protector
HP-UX fbackup/frecover utilities

Choosing HP Storage Data Protector for Backup

If you are backing up large numbers of systems, the HP Storage Data Protector software product can be particularly useful. HP Data Protector is faster than other backup methods and provides for unattended backup as well. It allows you to efficiently centralize and administer backup procedures.

Using HP Data Protector involves setting up a database server and running software that directs and records the backup process for clients. For more information, see the HP OpenView Storage Data Protector Web site at:

http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storage/software/dataprotector/

Choosing HP-UX fbackup/frecover utilities

Use the fbackup and frecover commands to selectively back up and recover files. The fbackup command can do the following:

Indicate specific files or directories to include or exclude from a backup
Specify different levels of backup on a daily, a weekly, or monthly basis
Create an online index file

The frecover command restores backup files made using the fbackup utility. The -r option to the frecover command is generally used for recovering all files from your backup; the -x option is used for restoring individual files to your system. For complete details, see the frecover (1M) and fbackup (1M) manpages for examples.