Backup and Restoration IBM AIX

Backup and Restoration

System [rootvg] Backup :

Few Points:
a. rootvg backup can be taken thru mksysb command. Most people refer it as mksysb backup.
b. This type of backup on a tape is bootable. Hence its been widely used to restore the system incase of system crash.
c. Mksysb backup contains 4 images
i. BOS Boot Image - Kernel Device Drivers
ii. mkinsttape image - ./image.data, ./tapeblksz, ./bosinst.data and few other commands
iii. dummy .toc - Nothing but a dummy table of contents file
iv. rootvg data - This is where the actual data resides

Files used by mksysb:

/image.data :
Contains information about the image installed during the BOS installation process. This includes the sizes, names, mount points of LVs and file systems in the rootvg [Actually nothing but the rootvg structure]. It can be created using mkszfile command.

/var/adm/ras/bosinst.data :
It allows you to customize the OS installtion. Modified mostly to use the mksysb image to install new servers.

Few Commands :

To generate just /image.data :
# mkszfile

To create /image.data and generate a system backup on the tape :
# mksysb -i /dev/rmt0

To generate a system backup on the tape but to exclude /home directory and to create /image.data :
# echo /home > /etc/exclude.rootvg
# mksysb -ei /dev/rmt0

To list the contents of a mksysb image :
# lsmksysb -f /backup/system1.mksysb

To restore a specific file from mskysb image :
a. Rewind the tape :
# tctl -f /dev/rmt0 rewind
b. Move the tape forward to the end of 3rd image :
# tctl -f /dev/rmt0.1 fsf 3
c. Restore the specific file:
# restore -xqvf /dev/rmt0.1 /home/user1/file1

Non-rootvg Backup :

Few Points:
a. Volume groups other than rootvg can be backup'ed using savevg command.
b. You can exclude certain files by creating /etc/exclude.vgname.
c. VG data files are kept under, /tmp/vgdata/vg-name/vg-name.data.

Few Commands :

To backup a datavg to the tape drive :
# savevg -if /dev/rmt0 datavg

To backup a datavg to the tape drive and exclude certain files :
# savevg -ief /dev/rmt0 datavg

To restore the datavg image from the tape onto the disks specified in /tmp/vgdata/datavg/datavg.data file :
# restvg -f /dev/rmt0

To create the data file (/tmp/vgdata/oravg/oravg.data) for oravg :
# mkvgdata oravg

File System Backup :
File systems can be backup'ed using many ways.Few commands used for this are backup, cpio, dsm [TSM Client].

To back up all the files and subdirectories in the /home directory using full path names :
# find /home -print l backup -if /dev/rmt0

To back up all the files and subdirectories in the /home directory using relative path names :
# cd /home
# find . -print l backup -if /dev/rmt0

I have used "l" for the pipe symbol as it was not displaying properly in blog.

To backup a list of files:
# cat bakfile
/home/raja/file1.txt
/home/raja/file2.txt
/home/raja/file3.txt

# backup -iqvf /dev/rmt0

I-node Base Backup:


Here is the syntax for the backup command in case of inode based backup

Syntax:
# backup [-u] [-level] [-f device] filesystem

u -> Updates the /etc/dumpdates file
-level -> Values available from 0 to 9 where 0 is the full backup and 1-9 for backup the changes since the previous level.

To back up the /home file system by i-node :
# backup -0 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

i-node based backup has the advantage of making incremental and differential backups. Here we use the numeric flags (0 to 9) to make the difference in the way it back ups. It actually updates the date/time/mode of last backup in /etc/dumpdates when you use the 'u' flag.

Here are the different numeric flags used and their meanings,

0 - Full Backup
1 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 0th backup
2 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 1th backup
3 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 2th backup
4 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 3th backup
5 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 4th backup
6 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 5th backup
7- Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 6th backup
8 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 7th backup
9 - Back ups the files created/modified from the date/time of 8th backup

Few Examples for i-node based backup :


Scenario 1 - Full and Incremental Backup :


If you want to have full backup of /home on sunday night and incremental backup on other nights, then follow the below procedure.

Sunday Night - Full Backup :
# backup -0 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Monday Night - Incremental Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Tuesday Night - Incremental Backup
# backup -2 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Wednesday Night - Incremental Backup :
# backup -3 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Thursday Night - Incremental Backup :
# backup -4 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Friday Night - Incremental Backup
# backup -5 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Saturday Night - Incremental Backup :
# backup -6 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Advantages of Incremental Backup:
a. It takes lesser time to restore the specific data.For example, if you lose a file that was created on thursday morning, then you need only the wednesday night tape to restore the specific file.
b. This method consumes less tapes for backup. Hence its cost effective compared to differential backup.

Disadvantages of Incremental Backup:
a. You need more number of tapes (from sunday-full to last night-incre) to restore the entire file system.

Scenario 2 - Full and Differential Backup :


If you want to have full backup of /home on sunday night and differential backup on other nights, then follow the below procedure.

Sunday Night - Full Backup :
# backup -0 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Monday Night - Differential Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Tuesday Night - Differential Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Wednesday Night - Differential Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Thursday Night - Differential Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Friday Night - Differential Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Saturday Night - Differential Backup :
# backup -1 -uf /dev/rmt0 /home

Advantages of Differential Backup:
a. It takes less tapes (from sunday-full and last night-incre) to restore the entire file system.Hence it is easy for the backup operator to restore the data.

Disadvantages of Differential Backup:
a. It consumes more tapes for backup. (since we are going to backup the same old files again and again for the whole week).Hence cost is more in this type of backup.

To list the contents of backup on the tape :
# restore -Tvf /dev/rmt0

To restore individual files from backup created by 'backup -i' command :
# restore -xvf /dev/rmt0 /home/user1/file1

To restore the entire file system :
# restore -rvf /dev/rmt0

Other Unix Backup Commands:

TAR:
tar is the only command (i think so) in UNIX which doesnot require a dash(-) infront of a flag.

To create a tar image in /tmp for a directory :
# tar cvf /tmp/oradata.tar /opt/oradata

To view the contents of a tar image :
# tar tvf /tmp/oradata.tar

To restore the tar image :
# tar xvf /tmp/oradata.tar

CPIO :
cpio reads and writes from stdin and stdout.

To backup the current directory to a /tmp/file.cpio file :
# find . -print cpio -ov > /tmp/file.cpio
To view the table of contents of the cpio archived tape :
# cpio -itvcC1 < /dev/rmt0


To restore data from the cpio archive file :
# cpio -idv < /tmp/file.cpio

To restore a selective file from cpio archived tape :
# cpio -imv /home/roger/.profile < /dev/rmt0

To restore selectively only the *.c and *.cpp file :
# cpio -i "*.c" "*.cpp" < /dev/rmt0


DD Command :
'dd' command copies (also converts) from an input device to an output device. This command will not span multiple tapes.
To copy a file and converting all the chars to upper case :
# dd if=/tmp/unixfile.txt of=/tmp/dosfile.txt conv=ucase

Tcopy Command :
Copies from one tape device to another.
To list the contents of a tape media :
# tcopy /dev/rmt0
To copy all the data from one tape to another tape device :
# tcopy /dev/rmt0 /dev/rmt1

tctl Command :
tctl has been widely used to control tape drives.
To rewind a tape device :
# tctl -f /dev/rm0 rewind
To fast forward to the beginning of 2nd tape mark :
# tctl -f /dev/rmt0.1 fsf
To do retension :
# tctl -f /dev/rmt0 retension
Retension is nothing but moving the tape to beginning, end and again to the beginning. You have to do this, if you encounter multiple read errors during the restoration operation.
To display the status of atape device :
# tctl -f /dev/rmt0 status
To eject a tape device :
# tctl -f /dev/rmt0 offline
TSM Client :

Few Points:
a. It requires a connection to TSM server and also a registeration in the TSM server.
b. You can take the 'backup' and 'archive' based on the TSM server configuration.
c. Archive can be taken for 90 days, 180 days, ... based on the management class.
d. Backup can have different versions. Last backup is the new and current version and oldest backup is the old version for every file that is backed up.
e. Most of the small sized companies keep 3 versions of backup, that means can have 3 backup version for each file.

To Backup a file :
# dsm backup /tmp/file1

To archive a file :
# dsm archive /tmp/file1

To list all the backed up filesystems :
# dsm query filespace

To verify the backup of a file :
# dsmc query backup /tmp/file1

To verify the inactive version of a backup of a file :
# dsmc query backup -inactive /tmp/file1

To verify the archive of a file :
# dsmc query archive /tmp/file1


To backup VIO Server :

To take the OS backup in a CD ROM :
# backupios –cd /dev/cd1 -cdformat

To take the OS backup in a DVD-RAM :
# backupios –cd /dev/cd1 -udf

To take the OS backup in a tape drive :
# backupios –tape /dev/rmt0

To verify the backup available in a tape :
# backupios –tape /dev/rmt0 -verify

To generate vio backup (tar file) in a file :
# backupios –file /opt/file1

To generate vio backup (mksysb image) in a file :
# backupios –file /opt/file1 -mksysb

Note: To restore a backup image on vio server, you have to use "installios" command in HMC. installios is a menu driven command (tool) which will ask for machine name, vio server(lpar) name, profile name for restoring the mksysb image.

Please let me know for any comments or corrections.

Restore or Install AIX with a mksysb image using NIM

Restore or Install AIX with a mksysb image using NIM

mksysb resource is a file containing the image of the root volume group (created with the AIX mksysb command) of a machine. It is used to restore a machine when it crashed, or to install it from scratch (also known as “cloning” a client). In a environment, we usually installed AIX on new LPARs or VIO clients from a existing mksysb rather than going for fresh AIX CD. Installing OS from existing mksysb help us to keep the customization same for all LPAR .

Assumptions:

1. The NIM client (In our example NIM Client is webmanual01) is defined on the NIM master (In our example nim01)
2. The client’s hostname and IP address are listed in the /etc/hosts file.
3. The mksysb image has been transferred or restored from TSM and resides in the NIM master nim01:/export/nim/mksysb.The size and sum command output match that from the source mksysb image.

Create a mksysb resource:

Run smit nim_mkres –> You should see a “Resource type” listing disppalyed –> Scroll through the menu list and select mksysb.

Hit enter and you will see menu below:

Define a Resource

Type or select values in entry fields.
Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes.

[TOP]                                            [Entry Fields]
* Resource Name                       [webmanual01mksysb]
* Resource Type                         mksysb
* Server of Resource                   [master]
* Location of Resource                 [/export/nim/mksysb/webmanual01.mksysb.0] Comments []

Source for Replication                  []
-OR-
System Backup Image Creation Options:
CREATE system backup image?            no
NIM CLIENT to backup                     []
PREVIEW only?                           no
IGNORE space requirements?              no
[MORE...10]

Prepare Bos install on client:

Run smit nim_tasks –> Select Install and Update Software and press enter–> Then select the Install the Base Operating System on Standalone Clients –> Select the target definition ( ie the client which will be restored) –>Select the installation type–> select mksysb Select the mksysb resource webmanual01mksysb which you created in last step –> Select the SPOT for the restore / installation –

The entire bos_inst smit panel should now displayed

Install the Base Operating System on Standalone Clients

Type or select values in entry fields.
Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes.

[TOP]                                             [Entry Fields]
* Installation Target                    webmanul01
* Installation TYPE                       mksysb
* SPOT                                       spot61_TL06_SP3
LPP_SOURCE
MKSYSB                                   webmanual01mksysb

BOSINST_DATA to use during installation         []
IMAGE_DATA to use during installation           []
RESOLV_CONF to use for network configuration     []
Customization SCRIPT to run after installation        []
Customization FB Script to run at first reboot          []
ACCEPT new license agreements?                   []
Remain NIM client after install?                       [yes]
PRESERVE NIM definitions for resources on
this target?                                     [yes]
FORCE PUSH the installation?                           [no]
Initiate reboot and installation now?         [no]
-OR-
Set bootlist for installation at the next reboot?    [no]
Additional BUNDLES to install                     []
-OR-
Additional FILESETS to install                   []
(bundles will be ignored)

On NIM nim01 server ,check for correct client setup and start:

a. Check the subserver bootps is active

#lssrc -t bootps
Service Command Description Status
bootps /usr/sbin/bootpd bootpd /etc/bootptab active

b. Check the subserver tftp is active 

#lssrc -t tftp
Service Command Description Status
tftp /usr/sbin/tftpd tftpd -n active

c. Tail /etc/bootptab and should see the client network info listed per example below

webmanual01:bf=/tftpboot/testlpar:ip=10.190.120.90 :ht=ethernet:sa=10.190.120.120:sm=255.255.255.0:

d. Showmount -e —–> should list 2 filesystems being NFS exported to the client ( webmanual01)

/export/nim/mksysb/webmanul01.mksysb.0 webmanual01
/export/nim/scripts/webmanual01.script webmanual01

Boot client webmanual01 into SMS mode using HMC and select the option 2

PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Menu
1. Select Language
2. Setup Remote IPL (Initial Program Load)
3. Change SCSI Settings
4. Select Console
5. Select Boot Options

Select Ethernet Adapter as below screen . I will select 2 as I know it is configured

PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIC Adapters
Device Location Code Hardware
Address
1. Port 1 - IBM 2 PORT 10/100/100 U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-T1 001a6491a656
2. Port 2 - IBM 2 PORT 10/100/100 U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-T2 001a6491a657

Now select 1 for IP Parameters as follows

PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Network Parameters
Port 2 - IBM 2 PORT 10/100/1000 Base-TX PCI-X Adapter : U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-
1. IP Parameters
2. Adapter Configuration
3. Ping Test
4. Advanced Setup: BOOTP

Now fill up the parameters as below

PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IP Parameters
Port 2 - IBM 2 PORT 10/100/1000 Base-TX PCI-X Adapter : U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-
1. Client IP Address [10.190.120.17] 2. Server IP Address [10.190.120.24] 3. Gateway IP Address [10.120.112.1]
4. Subnet Mask [255.255.255.000]

Now go back previous menu and select Ping Test (option 3)
Make sure you get a ping success; else, the NIM will fail. If ping failure, check the address info entered; check if the adapter is correct and if the adapter is connected into the network. When ping test OK, proceed to next step:

Type menu item number and press Enter or select Navigation key:3
PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ping Test
Port 2 - IBM 2 PORT 10/100/1000 Base-TX PCI-X Adapter : U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1
Speed, Duplex: auto,auto
Client IP Address: 10.190.120.17
Server IP Address: 10.190.120.24
Gateway IP Address: 10.190.112.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.000
Protocol: Standard
Spanning Tree Enabled: 0
Connector Type:

1. Execute Ping Test
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navigation keys:
M = return to Main Menu
ESC key = return to previous screen X = eXit System Management Services
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type menu item number and press Enter or select Navigation key:1

.---------------------.
| Attempting Ping... |
`---------------------'

<strong>Lots of OutPut</strong>

.-----------------.
| Ping Success. |
`-----------------'

Go back to Main Menu and Select 5 for Select Boot Options

Main Menu
1. Select Language
2. Setup Remote IPL (Initial Program Load)
3. Change SCSI Settings
4. Select Console
5. Select Boot Options

Now Select 1 Select Install/Boot Device and Select 6 for Network. Then Select Adapter # from previous step as option 2

Multiboot
1. Select Install/Boot Device
2. Configure Boot Device Order
3. Multiboot Startup

PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select Device Type
1. Diskette
2. Tape
3. CD/DVD
4. IDE
5. Hard Drive
6. Network
7. List all Devices

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navigation keys:
M = return to Main Menu
ESC key = return to previous screen X = eXit System Management Services
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type menu item number and press Enter or select Navigation key:6

PowerPC Firmware

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select Device
Device Current Device
Number Position Name
1. - Ethernet
( loc=U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-T1 )
2. - Ethernet
( loc=U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-T2 )

Now select Normal Mode Boot and Select 1 to Exit System Management Services

PowerPC Firmware
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select Task

Ethernet
( loc=U787B.001.WEBDEV-P1-C1-T2 )

1. Information
2. Normal Mode Boot
3. Service Mode Boot

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navigation keys:
M = return to Main Menu
ESC key = return to previous screen X = eXit System Management Services
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type menu item number and press Enter or select Navigation key:2

PowerPC Firmware

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you sure you want to exit System Management Services?
1. Yes
2. No

At this point, you should see the BOOTP packets increase until finally the system is able to load the minimal kernel, and start the NIM install, Once loaded, you reach the AIX install menu as below , from there I have select to restore the OS on hdisk0.

Type menu item number and press Enter or select Navigation key:

Welcome to Base Operating System Installation and Maintenance

Type the number of your choice and press Enter. Choice is indicated by >>>.

>>> 1 Start Install Now with Default Settings

2 Change/Show Installation Settings and Install

3 Start Maintenance Mode for System Recovery

4 Configure Network Disks (iSCSI)

5 Select Storage Adapters

System Backup Installation and Settings

Either type 0 and press Enter to install with the current settings, or type the
number of the setting you want to change and press Enter.

Setting: Current Choice(s):

1 Disk(s) where you want to install ...... hdisk0
Use Maps............................. No
2 Shrink File Systems..................... No
3 Import User Volume Groups............... Yes
4 Recover Devices......................... Yes

>>> 0 Install with the settings listed above.

Now system will install here and after installation complete you need to do post customization steps as per your environment.--