Section 12.1. System Recovery with Ignite-UX


12.1. System Recovery with Ignite-UX

The original Ignite-UX recovery tool was called make_recovery. It provided system administrators with an efficient means for creating bootable backup tapes of the root volume group (containing the boot disk). For current releases of Ignite-UX, make_tape_recovery obsoletes make_recovery, offering tighter integration with the Ignite-UX architecture and enhanced capabilities. make_net_recovery is also available, due to the increased appearance of compact rack mountable servers, increases in network speeds, and the availability of inexpensive disks.

Starting with HP-UX 11.0, the copyutil tool previously provided on the Support Media and used to create HP-UX 9.x and 10.x system recovery images on tape should not be used beyond its current capacity as an offline diagnostics tool. Ignite-UX now provides enhanced support for the installation and recovery of customized HP-UX systems. copyutil is now part of the Offline Diagnostic Environment (ODE), an offline support tools platform for troubleshooting a system that is running without an OS or that cannot be tested with the online tools.


The make_net_recovery and make_tape_recovery commands must be run by the root user from the command line or accessed through a graphical or terminal user interface (GUI/TUI) on the Ignite-UX network server. You can use these commands on a running system, though it's inadvisable to do so during periods of heavy activity when files, directories, and system configurations may be changing a lot.

Ignite-UX supports both LVM (Logical Volume Manager) and VxVM (Veritas Volume Manager) as well as whole disk configurations.


12.1.1. Ignite-UX Overview

The installation and configuration of an Ignite-UX server is a prerequisite for network-based make_net_recovery and make_tape_recovery operations. Ignite-UX technology also allows system administrators to define new system configurations and then deploy them from a centralized server to clients that may be running different versions of HP-UX.

Before starting such operations, the Ignite-UX server must first be configured for network operations, and custom deployment configurations including the OS and applications must already be set up. Sometimes a build-and-fix approach is used with test systems to ensure that things work properly before deployment to a production environment. But once installation is under way, all systems can be installed in a consistent fashion within a few hours.

The design of the Ignite-UX toolsets is very modular and includes commands that can be run independently of one another. Many of the underlying Ignite-UX tools are Unix shell scriptsadvantageous in a Unix environment because it makes management tasks much easier for the system administrator. The primary tools that run beneath make_net_recovery and make_tape_recovery are save_config and make_sys_image. make_tape_recovery uses the make_medialif command (on HP9000 servers) or make_ipf_tape (on HP Integrity servers) to create the boot components that are eventually written to tape. Most of these commands have manpages with useful examples. Reading the manpages and examining the contents of the shell scripts are a good way to learn underlying functionality.

The make_sys_image command may be viewed as the workhorse of the system recovery tools; it actually creates the system recovery archive. The save_config command captures information about the personality of the system. Conceptually, make_sys_image can be viewed as providing the bits while the save_config command can be viewed as the tool providing the bucket.

You may also use Ignite-UX and HP-UX tools to construct customized bootable install media in CD and DVD format. For DVDs, ISO installation images are created with the mkisofs command and then written to DVD with the growisofs command. CD installation images start in either HFS or CDFS filesystem format, and are finally written to CD with the cdrecord command. The make_medialif command helps build bootable CD or DVD media for both HP9000 and HP Integrity systems.

The system recovery model for HP-UX evolved from the general Ignite-UX network deployment model. Instead of installing generic operating system images, the make_net_recovery and make_tape_recovery commands create images based on the contents of the filesystems. Some filesystems are deemed as essential by the Ignite-UX recovery tools to constitute a functional system. The default essentials file list is located at /opt/ignite/recovery/mnr_essentials. A user-defined version of the essentials file is used if it exists and is located at /var/opt/ignite/recovery/mnr_essentials. The mnr_essentials file is not a list of all the files that will be archived (that file, flist, is discussed later). It lists only the minimally required essential files.

Modifications to mnr_essentials should be avoided unless the additions are truly essential to a system recovery.


The recovery archive contains machine-specific configuration information such as hostname, IP address, networking information, and password files. Ignite-UX recovery mode enforces rules, ensuring that these files are restored as they exist in the system recovery archive. The configuration information may be modified before or during recovery operations. Recovery archives are written to a network-based Ignite-UX server by make_net_recovery or to local tape by make_tape_recovery.

It is very important to note that neither the make_tape_recovery or make_net_recovery commands take the place of standard tape backup practices. The system recovery tools provided by Ignite-UX for regaining a bootable OS should be part of a total backup and disaster recovery strategy.


12.1.2. Network Services and Remote Boot Protocols

Network configuration and troubleshooting is perhaps the most involved aspect of Ignite-UX system recovery operations. Comprehensive instructions on Ignite-UX configuration and usage may be found online at http://docs.hp.com. Search the keyword ignite, and locate the most recent Ignite-UX Administration Guide in PDF or HTML format. Remember that make_tape_recovery may be used as soon as Ignite-UX is installed on a system without having to configure an Ignite-UX server.

Ignite-UX services and protocols such as BOOTP, the Remote Maintenance Protocol (RMP), TFTP, and NFS have been available on Unix for many years. When a network recovery archive is created, the archive is written via the network in compressed format to the Ignite-UX server across NFS mount points. Optional archive transfer methods include remsh and ftp (refer to the instl_adm(4) manpage). Client hardware is uniquely recognized by the Ignite-UX server using the hardware (MAC) link-level addresses of network interfaces. During the recovery operations of a network archive, and depending upon system and network architecture, a remote client boot may utilize BOOTP, PXE (the Intel Preboot Execution Environment), RMP, TFTP, and NFS.

HP Integrity client systems running PXE communicate with network boot servers only through ports 67 and 68. HP9000 client systems using BOOTP or RMP may communicate with network boot servers either through ports 67 and 68 or through ports 1067 and 1068.

Ignite-UX supports RMP remote booting for older HP 700 series workstations (prior to the 712 series) that do not use BOOTP. rbootd is the remote boot server daemon that is part of the core HP-UX OS. Running on the Ignite-UX server, rbootd acts as a forwarding agent, formatting RMP boot requests into BOOTP boot requests and sending them to the server's bootpd or instl_bootd daemons. rbootd also formats information from BOOTP to RMP for communication back to the client.

BOOTP is the remote boot protocol. bootpd is the HP-UX boot protocol server daemon and is part of the core HP-UX OS. It is both a DHCP and BOOTP protocol server, using ports 67 and 68 for communication between servers and either HP9000 or HP Integrity clients. It is configured using the /etc/dhcptab file for DHCP configuration options (the dynamic allocation of IP addresses and hostnames), and the /etc/bootptab file for BOOTP configuration options (containing fixed entries for specific clients on the network).

Prior to HP-UX 11.23, bootpd was configured through the /etc/bootptab file for an Ignite-UX server to accept the remote boot requests of specific HP Integrity clients. Beginning with HP-UX 11.23, new options became available for bootpd through the / etc/dhcptab file so that the IP addresses in DHCP device pool groups are now available to anonymous HP Integrity clients booting on the network. This is advantageous if the Ignite-UX server is being otherwise used as both a DHCP and BOOTP network server.

instl_bootd is the boot protocol server daemon included with Ignite-UX that may be used in place of bootpd. It is configured through the /etc/opt/ignite/instl_bootptab file. instl_bootd initially used only HP-specific ports 1067 and 1068 for communication between HP9000 servers and clients. Beginning with Ignite-UX 4.2, the instl_bootd boot protocol server daemon became configurable for supporting ports 67 and 68 and therefore HP Integrity PXE clients in addition to HP9000 BOOTP clients.

You may enable one or both of bootpd and instl_bootd on your Ignite-UX network server, and instl_bootd may be configured in one of two modes. This means that there are four possible network boot server configurations for use with Ignite-UX. Each configuration is implemented through changes made to the /etc/inetd.conf file as shown later in this chapter.

The primary considerations for choosing a particular network boot server configuration are the versions of HP-UX and Ignite-UX being run, whether there are HP9000 and/or HP Integrity clients on the network, whether DHCP (through bootpd) is used with Ignite-UX, or whether DHCP is already being used on the server and should not be disabled.

You may enable bootpd for communication with either HP9000 or HP Integrity clients by uncommenting the following line in /etc/inetd.conf. There should be no other lines uncommented for either bootpd or instl_bootd.

bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/lbin/bootpd bootpd

To enable instl_bootd to communicate with HP9000 clients only, comment out the bootps line from the /etc/inetd.conf file, and add the following instl_bootd line:

#bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/lbin/bootpd bootpd instl_boots dgram udp wait root /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_bootd instl_bootd

To enable instl_bootd to communicate with either HP9000 or HP Integrity clients, add the following instl_bootd line to /etc/inetd.conf:

#bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/lbin/bootpd bootpd #instl_boots dgram udp wait root /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_bootd instl_bootd bootps dgram udp wait root /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_bootd instl_bootd

For this configuration, it must be verified that the bootpd and instl_bootd lines shown in the previous two examples are commented out.

To configure both boot protocol server daemons so that instl_bootd monitors for HP9000 clients, and bootpd monitors for HP9000 or HP Integrity clients, use the following two uncommented lines in /etc/inetd.conf.

bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/lbin/bootpd bootpd instl_boots dgram udp wait root /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_bootd instl_bootd #bootps dgram udp wait root /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_bootd instl_bootd

Before forcing inetd to read this new inetd.conf configuration, use the netstat command to verify that there are no running instances of bootpd on ports 67 or 68:

# netstat -an | grep -e "\.67" -e "\.68"

Issue this command to tell inetd to reread /etc/inetd.conf and apply any changes:

# inetd -c

12.1.3. Differences Between HP Integrity and HP9000 Clients

After initiating a remote boot from either a HP9000 or HP Integrity client across the network from an Ignite-UX server, an Ignite-UX TUI is displayed on the client console. You may select the needed archive with the description specified during archive creation using the TUI. After moving through the various TUI tabs, press the Go button to continue. You may then monitor the status of the client's archive recovery from the Ignite-UX server's interface.

Prior to the appearance of the Ignite-UX TUI on the client console, the remote boot functionality of HP Integrity systems was different from that of HP9000 systems. And those differences must be taken into account when configuring and implementing an Ignite-UX environment.

From the system administrator's perspective, there are two primary differences:

  • The initial choices in Ignite-UX server configuration to accommodate a mixed HP Integrity and HP9000 client environment. These were discussed in the previous section.

  • The console commands and screen presentations used on remotely booting HP Integrity and HP9000 clients.

When booting remotely, HP9000 systems (including the older 700 series workstations) may request services from specific Ignite-UX BOOTP servers using firmware-level Boot Console Handler (BCH) commands. We accessed the BCH prompt in the following command examples by interrupting the startup process of a HP9000 system. From there you can issue boot commands across the network to an Ignite-UX boot server.

The install keyword has special meaning in HP9000 BCH commands. It specifies that you want to use a BOOTP boot protocol server daemon. By excluding the install keyword, the following HP9000 BCH command searches the network for boot servers with install_bootd daemons:

BCH> search lan

Using the install keyword, the next command issues a remote boot request to the IP address of an Ignite-UX server that is known by the system administrator to hold the needed recovery archive and is enabled for network BOOTP service with bootpd.

BCH> boot lan.192.168.10.10 install

The next HP9000 BCH command example searches the network for available boot servers (including Ignite-UX boot helpers), using the install keyword to specify bootpd configured servers. A list of responding boot servers is presented, with each one referenced by a selectable Path Number.

BCH> search lan install Searching for potential boot device. This may take several minutes. To discontinue, press ESCAPE Path Number     Device Path                Device      Type P0              LAN.10.128.70.127.3.254    courage P1              LAN.10.128.70.128.3.254    ibanez BCH> boot P1

HP Integrity systems using PXE have no equivalent commands for specifying the Ignite-UX network boot server. Instead, Ignite-UX boot servers are configured in specific ways to handle the requests of both HP9000 clients, individual HP Integrity clients, and/or the requests of multiple and anonymous HP Integrity clients.

In this example, a system administrator used telnet to log in to the Management Processor (MP) of an HP Integrity rx7620 system that may or may not have a running or bootable OS. For a variety of both HP9000 and HP Integrity systems, this type of remote console access is a convenient way to avoid a long drive into a data center.

# telnet eiger-mp1 Trying... Connected to eiger-mp1.rose.hp.com. Escape character is '^]'. Local flow control off MP login: Admin MP password:                        Welcome to the                  rx7620 Management Processor (c) Copyright 1995-2004 Hewlett-Packard Co., All Rights Reserved.                        Version A.7.002     MP MAIN MENU:           CO: Consoles         VFP: Virtual Front Panel (partition status)          CM: Command Menu          CL: Console Logs          SL: Show Event Logs          HE: Help           X: Exit Connection [mp] MP>

Using this menu, you can move between multiple bootable hardware partitions (nPars) configured on a server, reset systems, or bring up the console of an already booted OS.

In this example, the bootable hardware partition (nPar) being targeted for OS recovery operations has been reset and the startup process interrupted to bring up the Intel Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) on the console. In some ways similar to BCH on HP9000, EFI provides firmware-level access to boot utilities on HP Integrity systems. It allows any EFI OS loader to be selected from any supported boot medium. Be sure to use the proper ANSII terminal emulation with the EFI menu interface or an alternative such as vt102.

After a system reset, and if the autoboot flag is not set, devices are mapped, and the EFI Boot Manager menu appears. If the autoboot flag is set, the console displays the message Press Any Key to interrupt Autoboot. From there, maneuver around the EFI Boot Manager menu using either the up and down arrow keys, or the ^ (caret) and V keys.

EFI Boot Manager ver 1.10 [14.61]  Please select a boot option     HP-UX Primary Boot: 0/0/0/3/0.6.0     HP-UX HA Alternate Boot: 0/0/0/3/0.5.0     Acpi(HWP0002,8C)/Pci(1|0)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(00306EF397E9)     EFI Shell [Built-in]     Boot Option Maintenance Menu     Use ^ and v to change option(s). Use Enter to select an option

In this example, there is an existing option for booting through a particular network interface, identified here through Link Level MAC address 00306EF397E9. To add, remove, or otherwise modify a boot option, select Boot Option Maintenance Menu, followed by an option such as "Add a Boot Option." Finally, save the changes to NVRAM.




Backup & Recovery
Backup & Recovery: Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems
ISBN: 0596102461
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 237

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net