HowtobackupandrestoretheVirtualI/OServer

This document describes different methods to backup and restore the Virtual I/O
Server.

BackinguptheVirtualI/OServer
Thereare4differentwaystobackup/restoretheVirtualI/OServerasillustratedinthe
followingtable.
Backup method
To tape
To DVD
To remote file system
To remote file system

Restore method
From bootable tape
From bootable DVD
From HMC using the NIMoL facility
and installios
From an AIX NIM server

BackinguptoatapeorDVDRAM
TobackuptheVirtualI/OServertoatapeoraDVDRAM,thefollowingstepsmust
beperformed
1. checkthestatusandthenameofthetape/DVDdrive
lsdev|greprmt(fortape)
lsdev|grepcd(forDVD)
2. ifitisAvailable,backuptheVirtualI/OServerwiththefollowingcommand
backupiostapermt#
backupioscdcd#
IftheVirtualI/OServerbackupimagedoesnotfitononeDVD,thenthebackupios
command provides instructions for disk replacement and removal until all the
volumeshavebeencreated.ThiscommandcreatesoneormorebootableDVDsor
tapesthatyoucanusetorestoretheVirtualI/OServer.
Backing up the Virtual

I/O Server to a remote file system by creating a

nim_resources.tarfile
Thenim_resources.tarfilecontainsallthenecessaryresourcestorestoretheVirtual
I/OServer,includingthemksysbimage,thebosinst.datafile,thenetworkbootimage,
andSPOTresource.
The NFS export should allow root access to the Virtual I/O Server, otherwise the
backup will fail with permission errors.
To backup the Virtual I/O Server to a filesystem, the following steps must be
performed
1. Createamountdirectorywherethebackupfilewillbewritten
mkdir/backup_dir

2. Mounttheexportedremotedirectoryonthedirectorycreatedinstep1.
mountserver:/exported_dir/backup_dir
3. BackuptheVirtualI/OServerwiththefollowingcommand
backupiosfile/backup_dir
Theabovecommandcreatesanim_resources.tarfilethatyoucanusetorestorethe
VirtualI/OServerfromtheHMC.
Note:The ability to run the installios command from the NIM server against the
nim_resources.tar file is enabled with APAR IY85192.
Thebackupioscommandemptiesthetarget_disk_datasectionofbosinst.dataandsets
RECOVER_DEVICES=Default. This allows the mksysb file generated by the
command to be cloned to another logical partition. If you plan to use the
nim_resources.tarimagetoinstalltoaspecificdisk,thenyouneedtorepopulatethe
target_disk_datasectionofbosinst.dataandreplacethisfileinthenim_resources.tar.
Allotherpartsofthenim_resources.tarimagemustremainunchanged.
Proceduretomodifythetarget_disk_datainthebosinst.data:
1. Extractfromthenim_resources.tarthebosinst.data
tarxvfnim_resources.tar./bosinst.data
2. Thefollowingisanexampleofthetarget_disk_datastanzaofthebosinst.data
generatedbybackupios.
target_disk_data:
LOCATION=
SIZE_MB=
HDISKNAME=
3. FillthevalueofHDISKNAMEwiththenameofthedisktowhichyouwant
torestoreto
4. Putbackthemodifiedbosinst.datainthenim_resources.tarimage
taruvfnim_resources.tar./bosinst.data
Ifyoudon'trememberonwhichdiskyourVirtualI/OServerwaspreviouslyinstalled,
youcanalsoviewtheoriginalbosinst.dataandlookatthetarget_disk_datastanza.
Usethefollowingsteps
1. extractfromthenim_resources.tarthebosinst.data
tarxvfnim_resources.tar./bosinst.data
2. extractthemksysbfromthenim_resources.tar
tarxvfnim_resources.tar./530000_mksysb
3. extracttheoriginalbosinst.data
restorexvf./530000_mksysb./var/adm/ras/bosinst.data
4. viewtheoriginaltarget_disk_data
grepptarget_disk_data./var/adm/ras/bosinst.data
Theabovecommanddisplayssomethinglikethefollowing:
target_disk_data:
PVID=00c5951e63449cd9
PHYSICAL_LOCATION=U7879.001.DQDXYTFP1T14L4L0
2

CONNECTION=scsi1//5,0
LOCATION=0A08005,0
SIZE_MB=140000
HDISKNAME=hdisk0
5. replace ONLY the target_disk_data stanza in the ./bosinst_data with the
originalone
6. addthemodifiedfiletothenim_resources.tar
taruvfnim_resources.tar./bosinst.data
BackinguptheVirtualI/OServer

toaremotefilesystembycreatingamksysb
image
YoucouldalsorestoretheVirtualI/OServerfromaNIMserver.Oneofthewaysto
restorefromaNIMserverisfromthemksysbimageoftheVirtualI/OServer.Ifyou
plantorestoretheVirtualI/OServerfromaNIMserverfromamksysbimage,verify
thattheNIMserverisatthelatestreleaseofAIX.
To backup the Virtual I/O Server to a filesystem the following steps must be
performed
1. Createamountdirectorywherethebackupfilewillbewritten
mkdir/backup_dir
2. Mounttheexportedremotedirectoryonthejustcreateddirectory
mountNIM_server:/exported_dir/backup_dir
3. BackuptheVirtualI/OServerwiththefollowingcommand
backupiosfile/backup_dir/filename.mksysbmksysb

RestoringtheVirtualI/OServer
Asthereare4differentwaystobackuptheVirtualI/OServer,sothereare4waysto
restoreit.
RestoringfromatapeorDVD
TorestoretheVirtualI/OServerfromtapeorDVD,followthesesteps:
1. specifytheVirtualI/OServerpartitiontobootfromthetapeorDVDbyusing
thebootlistcommandorbyalteringthebootlistinSMSmenu.
2. insertthetape/DVDintothedrive.
3. fromtheSMSmenu,selecttoinstallfromthetape/DVDdrive.
4. followtheinstallationstepsaccordingtothesystemprompts.
Restoring the Virtual

I/O Server from a remote file system using a

nim_resources.tarfile

Torestorethe VirtualI/OServer fromanim_resources.tarimageinafilesystem,

performthefollowingsteps:
1. runtheinstallioscommandwithoutanyflagfromtheHMCcommandline.
a) SelecttheManagedSystemwhereyouwanttorestoreyourVirtualI/O
Serverfromtheobjectsoftype"managedsystem"foundbyinstallios
command.
b) SelecttheVIOSPartitionwhereyouwanttorestoreyoursystemfrom
theobjectsoftype"virtualI/Oserverpartition"found
c) SelecttheProfilefromtheobjectsoftype"profile"found.
d) Enter the source of the installation images [/dev/cdrom]:
server:/exported_dir
e) Entertheclient'sintendedIPaddress:<IPaddressoftheVIOS>
f) Entertheclient'sintendedsubnetmask:<subnetoftheVIOS>
g) Entertheclient'sgateway:<defaultgatewayoftheVIOS>
h) Entertheclient'sspeed[100]:<networkspeed>
i) Entertheclient'sduplex[full]:<networkduplex>
j) Wouldyouliketoconfiguretheclient'snetworkaftertheinstallation
[yes]/no?
k) SelecttheEthernetAdapterusedfortheinstallationfromtheobjectsof
type"ethernetadapters"found.
2. when the restoration is finished, open a virtual terminal connection (for
example, using telnet) to the Virtual I/O Server that you restored. Some
additionaluserinputmightberequired.
Note:The ability to run the installios command from the NIM server against the
nim_resources.tar file is enabled with APAR IY85192.
RestoringtheVirtualI/OServer

fromaremotefilesystemusingamksysbimage
TorestoretheVirtualI/OServerfromamksysbimageinafilesystemusingNIM,
completethefollowingtasks:
1. definethemksysbfileasaNIMobject,byrunningthenimcommand.
nim o define t mksysb a server=master a
location=/export/ios_backup/filename.mksysbobjectname
objectname isthenamebywhichNIMregistersandrecognizesthemksysb
file.
2. defineaSPOTresourceforthemksysbfilebyrunningthenimcommand.
nimodefinetspotaserver=masteralocation=/export/ios_backup/
SPOTasource=objectnameSPOTname
SPOTnameisthenameoftheSPOTresourceforthemksysbfile.
3. installtheVirtualI/OServerfromthemksysbfileusingthesmitcommand.
smitnim_bosinst
Thefollowingentryfieldsmustbefilled:
Installationtype=>mksysb
Mksysb=>theobjectnamechoseninstep1
Spot=>theSPOTnamechoseninstep2
4. starttheVirtualI/OServerlogicalpartition.
4

a) OntheHMC,rightclickthepartitiontoopenthemenu.
b) ClickActivate.TheActivatePartitionmenuopenswithaselectionofpartition
profiles.Besurethecorrectprofileishighlighted.
c) Selectthe Openaterminalwindoworconsolesession checkboxtoopena
virtualterminal(vterm)window.
d) Click(Advanced...)toopentheadvancedoptionsmenu.
e) FortheBootmode,selectSMS.
f) ClickOKtoclosetheadvancedoptionsmenu.
g) ClickOK.Avtermwindowopensforthepartition.
h) Inthevtermwindow,selectSetupRemoteIPL(InitialProgramLoad).
i) Selectthenetworkadapterthatwillbeusedfortheinstallation.
j) SelectIPParameters.
k) Enter the client IP address, server IP address, and gateway IP address.
Optionally, you can enter the subnet mask. After you have entered these
values,pressEsctoreturntotheNetworkParametersmenu.
l) Select Ping Test to ensure that the network parameters are properly
configured.PressEsctwicetoreturntotheMainMenu.
m) FromtheMainMenu,selectBootOptions.
n) SelectInstall/BootDevice.
o) SelectNetwork.
p) Select the network adapter whose remote IPL settings you previously
configured.
q) WhenpromptedforNormalorServicemode,selectNormal.
r) Whenaskedifyouwanttoexit,selectYes.

Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) Consideration

If your Virtual I/O Server is managed by the IVM, prior to backup of your system,
you need to backupyourpartitionprofiledataforthemanagementpartitionandits
clientsasIVMisintegratedwithVirtualI/OServer,buttheLPARsprofileisnot
savedwiththebackupioscommand.
Therearetwowaystoperformthisbackup:
FromtheIVMWebInterface
1) From the Service Management menu, click Backup/Restore
2) Select the Partition Configuration Backup/Restore tab
3) Click Generate a backup
From the Virtual I/O Server CLI
1) Run the following command
bkprofdata -o backup
Both these ways generate a file named profile.bak with the information about the
LPARs configuration. While using the Web Interface, the default path for the file is
/home/padmin. But if you perform the backup from CLI, the default path will be
5

/var/adm/lpm. This path can be changed using the l flag. Only ONE file can be
present on the system, so each time the bkprofdata is issued or the Generate a
Backup button is pressed, the file is overwritten.
To restore the LPARs profile you can use either the GUI or the CLI
From the IVM Web Interface
1) From the Service Management menu, click Backup/Restore
2) Select the Partition Configuration Backup/Restore tab
3) Click Restore Partition Configuration
From the Virtual I/O Server CLI
1) Run the following command
rstprofdata l 1 f /home/padmin/profile.bak
It is not possible to restore a single partition profile. In order to restore LPARs profile,
none of the LPARs profile included in the profile.bak must be defined in the IVM.

Troubleshooting
Errorduringinformationgathering
InthecasewhereafteryouspecifytheSystemManagedandtheprofile,theHMCis
notabletofindanetworkadapter:
1. Checkiftheprofilehasaphysicalnetworkadapterassigned
2. Checkifthereisanhardwareconflictwithotherrunningpartition
3. CheckifthestatusoftheLPARisnotcorrect(mustbeNotActivated)
ErrorduringNIMOLinitialization
1. nimol_config ERROR: error from command /bin/mount < remoteNFS>
/mnt/nimol
mount:<remoteNFS>failed,reasongivenbyserver:Permissiondenied
probablytheremoteFSisnotcorrectlyexported.
2. nimol_configERROR:CannotfindtheresourceSPOTin/mnt/nimol.
probably you have specified a NFS which doesnt contain a valid
nim_resources.tarorthenim_resources.tarisavalidfilebutitdoesnthave
validpermissionforothers
Errorduringlpar_netboot
InthecasewheretheLPARfailstopoweron
1. Checkifthereisanhardwareconflictwithotherrunningpartition
2. CheckifthestatusoftheLPARisnotcorrect(mustbeNotActivated)
InthecaseofBootpfailure
IftheNIMOLinitializationwassuccessful
1. CheckifthereisavalidroutebetweentheHMCandtheLPAR
2. Checkthatyouhaveinsertvalidinformationduringtheinitialphase
ErrorduringBOSinstallphase
Probablythereisaproblemwiththediskusedfortheinstallation
1. OpenaVtermandcheckifthesystemisaskingtoselectadifferentdisk
2. powerofftheLPAR,modifytheprofiletouseanotherstorageunitandrestart
installation