could anyone give me a general idea of how i may clone a 2 Gig disk running Solaris 7 on it to another disk of the same size?
currently, this system only has one disk in it though. i do have the ability to hook up another disk via SCSI.
i have been told i need to boot to "miniroot" to run "dd," but how can i do this? i have searched for help on miniroot but have found nothing that has helped so far. thanks in advance!
shane
If you use a clone server with identical hardware configuration,
you can use jumpstart to install a image created with
flarcreate.
Regards. Hugo.
In Solaris it's booting into single user mode - to do it and get a dump of the file systems, boot cdrom -s from the okay prompt.
Search the forums for booting single user for more info - that question has been answered many times.
where could i find documentation on "flarcreate".....i'm not familiar with this.
i so however have documentation on JumpStart that comes included with the Solaris 7 manuals.
basically what i am trying to do is to speed up the installation process spread over 5 machines in a computer lab. right now after going through a manual Solaris install, i also have to apply patches that take an hour or more. i would like to just be able to clone a complete machine on those 5 other machines and have the entire thing automated as much as possible. i thought that JumpStart only did a Solaris install, i did not know it was capable of cloning "images" to various machines. if this is true that JumpStart is capable of "installing" disk images, that would be perfect.
1- Creation of flar file
Use /var/tmp as the destination for the flar file (and exclude /var/tmp from the flar -x /var/tmp), select the / as the source (-R /).
Example:
flarcreate -n "Solaris 7 web server image" \
-a "your_mail" \
-R / \
-x /var/tmp \
/var/tmp/S7.web.archive
2- FTP the flar archive to the jumpstart server
3- create a basic.profile with installation type flash_install and with the partitioning of the original server
install_type flash_install
archive_location nfs 192.168.215.183:/jumpstart/FlashArchives/S7.web.archive
partitioning explicit
filesys rootdisk.s0 3072 /
filesys rootdisk.s1 1024 swap
filesys rootdisk.s3 9216 /opt
filesys rootdisk.s5 3072 /var
filesys rootdisk.s6 720 /var/spool
filesys rootdisk.s7 128 /export/home
4- Create a generic rules file:
any - - Profiles/basic.profile Finish/cleanup_temp_files.sh
5- File cleanup_temp_files.sh
#!/bin/sh
for i in /a/var/adm/messages* /a/var/adm/utmpx \
/a/var/adm/wtmpx /a/var/adm/lastlog
do
cp /dev/null ${i}
done
mkdir /a/var/tmp
chown root:sys /a/var/tmp
chmod 1777 /a/var/tmp
Note: Remember that the original server may not be "alive" when
you do the installation, and you need to remove the entry of the
original server from the arp table (arp -d host).
6- Execute the installation
IP=client_IP
MAC=client_MAC
replace the IP of jumpstart server (in my case 192.168.215.183)
replace platform if needed (in my case sun4u)
CLIENT=hostname_of_client
replace ar-liss18 with the server:/path to the sysidcfg file
./add_install_client -i $IP -e $MAC -c 192.168.215.183:/jumpstart
-p ar-liss18:/jumpstart/Sysidcfg/Solaris_7 $CLIENT sun4u
7- You will need to modify the /etc/hosts file, /etc/nodename,
/etc/hostname.hmeX (or whatever qfe, etc), /etc/resolv.conf, etc . You can modify the finalization script to do this.
Note: I've post in the past 16/04/2002 (boot sector in Solaris) an example with more detail with Solaris 8 jumpstart server, see as reference and use man pages for add_install_client.
example for configuring an inexistent resolv.conf:
Add to the finish scripts the following lines:
echo "domain your_domain" >> /a/etc/resolv.conf
echo "nameserver your_first_dns" >> /a/etc/resolv.conf
echo "nameserver your_second_DNS" >> /a/etc/resolv.conf
Good luck. Hugo
more information:
flarcreate
Use the flarcreate command to create a Web Start Flash archive from a master system. You can use this command when the master system is running in multiuser or single-user mode. You can also use flarcreate when the master system was booted from the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD or from an image of the Solaris 8 Software and Solaris 8 Languages CDs. The master system should be in as stable a state as possible when you create a Web Start Flash archive. The syntax of the command is:
flarcreate -n name [-R root] [-S] [-H] [-c] [-x exclude] [-t [-p posn][-b blocksize]] [-i date] [-m [-u section [-d dir]] [-f file_list] [-F] [-U key=val] master] [-a author] [-e descr:-E descr_file] [-T type] path/filename
In this command line, path is the directory in which you want the archive file to be saved and filename is the name of the archive file. If you do not specify a path, flarcreate saves the archive file in the current directory.
Table 21 - Command-Line Options for flarcreate Option
Description
Required Options
-n name
The value of this flag is the name of the archive. The name you specify is the value of the content_name keyword.
Option for Compression
-c
Compresses the archive by using compress(1).
Options for Directories and Sizes
-R root
Creates the archive from the file system tree that is rooted at root. If you do not specify this option, flarcreate creates an archive from a file system that is rooted at /.
-S
Does not include sizing information in the archive.
-x exclude
Excludes the directory exclude from the archive. If you specify a file system with -R root, the path to the directory exclude is assumed to be relative to root.
-H
Does not generate the hash identifier.
Options Used With User-Defined Sections
-u section
Includes a user-defined section. To include more than one user-defined section, section must be a space-separated list of section names.
-d dir
Retrieves the section file that is specified with -u from dir.
Options Used With Tape Archives
-t
Creates an archive on a tape device. The outfile argument is the name of the tape device.
-p posn
Use only with the -t option. Specifies the position on the tape device for flarcreate to store the archive. If you do not use this option, flarcreate places the archive in the current position of the tape.
-b blocksize
Specifies the block size flarcreate uses when creating the archive. If you do not specify a block size, flarcreate uses the default block size of 64k.
Options for Specifying Files
-f file_list
Adds the files in the file file_list to the archive.
The file_list file must contain one file per line. The path to each file must be relative to the alternate root directory or an absolute path.
If you use "-" as the value of file_list, flarcreate uses the output of stdin as the list of files. When you use the value "-", the archive size is not calculated.
-F
Uses only the files in file_list to create the archive.
Options for Archive Identification
-U key=val
Includes user-defined keyword(s) and values in the Archive Identification section.
-i date
Uses date as the value for the creation_date keyword. If you do not specify a date, flarcreate uses the current system time and date.
-m master
Uses master as the name of the master system on which you created the archive for the creation_master keyword. If you do not specify a master, flarcreate uses the system name that is reported by uname -n.
-e descr
Uses descr for the value of the content_description keyword. You cannot use this option when you use the -E option.
-E descr_file
Retrieves the value for the content_description keyword from the file descr_file. You cannot use this option when you use the -e option.
-a author
Uses author as the author name in the Archive Identification section for the content_author keyword. If you do not specify an author, flarcreate does not include the content_author keyword in the Archive Identification section.
-T type
Uses type as the value for the content_type keyword. If you do not specify a type, flarcreate does not include the content_type keyword.
flar
The flar command allows you to administer archives. With the flar command you can accomplish the following tasks.
Extracting Information From an Archive
Splitting Archives
Combining Archives
Extracting Information From an Archive
Use the flar command with the -i option to get information about archives you have already created. The syntax of the command is:
flar -i:info [-l] [-k keyword] [-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]] filename
Table 22 - Command-Line Options for flar -i Option
Description
-k keyword
Returns only the value of the keyword keyword.
-l
Lists all the files in the archive section.
Splitting Archives
The flar command with the -s option splits a Web Start Flash archive into sections. The flar command copies each section into a separate file in the current or specified directory. The files are named after the sections, for example, the archive cookie is saved in a file named cookie. You can specify that the flar command only save one section. The syntax of the command is:
flar -s:split[-d dir] [-u section] [-f archive] [-S section] [-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]] filename
Table 23 - Command-Line Options for flar -s Option
Description
-d dir
Retrieves the sections to copy from dir, rather than from the current directory.
-u section
If you do not use this option, flar copies all sections in the current directory. If you use this option, flar copies the Cookie, Identification, Archive, and section sections. You can specify a single section name or a space-separated list of section names.
-f archive
Extracts the Archive section into a directory called archive, rather than place it in a file with the name archive.
-S section
Only copies the section named section from the archive.
Combining Archives
The flar command with the -c option creates a Web Start Flash archive from individual sections. Each section is assumed to be in a separate file, the names of which are the section names. At a minimum, the Archive Cookie (cookie) , Archive Identification (identification), and Archive Files (archive) sections must be present. If archive is a directory, the flar command uses cpio to archive it before including it in the combined archive. If the Archive Identification section specifies to compress the archive, flar compresses the contents of the newly combined archive.
flar -c:combine [-d dir] [-u section] [-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]] filename
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note -
No validation is performed on any of the sections. In particular, no fields in the Archive Identification section are validated or updated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 24 - Command-Line Options for flar -c Option
Description
-d dir
Retrieves the sections to combine from dir, rather than from the current directory.
-u section
If you do not use this option, flar combines all sections in the current directory. If you use this option, flar combines only the Cookie, Identification, Archive, and section sections. You can specify a single section name or a space-separated list of section names.
thanks hugo, but where do i find flarcreate? i booted single user mode from my Solaris 7 installation CD, and attempted to run "flarcreate" from the command line but it didn't recognize it as a valid command.
do i need to run it from a specific directory???
try with miniroot or other recovery methods
see:
Regards. Hugo.
Of course, with unix there is always another way if you donot have veritas or disksuite.
Verify that both disk are partitioned alike by using
the format command then choose verify to see the
partitions.
Then if they are alike...
dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0 of=/dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s1
would copy the contents of slice0 on disk0 to slice0 on disk1.
Repeat this for each slice or for each slice that you want mirrored. Of course, the root slice is the most important. After you are done mirroring...try booting off of the mirrored disk...with
boot disk1
from the OK prompt after doing a init 0.
I have done this many times without issues, apart from alittle time to run dd...it works.
Happy mirroring!
Shane
a simple way to do this is via dd and copying the backup slice, usually slice 3.
boot the system in single user mode from a cd.
if disk one is c0t0d0 ( source)
and disk two is c0t1d0 ( target)
then the command would be ....
dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3 of=/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s3 bs=2000b
rob. 
try this one ... should work on any solaris ... (assumes source disk disk0 is c0t0d0 and disk1 is c0t1d0) ... you might also want to add code to modify the /etc/vfstab automatically so you can quickly boot-up with the 2nd disk --- i'll let you handle that part 
... test on useless system first though just to be safe ...
#! /bin/ksh
prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 | fmthard -s - /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2
partlist=$(prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 | awk '!/\*/ {print $1}')
for p in $partlist
do
if [ "$p" != "1" -a "$p" != "2" ]
then
newfs /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s$p < /dev/null
mount /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s$p /mnt
cd /mnt
ufsdump 0uf - /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s$p | ufsrestore rf -
cd /
umount /mnt
fi
done
mount /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0 /mnt
installboot /usr/platform/`uname -i`/lib/fs/ufs/bootblk /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s0
umount /mnt
exit 0