I have posted several threads regarding my voyage of discovery with mksysb's and AIX, but seem to be at a loss now please help me.
I need to restore data from a mksysb to a DR server.
Problem is the DR server only has 2 disks not 4 and no mirrors.
I need to restore AIX 5.2 to the server, I have tried booting from the tape but it hangs before the install text appears,
I have tried to use the sms, the cd and the tape and got no where.
I have tried using wsm and now my latest is cloning the hdisk1 to hdisk0.
Then trying to restore the files from the tape to the new cloned partition, again this is not working, as I ma unaware of how to mount a lv hdisk0 mount point to my hdisk1 /. I was going to use the restore command and extract the directories over the top of each mount point one by one.
Any ideas would be great as I am really stuck, I am a AIX newbie so if you can spell it out it would be great.
I should mention the main error I get using mksysb is
I was trying to use the existing image.data file not the one on the disk, also I do not have access to a floppy so that way is out as well.
From what I remember, when you create a mksysb you have options to create a file (sorry I just cant remember what they are called...) which allows you to "customize" the use of the image when restoring this file if I remember is copied with the mksysb image ( but I remember times when we had to use floppys...) this allows you to change the size of disks, FS etc...
You must customize /image.data before to call mksysb (and not use the option i and m...) like VG_SOURCE_DISK_LIST...
And you have /bosinst.data file you can customize also to suit your target system, at the time I worked with AIX there was a stanza: target_disk_data
Correct. There is a tool called "mkszfile", which is called by mksysb automatically when invoked with the "-i" option. Issue this command manually to get a initial "image.data", then use your favourite text editor to change it - this is pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. You might read the manpage of mkszfile for further information.
After this call "mksysb", but WITHOUT the "-i" option, which would overwrite your prepared "/image.data" file.
Please try by changing the following parameter in image.data.....
In VG_data: section
VG_SOURCE_DISK_LIST= <- delete hdisk from list which you don't have
In LV_data: section
LV_SOURCE_DISK_LIST= <- here also put name only that hdisk which you have
COPIES= <- You need to set it 1 if you hv mirror at Primery site and don't at DR
PP = <- set the number of PP = Number of LP of the same segment.
I have still not managed to get anywhere with this.
I managed to get hold of a USB floppy drive.
Edited the image.data and bosinst.data to display only one disk, was not sure about the PP though how can I tell what I should use? So I left it as 32MB
Followed the IBM manual guide as follows:
I rebooted and when the tape booted it hung again at a white screen after the kernel was displayed, the floppy disk light came on then nothing happened for over 30mins, just the white screen with no text or output of any kind.
today I decided I would try another method as I am almost out of ideas.
I created a new rootvg called newvg
I created all 15 lv's in the group
mounted them all under /new
and tried to restore data from my backup tape.
I am having issues with the tape and will wait for a new one.
In the mean while what will I need to do to, rename the existing rootvg to oldvg and rename my new one to rootvg and make it bootable?
When a disk is added to a VG it is divided in parts the size of PPsize.
So you can tell by applying LVM restrictions: a single disk can hold max. 1019 PPs. If you have disks approximately 32GB in size you can go with a PP size of 32MB, arriving at ~1000 PPs per disk. If your disks are considerably larger than this you would only be able to use the first 32GB (1019x32MB to be exact) of the disk, losing the rest of it.
Since it is a good idea of leaving room for expansion everywhere consider using a PP size which divides the disk in 200-500 parts. For example: for 72GB disks use a PP size of 256MB giving ~300 PPs. This would allow for the use of disks up to 260GB without losing space.