Hi,
We are planning to setup a new server at new location (A) having a server (which is at location B) as reference.
What (all) parameters do we need to keep in mind, when we plan to replicate a server?
My thanks in advance.
Aravindan
I had to clone systems a number of times recently.
If you are using Solaris, there is a facility called "Flash Archive" with the command "flar". I have replicated some fairly sophisticated servers including their applications.
- Take a Flash Archive of your reference system, sending the output archive to an NFS Server. (You can use the "/net/<ip-address>/..." nomenclature leveraging the Solaris auto-mounter so you don't have to bother with setting up mounts when creating or restoring the "flar'.)
"ServerB# flar create ..." - Use the boot CD/DVD on the new system, install from the NFS image of the Flash Archive file. (I have used other Solars Operating System boot CD's than the OS version of the "flar" that I was installing, in the past.)
- You will be prompted for basic Node, Network, and Time information during the installation process, but your cloned system will be functional!
Asking about everything you need to watch out for when you want to clone a system can get infinitely long, depending on which features you are using and which applications you have installed. Let me give you some basics:
- Node Name ( /etc/nodename )
- Host Table ( /etc/inet/hosts )
- Network Interfaces ( /etc/hostname.* )
- Default Router ( /etc/defaultrouter )
- Password File ( /etc/passwd )
- Shadow File ( /etc/shadow )
- Name Resolver ( /etc/nsswitch.conf )
- DNS Resolver ( /etc/resolv.conf )
- Network Masks ( /etc/inet/netmasks )
- Network Services ( /etc/inet/services )
I had struggled with cloning in the past with scripts to perform the work. Yes, it can be done with backups, restores, writing boot blocks, etc. The Flash Archive system is painless when replicating across similar architectures, with different hardware from the same manufacturer (in this case, Sun SPARC systems.)
Happy Cloning!
Thanks a ton David
The informations you gave are really helpful