Virtualization 7.1.4

UNIX for Beginners Q & A
1

Hi everyone,

I have a question about virtualizing UNIXware 7.1.4.
We have a physical Unix machine with a LSI megasas RAID Controller and it needs to be virtualized.
So we booted from a Linux Live CD and performed a disk dump of the partitions.

(/dev/sda and /dev/sdb)

These images were booted in VirtualBox.
During startup, the Unix logo appears, but then the errors "megasas: FW in FAULT state" and "PANIC: vfs_mountroot: cannot mount root" occur.
How can we fix this error? Several tests and searches using the boot prompt and the emergency disk have unfortunately not led to a solution.
Perhaps someone can give me a hint?

Is it possible to rebuild the kernel at current state in the virtual machine and disable the megasas controller maybe?

Thanks in Advance

2

Which disk controller did you choose in the VirtualBox settings?

3

hey jgt,
its an "lsi megasas" raid controller at the physical system.
At virtualbox I tried different controller settings like LSI Logal or LSI Logal SAS.
The error message never changed.

4

I searched “megasas: FW in FAULT state” and my interpretation of the results is that the device driver is not finding the card microcode.

Try doing a fresh install on the VM, and then doing a restore from the production system.

5

Ok I did a fresh install on virtual box and I can boot the system.
So what do you think its the best option now:
Attach the 2 images (sda.img and sdb.img) to the working vm and mount / copy the disks and files?
Or what do you exactly mean with a restore from the production system?
Thanks again for your help.

6

Make a backup copy of the new VM, then mount the two images. Do not copy the kernel or configuration files. I don’t know Unixware as well as Openserver, so I am guessing that you should not copy /stand, or /etc/conf.

7

hello,

An update on the issue:

The "megasas" message disappears when the kernel is rebuilt using the "new" base image with VirtualBox. I just switched the kernel file "unix" manually.

However, it still can't find the root directory/disk.

I've done some research, and it's possible to restore the necessary directories like "/" and /stand.

NOTE: OpenServer commands might be different!
mount the new '/' at /mnt; mount /stand at /mnt/stand

# chroot /mnt /bin/sh

# /usr/sbin/disksetup -B -b /etc/boot /dev/rdsk/c0b0t0d0s0

# exit

# cd /

# sync; sync; sync

# sh_umount /mnt/stand

# sh_umount /mnt
CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot

I can access the /dev/sda image from the old physical system.

What could be meant by mounting the "old" root directory?

Thanks for any further hints or advice.

8

hello,

an update on the case:

I got the system to boot.
I had to exchange the files from the /stand directory from the disk dump backup (/dev/sda).
I started the fresh install image and mounted the "/stand - /dev/dsk" from the disk-dump backup.
After that I could start unix with the disk-dump images and can change the vfstab-file and the network-configuration for my internal usage.