Re: HMC and VIOS backups

[Jim Oberholtzer <midrangel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

One other thought:

The backups on VIOS and HMC happen without any disruption to the
environment.
You can run these backups whenever you wish.

Some customers run them just before they leave the office for the day, that
way the new backups are included in the IBM i backup that runs that night.

--
Jim Oberholtzer
Chief Technical Architect
Agile Technology Architects


On Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 11:05 AM Rob Berendt <rob@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Thank you.  That's good.
> Might want to change hoe to home though...
>
> Rob Berendt
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Jim
> Oberholtzer
> Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2021 11:01 AM
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: HMC and VIOS backups
>
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>
> I don't recall a post recently about how to back up VIOS.  The HMC is easy,
> follow the prompts, but I highly suggest you use an NFS or other share to
> keep the saves somewhere you can get to them in the event they are needed.
> To back up VIOS, it's stupid easy once you get past all the documentation
> that has been written by experts in AIX/VIOS for experienced folks in
> AIX/VIOS.  (They completely ignore those of us that might not have a strong
> UNIX background)
>
> I always use the IBM i NFS server for this, putting the backups on IBM i
> then moving them to another server in the event they are needed.  This is
> also the technique I use when doing a VIOS upgrade from V2 to V3 (ie
> 2.2.6.61 to 3.1.2.10 using the VIOS command viosupgrade)
>
> So in easy steps:
> Create the NFS shares on IBM i (substitute directory names to suit your
> whims....)
> IBM i :
>
>    - MKDIR /ibmi/vios/backup
>    - CHGAUT OBJ('/ibmi')    USER(*PUBLIC) DTAAUT(*RWX) SUBTREE(*ALL)
>    - CHGNFSEXP OPTIONS('-I -O RW=') DIR('/ibmi/vios/backup')
>    - ENDNFSSVR *ALL  (may not be needed, and check to see if any other
>    shares are being used)
>    - STRNFSSVR *ALL  (only if the end was done, or if it's not started in
>    the first place)
>
> VIOS:
>
>    - Sign on as PADMIN
>    - oem_setup_env  (starts root authority)
>    - mkdir /home/padmin/backup
>    - exit (get out of root)
>    - mount "yourNFSaddress":/ibmi/vios/backup   /home/padmin/backup
>    - Backup VIOS Configurations( where # is the vios number and  211130 is
>    today's date, 31310 is the VRM of VIOS)
>       - viosbr -backup -file
>       /hoe/padmin/backup/vios#_211130_31310_config_bkup
>       - backupios -nomedialib -file
>       /home/padmin/backup/vios#_211130_31310_mksysb  -mksysb
>
> There you have it.  Simple.  You can if you set up SSH between the VIOS and
> IBM i write a simple script to run it from the job scheduler.  Same with
> the HMC, there are HMC commands to do the backups as well.
> Move the backups off to any place you can get to them in the event of
> complete disaster.  I move my customers' backups to Agile equipment as a
> secondary location.
>
> If you need help in getting the VIOS upgraded from V2 to V3, give me a
> shout and I'll send you some suggested techniques.  Unless you're fairly
> good at the VIOS command line I do suggest getting paid assistance to do
> the upgrade.  There are a couple of nasty landmines you can step on during
> that process.  Good news, is if you did the backup as suggested above, it's
> easy to put back.
>
> --
> Jim Oberholtzer
> Chief Technical Architect
> Agile Technology Architects
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