HP-UX backup and restore

backupbackup-restorationhp-ux

I recently purchased an old ZX6000 workstation to use as a test machine for a software package we have developed.

Normally, when testing a software package, we use VMWare to create a clean install of the OS, and then create a snapshot of that clean install. After the test is complete, the VM can be reverted back to the "clean" snapshot, and the next testing cycle will start from scratch. Unfortunately, HP/UX does not work with VMWare (or any virtualization software as far as I know).

Essentially what I want to do is create the same type of setup for this HP-UX machine. Ideally, I would like to create a backup of the system as-is, and be able to restore it relatively easily. Alternatively, I suppose that formatting the machine and re-installing the OS would be an acceptable solution.

Some notes:

  • I do not have a tape drive, but if it is completely necessary, I could procure one.
  • I do not have access to another HP-UX system
  • I do not have the OS media (and even if I did, the machine has no optical drive installed)
  • The OS version is 11.31

Questions:

  • Is there a way to create a full system backup to either a USB thumb drive or to a non-HP network location?
  • Once I have this backup file, what is the process for restoring?

Best Answer

Learn about the Ignite backup process that comes with HP-UX. It creates bootable tape backups. It is very nice.

Here is an example of calling an Ignite backup:

/opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery -Iv -x inc_entire=vg00 -x inc_entire=vg01 -x inc_entire=vg02 -a /dev/rmt/0mn

It is saying, backup the entire vg00, vg01, and vg02 LVM volume groups to a tape drive /dev/rmt/0mn.

EDIT: While I've never really tested it, it sounds like the restore process it put in the tape and boot from that. You then get an option to restore the system. Ignite can also backup to another server instead of a tape drive, but I have not tried that either.

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