HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Solaris Live Upgrade AIX Multibos comparison by Dusan Baljevic

1. HP-UX Dynamic Root
Disk, Solaris Live
Upgrade and AIX
Multibos
Dusan Baljevic
Sydney, Australia
2009 Dusan Baljevic

2. Cloning in Major Unix and Linux
Releases
AIX
Alternate Root and Multibos (AIX 5.3 and above)
HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk (DRD)
Linux
Mondo Rescue, Clonezilla
Solaris Live Upgrade
August 7, 2009
2

3. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features
•
Dynamic Root Disk (DRD) provides the ability to clone an HP-UX
system image to an inactive disk.
•
Supported on HP PA-RISC and Itanium-based systems.
•
Supported on hard partitions (nPars), virtual partitions (vPars),
and Integrity Virtual Machines (Integrity VMs), running the
following operating systems with roots managed by the following
Volume Managers (except as specifically noted for rehosting):
o HP-UX 11i Version 2 (11.23) September 2004 or later
o HP-UX 11i Version 3 (11.31)
o LVM (all O/S releases supported by DRD)
o VxVM 4.1
o VxVM 5.0
August 7, 2009
3

4. HP-UX DRD Benefit: Minimizing
Planned Downtime
Without DRD: Software management may require extended downtime
With DRD: Install/remove software on the clone while applications continue running
Install patches
on the clone;
applications
remain running
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
boot disk boot mirror
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
clone
clone mirror
disk
Original vg00 (active) cloned vg00 (inactive/patched)
Activate the
clone to make
changes take
effect
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
boot disk boot mirror
Original vg00 (inactive)
August 7, 2009
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
lvol1
lvol2
lvol3
clone
clone mirror
disk
cloned vg00 (active/patched)
4

5. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features continued
•
Product : DynRootDisk
Version: A.3.3.1.221 (B.11.xx.A.3.4.x will be the current
version number as of September 2009)
•
The target disk must be a single physical disk, or SAN LUN.
•
The target disk must be large enough to hold all of the root
volume file systems. DRD allows the cloning of the root
volume group even if the master O/S is spread across
multiple disks (it is a one-way, many-to-one operation).
•
On Itanium servers, all partitions are created; EFI and HP-UX
partitions are copied. This release of DRD does not copy the
HPSP partition.
•
Copy of lvmtab on the cloned image is modified by the clone
operation to contain information that will reflect the desired
volume groups when the clone is booted.
August 7, 2009
5

6. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features continued
•
Only the contents of vg00 are copied.
•
Due to system calls DRD depends on, DRD expects legacy
Device Special Files (DSFs) to be present and the legacy
naming model to be enabled on HP-UX 11i v3 servers. HP
recommends only partial migration to persistent DSFs be
performed.
•
If the disk is currently in use by another volume group that
is visible on the system, the disk will not be used.
•
If the disk contains LVM, VxVM, or boot records but is not
in use, one must use the “-x overwrite” option to tell DRD to
overwrite the disk. Already-created clones will contain boot
records; the drd status command will show the disk that is
currently in use as an inactive system image.
August 7, 2009
6

7. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features continued
•
All DRD processes, including “drd clone” and “drd runcmd”,
can be safely interrupted issuing Control-C (SIGINT) from
the controlling terminal or by issuing kill –HUP <pid>
(SIGHUP). This action causes DRD to abort processing. Do
not interrupt DRD using the kill -9 <pid> command
(SIGKILL), which fails to abort safely and does not perform
cleanup. Refer to the “Known Issues” list on the DRD web
page (http://www.hp.com/go/DRD) for cleanup instructions
after drd runcmd is interrupted.
•
The Ignite server will only be aware of the clone if it is
mounted during a make_*_recovery operation.
August 7, 2009
7

8. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features continued
DRD does not provide a mechanism for resizing file systems
during a clone operation.
• After the clone is created, one can manually change file system
sizes on the inactive system without an immediate reboot:
1. The whitepaper, “Dynamic Root Disk: Quick Start & Best
Practices” describes resizing file systems other than /stand. *
2. The whitepaper “Dynamic Root Disk: Quick Start & Best
Practices” describes resizing the boot (/stand) file system on an
inactive system image.
• One can avoid multiple mounts and unmounts by using “drd
mount” to mount the inactive system image before the first
runcmd operation and “drd umount” to unmount the inactive
system image after the last runcmd operation. **
• Supports root volume groups with any name (prior to version
A.3.0, only vg00 was possible).
•
August 7, 2009
8

9. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Commands
•
The basic DRD commands are:
drd
drd
drd
drd
drd
drd
drd
drd
drd
August 7, 2009
clone
runcmd
activate
deactivate
mount
umount
status
rehost
unrehost
9

10. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Commands continued
•
“drd runcmd” can run specific Software Distributor (SD)
commands on the inactive system image only:
swinstall
swremove
swlist
swmodify
swverify
swjob
•
Three other commands can be executed by the drd runcmd
command:
view
used to view logs produced by commands that
were executed by drd runcmd.
kctune
used to modify kernel parameters.
update-ux performs v3 to v3 OE updates
August 7, 2009
10

11. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features –
Dry Run
•
A simple mechanism for determining if a chosen target disk
is sufficiently large is to run a preview:
# drd clone -p -v -t <blockDSF>
blockDSF is of the form:
* HP-UX 11i v2: /dev/dsk/cXtXdX
* HP-UX 11i v3: /dev/disk/diskX
•
The preview operation includes the disk space analysis
needed to see if the target disk is sufficiently large.
August 7, 2009
11

12. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk versus IgniteUX
•
DRD has several advantages over Ignite-UX net and tape
images:
* No tape drive is needed,
* No impact on network performance will occur,
* No security issues of transferring data across the network.
•
Mirror Disk/UX keeps an "always up-to-date" image of the
booted system. DRD provides a "point-in-time“ image. The
booted system and the clone may then diverge due to
changes to either one. Keeping the clone unchanged is the
Recovery scenario. DRD is not available for HP-UX 11.11,
which limits options on those systems.
August 7, 2009
12

13. HP-UX Dynamic Root Disk Features continued
Dynamic Root Disk (DRD) provides ability to clone an HPUX
system image to an inactive disk, and then:
* Perform system maintenance on the clone while the HPUX 11i system is online.
* Reboot during off-hours - significantly reducing system
downtime.
* Utilize the clone for system recovery, if needed.
* Rehost the clone on another system for testing or
provisioning purposes—on VMs or blades utilizing Virtual
Connect, HP-UX 11i v3 LVM only; VMs with HP-UX 11i v2
LVM only.
* Perform an OE Update on the clone from an older version
of HP-UX 11i v3 to HP-UX 11i v3 update 4 or later.
August 7, 2009
13

14. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk and
/etc/bootconf
•
Errors in /stand/bootconf can make the command drd
deactivate to fail. * (This is no longer true in the current
release)
The /stand/bootconf file on the booted system should
contain device files for just the booted disk and any of its
mirrors not the clone target.
The /stand/bootconf file that is created on the clone target
WILL contain the device file of the target itself (or, on an
IPF system, the device file of the HP-UX partition of the
target).
August 7, 2009
14

15. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk –
Rehosting
•
The initial implementation of drd rehost only supports
rehosting of an LVM-managed root volume group on an
Integrity virtual machine to another Integrity virtual
machine, or an LVM-managed root volume group on a
Blade with Virtual Connect I/O to another such Blade.
•
The rehost command does not enforce the restriction to
blades and VMs, but other use of this command is not
officially supported.
•
As of version A.3.3, rehosting support for HP-UX 11i v2 has
been added.
August 7, 2009
15

16. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk –
Rehosting on HP-UX 11.31
•
After the clone and system information file have been created, the
“drd rehost” command can be used to check the syntax of the
system information file and copy it to /EFI/HPUX/SYSINFO.TXT
in preparation for processing by auto_parms(1M) during the boot
of the image. The following example uses the
/var/opt/drd/tmp/newhost.txt system information file:
SYSINFO_HOSTNAME=myhost
SYSINFO_MAC_ADDRESS[0]=0x0017A451E718
SYSINFO_DHCP_ENABLE[0]=0
SYSINFO_IP_ADDRESS[0]=192.2.3.4
SYSINFO_SUBNET_MASK[0]=255.255.255.0
SYSINFO_ROUTE_GATEWAY[0]=192.2.3.75
SYSINFO_ROUTE_DESTINATION[0]=default
SYSINFO_ROUTE_COUNT[0]=1
August 7, 2009
16

17. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk –
Rehosting on HP-UX 11.31 - continued
•
To check the syntax of the system information file, without
copying it to the /EFI/HPUX/SYSINFO.TXT file, use the
preview option of the drd rehost command:
# drd rehost –p –f
/var/opt/drd/tmp/newhost.txt
•
To copy it to the /EFI/HPUX/SYSINFO.TXT file, use the
following command:
# drd rehost –f /var/opt/drd/tmp/newhost.txt
August 7, 2009
17

18. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk Examples
# drd clone -t /dev/disk/disk8 -x
overwrite=true
======= 07/02/08 13:09:41 EST BEGIN Clone System Image
(user=root) (jobid=syd59)
* Reading Current System Information
* Selecting System Image To Clone
* Selecting Target Disk
* Selecting Volume Manager For New System Image
* Analyzing For System Image Cloning
* Creating New File Systems
* Copying File Systems To New System Image
* Making New System Image Bootable
* Unmounting New System Image Clone
•
======= 07/02/08 13:42:57 EST END Clone System Image
succeeded. (user=root) (jobid=syd59)
August 7, 2009
18

19. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk Examples continued
# drd status
======= 07/02/08 13:45:42 EST BEGIN Displaying DRD Clone Image
Information (user=root) (jobid=syd59)
* Clone Disk:
/dev/disk/disk8
* Clone EFI Partition:
Boot loader and AUTO file present
* Clone Creation Date:
07/02/08 13:09:46 EST
* Clone Mirror Disk:
None
* Mirror EFI Partition:
None
* Original Disk:
/dev/disk/disk7
* Original EFI Partition: Boot loader and AUTO file present
* Booted Disk:
Original Disk (/dev/disk/disk7)
* Activated Disk:
Original Disk (/dev/disk/disk7)
======= 07/02/08 13:45:51 EST END Displaying DRD Clone Image
Information succeeded. (user=root) (jobid=syd59)
August 7, 2009
19

20. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk Examples continued
# drd activate
======= 07/02/08 13:48:03 EST BEGIN Activate Inactive System Image (user=root)
(jobid=syd59)
* Checking for Valid Inactive System Image
* Reading Current System Information
* Locating Inactive System Image
* Determining Bootpath Status
* Primary bootpath : 0/1/1/0.0x1.0x0 before activate.
* Primary bootpath : 0/1/1/1.0x2.0x0 after activate.
* Alternate bootpath : 0/1/1/1.0x2.0x0 before activate.
* Alternate bootpath : 0/1/1/1.0x2.0x0 after activate.
* HA Alternate bootpath : 0/1/1/0.0x1.0x0 before activate.
* HA Alternate bootpath : 0/1/1/0.0x1.0x0 after activate.
* Activating Inactive System Image
======= 07/02/08 13:48:15 EST END Activate Inactive System Image succeeded.
(user=root) (jobid=syd59)
August 7, 2009
20

21. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk Examples continued
# drd_register_mirror /dev/dsk/c1t2d0
*
# drd_unregister_mirror /dev/dsk/c2t3d0 **
# drd runcmd view /var/adm/sw/swagent.log
# diff /var/spool/crontab/crontab.root
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/var/spool/cron
tab/crontab.root
August 7, 2009
21

22. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk Examples continued
# /opt/drd/bin/drd mount
# /usr/bin/bdf
file system
kbytes
/dev/vg00/lvol3
1048576
/dev/vg00/lvol1
505392
/dev/vg00/lvol8
used
avail
%used
320456
722432
43560
411288
10%
/stand
3395584
797064
2580088
24%
/var
/dev/vg00/lvol7
4636672
1990752
2625264
43%
/usr
/dev/vg00/lvol4
204800
8656
194680
4%
/tmp
/dev/vg00/lvol6
3067904
1961048
1098264
64%
/opt
/dev/vg00/lvol5
262144
9320
250912
4%
1048576
320504
722392
31%
/dev/drd00/lvol1
505392
43560
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/stand
411288
10%
/dev/drd00/lvol4
8592
194680
4%
/dev/drd00/lvol5
262144
9320
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/home
250912
4%
/dev/drd00/lvol3
204800
31%
Mounted on
/
/home
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/tmp
/dev/drd00/lvol6
3067904
1962912
1096416
64%
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/opt
/dev/drd00/lvol7
4636672
1991336
2624680
43%
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/usr
/dev/drd00/lvol8
3395584
788256
23%
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/var
August 7, 2009
2586968
22

23. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk – Serial
Patch Installation Example
# swcopy -s /tmp/PHCO_38159.depot * @
/var/opt/mx/depot11/PHCO_38159.dir
# drd runcmd swinstall -s
/var/opt/mx/depot11/PHCO_38159.dir PHCO_38159
August 7, 2009
23

24. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk update-ux
Issue *
When executing “drd runcmd update-ux” the inactive
on
DRD
system image, the command errors:
ERROR: The expected depot does not exist at
"<depot_name>"
In order to use a directory depot on the active system image,
you will need to create a loopback mount to access the depot.
August 7, 2009
24

25. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk update-ux
Issue - continued
Issue Resolution
The following steps should be followed in order to update the clone from a
directory depot that resides on the active system image. The steps must
executed as root, in this order:
1) Mount the clone using “drd mount”
2) Make the directory on the clone and loopback mount the depot. The
directory on the clone and the source depot must have the same name, in
this case “/var/depots/0909_DCOE”, however the name can be whatever
you chose:
# mkdir -p
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/var/depots/0909_DCOE
# mount -F lofs /var/depots/0909_DCOE
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/var/depots/0909_DCOE
# drd runcmd update-ux -s /var/depots/0909_DCOE
August 7, 2009
25

26. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk update-ux
Issue - continued
3) Once your update has completed, unmount the loopback mount and
then unmount the clone
# umount –F lofs /var/depots/0909_DCOE
/var/opt/drd/mnts/sysimage_001/var/depots/0909_DCOE
# drd umount
Updates from multiple-DVD Media
Updates directly from media are not supported for DRD updates. In order
to update from media, you must copy the contents to a directory depot
either on a remote server (easiest method) or to a directory on the
active system. If it must be on the active system image you must first
copy the media’s contents to a directory depot and then create the
clone. If you already have a clone, you can copy the depot and then
loopback mount that depot to the clone (see instructions above).
August 7, 2009
26

27. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk update-ux
Issue - continued
To copy the software from the DVD’s, make a directory on a remote
system or the active system image; mount the DVD media and swcopy its
contents into the newly created directory. Unmount the first disk and
insert the second DVD to copy its contents into the directory.
# mkdir –p /var/software_depot/DCOE-DVD
# mount /dev/disk/diskX /cdrom
# swcopy -s /cdrom –x enforce_dependencies=false *
@/var/software_depot/DCOE-DVD
# umount /cdrom
# mount /dev/disk/diskX /cdrom // this is DVD 2
# swcopy -s /cdrom –x enforce_dependencies=false *
@/var/software_depot/DCOE-DVD
August 7, 2009
27

28. HP-UX – Dynamic Root Disk update-ux
Issue - continued
If the depot resides on a remote server (a system other than the one to be
updated),
proceed with the “drd runcmd update-ux” command and specify the location as the
argument of the “-s” parameter:
# drd runcmd update-ux -s <server_name>:/var/software_depot/DCOE-DVD
<OE>
If the depot resides in the root group of the system to be cloned, and the clone has
not yet been created, create the clone and issue the “drd runcmd update-ux “
command, specifying the location of the depot as it appears on the booted
system:
# drd runcmd update-ux –s /var/software_depot/DCOE-DVD <OE>
If the depot resides on the system to be updated, in a location other than the root
group, 2009 if the clone has already been created, use the loopback mount
August 7, or
28

29. Solaris Live Upgrade Features
•
Live upgrade is a feature of Solaris (since version 2.6)
that allows the operating system to be cloned to an offline
partition (or partitions), which can then be upgraded with
new O/S patches, software, or even a new version of the
operating system.
The system administrator can then reboot the system on
the newly upgraded partition. In case of problems, it is
easy to revert back to the original partition/version via a
single live upgrade command followed by a reboot.
•
Live upgrade is especially useful because Sun does not
officially support installing O/S patches to active partitions
- patching while in single user mode or to a non-active live
upgrade partition.
August 7, 2009
29

30. Solaris Live Upgrade Features continued
•
Live Upgrade requires multiple partitions on the boot drive – one
•
A slice where the root (/) file system is to be copied must be
selected. Use the following guidelines when you select a slice for
the root (/) file system. The slice must comply with the following:
set of partitions is "active" and the other is "inactive“) or on
separate drives. These sets of partitions are "boot environments“
(BEs).
* Must be a slice from which the system can boot.
* Must meet the recommended minimum size.
* Cannot be a Veritas VxVM volume or a Solstice DiskSuite
metadevice.
* Can be on different physical disks or the same disk as the active
root file system.
* For sun4c and sun4m, the root file system must be less than 2
GB.
August 7, 2009
30

31. Solaris Live Upgrade Features continued
•
The swap slice cannot be in use by any boot environment
except the current boot environment or if the “-s” option is
used, the source boot environment. The boot environment
creation fails if the swap slice is being used by any other boot
environment whether the slice contains a swap, UFS, or any
other file system.
•
Typically, each boot environment requires a minimum of 350
to 800 MB of disk space, depending on the system software
configuration.
•
When viewing the character interface remotely, such as over
a tip line, set the TERM environment variable to VT220. Also,
when using the Common Desktop Environment, set the value
of the TERM variable to dtterm, rather than xterm.
August 7, 2009
31

32. Solaris Live Upgrade Features continued
•
lucreate command allows you to include or exclude specific files
and directories when creating a new BE.
•
Include files and directories with:
-y include option
-Y include_list_file option
items with a leading + in the file used with the -z filter_list
option
•
Exclude files and directories with:
-x exclude option
-f exclude_list_file option
items with a leading – in the file used with the -z filter_list
option
August 7, 2009
32

33. Solaris Live Upgrade and Special Files
•
Files can change in the original boot environment (BE)
after the BE is created but NOT YET activated.
•
On the first boot of a BE, data is copied from the source
BE.
•
The list to copy is in /etc/lu/synclist. Example:
/etc/default/passwd OVERWRITE
/etc/dfs OVERWRITE
/var/log/syslog APPEND
/var/adm/messages APPEND
August 7, 2009
33

34. Solaris Live Upgrade Examples
•
The upgrade process of the new BE can be done in several ways (local,
net, CD-ROM, flash). All four of these are done the same way except each
one you specify a different path to the image through the -s flag.
Examples:
Local file:
# luupgrade -u -n solenv2 -s
/Solaris_10/path/to/os_image
Net:
# luupgrade -u -n solenv2 -s
/net/Solaris_10/path/to/os_image
CD-ROM:
# luupgrade -u -n solenv2 -s
/cdrom/Solaris_10/path/to/os_image
Flash:
# luupgrade -u -n solenv2 -s /path/to/flash.flar
August 7, 2009
34

35. Solaris Live Upgrade Examples
# lucompare BE2
Determining the configuration of BE2 ...
< BE1
> BE2
Processing Global Zone
Comparing / ...
Links differ
01 < /:root:root:33:16877:DIR:
02 > /:root:root:30:16877:DIR:
Sizes differ
01 < /platform/sun4u/boot_archive:root:root:1:33188:REGFIL:76550144:
02 > /platform/sun4u/boot_archive:root:root:1:33188:REGFIL:76922880:
...
August 7, 2009
35

36. Solaris Live Upgrade Examples
# lucreate -c "solenv1" -m /:/dev/dsk/c0d0s3:ufs -n
"solenv2“
*
# lucreate -m /:/dev/md/dsk/d20:ufs,mirror
-m /:/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0:detach,attach,preserve
-n nextBE
**
# lucreate -m /:/dev/md/dsk/d10:ufs,mirror
-m /:/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0,d1:attach
-m /:/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0,d2:attach -n myserv2
August 7, 2009
***
36

37. Solaris Live Upgrade Examples
# lucurr
BE1
# ludesc -n BE1
"Dusan BootEnvironment“
# ludesc -n BE1
Dusan BootEnvironment
August 7, 2009
37

38. Solaris Live Upgrade Examples
# lufslist BE1
boot environment name: BE1
This boot environment is currently active
This boot environment will be active on next system
boot.
Filesystem
Options
fstype
device size Mounted on
Mount
----------------------- -------- ------------ -------------------------------/dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/swap swap
rpool/ROOT/s10s_u6wos_07b zfs
rpool/ROOT/s10s_u6wos_07b/var zfs
-
1073741824 -
-
5119809024 /
-
86450688 /var
rpool
zfs
rpool/export
zfs
95149568 /export
-
hppool
zfs
? /hppool
-
rpool/export/home
zfs
August 7, 2009
7493079552 /rpool
95129088 /export/home
-
38

39. Clone Commands Compared
Task
HP-UX DRD
Solaris Live
Upgrade
Create BE
drd clone
lucreate
Activate BE
drd activate
luactivate
Check status
drd status
lustatus
Compare BEs
Indirect method:
diff
cmp
lucompare
Cancel
scheduled
copy/
create
Indirect method –
remove from crontab
lucancel
August 7, 2009
39

40. Clone Commands Compared
Task
HP-UX DRD
Solaris Live
Upgrade
Display BE/
System drd status
Image
lucurr
Delete BE
ludelete
N/ *
A
Add or resync data N/ * *
A
in BE
lumake
Set or display BE
description
N/
A
ludesc
Mount BE file
systems
drd mount
lumount
Unmount BE file
system
drd umount
luumount
August 7, 2009
40

41. Clone Commands Compared
Task
HP-UX DRD
Solaris Live
Upgrade
R
ename BE
N/
A
lurename
Install software
and patches into
BE BE
List
drd runcmd swinstall
drd runcmd update-ux
luupgrade
N/
A
lufslist
TUI
N/
A
lu
configuration
August 7, 2009
41

42. Clone Commands Compared
Task
HP-UX DRD
Solaris Live
Upgrade
R
ehosting
drd rehost
N/
A
Modify kernel
tunables
Drd runcmd kctune
N/
A
August 7, 2009
42

43. AIX Alt_disk_install
•
•
•
The AIX alt_disk_install command allows a root sysadmin
to create an alternate rootvg on another set of disk drives.
The alternate rootvg can be configured by restoring a
mksysb image to it while AIX continues to run from the
primary rootvg, or the primary rootvg can be "cloned" to
the alternate rootvg and updates and fixes can then be
installed on the alternate rootvg while AIX continues to
run.
When the system admin is ready, AIX can be rebooted
from the alternate rootvg disks. Changes can be backed
out by rebooting AIX from the original primary rootvg.
In AIX v.5.3, alt_disk_install has been replaced by
alt_disk_copy
alt_disk_mksysb
alt_rootvg_op
The alt_disk_install will continue to ship as a
wrapper to the new commands, but it will not support any
new functions, flags, or features.

44. AIX Alt_disk_install Examples
•
Copy the current rootvg to an alternate disk. The following
example shows how to clone the rootvg to hdisk1:
# alt_disk_copy -d hdisk1
•
Copy rootvg (hdisk1) to hdisk0, and then apply the
updates to hdisk0:
# alt_disk_copy -d hdisk0 -b update_all -l

45. AIX Alt_disk_install Examples
•
Copy the current rootvg to two alternate disks:
# alt_disk_copy -d hdisk2 hdisk3 -O
•
…assuming that hdisk2 and hdisk3 are the targets on which the copy
should be placed.
Note that the -O flag is required when "cloning" (when planning to boot
the rootvg copy on another LPAR or server), but can be detrimental when
making a copy which will be booted on the same LPAR or server.
Before taking the target disks away from the existing AIX image, run
command:
# alt_rootvg_op -X
•
•
•
If a rootvg copy has been made for use on the same LPAR/server as the
original rootvg (without the -O flag on alt_disk_copy), System
Management Services can be used to switch between the primary and
backup AIX rootvgs by shutting AIX down, booting to SMS mode, and
selecting the disks from which to boot.

46. AIX Multibos Features
•
multibos command (AIX 5.3 ML3) provides dual AIX
boot from the same rootvg. One can run production on
one boot image while installing, customizing or updating
the other.
•
This is similar to AIX alt-disk-install, with one
major difference: in alt-disk-install the boot images
must reside on separate disks and separate rootvg's. The
multibos capability allows both O/S images to reside
on the same disk/rootvg.
August 7, 2009
46

47. MultiBOS (rootvg)
Reboot

48. AIX Multibos Features - continued
•
The multibos command allows the root level administrator
to create multiple instances of AIX on the same rootvg.
•
The multibos setup operation creates a standby Base
Operating System (BOS) that boots from a distinct boot
logical volume (BLV). This creates two bootable sets of
BOS on a given rootvg. The administrator can boot from
either instance of BOS by specifying the respective BLV
as an argument to the bootlist command or using system
firmware boot operations.
•
Two bootable instances of BOS can be simultaneously
maintained. The instance of BOS associated with the
booted BLV is referred to as the a c tive BOS. The instance
of BOS associated with the BLV that has not been booted
is referred to as the s ta nd by BOS. Currently, only two
instances of BOS are supported per rootvg.
August 7, 2009
48

49. AIX Multibos Features - continued
•
The multibos command allows the administrator to
access, install maintenance and technology levels for,
update, and customize the standby BOS either during
setup or in subsequent customization operations.
•
Installing maintenance and technology updates to the
standby BOS does not change system files on the active
BOS. This allows for concurrent update of the standby
BOS, while the active BOS remains in production.
August 7, 2009
49

50. AIX Multibos Features - continued
•
The multibos command has the ability to copy or share
logical volumes and file systems. By default, the BOS file
systems (currently /, /usr, /var, and /opt,) and the boot
logical volume are copied. The administrator can make
copies of additional BOS objects (using the -L flag).
•
All other file systems and logical volumes are shared
between instances of BOS. Separate log device logical
volumes (for example, those that are not contained within
the file system) are not supported for copy and will be
shared.
•
The current rootvg must have enough space for each
BOS object copy. BOS object copies are placed on the
same disk or disks as the original.
August 7, 2009
50

51. AIX Multibos Features - continued
•
The total number of copied logical volumes cannot exceed
128.
•
The total number of copied logical volumes and shared
logical volumes are subject to volume group limits.
•
/etc/multibos contains multibos data and logs.
•
The only supported method of backup and recovery with
multibos is mksysb via CD, NIM or tape. If the standby
BOS was mounted during the creation of the mksysb, it is
restored and synchronized on the first boot from the
restored mksysb. However, if the standby BOS wasn’t
mounted during the creation of the mksysb backup, the
synchronization on reboot will remove the unusable
standby BOS.
August 7, 2009
51

52. AIX Multibos Examples
•
Standby BOS setup operation preview:
# multibos -Xsp
•
Set up standby BOS:
# multibos -Xs
•
Set up standby BOS with optional image.data file
/tmp/image.dat and exclude list /tmp/exclude.lst:
# multibos -Xs -i /tmp/image.dat -e
/tmp/exclude.lst
August 7, 2009
52

53. AIX Multibos Examples - continued
•
To set up standby BOS and install additional software
listed as bundle file /tmp/bundle and located in the images
source /images:
# multibos -Xs -b /tmp/bundle -l /images
•
To execute a customization operation on standby BOS
with the update_all install option:
# multibos -Xac -l /images
August 7, 2009
53

54. AIX Multibos Examples - continued
•
To mount all standby BOS file systems, type:
# multibos –Xm
•
To perform a standby BOS remove operation preview:
# multibos –RXp
•
To remove standby BOS:
# multibos -RX
August 7, 2009
54

55. AIX Multibos Examples - continued
•
Apply TL6 to the standby BOS. The TL6 lppsource is
mounted from our Network Installation Manager (NIM)
master. Perform a preview operation and then execute
the actual update to the standby instance. Check the log
file for any issues:
•
# mount
nimsrv:/export/lpp_source/lpp_sourceaix5306
03 /mnt
# multibos -Xacp -l /mnt
# multibos -Xac -l /mnt
August 7, 2009
55

56. AIX Multibos Examples - continued
•
Back out of the update and return to the previous TL. Set
the bootlist and verify that the BLV is set to the previous
BOS instance (hd5):
•
# bootlist -m normal hdisk0 blv=hd5
•
hdisk0 blv=bos_hd5
# bootlist -m normal -o
hdisk0 blv=hd5
hdisk0 blv=bos_hd5
Now reboot the system and confirm that it’s running at the
previous TL.
August 7, 2009
56

57. AIX Multibos Examples – continued *
# multibos -S
MULTIBOS> df
Filesystem 512-blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on
/dev/hd4 1966080 1198800 40% 3364 1% /
/dev/hd2 3670016 299344 92% 42697 10% /usr
...
/dev/hd3 262144 250776 5% 64 1% /tmp
/dev/bos_hd4 1966080 1198800 40% 3364 1% /bos_inst
/dev/bos_hd2 3670016 299344 92% 42697 10% /bos_inst/usr
/dev/bos_hd9var 655360 594456 10% 674 1% /bos_inst/var
/dev/bos_hd10opt 393216 123592 69% 2545 6% /bos_inst/opt
# to exit from multibos shell
MULTIBOS> exit
August 7, 2009
57

58. AIX Multibos Examples – continued *
# cat /root/hosts.txt
•
host1
•
host2
•
host3
# export WCOLL=/root/hosts.txt
# dsh multibos –R
# dsh rm /etc/multibos/logs/op.alog
# dsh multibos –sXp
# dsh alog -of /etc/multibos/logs/op.alog
# dsh multibos –sX
# dsh mount nimmast:/export/lpp_source/lpp_sourceaix530603 /mnt
# dsh multibos -Xacp -l /mnt
# dsh multibos -Xac -l /mnt
# dsh alog -of /etc/multibos/logs/op.alog
# dsh umount /mnt
# dsh bootlist –m normal –o
# dsh shutdown -Fr
August 7, 2009
58

59. AIX Check Boot Environment
•
After the reboot, confirm the TL level:
# oslevel –r
•
Verify which BLV the system booted from with:
# bootinfo –v
August 7, 2009
59

60. Features Compared
Feature
HP-UX DRD
Solaris Live Upgrade
AIX Multibos
Licensing
N/
A
N/
A
N/
A
Supported
platforms
PA-R
ISC
IA-64
SPARC
x86-32
x86-64
32-bit POW
ER
64-bit POW *
ER
PowerPC
Supported O/
S
HP-UX 11.23
HP-UX 11.31
Solaris 2.6
Solaris 7
Solaris 8
Solaris 9
Solaris 10
AIX 5L Version 5.3
with the 5300-03
Recommended
Maintenance package
and later
Current product
DynRootDisk
B.11.xx.A.3.4.y
where xx is 23 or 31
Live Upgrade 2.0
Part of AIX 6.1
TUI
Not supported
Supported
Not Supported
GUI
Not supported
Not supported
Not Supported
CLI
Supported
Supported
Supported
August 7, 2009
60

61. Features Compared - continued
Feature
HP-UX
Solaris
AIX Multibos
Add mirror disk
to a clone
Supported directly
via
command:
Not supported directly!
Supported via SVM,
ZFS, and VxVM RAID-1
setup only
N/
A
drd activate –x
reboot=true or
Standard Unix
commands
Never use reboot(1)
or halt(1) commands.
Instead, “init 6” or
shutdown(1)
bootlist -m
normal hdisk0
blv=bos_hd5
Mostly manual
process, based on:
dvd mount
cmp ...
diff...
lucompare(1)
Mostly manual
process, based on:
multibos –S
cmp ...
diff ...
drd clone –x
mirror_disk=
R
eboot
commands
Automated
comparison of
primary and
alternate boot
environments
August 7, 2009
shutdown -Fr or
reboot -q
61

62. Features Compared - continued
Feature
HP-UX
Solaris
AIX Multibos
Mounting
inactive images
a) “drd mount” does not
support mounting on different
directories
a) lumount(1)
supports
mounting on
different
directories
multibos –S
b) “drd mount” mounts file
systems as:
/var/opt/drd/mnts/
sysimage_00X
It mounts file
systems as
/bos_inst/...
b) “lumount”
m
ounts file
system as:
s
/.alt.configX
Change size of
Not supported
any file systems
during cloning
Supported
Supported * *
File system
split
Supported *
Not supported
August 7, 2009
Not supported
62

63. Features Compared - continued
Feature
HP-UX
Solaris
AIX Multibos
Simple listing of
clone file
systems
drd mount
bdf
Supported via
lufslist(1)
command
Not directly
supported * *
Clone updates
(re-sync)
Supported via full clone
recreation:
Supported via
command
lumake(1)
Supported via flag
“-c” *
Supported
Not supported
drd clone –t= -x
overwrite=true
Merge file
systems during
cloning
August 7, 2009
Not supported yet
63

64. Features Compared - continued
Feature
HP-UX
Solaris
AIX Multibos
Change file
system type
during cloning
Not supported
Supported. For
example, SVM
to ZFS
migration
Not supported
Supported
Volume
Manager
LVM
VxVM
Solstice
DiskSuite *
VxVM
ZFS * *
AIX LVM
Virtualization
Support
nPar
vPar
Integrity VM
Solaris Zones
***
Logical Domain
LPAR
Dynamic LPAR
Live Partition Mobility on
POW
ER6
W
PAR
Full-disk copy
during cloning
On Itanium servers, all
partitions are created
and EFI and HPUX are
copied. This release of
DRD does not copy the
HPSP
Supported
Not supported
August 7, 2009
64

65. Features Compared - continued
Feature
HP-UX
Solaris
AIX Multibos
Multiple target
disks for cloning
Not supported
Supported
Not supported
Dry-run (preview)
cloning
Supported
Supported
Supported
Swap shared
Primary swap is not
shared, secondary swap
can be shared
Yes, by default
Yes, by default
On-line cloning
Yes
Sun recommends to
halt all zones during
lucreate or lumount
operations! That
means, the Solaris
zones cloning is not
truly an on-line
process
Yes
August 7, 2009
65

66. Features Compared - continued
Feature
HP-UX
Solaris
AIX Multibos
Exclude files
from cloning
Not supported yet *
Supported * *
Supported * * * * *
Include files
during cloning
Not supported yet
Supported * *
Supported * * * * *
Simple method to Not supported yet * * *
remove clone
Supported * * * *
Supported * * * * * *
Clone on the
same physical
disk (multiple
BEs on the same
disk)
Supported
Supported
August 7, 2009
Not supported
66