issue restoring a MKSYSB 1

[dietz]

We have a customer that had a failed hdisk0 (rootvg) on a AIX 4.3.3 system. IBM Hardware support reported cause of "Stickstion". This is now a new word in my vocabulary. Apparently, this is a known issue with old IBM 2 gig drives. Anyhow, a drive replacement and a simple MKSYSB restore were in order.

Once we finished the restore, it became known that neither ttys nor network ccas were configed correctly. As we dove deeper into this, we found that we had a default ODM installed. However when we listed the CuAt files on the tape it was what we needed. Therefore, the question was why wasn’t the ODM updated if the correct files were on the tape. We found that the bosinst.data file was the culprit in this case. Within the Stanzas of this file are statements pertaining to recover devices and overwrite system.

My question for you, the ever so knowledgable gurus of this board, is:

1. If the statement with in the bosinst.data file has no reply after the = then what is the default?

2. From which file is the bosinst.data file created from when creating a MKSYSB tape? We found the file located in /var/adm/ras. However it has entries related to upgrades and was created during the last upgrade.

3. If the /usr/lpp/bosinst/bosinst.template is involved then at which point is it referenced?

We have search high and low on the IBM site for more info concerning this issue. Any assistance or ideas are greatly appreciated.


dietz

 

[aixqueen]

Yep on some of the older disks, the CE's used to bang them gently to release the arms...if no one was looking rather than replace them...or just replace it....
sorry to hear about your fiasco....

Well there is a known problem with the mksysb restore on ttys...and 128 port...
and there is a recovery procedure for this....

The below sites give some insight into what is happening....

Restore 128 port after restore from msksyb:

http://techsupport.services.ibm.com...mode=9&documents=492713993111490&database=aix

http://techsupport.services.ibm.com...mode=9&documents=490605209714762&database=aix

http://techsupport.services.ibm.com...mode=9&documents=090605188214722&database=aix

One other thing that is a gotcha on restores of mksysb is for machines that were
migrated to 4.3.3....usually the hd5 size is not big enough...and the restore will
gack.. it needs to be at least 8 mgs contiguous....and a lot of migrated
systems have hd5 at 4 mgs. It is a disaster waiting to happen...
---------------------

http://www.rs6000.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixins/aixinsgd/custom_bos_instpgm.htm

http://www.rs6000.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixins/aixinsgd/using_custom_bosinst_data.htm

Another gotcha was that the 0516-404 Allocation Error!
Here are some of the reasons that it happens: There is a file in /var/adm/ras
called bosinst.data. This file is a system file that enables mksysb tapes to be
installed automatically or to prompt for decisions on where to put information
from a backup during the restore. It is the second segment or filemark
on a mksysb tape. You should really look at this file BEFORE you do a
mksysb and be sure that the variable PROMPT = yes (is set to yes not no)
This is in the control_flow stanza. (Be aware that there are comments
at the beginning of the file that also have the word PROMPT....
you want the actual variable not comment)

What happens is that this file can be set to no by IBM. Now you will never
experience a problem if you only have one hard drive and it is hdisk0. If you
mirror your rootvg system or if you have more than one disk for the rootvg,
and this variable is set to no, when you try to restore you will get an error.

Not really an answer to your question...
but it may help?
#-)