MOVING TO NEW MACHINE

[Guest_imported]

hi aiXperts!

I would like to ask things that needs to be done for a successfull and less painful upgrade.

i have an "old" rs6000 box running AIX 4.2.1, runs good except that devices starts falling apart, e.g., cdrom, tape drives, etc. our company decided to get/have a brand new rs6000 in which i have to port exactly the same applications and users, as well as devices. but considering it's a brand new, AIX OS would-be brand new or latest too.

my problem now:

how am i going to transfer the system from old to new machine , keeping - of course the latest AIX OS? we have lots of users, too. any particular FSs to be transfered to?

i would really appreciate any feedback re these concerns.

P.S. i can not do upgrading "old" machine to AIX 4.3.3 or the latest coz until such time that the new machine is ready - then it's the time to experiment on it.

 

[PSD]

johny,

Well you are in pole position here, you will have a new server to mirgrate to, so in effect you can do a parralel transition. THe best way is to install AIX 4.3.3 as a vanilla install and work out what other stuff you need to do to make the system identical. i.e. list off users, compare lslpp's, set up printers DNS e.t.c. make a list of everything to be transfered and write up a plan...it is not that hard really.

The only thing to bear in mind is the apps. may require upgrades to run on 4.3.3 but you will have to find that out as you go.

It is a good opportunity to do some real system admin.

Best of luck

PSD
IBM Certified Specialist - AIX V4.3 Systems Support
IBM Certified Specialist - AIX V4 HACMP

 

[bjverzal]

Why not just clone ?

 

[jnorth]

Johny,

I'm going to be doing the exact same thing that you are. We're going to upgrade our hardware 7012-340 running AIX 4.2, to a 7043-140 running AIX 4.3. Our application software vendor is going to help us make this transition by copying over the printer device files (in /dev directory), and the users (in /etc/passwd), and then help us test our printers and user logins. Once that's done, then they are going to transfer our database files from our external hard drive to an internal hard drive in the new computer. Since we are going to have both the old and new computers on an Ethernet LAN, the transfer of files will be done over the network (which will make things much simpler). If you're systems aren't on a LAN, then you would of course need to transfer your files via some other media such as tape backup. I hope this helps you.

Jim

 

[bi]

Johny2001,

AIXqueen answered a question about migrating from 4.2 to 4.3. It is in thread thread52-123454. There's a reference to another thread there also.

I've moved users from box to box before and setting up the users is the most important. The moving I've done, however, has been from a 4.3.3 system to another 4.3.3system. I'm not sure if there is a difference in how users are handled by the OS from 4.2 to 4.3. I know there was from 3.2 to 4.2.

Here is a list of user-related files I moved from one box to another so that users would have a relatively seamless transition (same UID, same password, etc.). Before I move these files, I make sure I've saved the original file in case I have to revert back.

· /etc/group
· /etc/security/group
· /etc/security/limits
· /etc/environment
· /etc/profile
· /etc/security/environ
· /etc/security/login.cfg
· /etc/passwd
· /etc/security/passwd
· /etc/security/user
· /etc/security/user.roles
· /etc/security/.ids

Don't forget to also make sure their home directories are copied to the new system as well.

Something else you will want to consider is the name and IP of the new system. When I move users from one box to another, I bring up the new box with one name and IP address. Then, on the day of the cutover, I switch the names and IPs of the old box and new box. That takes some planning. Doing this switch allows the users to connect to the system as they always have. They don't have to change any icons or whatever that connects them from their desktop to the AIX server. .

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Good luck.

 

[Guest_imported]

thanks bi,

Application-wise, i believe i successfully transferred everything as our programmers do their stuff without problem so far, and initially we recreated 2 users.

The only concern i got now are the devices attached to the old machine, as well as number of users.

I can easily connect the new machine on the same LAN as the old one for data transfer, having them different IPs.

I'll give you feedback.

 

[Guest_imported]

bi,

just a feedback...

all the user files you mentioned works fine so far.. im just doin system cleanup and some re-setting to port it to production... though i still need time for the devices.

 

[bi]

What devices do you have to move? Are you going to switch the IPs and names when you do the cutover?

 

[Guest_imported]

i just wanted to preserve devices defined in /dev and all printer queues currently attached on the old machine.

right now, im using different IP and hostname for the servers but evetually will shift to the same name/IP (old machine).