pull system back up from switching unit A

[ccmjgb]

Hi all,

Is there a known method to extract system data & system config from the HiPath 4000's switching unit A card? The hard drive is in defect and will not remain active long enough to do a regen of partition E to get back up. Can the data resident on the active switching unit be backed-up some how? Can I connect directly to it via the service port on the card and extract the running config?

It is rather critical to pull this data since it may be the only sound copy of the system's configuration.

Thank you!

ccmjgb
- Job 38:36

 

[ccmjgb]

FYI... I can access the Assistant and view existing station conrfigurations by hooking up to the Service port on the A1 (applications module) - is there a way to pull back ups of the information that Assistant has visibility into via the service port?

Thank you for any help...

 

[sbcsu]

Log on via Comwin

CHA-DSSM:A1,1;
ACT-DSSM:A1,1;


Is this a dual processor?
What Version of system is it?

 

[ccmjgb]

Hi again sbcsu...

This is a dual system HiPath V5 with an APE in a different building. Allow me to provide some histroy:

The hard drive failed (could not access any AMO using Comwin) -- a failure code H'8442 would come up. Then it was discovered that there were no current MO/RMX backups on the CF card due to failure per Bakcup/Restore History. It was not clear if the A1 processor card was the problem or the hard drive so replacements of each were requested. The replacement A1 was introduced into the system and this unexpectldy caused the Active processor to switch over to the Standby processor and now the previously Active processor is the only recent configuration data. So now I'm hoping to find a way to get a good back up from the resident data that is running the system or froom the APE if possible before moving forward with the replacement hard drive.

 

[sbcsu]

If it was me:

I would get another processor box.
Put in 2 spare processors, one for the ads and one for the switching unit, use a bypass SIM

Load up your hard disk on that or try and load up your CF on it.

Then at least you can get a regen out of it to create a new one.

If you cant do that then you could get a new hard drive with the exact same version of software and loadware.
put it in to your working system and activate it.
Backup on to it.

The problem now as you know is that the system may not come back to a working state if you do anything else.

It will work away without the other swu processor and without the hard drive but of course you will need to fix it.

 

[ccmjgb]

thank again sbcsu... the issue is that I would like to capture the current system's config in order to restore tthe system in case it fails if I insert the hard dreive and further trouble results. I have a master cf that will boot the system but i do not have a current copy of the system's config - this is the dilema... any ideas on how to extract the resident data from the processor card so I can use it to restore the system?

 

[sbcsu]

Well all the data is on that hard drive and on the CF if your backups were regular via the CRON command.

Do you have another processor box ?

Once you get that hard drive going you can extract a regen

Currently the hard disk/cf are not working (if they were working then the other processor would have came up)

Do you have any assistance from Unify ?

 

[sbcsu]

If you can get areas E & F active you could extract a REGEN
ACT-DSSM:A1,1;

Open File Transfer (6th Icon from the left on Comwin - open file transfer)

 

[ccmjgb]

hi sbcsu and thank you,

yes, contacted Unify and tried to recover but no good on the hard drive... will begin the replacement and let you know how it goes... thank you again for your help!!!

 

[sbcsu]

Sorry to hear that.
Good luck with the rebuild.
Suggest a regen a day from now on via CRON

 

[ccmjgb]

thankfully, the rebuild went well... after the rebuild - a manual mo-rmx/all back up was pulled to CF, a system to CF, a data to CF, and an scr to hard disk, AP emergency, lastly a PDS to GLA backup... all these were done using the Assistant HBR page... i'm not familiar with the CRON you mentioned. Can you provide a little more detail on how to use this feature and what it does.

Thank you sbcsu!

 

[ccmjgb]

hi, also...
i want to get a bootable recoevery CF ... been reading the help files and per GLA note, in the GLA page, it appears that the HD-->MO (with regen option selected) will produce a bootable recovery CF of the current system - did i understand this correctly?

i'm assuming that this recovery CF is equivalent to a Master CF - correct?

so if the hard drive fails in the future, this recovery CF can be used to bring the system back up as it is today - correct?

thank you again!

 

[Iamnothere]

Yes, that is the concept. Some 2GB CF cards do not work. I'm working from memory here, but the CF card needs to provide approximately 1862MB of actual storage space to be properly recognized by the 4K. Some 2GB CF cards e.g. Kingston, provide slightly less than that, approximately 1857MB, and therefore they will not work. The original CF cards provided by SEN/UNIFY were made by "STEC". I do not know if these cards are still available for sale. Other brands of CF card can be used. To use Kingston CF cards, you will need to buy a 4GB card. The 4K can only address 2GB of that 4GB card, so you are wasting $ buying anything larger. However, should you find a great deal on a 16GB card (for example only), then buy it! 2GB CF cards are becoming more and more difficult to find. That compact flash technology is now very obsolete.

If you are in the USA, I seriously recommend attending the Basic training course in Irving. The instructor will focus on situations just like this one. There are several days of hands-on activity using CF cards, hard disks, and precious experience working with the HDCF board, the DSCXL/ADP, etc - stuff that you cannot do on a live system. There is a tool called "PC-Hi" that can recover the SWU database from a damaged hard disk. I lost a system (cPCI shelf damaged by lightning) that had taken years to tweak, and the backups had disappeared. I was extremely nervous that I would have to re-build the system from scratch - a monumental task, especially for this system, which had 15 or more STMI4 gateways, all connecting to various systems and gateways (Mediatrix). There were more than 15 PRI circuits, SIP phones, HFA phones - you get the picture. I tried everything, and then as a last resort IO tried the PC-Hi tool. The hard disk would barely spin, but to my amazement, the PC-Hi tool captured that database, and I was rescued. I am not sure if the PC-Hi tool is still taught, because it is now obsolete (since V6).

4K training may seem costly up-front, but imagine the cost associated with losing a system - depriving all employees of phone service for a few days (sounds like you have a Time & Material-based service contract - keep in mind that paying customers are served first - T&M customers are serviced when there is an open window). The training is worth its weight in gold.

There is a UNIFY promotion now to trade UP to a new V7 OpenScape 4000. This system is amazing - based on Linux. The system is run by servers. Check it out!

 

[sbcsu]

Hi CCMJGB
I am happy you got sorted.
It can be a stressful thing !!!
As Iamnothere said above some course work would assist you greatly.

I presume you are an onsite tech or at least onsite for a few days of each week.

What I normally recommend would depend on the amount of moves adds and changes on your site.

Before any hardware replacement you should have a 'full regen' and a backup to the hard disk and cf.


I automate these on all sites but you can do them manually.

I understand you are more familiar with the Unixware assistant but it does not cover everything.

To recover the telephony you need a full regen.
To recover the Unixware you just need to note down the IP adressing setups
If you have ACD setup on your site you would also need to backup the ACD Assistant names but I will leave that out for now.

To setup CRON commands you will need your system number
REG-ANUM;
Substitute that in the commands below after the word CRONAMO

The startup sequence of the HiPath with area A working is to load from Area E
If that fails then it will load from Area J
After that it will try the CF

So you need to deactivate Area J so as you can automatically write to it every night
DEA-DSSM:A1,1,J;

The CF needs to be prepared if not already done so
DEA-DSSM:A1,6;
STA-INIT:A1,A1H61;
ACT-DSSM:A1,6;
DEA-DSSM:A1,6;


These are the automatic commands
DEL-CRON:1&&256;
ADD-CRON:1,P,0,5,*,*,*,"EXE-UPDAT:BP,ALL;";
ADD-CRON:2,P,10,5,*,*,*,"EXE-UPDAT:A1,ALL";
ADD-CRON:3,P,20,5,*,*,*,"COPY-DDRSM:A1,1,E&F,6,E&F,N;";
ADD-CRON:4,P,30,5,*,*,*,"COPY-DDRSM:A1,1,E,1,J,N;";
ADD-CRON:5,P,40,4,*,*,*,"STA-DEL:AS:VEGAS/DATEI;";
ADD-CRON:6,P,50,5,*,*,*,"STA-REGEN:CRONAMO,L31901Q1234A00001,N,,,,,,ALL;";
ADD-CRON:7,P,0,0,*,*,*,"DIS-ZAUSL:,Y;";


Command 1&2 do your backups
Command 3 Copies the Hard Drive areas E&F to the CF areas E&F
Command 4 copies Area E to Area J on the Hard Disk
Command 5 clears any previous regen information
Command 6 will create a regen on your hard disk every night
You can amend it to just do this once a week if you prefer
Command 7 is just for you to look at stats during the day by sending in DIS-ZAUSL;

After the regen is completed you can copy it out to your PC and store it away on a network drive or something like that.

To copy out the Regen:

Log on Via Comwin
Click on the 6th Icon from the Left (Start Local Filetransfer)
A window will open and then close and another will open.
When it has stopped click on :A1H1F: - the second 'drive' down on the left hand side.
You should see a folder on the right hand side called L31901 or similar
Drill in to that folder
Eventually you will see an 'ALL' file
Drag that out to your desktop.
That is the full regen file
It will have a file extension of .SAMTXT
you can read this with notepad or similar as it is just an ASCII text file.

This 'regen' file is a mirror of what could re-create your hard disk for to get your telephony up and running again.

If you need the PCHI tool or a newer Comwin let me know but I assume you are working away now...

Regards

 

[ccmjgb]

Hi sbcsu and Iamnothere. I just wanted to say thank you for your help and input! I've been continuosly thinking about coming back just to say thank you - your help and input is much appreciated. I give glory to God for His unfailing mercy to me. The situation was.. well not easy to describe, but I know you understand - especially after the example above. I would really enjoy the Irving class but it is not an easy thing at the moment. Yes, I fill the on-site role and have 2 full plates.

The PC-Hi tool would be great if you could provide (and the new comwin sounds cool too).

Concerning this site: a replacement hard drive arrived and it was rebuilt using the original Master CF. Then the RMX/UNIX hotfixes were applied and then the updat exe was completed to transfer config files to HD... immediately after this, several back-ups were pulled (to HD and CFs)... however, using the notes provided above, I'll pull additional back ups to PC. I've scheduled daily and weekly back-ups on the system and will probabaly be pulling monthly back-ups to PC going forward.

Unify was contacted and they provided guidance on the rebuild. The engineer I spoke to confirmed that the HD->MO backup to CF off the GLA page will produce a bootable CF that can be used to recover the HiPath Host.

Thank you again!!!!

 

[sbcsu]

Hi CCMJGB,
I am very glad you got it sorted.
No one wants to see a 'HiPath colleague' stuck !
ComWin

 

[donb01]

I have a new V7 system, and it's the Cat's ... meow.... Dual mirrored processors - each blade has its own HD with full system on it plus there is an extra HD in the middle for a spare. Plus when you log in tot he portal all of the documentation is sitting out there for you to access as needed! I budgeted money for training into the upgrade, but am waiting for the revised flowchart that will tell me what I'm all going to have to take. I'm trying to get self maintainer status out of it.

 

[Iamnothere]

DonB01: If you are proficient with HiPath 4000 V5, including these topics: IPDA, HG3530, HG3550, HG3570, SIP Subscribers, networking (general knowledge), Mediatrix gateway knowledge, PRI/ISDN knowledge, CAP/CSTA knowledge, Windows 7 skills, Linux navigation skills - then you should qualify to attend the "HiPath 4000 V5 Softgate" training, which the UNIFY Academy (USA) uses to prepare the student for HiPath 4000 V6/OpenScape 4000 V7. After 3 days of Softgate training, the second week begins with HiPath 4000 V5 to OpenScape 4000 V7 upgrade. Then you install many different types of 4K V7 deployments for 3 intense days (including Simplex, Duplex, standard server, VMware/ESXi), then 1 day for UC connectivity, then the final day is used to cover extra topics, etc. I believe the next courses begin on Wednesday, October 15th. Good luck.

 

[donb01]

Iamnothere,
Thanks for that info. I think I'm "dangerous" on most of those subjects from either need-based exploration or my experience during the V7 upgrade that has been in progress since March, but I probably really need to be trained for real on all of it. I have enough linux skills that I was able to fix the V7 when the tech screwed it up trying to change the IP address of the customer network (there were issues in the hosts files), but they had already ordered a new drive from Unify, and since there was no data put on it yet they just redid it from scratch. I am fairly good with ISDN PRI having had to troubleshoot it for the past 15 years, and most of my SIP work was copy and paste in Comwin, but I get the idea and know what the settings are. I think they were recommending 2 two-week classes and then several computer-based or web-based prerequisites. Black Box had given me a whole flowchart thing and then said never mind it was undergoing some changes. Since I have been working on this project since March and have given up most of my summer weekends for cutovers I have to blow close to 4 weeks of vacation before the end of the year, so I was kind of hoping to put off the training until next year! I have no idea what kind of schedules they keep - the academy always has no scheduled dates listed for stuff in the US.

 

[Iamnothere]

My experience: you must first register for the course(s) that you wish to attend, so that the UNIFY Academy can see which classes are needed - THEN and only then are the classes scheduled. Therefore if no one signs up in advance, there is no class!