Successful System Cloning using Ignite-UX

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It is worthwhile noting at this point that HP does not test HP-UX or its layer products with any
changes to the uid of reserved users. Because this is not tested, any problems encountered due to
the changing of the uid of a reserved user are not considered a defect in HP-UX.
If you encounter this issue, choose one of the following:
• Do not change the uid or gid of reserved users or groups, or
• Use cpio format archives. The cpio format does not store a user and group names only uid
and gid values, so the uid and gid values from a cpio format archive will be recovered "as
is".
Note:
The make_sys_image command does not provide a warning about
this issue.
Comparing Maximum uid and gid Values
The pax utility has different limitations for the maximum value it can store for a uid or gid
depending on the archive format selected. Those limitations are summarized here.
In ustar format:
• Raw uid values stored in the archive may be up to 2097152.
Since ustar format keeps the name of the user (up to 32 octets of it) if the user does exist on the
system the uid returned via a library call like getpwnam() will be used instead.
• Raw gid value stored in the archive may be up to 2097152.
Since ustar format keeps the name of the group (up to 32 octets of it) if the group does exist on
the system the gid returned via a library call like getgrnam() will be used instead.
In cpio format:
• The maximum uid allowed by the cpio format is 262144
• The maximum gid allowed by the cpio format is 262144
If you use large uid or gid values, you should consider which limitation will impact you more.
That is the uid or gid information not being recovered if you use uid or gid values larger than
262144 (do not use cpio format) or 2097152.
If you encounter this issue, choose one of the following:
• Do not include directories or volume groups that contain files with uid or gid values larger than
the pax format you have chosen allows. Try to keep those uid or gid values outside of the root
volume group and do not include other volume groups into a recovery archive – the Ignite-UX
commands make_net_recovery and make_tape_recovery are not intended to be used as
backup utilities. They are intended only for the recovery of systems.
• Use ustar format archives if you have uid or gid values larger than 262144, but less than or
equal to 2097152 in the volume groups that will be included into a recovery archive (or a
golden image).