HP-UX 11i Version 1 Installation and Update Guide, December 2004

Preparing to Install or Update to HP-UX 11i v1
Backing Up Your System
Chapter 4 69
Backing Up Your System
Back up your system before performing a cold-install or update, and
again after the cold-install or update. If a problem occurs, you can easily
restore the system to its original state. Backing up your system includes
the following tasks:
• Task 1: Backing Up Your Data Files
• Task 2: Creating an Operating System Recovery Archive
Task 1: Backing Up Your Data Files
The most effective way to ensure against loss of your system's data is to
copy the data from your system onto storage media (such as magnetic
tape or optical disk) that you can store away from your system, so that
you can recover the data if something happens to your primary copies.
You can choose from a number of different backup methods depending on
your system backup needs. The /usr/sbin/fbackup command is the
recommended HP-UX backup utility. The fbackup command can do the
following:
• Indicate specific files or directories to include or exclude from a
backup
• Specify different levels of backup on a daily, a weekly, or monthly
basis
• Create an online index file
Using the normal tape location to do a full backup, insert a new tape and
enter:
fbackup -f/dev/rmt/0m -i -v
Later, to return the system to its previous state, use the frecover
command. Refer to the frecover (1M) manpage for examples or the
Managing Systems and Workgroups: A Guide for HP-UX System
Administrators. The guide is available at the HP Technical
Documentation Web site:
http://docs.hp.com/hpux/os/11iv1