HP-UX 11i v3 Installation and Update Guide, March 2009 (Update 4 Release)

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: Creating an Operating System Recovery Image
• Task 2: Backing Up Your Data Files
Task 1: Creating an Operating System Recovery Image
To protect your system data, create an operating system recovery image to be used in
the event of cold-install or update problems:
• The Ignite-UX server has two commands you can use to create an operating system
recovery image:
— make_net_recovery
Use this command to create an operating system recovery image and store it
on an Ignite-UX server on the network. This command works on any system
that has Ignite-UX installed. See “Using make_net_recovery” (page 56).
— make_tape_recovery
Use this command to create an operating system recovery image on a bootable
recovery tape. This command works on any system that has a local tape drive
and Ignite-UX installed. This command also works on any system without an
Ignite-UX server. See “Using make_tape_recovery” (page 57).
• The Dynamic Root Disk (DRD) toolset can also be used to create an operating
system recovery image:
— drd clone
Use this command to create an operating system image on a free local or SAN
disk. This command works on any system that has the DRD toolset installed.
See “Using drd clone” (page 58).
NOTE: The Ignite-UX recovery tools and DRD toolset are intended to be used in
conjunction with data recovery applications to create a means of total system recovery.
HP does not recommend using Ignite-UX recovery tools to backup and recover data
other than essential system data. The DRD toolset can only be used to backup the root
volume group.
Using make_net_recovery
The Ignite-UX product has the make_net_recovery command to create an operating
system recovery image on another system on the network. The image created by
make_net_recovery is specific to the system it was created for and its identity
includes host name, IP address, networking information, and so on. In the event of
56 Preparing to Cold-Install or Update to HP-UX 11i v3