Dynamic Root Disk Frequently Asked Questions (August 2010)

This list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) is created by the DRD engineering team. These FAQs are compiled periodically as input dictates. We
invite your questions!
If you have questions, contact HP Support at 1 [phone].
Dynamic Root Disk FAQ categories are as follows:
» 1. General
» 2. Using Dynamic Root Disk Commands
» 3. Troubleshooting Dynamic Root Disk
Frequently Asked Questions
1- General
1-1. What is DRD?
1-2. What HP-UX releases will DRD run on?
1-3. How can I modify the inactive system image without affecting the active system image?
1-4. How can I be sure that the clone is a consistent system if the original system is still active?
1-5. What are the DRD commands?
1-6. Are instance numbers changed when the clone is booted?
1-7. Can the clone be mirrored?
1-8. I have many disks I would like to clone in one operation. Is the target a single disk?
1-9. What if the DRD contains more than one disk? Does DRD handle this?
1-10. Can DRD clone all the partitions; s1, s2, & s3?
1-11. Does DRD work with both LVM and VxVM root disks?
1-12. Does DRD support vPars?
1-13. If swconfig is not supported by DRD, and swinstall runs swconfig, will it work properly?
1-14. Does the cloned root disk (VG) contain same VGID as the original root VG?
1-15. How is lvmtab adjusted to reflect the new device name for the disk in vg00?
1-16. Do the DRD administration tools keep track of the active boot disk's host attachment, in particular SAN boot disks?
1-17. What is the difference between DRD Hot Recovery and Mirror Disk/UX?
1-18. Since I take a regular root disk and use it to boot another system, can I use the cloned disk I created with DRD to boot another system?
1-19. What happens during a clone copy if, for example, /opt/xxxxx is mounted from /dev/vg01/lvolxxxx? Is the content of /opt/xxxxx copied to the
clone or does it only create its directory?
1-20. What are the effects of the clone copy on system operation (for example, performance)?
1-21. IgniteUX offers net and tape images. What is the advantage of DRD?
1-22. Where can I get more information on how to create a DRD-Safe software package?
1-23. What are the DRD considerations for legacy Device Special Files (DSFs)?
1-1. Q: What is DRD?
A: Dynamic Root Disk (DRD) is an HP-UX system administration toolset that lets you create and modify an inactive system image without
shutting down the system. To do this, you can clone the active system image and modify the cloned (inactive) system image while the
system is running. When ready, you can boot the cloned image. Usually, the only downtime required is the rebooting process.
System administrators use DRD to manage system images on HP PA-RISC and Itanium® -based systems.
DRD complements other parts of your total HP solution by reducing system downtime required to install and update patches and other
software.
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1-2. Q: What HP-UX releases will DRD run on?
A: This release of DRD runs on both Integrity and PA platforms running either of the following operating systems:
HP-UX 11i v2 (11.23) September 2004 or more recent
HP-UX 11i v3 (11.31)