Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to a remote file system by creating a nim_resources.tar file

You can back up the Virtual I/O Server base code, applied fix packs, custom device drivers to support disk subsystems, and some user-defined metadata to a remote file system by creating a nim_resources.tar file.

Before you begin

Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to a remote file system creates the nim_resources.tar image in the directory you specify. The nim_resources.tar file contains all the necessary resources to restore the Virtual I/O Server, including the mksysb image, the bosinst.data file, the network boot image, and Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT) resource.

The backupios command empties the target_disks_stanza section of bosinst.data and sets RECOVER_DEVICES=Default. This allows the mksysb file that is generated by the command to be cloned to another logical partition. If you plan to use the nim_resources.tar image to install to a specific disk, then you need to repopulate the target_disk_stanza section of bosinst.data and replace this file in the nim_resources.tar image. All other parts of the nim_resources.tar image must remain unchanged.

Before you start, complete the following tasks:

  1. Ensure that the remote file system is available and mounted.
  2. Ensure that the Virtual I/O Server has root write access to the server on which the backup is to be created.

About this task

To back up the Virtual I/O Server to a remote file system, follow these steps:

Procedure

  1. Create a mount directory where the backup image, nim_resources.tar, is to be written. For example, to create the directory /home/backup, type: 
    mkdir /home/backup
  2. Mount an exported directory on the mount directory. For example: 
    mount server1:/export/ios_backup /home/backup
  3. Run the backupios command with the -file option. Specify the path to the mounted directory. For example: 
    backupios -file /home/backup
    This command creates a nim_resources.tar file that you can use to restore the Virtual I/O Server from the HMC.
  4. If you plan to restore the Virtual I/O Server to a different system from which it was backed up, then you need to back up the user-defined virtual devices.
    For instructions, see Backing up user-defined virtual devices by using the backupios command.