Backing up user-defined virtual devices

In addition to backing up the Virtual I/O Server, you need to back up user-defined virtual devices (such as virtual device mappings) in preparation of a system failure or disaster.

User-defined virtual devices include metadata, such as virtual device mappings, that define the relationship between the physical environment and the virtual environment. In situations where you plan to restore the Virtual I/O Server to a new or different system (for example, in the event of a system failure or disaster), you need to back up both the Virtual I/O Server and user-defined virtual devices.

Before you start, complete the following tasks:

Back up the Virtual I/O Server to tape, DVD, or a remote file system. For instructions, see one of the following procedures:
- Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to tape
- Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to one or more DVDs
- Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to a remote file system by creating a nim_resources.tar file
- Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to a remote file system by creating a mksysb image
Decide whether you want to create a script of the following procedure. Scripting these commands makes it easy to schedule automated backups of the information.

To back up user-defined virtual devices, complete the following steps:

List volume groups (and storage pools) to determine what user-defined disk structures you want to back up by running the following command:
```
lsvg
```
Activate each volume group (and storage pool) that you want to back up by running the following command for each volume group:
```
activatevg volume_group
```
where volume_group is the name of the volume group (or storage pool) that you want to activate.
Back up each volume group (and storage pool) by running the following command for each volume group:
```
savevgstruct volume_group
```
where volume_group is the name of the volume group (or storage pool) that you want to back up. This command writes a backup of the structure of a volume group (and therefore a storage pool) to the /home/ios/vgbackups directory.

Save the information about network settings, adapters, users, and security settings to the /home/padmin directory by running each command in conjunction with the tee command as follows:

command | tee /home/padmin/filename

Where:

command is the command that produces the information you want to save.
filename is the name of the file to which you want to save the information.

Table 1. Commands that provide the information to save
Command	Information provided (and saved)
`cfgnamesrv -ls`	Saves all system configuration database entries related to domain name server information used by local resolver routines.
`entstat -all devicename` `devicename` is the name of a device whose attributes or statistics you want to save. Run this command for each device whose attributes or statistics you want to save.	Saves Ethernet driver and device statistics for the device specified.
`hostmap -ls`	Saves all entries in the system configuration database.
`ioslevel`	Saves the current maintenance level of the Virtual I/O Server.
`lsdev -dev devicename -attr` `devicename` is the name of a device whose attributes or statistics you want to save. Run this command for each device whose attributes or statistics you want to save.	Saves the attributes of the device specified.
`lsdev -type adapter`	Saves information about physical and logical adapters.
`lsuser`	Saves a list of all attributes of all the system users.
`netstat -routinfo`	Saves the routing tables, including the user-configured and current costs of each route.
`netstat -state`	Saves the state of all configured interfaces.
`optimizenet -list`	Saves characteristics of all network tuning parameters, including the current and reboot value, range, unit, type, and dependencies.
`viosecure -firewall view`	Saves a list of allowed ports.
`viosecure -view -nonint`	Saves all of the security level settings for noninteractive mode.