zipl - Prepare devices for stand-alone dump

Use zipl to prepare a dump device with a stand-alone dump tool.Command options that do not apply to SUSE Linux™ Enterprise Server 12 SP3 have been omitted. For details, see the man page.
zipl supports the following dump devices:
  • Enhanced Count Key Data (ECKD™) DASDs with fixed block Linux™ disk layout (ldl)
  • ECKD DASDs with z/OS-compliant compatible disk layout (cdl)
  • Fixed Block Access (FBA) DASDs
  • Magnetic tape subsystems compatible with IBM3480, IBM3490, IBM3590, or IBM3592
  • SCSI with PC-BIOS or GPT disk layout
For multivolume dumps, only ECKD DASDs with compatible disk layout are supported.

zipl syntax

Note: You can specify zipl parameters in a configuration file, but the preferred way of using zipl is the command line. For details about the configuration file, see the man page.

1  zipl ?  -V?  --dry-run?  -n?  -f
2.1   -d  <dump_device>? ,<size>
2.1   -M <dump_device_list>? ,<size>

Parameters

-d <dump_device> or --dumpto=<dump_device>
is the device node of the DASD or SCSI partition, or tape device to be prepared as a dump device. zipl deletes all data on the partition or tape and installs the boot loader code there.
Note:
  • If the dump device is an ECKD disk with fixed-block layout (ldl), a dump overwrites the dump utility. You must reinstall the dump utility before you can use the device for another dump.
  • If the dump device is a tape, SCSI disk, FBA disk, or ECKD disk with the compatible disk layout (cdl), you do not need to reinstall the dump utility after every dump.
-M <dump_device_list>
contains the device nodes of the dump partitions, separated by one or more line feed characters. zipl writes a dump signature to each involved partition and installs the stand-alone multi-volume dump tool on each involved volume. Duplicate partitions are not allowed. A maximum of 32 partitions can be listed. The volumes must be formatted with cdl and use block size 4096.
<size>
(Optional) The amount of memory to be dumped. The value is a decimal number that can optionally be suffixed with K for kilobytes, M for megabytes, or G for gigabytes. The value is rounded to the next megabyte boundary.
If you limit the dump size below the amount of memory that is used by the system to be dumped, the resulting dump is incomplete. If no limit is provided, all of the available physical memory is dumped.
Note: For SCSI dump devices, the "size" option is not available.
-f or --force
ensures that no signature checking takes place when dumping. Any data on all involved partitions is overwritten without warning.
-n or --noninteractive
suppresses confirmation prompts that require operator responses to allow unattended processing (for example, for processing DASD or tape dump configuration sections). This option is available on the command line only.
-V or --verbose
provides more detailed command output.
--dry-run
simulates a zipl command. Use this option to test a configuration without overwriting data on your device.

During simulation, zipl performs all command processing and issues error messages where appropriate. Data is temporarily written to the target directory and is cleared up when the command simulation is completed.

-v or --version
displays version information.
-h or --help
displays help information.

Preparing a DASD dump device

The following command prepares a DASD partition /dev/dasdc1 as a dump device and suppresses confirmation prompts that require an operator response:
# zipl -d /dev/dasdc1 -n

Preparing a SCSI dump device

The following command prepares a SCSI partition /dev/mapper/36005076303ffd40100000000000020c0-part1 as a dump device:
# zipl -d /dev/mapper/36005076303ffd40100000000000020c0-part1

Preparing a multi-volume dump on ECKD DASD

The following command prepares two DASD partitions /dev/dasdc1, /dev/dasdd1 for a multi-volume dump and suppresses confirmation prompts that require an operator response:
# zipl -M mvdump.conf -n 
where the mvdump.conf file contains the two partitions, separated by line breaks:
/dev/dasdc1
/dev/dasdd1