You can handle large dumps, up to the combined
size of 32 DASD partitions, by creating dumps across multiple volumes.
Before you begin
You need to prepare a set of ECKD™ DASD
devices for a multivolume dump, and install the stand-alone dump
tool on each DASD device that is involved. Then, perform the dump
process, and copy the dump to a file in a Linux™ file system.
GRUB 2 usage: You
cannot use GRUB 2 to
install the standalone dump tools. You must use the zipl command
as described in this document for the dump tools.
About this task
You can specify up to 32 partitions on ECKD DASD volumes for a multivolume dump. The
dump tool is installed on each volume involved. The volumes must be:
In subchannel set 0.
Formatted with the compatible disk layout (cdl, the default option
when using the dasdfmt command.)
You must specify block size 4096 for dasdfmt.
For
example, Figure 1 shows three
DASD volumes, dasdb, dasdc,
and dasdd, with four partitions selected to contain
the dump. To earmark the partition for dump, a dump signature is written
to each partition. Figure 1. Three
DASD volumes with four partitions for a multivolume dump
The partitions need to be listed in a configuration file,
for example:
/dev/dasdb2
/dev/dasdc1
/dev/dasdd1
/dev/dasdd3
See Installing the multi-volume DASD dump tool for how to create the configuration
file.All three DASD volumes are prepared
for IPL; regardless of which you use the result is the same.
The
following sections will take you through the entire process of creating
a multi-volume dump.
