Scheduling backups of the Virtual I/O Server and user-defined virtual devices by creating a script and crontab file entry

You can schedule regular backups of the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) and user-defined virtual devices to ensure that your backup copy accurately reflects the current configuration.

To ensure that your backup of the VIOS accurately reflects your current running VIOS, back up the VIOS each time that its configuration changes. For example:

Changing the VIOS, like installing a fix pack.
Adding, deleting, or changing the external device configuration, like changing the SAN configuration.
Adding, deleting, or changing resource allocations and assignments for the VIOS, like memory, processors, or virtual and physical devices.
Adding, deleting, or changing user-defined virtual device configurations, like virtual device mappings.

Before you start, ensure that you are logged in to the VIOS as the prime administrator (padmin).

To back up the VIOS and user-defined virtual devices, complete the following tasks:

Create a script for backing up the VIOS, and save it in a directory that is accessible to the padmin user ID. For example, create a script called backup and save it in the /home/padmin directory. Ensure that your script includes the following information:
- The backupios command for backing up the VIOS.
- Commands for saving information about user-defined virtual devices.
- Commands to save the virtual devices information to a location that is automatically backed up when you use the backupios command to back up the VIOS.
Create a crontab file entry that runs the backup script on a regular interval. For example, to run backup every Saturday at 2:00 a.m., type the following commands:
1. crontab -e
2. 0 2 * * 6 /home/padmin/backup
When you are finished, remember to save and exit.

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Last updated: Thu, June 12, 2014