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 VIO backup/restore using HMC v10

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Sylvain Manceau's profile image
Sylvain Manceau posted 11/10/24 03:08 AM

Hi!

Using HMC V10R3M1060 here.

Preparing for a 2-step VIO upgrade to PowerVM v4, I was able to take some backups of my testing VIOs (both configuration & full backup):

Well... The upgrade to v4 didn't go as smoothly as expected, I'm currently working with IBM Support for this concern.

But I was also wondering, how could I restore one of my backup if everything goes south?

From this thread VIO IO backup/restore in HMC V9R2M950 | PowerVM I found that I should be able to restore the configuration, but what about full backup?

I couldn't find any information in documentation or communities...

I was able to export the backup files using SFTP on a IBM i partition with OSS extensions, but a "file S914_VIO1_3.1.4.41" only gives me a generic "S914_VIO1_3.1.4.41: data". Tar isn't able to recognize anything, as well.

Does any of you know how I could use these backups, or performed a full VIO restore using HMC backup?

Thanks for any input!

Best regards,

Rohit Chauhan's profile image
Rohit Chauhan IBM Champions posted 11/10/24 05:31 AM  Best Answer

Hello @Sylvain Manceau,

I have tried this VIOS backup process several times but of course i have to agree that i haven't tried to restore it yet. But i have this knowledgebase IBM article showing the complete backup and restore process. Please check this.

Capturing, Importing, Exporting, and Restoring VIOS backups on the HMC

Sylvain Manceau's profile image
Sylvain Manceau posted 11/10/24 09:57 AM

Thanks @Rohit Chauhan for your very useful answer!

Following the article you linked, I went to the blog article (link at the bottom): https://community.ibm.com/community/user/power/blogs/manjunath-shanbhag1/2021/04/16/vios-maintenance-validation-and-backuprestore.

And this one makes it clear:

Backup that is created without NIMOL Resource (mksysb image) can be transferred to NIM server and a standard mksysb system installation can be used to restore the VIOS.
 
Backup that is created with NIMOL Resource (the .tar file) can be used to restore the VIOS from HMC using the Network Installation Management (NIM) on Linux facility and the installios command.

At first, I didn't take care of the NIMOL "thing" (unchecked by default). I don't have any NIM server, so why should I? 😉

But, in fact, it is mandatory to include NIMOL in backup in order to reinstall a VIOS without the help of a NIM server!

My first backups were just pure MKSYSB images.

I just created another backup with NIMOL included then transferred it to my IBM i: this time the tar -tf command is happy.

I won't test it now, not until my current case with IBM Support is closed. But I will: backups are useless until you are able to restore them!

I'll post back when done.

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