How to Prepare for Operating System Recovery

To prepare for recovering the operating system for either a server or client, follow these instructions:

1. Replace the damaged disk if necessary.

   Make sure the replacement disk is as large or larger than the original disk.

2. Use the saved disk partition information to re-create the disk partitions with the same structure as the original.

   See "Disk Information".

3. Use the output from the "Disk Information" section to make a filesystem for each raw partition that you plan to recover, then mount the block partition.

   Backup does not initialize or create filesystems; it recovers data into existing filesystems.

4. Use the appropriate command to format the replacement disk.

   For SunOS and Solaris systems, use newfs or mkfs.

5. Reinstall the operating system in the same location where it originally resided, using the original software and accompanying documentation.

   Use the same system name, TCP/IP hostname, and DNS Domain name used prior to losing the operating system.

   You can choose to fully configure the operating system now, or you can install the minimum number of files and make the minimum number of configurations required to create an operational networked system. See "Restoring the Operating System" for more information.

6. Install and configure the SCSI controller and tape device drivers, if necessary.

7. Reinstall the Backup software, using the original software and accompanying documentation.

   On a Backup client, you only need access to the Backup binaries. You can run Backup from the /usr/sbin/nsr directory or NFS-mount the binaries from another system running Backup. Refer to the Solstice Backup 5.1 Installation and Release Notes for installation instructions. Reinstall any Backup patches you had installed prior to the disaster.

   You might have several different releases of Backup software; reinstall the same release that was running prior to the disaster or a later release. The release must be equal to or later than the release used for the backups.

   Backup servers only - When you reinstall the Backup server software, Backup automatically rediscovers indexes and configuration files if they are not corrupted.

   Backup clients only - The client system is now ready to recover its data from the Backup server.

   You can also use the following method to access the Backup binaries for recovery. If you have another system running Backup that is like the system being recovered on the network, you can NFS-mount the Backup binaries on the damaged system.

   For example:

   # mount venus:/usr/etc /mnt # /mnt/recover -s server -q recover> add / recover> force recover> recover

8. Install and configure the SCSI controller and tape device drivers.

9. Reboot the system, and log on as root.