http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/pseries/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.aix.

install/doc/insgdrf/HT_insgdrf_
altdiskinstall_clone.htm

Cloning a rootvg using alternate disk installation

Using this scenario, you can clone AIX® running on rootvg to an alternate disk on the same system, install
a user-defined software bundle, and run a user-defined script to customize the AIX image on the alternate
disk.

Things to consider
The information in this how-to scenario was tested using specific versions of AIX. The results you obtain
might vary significantly depending on your version and level of AIX.

Because the alternate disk installation process involves cloning an existing rootvg to a target alternate
disk, the target alternate disk must not be already assigned to a volume group.

In this scenario you will do the following:

• Prepare for the alternate disk installation

• Perform the alternate disk installation and customization

• Boot off the alternate disk

• Verify the operation

For information about alternate disk installation, see Installing to an alternate disk. Also, refer to the
alt_disk_install man page.

Step 1. Prepare for the alternate disk installation

1. Check the status of physical disks on your system. Type:

# lspv

Output similar to the following displays:

hdisk0         0009710fa9c79877    rootvg    active

hdisk1         0009710f0b90db93    None

We can use hdisk1 as our alternate disk because no volume group is assigned to this physical disk.

2. Check to see if the alt_disk_install fileset has been installed by running the following:

# lslpp ­L bos.alt_disk_install.rte

Output similar to the following displays if the alt_disk_install fileset is not installed:

lslpp: 0504­132  Fileset bos.alt_disk_install.rte not installed.
3. Using volume 1 of the AIX installation media, install the alt_disk_install fileset by running the
following:

# geninstall ­d/dev/cd0 bos.alt_disk_install.rte

Output similar to the following displays:

+­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­+

                                Summaries:                                     

+­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­+

                                                                               

Installation Summary                                                           

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­                                                           

Name                        Level           Part        Event       Result     

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

bos.alt_disk_install.rte    5.3.0.0         USR         APPLY       SUCCESS    

4. Create a user-defined bundle called /usr/sys/inst.data/user_bundles/MyBundle.bnd that

contains the following filesets:

5. I:bos.content_list

I:bos.games

For more information on how to create a user-defined software bundle, refer to Creating and installing
a software bundle.

6. Create the /home/scripts directory:

mkdir /home/scripts

7. Create a user-defined customization script called AddUsers.sh in the /home/scripts directory:

8. touch /home/scripts/AddUsers.sh

chmod 755 /home/scripts/AddUsers.sh

9. Edit /home/scripts/AddUsers.sh to contain the following lines:

10.mkuser johndoe

11. touch /home/johndoe/abc.txt
 touch /home/johndoe/xyz.txt

Step 2. Perform the alternate disk installation and customization

1. To clone the rootvg to an alternate disk, type the following at the command line to open the SMIT
menu :

# smit alt_clone

2. Select hdisk1 in the Target Disk to Install field.

3. Select the MyBundle bundle in the Bundle to Install field.

4. Insert volume one of the installation media.

5. Type /dev/cd0 in the Directory or Device with images field.

6. Type /home/scripts/AddUsers.sh in the Customization script field.

7. Press Enter to start the alternate disk installation.

8. Check that the alternate disk was created, by running the following:

# lspv

Output similar to the following displays:

hdisk0         0009710fa9c79877    rootvg             

hdisk1         0009710f0b90db93    altinst_rootvg     

Step 3. Boot from the alternate disk

1. By default, the alternate-disk-installation process changes the boot list to the alternate disk. To check
this run the following:

# bootlist ­m normal ­o   

Output similar to the following displays:

hdisk1

2. Reboot the system. Type:

# shutdown ­r

The system boots from the boot image on the alternate disk (hdisk1).

Step 4. Verify the operation

1. When the system reboots, it will be running off the alternate disk. To check this, type the following:
 # lspv

Output similar to the following displays:

hdisk0         0009710fa9c79877    old_rootvg  

hdisk1         0009710f0b90db93    rootvg      

2. Verify that the customization script ran correctly, by typing the following:

# find /home/johndoe ­print       

Output similar to the following displays:

/home/johndoe                     

/home/johndoe/.profile            

/home/johndoe/abc.txt             

/home/johndoe/xyz.txt             

3. Verify that the contents of your software bundle was installed, by typing the following:

# lslpp ­Lb MyBundle                                         

Output similar to the following displays:

  Fileset                      Level  State  Description                      

  ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

  bos.content_list           5.3.0.0    C    AIX Release Content List         

  bos.games                  5.3.0.0    C    Games           

*******************************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************************

http://post.doit.wisc.edu/library/aix51/usr/share/man/info/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixins/aixinsgd/alternate_disk_inst.htm

Examples

1. To clone the rootvg running 4.1.4.0 to hdisk1 and update that clone with the latest maintenance level
4.1.5.0 that is on cd0, run the following command:
2. alt_disk_install ­C ­b update_all ­l /dev/cd0 hdisk1

In SMIT, use the smit alt_clone fast path and select hdisk1 from the listing for Target Disk(s) to install,
select the update_all bundle from the listings in the Bundle to Install field, and /dev/cd0 from the listing
in the Directory or Device with images field.
3. To clone the rootvg running 4.2.0 to hdisk3, then update to the latest fixes which are mounted from
another system on /421fixes, and run a customized script named /tmp/finish_alt_install, run the
following command:
4. alt_disk_install ­C ­b update_all ­l /421fixes \
5. ­s /tmp/finish_alt_install hdisk3

In SMIT, use the smit alt_clone fast path and select hdisk3 from the listing for Target Disk(s) to install,
select the update_all bundle from the listings in the Bundle to Install field, type /421fixes in the
Directory or Device with images field, and type /tmp/finish_alt_install in the Customization
script field.

6. To install a AIX 4.3 mksysb tape that was created from a machine with the same hardware configuration
as the target, to hdisk1, run the following command:
7. alt_disk_install ­d /dev/rmt0 hdisk1

In SMIT, use the smit alt_mksysb fast path and select hdisk1 from the listing for Target Disk(s) to install
field and select /dev/rmt0 from the listing for Device or image name field.

8. To install a AIX 4.3 mksysb image that is NFS mounted on file system /mksysbs to the alternate disk
hdisk2 using a customized image.data file and an exclude file containing ^./tmp/, type the following
command:
9. alt_disk_install ­d /mksysbs/my_43P_mksysb ­i /mksysbs/my_43p_image.data \
10.­e /mksysbs/my_exclude_file hdisk2

Using the ^./tmp/ pattern does not backup files in the /tmp directory, but does backup files in /var/tmp.

Note: All files are backed up relative to the current directory. This directory is represented by a . (dot
character). If it is important that the search match the string at the beginning of the line when excluding a
file or directory, it is necessary to use a ^. (caret followed by a dot character) as the first part of the search
string, followed by the filename or directory to be excluded. The form is as follows:

^./filename

If the filename or directory being excluded is a substring of another filename or directory, use a ^. (caret
followed by a dot character) for the search to start at the beginning of the line and the $ (dollar symbol) to
have the search finish at the end of the line.

In SMIT, use the smit alt_mksysb fast path and select hdisk2 in the Target Disk(s) to install field. Next,
type /mksysbs/my_43P_mksysb in the Device or image name field, /mksysbs/my_43p_image.data in
the image.data file field, and /mksysbs/my_exclude_file in the Exclude list field.

11. To "wake-up" an original rootvg, after booting from the new alternate disk, run the following command:
12.alt_disk_install ­W hdisk0
 The following example illustrates the displayed output you might see when running the command
discussed above:

# lspv

hdisk0         000040445043d9f3    old_rootvg

hdisk1         00076443210a72ea    rootvg

# alt_disk_install ­W hdisk0

# lspv

hdisk0         000040445043d9f3    altinst_rootvg

hdisk1         00076443210a72ea    rootvg

At this point, the altinst_rootvg volume group is varied-on and the /alt_inst file systems are mounted.

13. To "put-to-sleep" a volume group that had experienced a "wake-up" type the following command:
14. alt_disk_install ­S

The following example illustrates the displayed output you might see when running the command
discussed above:

# lspv

hdisk0         000040445043d9f3    altinst_rootvg

hdisk1         00076443210a72ea    rootvg

# alt_disk_install ­S

# lspv

hdisk0         000040445043d9f3    altinst_rootvg

hdisk1         00076443210a72ea    rootvg

The altinst_rootvg is no longer varied on and the /alt_inst file systems are no longer mounted. If
necessary for the altinst_rootvg volume group name to be changed back to old_rootvg, do this task with
the -v flag.

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