Monday, September 11, 2006
How to create Solaris FLAR Archive
Pre-Requisites
There are a number of key pre-requisites to do this process:
1) Disk space must be available to hold the image(s), and store it/them for a period of time if required.
2) The server to be imaged must be brought to a controlled halt. This means all the applications must be shut down correctly, databases shut down, and any extraneous server processes halted. This is to ensure that the image can be restored in a controlled manner. If any processes (incl' apps and db) are left running when the image is taken, then bring the server back to operational status after restoring the image will be very problematic.
Create Flash Archive
A flash archive is created using the flarcreate command.
1.Ensure all pre-requisites are completed (see above). DO NOT PROCEED until they are completed.
2.Delete obsolete application log files to reduce the size of the flash
Some application log files can be several Gb in size and are often obsolete, so deleting these can reduce the flash size significantly and subsequently the restore time.
3.Double check that all applications have been shutdown successfully.
4.Ensure there is sufficient free disk space to hold the Flash Archive. If necessary, create a directory in a filesystem with ample space free .
# mkdir /flash
5.Then create the flash archive using the flarcreate command:
The flarcreate command is used with the switches listed below.
-n allows you to specify an internal name
-R specify the root directory (i.e. Creates the archive rooted at the specified file system tree location)
-S skip the disk space check (without this option flarcreate builds a compressed archive in memory first)
-c compresses the archive
-x excludes the file or directory specified (as a default the network configuration files need to be excluded because they interfere with jumpstart)
Examples
# flarcreate -S -n "server-type-flash" -R / -c -x /flash /flash/`hostname`-flash
# flarcreate -n "210-flash" -R / -S -c -x /flash -x /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/bge.conf /flash/`hostname`-flash
# flarcreate -n "480R-flash" -R / -S -c -x /flash -x /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/ce.conf /flash/`hostname`-flash
This will take between 1 and 4 hours depending on what the server does and on the platform.
6. Copy the flash to the relevant Jumpstart server with the following command:
7.Set the attributes of the flash archive files to Read-Only, to reduce the possibility that it could be accidentally overwritten or deleted. In addition, change the ownership of the flash archive to Root (so that it cannot be changed by anyone without proper authorised access).
There are a number of key pre-requisites to do this process:
1) Disk space must be available to hold the image(s), and store it/them for a period of time if required.
2) The server to be imaged must be brought to a controlled halt. This means all the applications must be shut down correctly, databases shut down, and any extraneous server processes halted. This is to ensure that the image can be restored in a controlled manner. If any processes (incl' apps and db) are left running when the image is taken, then bring the server back to operational status after restoring the image will be very problematic.
Create Flash Archive
A flash archive is created using the flarcreate command.
1.Ensure all pre-requisites are completed (see above). DO NOT PROCEED until they are completed.
2.Delete obsolete application log files to reduce the size of the flash
Some application log files can be several Gb in size and are often obsolete, so deleting these can reduce the flash size significantly and subsequently the restore time.
3.Double check that all applications have been shutdown successfully.
4.Ensure there is sufficient free disk space to hold the Flash Archive. If necessary, create a directory in a filesystem with ample space free .
# mkdir /flash
5.Then create the flash archive using the flarcreate command:
The flarcreate command is used with the switches listed below.
-n allows you to specify an internal name
-R specify the root directory (i.e. Creates the archive rooted at the specified file system tree location)
-S skip the disk space check (without this option flarcreate builds a compressed archive in memory first)
-c compresses the archive
-x excludes the file or directory specified (as a default the network configuration files need to be excluded because they interfere with jumpstart)
Examples
# flarcreate -S -n "server-type-flash" -R / -c -x /flash /flash/`hostname`-flash
# flarcreate -n "210-flash" -R / -S -c -x /flash -x /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/bge.conf /flash/`hostname`-flash
# flarcreate -n "480R-flash" -R / -S -c -x /flash -x /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/ce.conf /flash/`hostname`-flash
This will take between 1 and 4 hours depending on what the server does and on the platform.
6. Copy the flash to the relevant Jumpstart server with the following command:
7.Set the attributes of the flash archive files to Read-Only, to reduce the possibility that it could be accidentally overwritten or deleted. In addition, change the ownership of the flash archive to Root (so that it cannot be changed by anyone without proper authorised access).
# posted by singampuli @ 4:34 pm 
