Problem with backup and restore?

tradewind · 07-10-2004, 05:49 AM

Hi everyone,
I have an IBM server installed RedHat Advanced Server 2.1. My tape is recognized as /dev/st0. I use the following command to backup all my system:
tar cpf /dev/st0 -C / --exclude=/proc .
I cannot boot my OS, so how can I restore my system from tape?

jcookeman · 07-10-2004, 07:47 AM

Why can you not boot your OS? What did you do to wreck the system, if anything?

whansard · 07-10-2004, 08:46 AM

tar will not install a boot loader for you. if that's messed up, then the restore will do no good. you'll have to do that by hand. booting from a rescue cd or something is necessary for restoring the files, or installing the boot loader. generally you mount the drive, or format then mount, then run the proper tar command, then reinstall the boot loader if necessary.

tradewind · 07-11-2004, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by whansard
tar will not install a boot loader for you. if that's messed up, then the restore will do no good. you'll have to do that by hand. booting from a rescue cd or something is necessary for restoring the files, or installing the boot loader. generally you mount the drive, or format then mount, then run the proper tar command, then reinstall the boot loader if necessary.

I boot from a CD and type linux rescue at the command line. But it cannot recognize the tape. Please help me, thanks, or can you tell me another way to do backup and restore if cannot boot OS?

jcookeman · 07-11-2004, 09:09 PM

Again,
You need to tell us what the problem is. Is your boot loader missing, boot loader configuration? What? Tell us the exact problem and error you are getting when trying to boot.

tradewind · 07-12-2004, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcookeman
Again,
You need to tell us what the problem is. Is your boot loader missing, boot loader configuration? What? Tell us the exact problem and error you are getting when trying to boot.

I supposed that I cannot boot OS (for example: missing the boot loader or any other reasons). Is it possible to restore from tape in this case?

whansard · 07-12-2004, 05:43 AM

what is the last message on the screen when linux stops?

tradewind · 07-12-2004, 11:16 PM

Sorry if my English makes you misunderstand. I just suppose the situation. For example, if someone formats the hard drive, can I use tape to restore? As whansard says, tar will not install a boot loader so that I cannot boot from tape (but I can do this with Solaris). And now I'm a bit worry about this.

whansard · 07-13-2004, 06:24 AM

i meant tar will not put a boot loader on the hard drive. you have to do that yourself. if your system is not booting because the boot loader is messed up, then perhaps none of the files on the system are messed up. perhaps it's just the boot loader, and if you tell us what boot loader you are using, lilo or grub, and the error message you are getting, we can tell you what to do to make the system boot.
to restore your files with tar will not make the system start booting correctly. you will need a rescue disk that supports your tape drive, and whatever device it is attached to, atapi or scsi.
if you do not have those, and cannot get them, the fix is to do a fresh install of the system from the original disks, and create the necessary rescue things from there, then reboot with the stuff you made, and restore then. you will still have to install a boot loader after that.
that is why we are trying to see if your boot loader is messed up first, because if that's all the problem is, then you may not have to restore any files.