In article <slrnctt31q.bb.agw@supersonic-usenet.ruhr.de>, Andreas Wohlfeld <agw@supersonic.ruhr.de> writes:
>
> Hi,
>
> is it possible to overwrite a running solaris with the netbackup client?
>
> Imagine the following situation:
> Netbackup does full system backups everyday. Also a flash archive is made
> every couple of months (so maybe it doesn't contain the latest patches).
>
> Some day the filesystem crashes beyond repair and the system is jumpstarted
> with the flash archive (JET).
> The system is running (e.g. in runlevel 1) with netbackup client installed
> and networking up. Is it now possible to tell netbackup to overwrite
> everything on the system (exlcuding itself) and to delete obsolete files?
>
> I think if netbackup deletes the files first before writing them, there
> should be no problem. The system is running solaris 8 w/patches and vxvm/ufs
> on the local volumes.
>
> I know there's the possibility to net boot a mini solaris image with
> netbackup client, but I want to use JET, as this is already configured for
> all machines.
>
> Regards
> Andreas
>

In most cases overwriting a running system would succeed,
but in rare cases library patches could crash a running
dynamically linked program.

With netbackup the critical program and libraries are IMHO:
ldd /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/tar
libsocket.so.1 => /usr/lib/libsocket.so.1
libnsl.so.1 => /usr/lib/libnsl.so.1
libsec.so.1 => /usr/lib/libsec.so.1
libdl.so.1 => /usr/lib/libdl.so.1
libc.so.1 => /usr/lib/libc.so.1
libmp.so.2 => /usr/lib/libmp.so.2
/usr/platform/`uname -i`/lib/libc_psr.so.1

Therefore, I have only restored certain parts of a running system.

A more efficient strategy is to daily recreate the flash archive,
and backup this, too (so in case of a broken archive one can redo
the flash-install from an older archive).

--
Michael Tosch
IT Specialist
Managed Services Germany
Hewlett-Packard GmbH
Phone: +49 2407 575 313
Mail: michael.tosch:hp.com