Restoring an AIX System with mksysb

In the event of a disaster, you can boot from tape, CD/DVD, or the network and do a full restore. The processes are very similar, so we'll cover them as one procedure:

1. If the system is still running, you can set it up to boot from tape or CD before you shut it down:
2. 1. To boot from CD/DVD:

   2. Client # bootlist m normal cd0
                              

   3. To boot from tape:

   4. Client # bootlist m normal rmt0
                              

   5. To boot from the network:

   6. Client # bootlist m normal en0
                              

3. Power down the system.
4. Attach a system terminal (or monitor and keyboard).
5. Prepare the media:
6. 1. If this is a tape restore, attach a tape drive and insert the tape in the drive.
   2. If this is a CD restore, insert the first CD/DVD in the drive.
7. Power up the system.
8. Display the SMS menu. If you weren't able to set the boot list to the proper device before powering down, you need to tell the system to boot from the proper device on power up. On HMC-attached systems, you can select the boot mode before you start the partitions; it then defaults to the SMS menu. On other AIX systems, you need to interrupt the boot process to display the SMS menu. On some older systems, you press F1 while the POST icons are appearing on the monitor. On most later model systems, you press F5 while the POST icons are appearing on the monitor. Consult the hardware guide that shipped with your AIX system for the interrupt sequence for your model of hardware.
9. Once in the SMS menu, select Maintenance Mode, and set one of the following restore/boot options:
10. 1. Choose Select Boot Device, and specify CD, DVD, or tape restore.
    2. For a NIM install, select "Installation from Network." Selecting NIM install may require you to supply additional network parameters depending on how your NIM server is set up.
11. The backup is checked for compatibility. If the backup is compatible with the hardware it is being restored onto, it pauses for five seconds and then continues unprompted and restores the rootvg based on the settings in image.data and/or bosinst.data. If you want to interrupt the install, press the 0 key three times (000) during the five-second pause. This forces the restore into prompted mode. In the event that the backup does not match the hardware of the system, it automatically begins a prompted restore. The prompted restore looks very much like the initial AIX installer, but at the end you have a restore of your system.
12. If you are not performing a prompted restore, the restore continues uninterrupted until it completes. If you are performing a prompted restore, it allows you to change the physical disk(s) that the restore is performed to, shrink filesystems, etc.
13. When the restore finishes, the system changes its boot device to the install target devices for the rootvg and reboot.