ADSM-L

Re: ASR woes

2006-02-16 08:22:30
Subject: Re: ASR woes
From: Henrik Wahlstedt <SHWL AT STATOIL DOT COM>
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 14:22:09 +0100
Dont commercialize this list pls!

It wont solve Pauls ASR problems to use other products. Instead, maybe you 
should try to put some effort in helping him...

Slipstreamed installation media with ASR recovery works fine, even if you have 
different boot controllers. That worked with ASR before CBMR invented disimilar 
hardware restore...

To Pauls problem, sry, I have no clue, it been to long since I tested that 
feature.

//Henrik



-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of 
Christian Svensson
Sent: den 16 februari 2006 14:02
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: SV: ASR woes

Hi Paul,
Have you try ASR and Citrix?
Now you got problems...

But there is BMR software that is made for more advance environment that IBM 
recommends.

Talk to your local IBM rep for more information.

Thanks
Christian

-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
Från: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] För Paul van 
Dongen
Skickat: den 16 februari 2006 13:45
Till: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Ämne: ASR woes

Hello TSMers, or more precisely, the intersection between the TSMers and 
WINDOWSers
 
   I spent the last 24 hours struggling with the ASR bare metal recovery 
process with W2K3 and TSM. Got some good things, and some strange things which 
I would like to share/comment, and also seek for some answers. Here's the story:
 
   First of all, I used TSM client 5.3.2.2 to backup all disks on the servers, 
including System State/System Services. Open Files backup also working fine.
   First machine to be recovered was a test machine with one disk split in two 
partitions (C: and T:). Restore went file, and ASR recreated my two partitions 
and restored C:. The T: partition was left empty, but this is a minor problem.
 
   After this degree of success, we went for the restoration of a MS Cluster 
node running SQL Server, on a brand-new IBM xSeries 366. Here begins the real 
story....
 
   Problem #1: This machine uses SAS disks and matching RAID controller, for 
which I had to provide the drivers. When I pressed F6 during text-mode setup, 
it prompted for the driver, an went on, but then it wouldn't accept the ASR 
diskette anymore. I finally solved it by integrating the RAID controller driver 
into the W2K3 CD.
   Problem #2: The network cards present on the machine (6 in total) are not 
recognized by the standard Windows setup. After a call to MS's support, I got 
the answer that "only local restores are supported". After many hours and 
iteractions of "burn CD-RW (15 min)/boot the server (20 min)" I could get 
Windows to accept a set of network drivers integrated as OEM drivers pointed by 
the "Unattended Install" mode. I had some dark thoughts because the ASR process 
uses its own kind of response file, and soon enough I was feced with the 
effects of this. After the device detection, Windows setup would simply freeze. 
After some 10 minutes, I gave up I went to reboot the machine. By chance I 
pressed Enter and... oops!! Setup resumed.... Not too good to document, I 
think. "If setup freezes, get a cup of coffee an try pressing Enter several 
times"....
 
   After that, Windows finally came back, but it started complaining on every 
boot that the cluster service could not be started because the quorum disk 
could not be accessed (Quite right, since the other node has it). But after 60 
sec, cluster service restarts and the node joins the cluster normally. That is 
problem #3.
 
   The last problem# is by far the silliest.... The (standard) MS Sql server 
install placed in the registry the SHORT file names (intended for 16-bit 
programs that must use the old 8.3 naming convention). So, the directory named 
"Microsoft SQL Server" had a short name of MICROS~1 before the ASR process, and 
MICROS~2 after (because there was a "Microsoft MOM" directory which was 
restored earlier ad got MICROS~1). Obviously SQL Server wouldn't start, and I 
had to rename both directories to get it to work.
 
   I am currently trying (after some sleep) to solve these so I can get a 
decent automated process. If someone gets any light on these questions please 
let me know.
 
Thanks to all,
Paul van Dongen


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