Re: Restore entire 7.5 system from a SAV21 tape

[Rob Berendt <robertowenberendt@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have completed several system migrations throughout the years.  Prior to
using BRMS I have followed one of the following links.  The recovery report
for BRMS does refer, initially, to some of the initial tasks on some of
these links.

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.5?topic=software-data-migrations
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.5?topic=crpdfde-checklist-3-actions-load-source-disk-unit-failure
This probably gets to the meat of your question:
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.5?topic=pllic-task-3-preparing-start-system-from-alternate-ipl-device

We have no physical tape drives left.  We are using Virtual Tape Libraries
or VTL's.  These work just fine as an IPL device.

If you're just into FUD, caveats or exceptions then continue on.
- A few rare third party VTL's are incompatible with IBM's (and BRMS)
save/restore commands.  They use their own software to do saves.  Those
devices are not compatible with IPL from tape.
- The L in VTL stands for Library.  When IPLing in Manual mode and IPLing
from tape it will configure the VTL as a device so that it can be an
alternate IPL device.  This is good.  If you follow the checklists
carefully they will tell you when to go to library mode.  This does not
involve any configuration on the end device itself (for those of you who
remember configuring tape libaries/drives from 'random' to sequential this
is normally not necessary).


On Wed, Sep 6, 2023 at 1:45 AM Gad Miron <gadmiron@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hello guys
>
> preparing for a test run of restoring entire system from a SAV21 tape I
> found this ,
>
>
> https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/power10?topic=adst-performing-alternate-ipl-dst-type-d-ipl
>
> Where it's stated (or so I think) that for Power10 V7R5 machines  you can
> IPL directly from
> the tape device without having to go through a DVD or USB bootable image
> (LIC)
>
> Am I right or is it my limited capacity of understanding IBM's documents ?
> (and all other docs at that)
>
> Anyone conducted such restoring operation? and survived?
>
> TIA
> Gad
> --
> This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list
> To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
> visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
> or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
> at https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
>
> Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
> questions.