Agree with the comments for #1/#3, but get where Mike is coming from. I've had 
a couple "early mornings" when we are on the phone with the Linux and z/VM 
groups trying to figure out why a server won't come up. As the z/VM person, 
lots of times I'm providing them console logs and such with the errors since 
they aren't comfortable with our environment yet. So the more data I can scrape 
from their system into z/VM and assist them, the better.

So for #2, is there a Linux equivalent of a z/OS "wto" or z/VM "msg" that can 
direct command output to the Linux console?

__________________________________
Tom Stewart
Infrastructure Analyst
John Deere - z/OS Support Services
em: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ph: (309) 765-9405
__________________________________




-----Original Message-----
From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Fargusson.Alan
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 5:05 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: fstab and other small, critical file recoveries

1) It does not make sense to me.  The next crash is not likely to take out this 
particular file, or any other file you thought to write to the spool.  This is 
why you need a good backup.

2) Don't bother.

3) The better way is to backup your system.

I hope I don't sound harsh, however there is no substitute for a backup of the 
system.


-----Original Message-----
From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mike Walter
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 2:50 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: fstab and other small, critical file recoveries


At one point one of our "zLinux" (marketing and politically incorrect) Proof of 
Concept servers suffered some form of filesystem corruption.  The fstab was 
severely wounded, requiring that it be manually rebuilt by hand.
 During the rebuild period, the server was out of commission.

Since the fstab is so critical to boot a Linux server, I can't help but wonder 
if it would make sense to display the fstab (and perhaps some other critical, 
but not too large) files to the VM SPOOLed console log upon successful 
completion of each boot.  That way, if the critical files are corrupt at one 
boot time, one only needs to look back through the VM console log (which 
requires no perhaps-unavailable Linux server tools) for the previous successful 
boot.  (I am intentionally avoiding Linux's own syslog as a review/copy source 
since it may not be available if something critical had been corrupted).

At that point one could compare what's in the current/corrupted file to the 
last good copy from the last good console log, and with fix the bad file, or 
copy/paste the entire good file in place of the bad one (hence the need for the 
"critical" files to be relatively short).

So... the questions are:
1) Does that make sense to do?
2) What's the best way to echo/cat the critical files to the VM SPOOLed console 
log after every successful boot?
3) Is there a better way (without access to file-level backups, which we don't 
have yet during a P.O.C.)?

Mike Walter
Hewitt Associates
Any opinions expressed herein are mine alone and do not necessarily represent 
the opinions or policies of Hewitt Associates.


The information contained in this e-mail and any accompanying documents may 
contain information that is confidential or otherwise protected from 
disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, or if this 
message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender 
by reply e-mail and then delete this message, including any attachments. Any 
dissemination, distribution or other use of the contents of this message by 
anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. All messages 
sent to and from this e-mail address may be monitored as permitted by 
applicable law and regulations to ensure compliance with our internal policies 
and to protect our business. E-mails are not secure and cannot be guaranteed to 
be error free as they can be intercepted, amended, lost or destroyed, or 
contain viruses. You are deemed to have accepted these risks if you communicate 
with us by e-mail.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit 
http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email from the State of California is for the sole 
use of the intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged 
information.  Any unauthorized review or use, including disclosure or 
distribution, is prohibited.  If you are not the intended recipient, please 
contact the sender and destroy all copies of this email.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit 
http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit
http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390

Reply via email to