MKBOOT(1M) — Silicon Graphics
NAME
mkboot − make a “bootable” tape for system restoration
SYNOPSIS
/etc/mkboot [ −s standalonedir ] [ −r rootdev ] [ filesys ] ...
DESCRIPTION
Mkboot creates a tape with the contents of the disk at the time it is invoked. It is suitable for use in restoring a system to a functional state, regardless of the contents of the disk. Such a tape can be used to recover from a crash, or to bring up a new disk.
The tape contains two or more files: the first is a cpio-format archive containing necessary standalone programs; the second is a “dd” image of the root file system; the third and succeeding files are cpio-format archives of user file systems. The standalone programs are normally taken from /stand; the −s option may be used to specify an alternate directory. The root file system is normally md0a or ip0a, depending on the system model; the −r option may be used to specify an alternate (block) device. The remaining options are the path names of directories to be included on the tape; no user file systems are included by default.
To use the tape to restore a system, the standalone program mdfex (or ipfex) is booted from the first file on the tape, then used to copy the second file (the root file system) onto the disk. All previous contents on the root file system of the disk are lost. The system may then be brought up in single-user mode. To restore user partitions, newfs(1M) may be used to create the user file system if necessary, smt(1) is used to forward the tape to the third file, and then cpio(1) may be used to read in the user files.
EXAMPLE
mkboot /usr
This command creates a standard “mkboot” tape.
SEE ALSO
Mdfex Formatter and Exerciser
Ipfex Interphase Formatter and Exerciser
Version 2.3 — July 04, 1985