EFFICIENT BACKUP AND RESTORE OF VIRTUAL INPUT/OUTPUT SERVER (VIOS) CLUSTER

• US 20120150815A1
• Filed: 12/09/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pafumi, James A., Vallabhaneni, Vasu, Siddeshwar, Chintamani P., Thota, Rupesh Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,392,378 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/679
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1654 where the output of only one of the redundant processing components can drive the attached hardware, e.g. memory or I/O
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1658 Data re-synchronization of a redundant component, or initial sync of replacement, additional or spare unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2023 Failover techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2038 with a single idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2046 where the redundant components share persistent storage G06F11/2043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/125 characterised by the use of retention policies retention policies for HSM systems G06F16/185

Abstract

A method enables cluster-level backup and restore functionality of all Virtual Input/Output Server (VIOS) configuration data within a VIOS cluster and the data of a shared VIOS cluster database. The method comprises: performing, via a backup/restore utility of a VIOS partition, a cluster level backup, which creates a first VIOS cluster configuration backup file having configuration information about hardware, logical and virtual devices of each VIOS partition within a VIOS cluster and all cluster data from the shared VIOS database of the VIOS cluster; storing the VIOS cluster configuration backup file within a storage location; and responsive to receipt of a VIOS restore command at a VIOS partition: retrieving the configuration backup file from the storage location; restoring a configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of each VIOS within the VIOS cluster to prior state; and restoring the shared VIOS database with the backed-up cluster data.

Claims

1. In a data processing system having a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, at least one input/output (I/O) adapter that enables connection to an external network with a shared storage repository, and a virtualization management component executing within the data processing system to generate a plurality of operating system (OS) partitions including a first virtual I/O server (VIOS) partition, a method comprising:

performing, via a backup/restore utility of a cluster aware (CA) operating system (OS) executing on a processor resource of the first VIOS partition, a cluster level backup operation from one or more VIOS partitions, including the first VIOS partition and at least one second VIOS partition, wherein the cluster level backup operation creates a first VIOS cluster configuration backup file having configuration information about hardware, logical and virtual devices of each VIOS partition within a VIOS cluster and all cluster data from a shared VIOS database of the VIOS cluster;

storing the VIOS cluster configuration backup file within a storage location; and

responsive to receipt of a VIOS restore command at the first VIOS partition;

retrieving the configuration backup file from the storage location;

restoring a configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of the first VIOS to a state that existed at a time at which the backup operation creating the configuration backup file was performed;

triggering a restore operation of each second VIOS within the VIOS cluster; and

restoring the shared VIOS database with the cluster data from the VIOS cluster configuration backup file.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a first trigger at the CA OS that is associated with performing one or more of a backup and a restore operation; and

in response to the first trigger being a received virtual cluster level backup/restore (CBR) command;

parsing the received CBR command for a function parameter that indicates which operation is being requested; and

performing the requested operation across the VIOS cluster.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the CBR command is received via a command line input from a management console communicatively connected to the first VIOS;

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level backup request received at the OS via the CBR command, initiating the backup operation as a cluster level configuration backup operation; and

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level restore request received at the OS via the CBR command;

retrieving the VIOS cluster configuration backup file from the storage location;

unzipping the VIOS cluster configuration backup file;

performing the restoring and triggering operations to enable a restore of the configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of the first VIOS and for each of the second VIOSes; and

performing the restoring of the shared VIOS database.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level backup scheduling timer reaching one or more of a time value and a date value, initiating the cluster level backup operation as an automated configuration backup operation; and

in response to the first trigger being expiration of a timer having a count value since a previous cluster level backup operation has been performed;

initiating the cluster level backup operation as an automated periodic cluster level configuration backup operation; and

resetting the timer when the cluster level backup operation is completed.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the cluster level backup operation from the first VIOS partition comprises:

performing a local configuration backup of configuration data of the first VIOS to generate a first XML configuration file;

forwarding the first XML configuration file to a collating storage location;

messaging each second VIOS within the VIOS cluster to perform a local configuration backup and to return a respective second XML configuration file to a single collating storage location;

performing a complete backup of the shared VIOS database to generate a VIOS data base backup file;

forwarding the VIOS database backup file to the collating storage location;

generating the single VIOS cluster configuration backup file from the N XML configuration files of each VIOS within the VIOS cluster and the one (1) VIOS database backup file, wherein the generating comprises performing a zip operation to collate and compress the N XML configuration files and the VIOS database backup file into a single zip file; and

storing the single zip file as the VIOS cluster configuration backup file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file comprises one or more of:

storing a local copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at a local storage of the first VIOS;

storing a local copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at a local storage of each of the first VIOS and the one or more second VIOSes; and

storing an exportable copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at one or more of the shared storage repository and the VIOS database.

7. The method of claim 25, wherein said restoring further comprises:

performing one or more local validation checks of one or more of the hardware, logical and virtual devices against the stored parameters within the configuration backup file of the first VIOS;

receiving one or more messages indicating one of a successful completion and a failure of a local restore operation at each node of the VIOS cluster and at the shared VIOS database;

in response to a validation check of one or more of the local validation checks failing;

pausing a restore operation; and

generating a notification of an error in the restore operation; and

in response to receiving a failure response from one or more of a node of the VIOS cluster and the shared VIOS database, generating a notification of an error in the restore operation at a specific source of the failure response.

8. A data processing system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors;

at least one input/output (I/O) adapter that enables connection to an external network with a shared storage repository; and

a virtualization management component executing within the data processing system to generate a plurality of operating system (OS) partitions including a first virtual I/O server (VIOS) partition, which performs the functions of;

performing, via a backup/restore utility of a cluster aware (CA) operating system (OS) executing on a processor resource of the first VIOS partition, a cluster level backup operation from one or more VIOS partitions, including the first VIOS partition and at least one second VIOS partition, wherein the cluster level backup operation creates a first VIOS cluster configuration backup file having configuration information about hardware, logical and virtual devices of each VIOS partition within a VIOS cluster and all cluster data from a shared VIOS database of the VIOS cluster;

storing the VIOS cluster configuration backup file within a storage location; and

responsive to receipt of a VIOS restore command at the first VIOS partition;

retrieving the configuration backup file from the storage location;

restoring a configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of the first VIOS to a state that existed at a time at which the backup operation creating the configuration backup file was performed;

triggering a restore operation of each second VIOS within the VIOS cluster; and

restoring the shared VIOS database with the cluster data from the VIOS cluster configuration backup file.

9. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the first VIOS further performs additional functions comprising:

receiving a first trigger at the CA OS that is associated with performing one or more of a backup and a restore operation; and

in response to the first trigger being a received virtual cluster level backup/restore (CBR) command;

parsing the received CBR command for a function parameter that indicates which operation is being requested; and

performing the requested operation across the VIOS cluster.

10. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein:

the CBR command is received via a command line input from a management console communicatively connected to the first VIOS;

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level backup request received at the OS via the CBR command, the VIOS initiating the backup operation as a cluster level configuration backup operation; and

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level restore request received at the OS via the CBR command, the VIOS performing the functions of;

retrieving the VIOS cluster configuration backup file from the storage location;

unzipping the VIOS cluster configuration backup file;

performing the restoring and triggering operations to enable a restore of the configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of the first VIOS and for each of the second VIOSes; and

performing the restoring of the shared VIOS database.

11. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein:

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level backup scheduling timer reaching one or more of a time value and a date value, the VIOS initiating the cluster level backup operation as an automated configuration backup operation; and

in response to the first trigger being expiration of a timer having a count value since a previous cluster level backup operation has been performed, the VIOS performing additional functions comprising;

initiating the cluster level backup operation as an automated periodic cluster level configuration backup operation; and

resetting the timer when the cluster level backup operation is completed.

12. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein performing the cluster level backup operation from the first VIOS partition includes the VIOS performing additional functions comprising:

performing a local configuration backup of configuration data of the first VIOS to generate a first XML configuration file;

forwarding the first XML configuration file to a collating storage location;

messaging each second VIOS within the VIOS cluster to perform a local configuration backup and to return a respective second XML configuration file to a single collating storage location;

performing a complete backup of the shared VIOS database to generate a VIOS data base backup file;

forwarding the VIOS database backup file to the collating storage location;

generating the single VIOS cluster configuration backup file from the N XML configuration files of each VIOS within the VIOS cluster and the one (1) VIOS database backup file, wherein the generating comprises performing a zip operation to collate and compress the N XML configuration files and the VIOS database backup file into a single zip file; and

storing the single zip file as the VIOS cluster configuration backup file.

13. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the storing of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file comprises one or more of:

storing a local copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at a local storage of the first VIOS;

storing a local copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at a local storage of each of the first VIOS and the one or more second VIOSes; and

storing an exportable copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at one or more of the shared storage repository and the VIOS database.

14. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein said restoring further comprises performing the functions comprising:

performing one or more local validation checks of one or more of the hardware, logical and virtual devices against the stored parameters within the configuration backup file of the first VIOS;

receiving one or more messages indicating one of a successful completion and a failure of a local restore operation at each node of the VIOS cluster and at the shared VIOS database;

in response to a validation check of one or more of the local validation checks failing;

pausing a restore operation; and

generating a notification of an error in the restore operation; and

in response to receiving a failure response from one or more of a node of the VIOS cluster and the shared VIOS database, generating a notification of an error in the restore operation at a specific source of the failure response.

15. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium; and

program code on said computer readable storage medium that when executed by a processor within a data processing system performs the functions of;

performing, via a backup/restore utility of a cluster aware (CA) operating system (OS) executing on a processor resource of the first VIOS partition, a cluster level backup operation from one or more VIOS partitions, including the first VIOS partition and at least one second VIOS partition, wherein the cluster level backup operation creates a first VIOS cluster configuration backup file having configuration information about hardware, logical and virtual devices of each VIOS partition within a VIOS cluster and all cluster data from a shared VIOS database of the VIOS cluster;

storing the VIOS cluster configuration backup file within a storage location; and

responsive to receipt of a VIOS restore command at the first VIOS partition;

retrieving the configuration backup file from the storage location;

restoring a configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of the first VIOS to a state that existed at a time at which the backup operation creating the configuration backup file was performed;

triggering a restore operation of each second VIOS within the VIOS cluster; and

restoring the shared VIOS database with the cluster data from the VIOS cluster configuration backup file.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, said program code further comprising code for:

receiving a first trigger at the CA OS that is associated with performing one or more of a backup and a restore operation; and

in response to the first trigger being a received virtual cluster level backup/restore (CBR) command;

parsing the received CBR command for a function parameter that indicates which operation is being requested; and

performing the requested operation across the VIOS cluster.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein:

the CBR command is received via a command line input from a management console communicatively connected to the first VIOS; and

said program code further comprising code for;

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level backup request received at the OS via the CBR command, initiating the backup operation as a cluster level configuration backup operation; and

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level restore request received at the OS via the CBR command;

retrieving the VIOS cluster configuration backup file from the storage location;

unzipping the VIOS cluster configuration backup file;

performing the restoring and triggering operations to enable a restore of the configuration of the hardware, logical and virtual devices of the first VIOS and for each of the second VIOSes; and

performing the restoring of the shared VIOS database.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the program code further comprises code for:

in response to the first trigger being a cluster level backup scheduling timer reaching one or more of a time value and a date value, initiating the cluster level backup operation as an automated configuration backup operation; and

in response to the first trigger being expiration of a timer having a count value since a previous cluster level backup operation has been performed;

initiating the cluster level backup operation as an automated periodic cluster level configuration backup operation; and

resetting the timer when the cluster level backup operation is completed.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program code for performing the cluster level backup operation from the first VIOS partition comprises additional code for:

performing a local configuration backup of configuration data of the first VIOS to generate a first XML configuration file;

forwarding the first XML configuration file to a collating storage location;

messaging each second VIOS within the VIOS cluster to perform a local configuration backup and to return a respective second XML configuration file to a single collating storage location;

performing a complete backup of the shared VIOS database to generate a VIOS data base backup file;

forwarding the VIOS database backup file to the collating storage location;

generating the single VIOS cluster configuration backup file from the N XML configuration files of each VIOS within the VIOS cluster and the one (1) VIOS database backup file, wherein the generating comprises performing a zip operation to collate and compress the N XML configuration files and the VIOS database backup file into a single zip file; and

storing the single zip file as the VIOS cluster configuration backup file.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program code for storing of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file comprises code for performing one or more of:

storing a local copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at a local storage of the first VIOS;

storing a local copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at a local storage of each of the first VIOS and the one or more second VIOSes; and

storing an exportable copy of the VIOS cluster configuration backup file at one or more of the shared storage repository and the VIOS database.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein said code for restoring further comprises code for:

performing one or more local validation checks of one or more of the hardware, logical and virtual devices against the stored parameters within the configuration backup file of the first VIOS;

receiving one or more messages indicating one of a successful completion and a failure of a local restore operation at each node of the VIOS cluster and at the shared VIOS database;

in response to a validation check of one or more of the local validation checks failing;

pausing a restore operation; and

generating a notification of an error in the restore operation; and

in response to receiving a failure response from one or more of a node of the VIOS cluster and the shared VIOS database, generating a notification of an error in the restore operation at a specific source of the failure response.