Method, system and article of manufacture for system recovery

• US 8,271,833 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2011
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Stakutis, Christopher J., Stearns, Kevin M., Shaw, Jennifer M.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHU, GABRIEL L
• Application Number:
  US13/115,846
• Publication Number:
  US 20110225413A1
• Time in Patent Office: 482 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 714/15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1417 Boot up procedures

Abstract

Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for system recovery. An operating system and a backup copy of the operating system are both maintained in a partition of a computational device. A boot loader receives an indication to load the backup copy of the operating system. The boot loader loads the backup copy of the operating system. The computational device is rebooted with the loaded backup copy of the operating system.

Claims

1. A distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the distributed system comprising:

a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network;

a distributed operating system controlling the plurality of computation devices; and

a storage partition that stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the distributed system performs;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first indicator stores a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and a second indicator stores a location from which the boot loader loads the distributed operating system, and wherein the loading of the backup copy of the distributed operating system further comprises;

copying, by the boot loader, the location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system from the first indicator to the second indicator;

reading, by the boot loader, the second indicator to determine a location from which to load programs to reboot the computational device; and

initiating, by the boot loader, a loading of the programs to reboot the computational device from the determined location.

2. A distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the distributed system comprising:

a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network;

a distributed operating system controlling the plurality of computation devices; and

a storage partition that stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the distributed system performs;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a file system filter protects the backup copy of the distributed operating system from alteration, wherein the file system filter stores in a first indicator a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and wherein in response to the indication the boot loader uses the first indicator to populate a boot directory name field that is used to load the distributed operating system.

3. The distributed system of claim 2, wherein a plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system are stored in the storage partition, wherein the storage partition is a single storage partition, and wherein the boot loader loads one of the plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system in response to a corruption of the distributed operating system.

4. The distributed system of claim 2, wherein storage of the distributed operating system and the backup copy of the distributed operating system in the storage partition allows a substitution of the distributed operating system with the copy of the distributed operating system without a block by block copying of the distributed operating system by the boot loader.

5. A distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the distributed system comprising:

a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network;

a distributed operating system controlling the plurality of computation devices; and

a storage partition that stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the distributed system performs;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first directory includes the distributed operating system and a second directory includes the backup copy of the distributed operating system, the distributed system further performs;

creating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, in response to a command from a user;

renaming the second directory to the first directory to use the backup copy of the distributed operating system to reboot the computational device; and

updating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the updated backup copy of the distributed operating system is used to reboot the computational device.

6. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed causes operations in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, wherein a plurality of computational devices are coupled via the network, a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations comprising:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first indicator stores a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and a second indicator stores a location from which the boot loader loads the distributed operating system, and wherein the loading of the backup copy of the distributed operating system further comprises;

copying, by the boot loader, the location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system from the first indicator to the second indicator;

reading, by the boot loader, the second indicator to determine a location from which to load programs to reboot the computational device; and

initiating, by the boot loader, a loading of the programs to reboot the computational device from the determined location.

7. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed causes operations in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, wherein a plurality of computational devices are coupled via the network, a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations comprising:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a file system filter protects the backup copy of the distributed operating system from alteration, wherein the file system filter stores in a first indicator a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and wherein in response to the indication the boot loader uses the first indicator to populate a boot directory name field that is used to load the distributed operating system.

8. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein a plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system are stored in the storage partition, wherein the storage partition is a single storage partition, and wherein the boot loader loads one of the plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system in response to a corruption of the distributed operating system.

9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein storage of the distributed operating system and the backup copy of the distributed operating system in the storage partition allows a substitution of the distributed operating system with the copy of the distributed operating system without a block by block copying of the distributed operating system by the boot loader.

10. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed causes operations in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, wherein a plurality of computational devices are coupled via the network, a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations comprising:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first directory includes the distributed operating system and a second directory includes the backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations further comprising;

creating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, in response to a command from a user;

renaming the second directory to the first directory to use the backup copy of the distributed operating system to reboot the computational device; and

updating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the updated backup copy of the distributed operating system is used to reboot the computational device.

11. A method implemented in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network, wherein a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first indicator stores a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and a second indicator stores a location from which the boot loader loads the distributed operating system, and wherein the loading of the backup copy of the distributed operating system further comprises;

copying, by the boot loader, the location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system from the first indicator to the second indicator;

reading, by the boot loader, the second indicator to determine a location from which to load programs to reboot the computational device; and

initiating, by the boot loader, a loading of the programs to reboot the computational device from the determined location.

12. A method implemented in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network, wherein a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a file system filter protects the backup copy of the distributed operating system from alteration, wherein the file system filter stores in a first indicator a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and wherein in response to the indication the boot loader uses the first indicator to populate a boot directory name field that is used to load the distributed operating system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system are stored in the storage partition, wherein the storage partition is a single storage partition, and wherein the boot loader loads one of the plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system in response to a corruption of the distributed operating system.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein storage of the distributed operating system and the backup copy of the distributed operating system in the storage partition allows a substitution of the distributed operating system with the copy of the distributed operating system without a block by block copying of the distributed operating system by the boot loader.

15. A method implemented in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network, wherein a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first directory includes the distributed operating system and a second directory includes the backup copy of the distributed operating system, the method further comprising;

creating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, in response to a command from a user;

renaming the second directory to the first directory to use the backup copy of the distributed operating system to reboot the computational device; and

updating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the updated backup copy of the distributed operating system is used to reboot the computational device.