[OpenAFS] afs cell migration

[Sergio Gelato]

* Steve Simmons [2007-03-15 13:03:44 -0400]:
> On Mar 15, 2007, at 9:03 AM, Jose Angel Herrero wrote:
>=20
> >We have an afs cell (atc.unican.es) installed in a HP Proliand =20
> >DL380 G3 and Linux (Debian 3.0 r2) server. The afs partitions =20
> >(vicepxx)  for this cell are located in a HP MSA20 (SATA disk drive =20
> >storage enclosure with 12 SATA disks with Ultra320 SCSI host =20
> >connectivity and 6 TB). Now, we want migrate this cell (fileserver =20
> >and dbserver) from this server to another server and we do not want =20
> >to lose the data of our cell. We want to change the server =20
> >(hardware), but no the disk library (vicepxx). We want to conserve  =20
> >the data in this disk library.
> >
> >So, we would like to know if there is some mechanism from afs admin =20
> >commands suite that allows us to migrate it.
>=20
> There's nothing I know of standard in the afs admin commands, but =20
> here's a little shell script I use for that purpose. It expects as =20
> input a list of volume/server/partition indicators, one per line:
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>     user.foo server.do.main a
>=20
> and will move them to a server/partition pair you set in the script. =20

I don't think this is what was being asked for. My understanding is
that they don't have a second array to move the volumes to, but would
rather attach the existing array to the new server. I'll also venture
a guess that the operating system on the new server supports the
filesystem type(s) of the existing /vicepxx partitions and can run the
namei fileserver.

I would recommend reading the relevant portions of the AFS Admin Guide,
in particular:
  http://www.openafs.org/pages/doc/AdminGuide/auagd008.htm#Header_160
for instructions on how to change a server's IP addresses (step 5 is
where one might want to move disks from the old server to the new one), and
  http://www.openafs.org/pages/doc/AdminGuide/auagd008.htm#HDRWQ138
for information about the sysid file (which may be worth transferring=20
to the new server).

The topic has come up on this list before, so a look at the archives
should help. One thread that seems relevant begins at
  https://lists.openafs.org/pipermail/openafs-info/2006-October/024192.html

Maybe someone who has actually performed this kind of procedure (I
haven't, yet) can comment further.

Having a fresh backup of all the volumes involved should be helpful for
one's peace of mind. (See Jos=E9 Angel's earlier question about backups,=20
which I think is also answered in the archives.)