What is the ET/Recovery CD?
The ET/Recovery is a bootable CD-ROM that can be used to facilitate system
repair and data recovery, as well as for upgrades of existing appliances and
new installations onto appliances where the hard drive has been replaced.
System Requirements.
ET/Recovery will work on any ET/R series appliance where the following requirements
are met:
* CD-ROM drive installed
* CD boot enabled in the BIOS (boot order should be CDROM, HD).
* A working internet connection and valid license key/Auto-Update subscription to perform
installation functions.
Setup Notes
* Make sure the first serial port (COM1) is enabled with the default values
(3F8, IRQ3). If this is not done, the machine will lock up during the first
boot stage. The serial port is not used, however the kernel on the CD requires
it to be there.
* Select the CDROM as the first boot device. (order should be CD-ROM,
HD)
Basic Operation
Load the CD in the drive, and boot the appliance. After a few moments you
will see a welcome message and the root prompt ( # ). From this prompt you can
run any of the commands referred to in this document.
You can receive a quick list of the available commands by typing 'help' at
the prompt. All of the standard UNIX commands are available as well. If you
are planning on running any of the commands that require an internet connection,
run 'etip' to configure your network as the first step.
Overview
How do I use the CD?
All of the commands require you to be logged in as the super-user (root).
If you are using a monitor and keyboard (AKA console), then you will
automatically be logged in as the root user.
If you are connecting remotely,
then log in as "admin" and use the "su -" command to become
the superuser.
* Filesystem Repair
Is your appliance not booting because 'fsck' is failing at
boot time?
Run the 'fix' utility. This will attempt to examine, repair, and then mount
your appliance filesystems. Once this is done, your filesystems will
be mounted on the /mnt directory. If it is not possible to repair the filesystems,
then they will be mounted as read-only, in order
to facilitate recovery of data.
# fix
Repairing Rulesets / Fixing Panics
Has a recent change to your BWMGR (or other system) configuration
prevented a successful boot? If a bad rule is causing a kernel panic, run
the 'fix' command described above, and your filesystems will be mounted
on the /mnt directory. You can then make the necessary changes to your startup
scripts, to enable your system to boot. In this example, we rename two files
so that the ET/BWMGR ruleset is not loaded at boot.
# fix
# cd /mnt/etc
# mv rc.bridge rc.bridge.sav
# mv rc.bwmgr rc.bwmgr.sav
Once the appliance is booted normally, you can then go over your ruleset to
determine the entry that is causing the problem, before restoring the files
to their original location.
# cd /etc
# cp rc.bridge.sav rc.bridge
# cp rc.bwmgr.sav rc.bwmgr
Recovering Missing or Damaged Files
* If you are missing files, or suspect files have been corrupted, and you
cannot perform an auto-update from the ET/Admin GUI [or if the auto-update
does not fix the affected file(s) ]
Run the 'fix' command, then run either the 'restorefile' or 'checkfiles' command.
When using the 'restorefile' command, you must specify any file(s) you want
to restore, eg;
# restorefile etc/rc.local
Note that trying to restore "/etc/rc.local" will fail because of
the leading / character. To restore multiple files, simply use quotes:
# restorefile "etc/rc.local etc/rc.bwmgr bin/login"
'restorefile' will list each file as it is being restored, and will display
an error for each file specified that cannot be found on the CD-ROM. If this
occurs it is recommended that you use the 'checkfiles' command instead. 'Checkfiles'
requires a valid internet connection, license, and auto-update subscription.
You will be prompted for all required information, if you have not already
entered it.
If 'checkfiles' does not fix the problem you are having, then you can use
the 'etrestore' command, which
is a more involved process that includes overwriting all system files. Unlike
'checkfiles', etrestore requires
that the CD Operating System version matches what you have installed on the
appliance. If they do match, you will be prompted to continue.
INSTALLATION
*
NOTE* If you are performing an installation with a brand-new license key
that has never been used, you will be informed during the networking setup
that you need to register the license before installing the software. This
can be done from the root prompt, and must be done after the initial
networking information has been added.
Replace "em0" with your key interface, and the word
"license" with your new license key.
# bwmgr em0 register license
Quick Install vs. Full Install
Quick Install: use the "cdinstall" command to install the OS and
ET/BWMGR software from the CD to the hard disk.
Full Install: use the "etinstall" to install from CD, and then
pull down the latest software updates from the ET/BWMGR update server.
Usage:
cdinstall and etinstall accept the same two optional parameters:
disk, and erase. disk can be indicated by the disk
name (eg, "ad0") or the disk drive number, typically 1-4. By default,
the first detected hard disk is used.
Usage examples: For a machine with only one disk, ad0, the following commands
are equivalent.
# cdinstall
# cdinstall ad0
# cdinstall 1
To erase and repartition the drive before installing, use the erase parameter.
# cdinstall erase
If the disk is being repartitioned, you will be asked how much disk space
to use for the system. If you choose not to use the entire disk, the remaining
space can be left unused, or can be used for caching.
Error Messages
Consult the table below for some common error messages from the install process,
and the causes. Most of the messages are self-explanatory:
- No response from etinc.com
This means the connection to the update server has timed out. This can be due
to a firewall or misconfigured gateway, or simply a network outage. Please
double-check your network configuration and make sure you can access "updates.etinc.com"
before contacting us for support.
- Server is down
This might indicate that our update server is not running, or not accepting
requests. Please try again in a short while, and if the error persists,
contact us through our support ticket system.
- Server is busy. Please try back later.
The server has too many updates in progress. You're not likely to run into this
message, but if you do, try back later.
- Invalid license or interface.
As the rest of the message indicates, you likely have entered the license
incorrectly, or selected the wrong key interface. Make sure the serial of the
key interface matches the license.
- The license xxxx does not have a valid Auto-Update subscription.
The license you provided does not have support. Either support
has expired, or you are using an older license that has expired. Log in to
the etinc web site to check your license status and support expiration.
- Unknown failure type.
The most likely cause of this message is an out-of-date Recovery CD. If you
have Recovery CD version 2.95 or older, then you will need to download an
updated CD image and burn that to disc.
Removing the CD from the drive
You cannot remove the CD from the drive until the machine has been shut down.
It is very important that the machine be shut down properly. From the root
prompt, run the 'halt' command, which will shut down the system properly. Once
the machine is halted, then you can eject the CD tray and remove the disc.
Booting a newly installed appliance:
Once you remove the CD and boot your appliance, you will need
to configure the appliance much like a newly-purchased appliance.
Here is the recommended
action list.
1) Run 'etip' to configure network settings.
2) Connect to the ET/Admin GUI on the appliance's IP address.
3) Perform an Auto-Update.
a. Select "Update System" from the "Administration" section.
b. Click "Check for Updates"
c. Select from the available updates.
4) Reboot (regardless of whether the update process indicates a reboot is
required).
Support
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