Virtual I/O servers are one of the most important components of PowerVM virtualization. Virtual I/O servers should therefore be backed up regularly so that the virtual I/O server can be restored as quickly and easily as possible in the event of a failure. PowerVM offers some powerful and very convenient options for this.

A list of LPAR tool commands related to virtual I/O server backups can be obtained with the commands “hmc help viosbk” and “vios ​​help viosbk” or “vios ​​help backup“:

$ hmc help viosbk
USAGE: hmc [<option> ...] <keyword> [<option> ...] [<argument> ...]

Recognized keywords for topic 'viosbk' are:
   chviosbk [-v] <hmc> <backup_selections> <attributes> ...
   lsviosbk [-o <format>] [{-f|-j|-y}] [-F <fields>] [-s <selections>] [-v] <hmc> [<backup_selections> ...]
   rmviosbk [-v] <hmc> <backup_selections>
$ vios help viosbk
USAGE: vios [<option> ...] <keyword> [<option> ...] [<argument> ...]

Recognized keywords for topic 'viosbk' are:
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] chviosbk [-v] <vios> <backup_selections> <attributes> ...
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] exportviosbk [-k <private_key_file>] [-o <mount_options>] [-v] <vios> <backup_selections> <location>
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] importviosbk [-k <private_key_file>] [-o <mount_options>] [-t <type>] [-v] <vios> <location> [<target_hmc>]
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] lsviosbk [{-o <format>|-f|-j|-y}] [-F <fields>] [-s <selections>] [-v] <vios> [<name>|<hmc>|<type>|<last_modified>|<selection> ...]
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] mkviosbk [-f] [-t <type>] [-v] <vios> [<hmc>:]<backup_name> [<attributes> ...]
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] rmviosbk [-v] <vios> <backup_selections>
$ vios help backup
USAGE: vios [<option> ...] <keyword> [<option> ...] [<argument> ...]

Recognized keywords for topic 'backup' are:
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] backupios [-c] [-e] [-M] [-v] <vios> <dvd_path>|<tape_path>|<path>
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] chviosbk [-v] <vios> <backup_selections> <attributes> ...
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] exportviosbk [-k <private_key_file>] [-o <mount_options>] [-v] <vios> <backup_selections> <location>
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] importviosbk [-k <private_key_file>] [-o <mount_options>] [-t <type>] [-v] <vios> <location> [<target_hmc>]
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] lsviosbk [{-o <format>|-f|-j|-y}] [-F <fields>] [-s <selections>] [-v] <vios> [<name>|<hmc>|<type>|<last_modified>|<selection> ...]
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] mkviosbk [-f] [-t <type>] [-v] <vios> [<hmc>:]<backup_name> [<attributes> ...]
   [-h <hmc>] [-m <ms>] rmviosbk [-v] <vios> <backup_selections>
$

To manage Virtual I/O Server backups on an HMC, see Managing Virtual I/O Server Backups.

PowerVM supports the following 3 types of backups for Virtual I/O servers:

• • vios: full backup with which a virtual I/O server can be completely restored (mksysb).
  • viosioconfig: Backup of the I/O configuration.
  • ssp: Backup of the shared storage pool configuration.