December 30, 2010

System recovery on the GDC server

Introduction
This document introduces a new system recovery feature for GDC servers. This feature can be
enabled with a software update from GDC support.

This system recovery feature can be used to recover from the following errors:

• Corrupted OS filesystem requiring filesystem checking

• Errors in the OS partition which requires re-installing OS files

Accessing the recovery system

The system recovery feature is contained in a separate boot image on the GDC server. Users will
have to attach a keyboard to the GDC server before powering on the server, and interrupt the
normal boot sequence to boot into the recovery system. The recovery system is designed to be
used with a keyboard attached to the server.

Note: Normal server operation cannot be carried out while the server is booted into the
recovery system.

To exit from the recovery system, select ‘Reboot’ from the recovery system’s main menu (See
Figure 2).

GDC Technology Ltd. Page 1 of 6

 December 30, 2010

Booting into the recovery system

Follow the steps below to boot into the recovery system:

1. Attach a USB keyboard to the GDC server, using either the USB ports on the front or rear
panels.
2. Press the ‘Esc’ key during system boot to access the boot menu.
3. Select the ‘Rescue’ entry and press the ‘Enter’ key to boot into the recovery system (See
Figure 1).
4. After the recovery system boots, the menu for the recovery system is displayed (See
Figure 2).

Figure 1 GDC server boot menu

Figure 2 Main menu for recovery system

GDC Technology Ltd. Page 2 of 6

 December 30, 2010

System recovery features

All features for the recovery system can be accessed through the main menu shown in Figure 2.
Users can perform the following actions while the recovery system is active:

• Create a system restore image

• Restore the system from a system restore image
• Manage system restore images
• Perform filesystem repair on an existing system

Note: RAID drives will not be affected by system recovery. If the system is restored from an
image, the data on the RAID drives is not affected.

Creating a system restore image

Select the first menu item (“Backup OS”) on the recovery system main menu to create a system
restore image from the current existing system. Backup progress will be shown while the
system is creating the image (see Figure 3). A system restore image will be created in 15 minutes
or less.

Figure 3 Creating a system restore image

Note: Creating a system restore image after setting up the server is highly recommended.
This will create an image that contains the server’s default settings, which can be recovered
when errors are encountered in the future.

GDC Technology Ltd. Page 3 of 6

 December 30, 2010

Restoring from a system restore image

Select the second menu item (“Restore OS”) on the recovery system main menu to restore an
image to the current system. All data on the current system will be overwritten. Restore
progress will be shown while the image is restored (See Figure 4).

Figure 4 Restoring an image

Managing system restore images

The third menu item (“Manage OS backups”) on the recovery system main menu allows
management of all the system restore images created. System restore images created can be
viewed, and unneeded images can be deleted.

Figure 5 System restore image management

A list of the system restore images created is shown when the menu item is selected (See Figure
5). An image can be deleted by selecting the image and hitting ‘Enter’ on the ‘Remove’ button.
Select the ‘Back’ button to return to the main menu.

GDC Technology Ltd. Page 4 of 6

 December 30, 2010

Filesystem repair
The fourth item (“Repair OS Filesystem”) on the recovery system main menu checks and
automatically repairs the OS filesystem. A dialog box is shown during filesystem repair (see
Figure 6). The time taken for filesystem repair depends on the amount of repairs required on the
filesystem.

Figure 6 OS filesystem repair

If the filesystem repair cannot be completed successfully, an error message will be shown (see
Figure 7). It is recommended to restore from a system image if filesystem repair fails.

Figure 7 OS filesystem repair failed

GDC Technology Ltd. Page 5 of 6

 December 30, 2010

Technical support
Please use the following contact information for technical support in your region.

Americas Europe
Help +1 877 743 2872 (Toll Free) Help Line +1 877 743 2872 (Toll Free)
Line +1 818 972 4370 +1 818 972 4370
Fax +1 877 643 2872 (Toll Free) Fax +1 877 643 2872 (Toll Free)
+1 818 972 4374 +1 818 972 4374
Email us-support@gdc-tech.com Email eur-support@gdc-tech.com

China South East Asia

Help +86 400 886 0966 (Toll Free) Help Line +65 6100 4328
Line +86 755 8611 0966
Fax +86 755 8611 0909 Fax +65 6222 1089
Email service_cn@gdc-tech.com Email sg-support@gdc-tech.com

North Asia
Help +852 3520 0920
Line
Email support@gdc-tech.com

GDC Technology Ltd. Page 6 of 6