UIX server and Golden Image Creation

[wip]

Guys,

Appreciate your input for creating a new IUX server,basically to act as a

1.Golden Image holder for all systems with some external software
2.As a make_net_recovery archive server for production systems

Please let me know your recommendations and tips for setting up (Ofcourse not HP Manuals or HP Links)

-Jayan

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom Jayan,

You need a standard HP-UX installation, reasonably patched, (June 2005 or newer), Ignite 6.x (newer is genrally better) and a lot of disk space to hold the tar.gz files.

I think the HP manuals are really good and they include a step by step guide for setting up an Ignite Golden image servers, but apparently you've seen them.

I advise a private network between the built in NIC cards for booting Ignite. Earlier versions of Ignite would only boot through the built in lan card.

You need to have NFS set up to permit access to the Golden Image tar files.

If you have previousy done this, your INDEX and other Ignite configuration files can help you speed things (configuration) up after installation.

SEP

[Dineshkumar]

Hi Jayan,

The steps are as below

Creating a golden system from scratch normally involves the following steps:

1. Installing the HP-UX OS from media.

2. Installing critical patches onto the OS.

3. Loading optional HP software.

4. Loading optional third-party software.

5. Customizing the system.


Step 1: IUX setup of HP-UX OS from media


This can be performed without Ignite-UX by using the normal install from media steps. Alternately, Ignite-UX can install the OS for you. In this example, we'll use Ignite-UX and a network depot as the source of our software. We'll first copy an SD depot of 11.00 onto the Ignite-UX server.

On the IUX server, set up the core software to be distributed:


# make_depots -r B.11.00 -a 700 -s \ hpfclc:/release/S700_11.00/B3782EA


# /opt/ignite/bin/make_config -r B.11.00


The make_depots command will copy the release B.11.00 software at the SD depot pointed to by the "-s" option (this pathname will depend on the setup of the SD depot you are accessing) onto the local Ignite-UX server. (You can also run make_config and point it to the remote depot directly.)

The make_config command will then add this software as a configuration available for Ignite-UX installations.

Step 1.1: Installing HP-UX onto the target "golden system".

First, boot the target from the Ignite-UX server. If the target is currently running HP-UX, use the following:


# bootsys -v -w -f -i "HP-UX B.11.00 Default"


If the target is not currently running HP-UX, use the following:


boot lan install


Use the normal Ignite-UX target install steps as laid out in Section 2.

Step 4. Select the configuration you've just set up, "HP-UX B.11.00 Default".


Step 2: Loading critical patches onto the OS


At this point you should have a target system with the basic 11.00 release. If you have patches which you wish to distribute to all users, install them now. This is normally done using the standard SD tools.

Step 2.1: As an example, install patch PHSS_8375. If you've downloaded and unshar'd a patch, you will have a depot file. For example, after downloading PHSS_8375 and unsharing it, you would be left with files "PHSS_8375.depot" and "PHSS_8375.text". To install the patch non-interactively, run the following:


# swinstall -x autoreboot=true -x match_target=true -s \ ./PHSS_8375.depot


These instructions can also be found in the file


"PHSS_8375.text".



Step 3: Load Optional Software


Load any optional HP and third-party software you want to make available to ALL users. Keep in mind that we are creating a golden system, and anything put on this will be distributed to all systems installed using the golden image. You'll need to keep in mind licensing restrictions, as well.

HP software (such as compilers) are normally loaded using SD from media or a network SD depot. Third-party software installation varies depending on the vendor.


Step 4: Customize the system


Perform any customizations that you want to distribute to all users. These might include things like customized CDE login screens, base /etc/passwd files, additional phone tools and man pages, or corporate wide default DNS and NIS setup. It would not include machine, work group or site specific changes, such as gateways, user accounts, or machine-specific networking. These will be taken care of by Ignite-UX later.


Step 5: The Golden System is Done


Use the steps outlined in Section 2 to create the OS Install Archive ("golden image") from this system, and configure Ignite-UX to use it.

Note: The steps are from the docs

Regards,
Dineshkumar