Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Has anyone been able to generate AIX bootable DVD's? We need this capability for our Disaster Recovery process that runs from an offsite location. At this time, we are using AIX 5.3.09 and AIX 6.1.01.

We are testing a script that is based on running the mkcd command. An existing mksysb image has been stored on disk, and we use this to burn the bootable DVD. However, we ran into a problem when the size of the backup image exceeds the capacity of the current DVD media (4.27 GB).

The mkcd command issues a mount request to load the next voulme for the DVD media, and it then generates a "umount command". This umount fails with a message that /dev/cd0 is busy, and we are not able to eject volume 1 of the DVD media.

The second problem is that the mkcd command requires an interactive response for the mount request. This means that the burn process cannot be run in background, and that is painful when the burn process takes over 4 hours to complete.

Are there any known details concerning usage of the mkcd command? Are there any better solutions, or approaches, for generating bootable DVD's?
Thanks!!
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Originally posted by: shargus

Take a look at the mkdvd command.
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Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Appreciate your prompt reply!!

We had initially looked at the the mkdvd command, but it did not appear to offer any additional functionality over the mkcd command. We have been burning the mksysb images using UDF format, and even the "smitty mkdvd" screens was generating "mkcd" commands. We could use the "smitty mkdvd" execution as a solution, but we had hoped to avoid interactive processing.

Does the mkdvd command require any less temporary disk space? Does it better address the handling of DVD mount requests? We'll do some testing with the "mkdvd" command to determine if it runs any better.

Any chance that you have some sample executions of the mkdvd command (i.e. which flags did you specify for parms)?

Thanks!!
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Originally posted by: eJones

We also use DVD-RAM for mksysb backups on AIX (5300-10-01 & 6100-03-01).
The slow (1X) write speed is a pain, and some large images exceed the 4.5GB size.

We use: >mkcd -d /dev/cd1 -e -L -U to burn a bootable UDF v1.5 volume.

As I recall, the boot image data can only be created during initial write.. ie. can't use a previous mksysb file.
We have not found a good solution for the media change prompt, other than to invoke the mkcd in a screen session.
An operator can attach to the session remotely, and answer the prompt. Yes, you still need someone to swap volumes,
but you can avoid losing the prompt, when someone accidentally closes the window.

We switched to Panasonic LM-AD240 double-sided media, so we just flip the disk to the other side on large images.
And for normal images, you can use the B-side to store copies of the SPOT, LPP or RPM sources, etc. that match the mksysb.
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Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Appreciate your reply, and it confirms our initial thoughts about the limitations and possibilities for the DVD media.

Whenever possible, we are planning to limit the size of the mksysb image, and thus avoid any need to re-mount the media.

We were using the following command that was embedded in a script (the $1 reference is for an input parm that specifies the server name for an existing mksysb image on disk):
/usr/sbin/mkcd -d /dev/cd0 -m /bkup/mksysb/mksysb.$1 -U

Thanks!!!
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Originally posted by: shargus

Here's what I do. We have a NFS mount directory called /share.
Under /share, create a directory called /share/mkcd
Under /share/mkcd, create three directories called /share/mkcd/cd_fs, /share/mkcd/cd_images, /share/mkcd/mksysb_image.

Then use:

mkdvd -C /share/mkcd/cd_fs -I /share/mkcd/cd_images -M /share/mkcd/mksysb_image -S -Y

When it's done, you'll have one or more ISO images under /share/mkcd/cd_images. Copy them to a PC, and use your favorite CD burning tools to burn the ISO image(s) to DVD. (much faster than the DVD-RAMs.)

The resulting DVD(s) should be bootable.
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Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Hi:

Thanks for outlining the extra processing option. It would be a faster process given the speed of the DVD burners on our existing servers.
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