11 Golden Images

A golden image is a combination of a golden archive (an archive with files set to the newconfig state) and a configuration file describing a system’s disk layout and file system. A golden image is used as a common configuration to install systems. The compressed golden archive format can

be tar, cpio, or pax. (To use the pax format with 11i v2, you must have the PAX-Enh™ product installed. The pax format is not available for 11i v1.)

Ignite-UX does not require the creation of golden images, but they are a very powerful tool for system administrators.

Golden images allow:

•Increased installation speed versus using swinstall, the command used by Ignite-UX when installing software from SD depots.

•Exact replication of a customized system configuration to clients.

•Mass deployment of a customized system configuration to clients.

•Disaster recovery at the newconfig level.

This chapter assumes you are creating a golden image to be stored on the Ignite-UX server via the network. If you wish to create golden image media, see Chapter 14 (page 177).

Advantages of Golden Images

In addition to supporting the standard software installations from an SD depot, Ignite-UX supports installing from known-good local system images, called golden images. This method recognizes that many clients in a network might be almost identical. You can take advantage of this fact by building an image that contains all of the software you want installed, plus configuration files, and then using Ignite-UX to install it.

This approach can have several advantages:

•Because the compressed system image is unpacked directly to disk over the network, the installation process can be much faster than an equivalent process using SD. The time savings depends on the size of the installation and the capacity of the network, but a typical golden image can be extracted in about 20 minutes compared to about an hour for an SD install.

•Instead of troubleshooting a client, it is often more cost-effective to completely reinstall the operating system with a golden image.

•When coupled with dataless nodes (all volatile data is on a separate file server), system replacement or move time is drastically reduced.

•Once a golden image has been created, it is simple to apply it to multiple clients. Very little or no user interaction is required during subsequent installs, reducing the chance of error.

Building a golden image is done by setting up a single system the way you want all of your systems to look, and then creating an image of that system. Follow the instructions below to set up the first system.

Creating a Golden Image

In general, the golden image is created from a golden system configured with all the software and customizations needed to distribute it to a group of clients. The golden image can be saved to media and installed on individual systems, or the golden image can be stored on another system and installed remotely over the network.

If a golden system already exists, proceed to “Configuring the Ignite-UX Server to Recognize the Golden Image” (page 154).

Advantages of Golden Images 151