imaging tool for solaris 9 sparc

gsr_kashyap · 09-27-2006, 05:56 AM

hi,
i need Ghost-like mirroring tool for Sun boxes. can any one help me out for some sites. 3rd party tools are also welcome.
thnx in advance.

jlliagre · 09-27-2006, 06:26 AM

Isn't the "dd" command enough for your needs ?

gsr_kashyap · 09-27-2006, 06:29 AM

nope i think it doesnt compress!!
so that i can burn it on some dvd...

jlliagre · 09-27-2006, 06:36 AM

dd piped to gzip then mkisofs will create a compressed image suitable for recording.

gsr_kashyap · 09-27-2006, 07:44 AM

hmm..
but the whole process (forword/reverse) consumes time isnt it
unlike a ghost image it creates a single file of the HDD (compressed!!)
and we can burn it on the cd/dvd.
hope i am not pushing arnd. ;-)

shizzy-t · 09-27-2006, 11:12 AM

Solaris also has it's own imaging system called a flash archive. It's pretty cool.
The command is flarcreate, I really like them, they are partition independent
so you can slice up a drive however you want then put the flash archive on
top of it.
Here's the docs page.
http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/817...archive&a=view

jlliagre · 09-27-2006, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsr_kashyap

hmm..
but the whole process (forword/reverse) consumes time isnt it

Hmm, how can't it consume time ?

Quote:

unlike a ghost image it creates a single file of the HDD (compressed!!)
and we can burn it on the cd/dvd.

Well, that was what I understood from your request.
As I'm not familiar which ghost, can you elaborate on what it does ?

PS: Yes, shizzy-t's solution (flar) is great too, especially as it allows to easily clone a machine.

konsolebox · 09-27-2006, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsr_kashyap

hmm..
but the whole process (forword/reverse) consumes time isnt it
unlike a ghost image it creates a single file of the HDD (compressed!!)
and we can burn it on the cd/dvd.
hope i am not pushing arnd. ;-)

you'll get the same time i guess if you use mkisofs.
# mkisofs [someargs] - | gzip -c > image.iso.gz
then to burn
# zcat image.iso.gz | cdrecord ...
this is also one file and IMO the compression speed is just the same as using ghost. you can also use bzip2 if you want.

gsr_kashyap · 09-28-2006, 01:42 AM

ok jlliagre, it works like this u boot with some bootable cd(windows 98 or wht ever) then u run the ghost.exe and it gives options like from image to partition or partition to image. approx if try to take a ghost image of a 10GB partion with OS loaded and other softwares, u get in a single file (.gho) of arnd 2GB and thats it u can burn it to any dvd and again when ever u want to install the OS just use the ghost file all this process takes abt 7minutes(u can count it).
i hope u understood the procedure!!

mackdav · 10-02-2006, 01:52 PM

If you have a jumpstart infrastructure set up, look into the clone process:

http://www.deer-run.com/~hal/jumpstart/clone/

I started from this and now do image-based recoveries for my development users. Much faster than jumpstart.

(EDIT: used the word "quickstart" (which is a set of wrappers we wrote around Jumpstart) instead of "jumpstart". Fixed.)

gsr_kashyap · 10-11-2006, 03:35 AM

sorry mackdav we dont have a jumpstat infra here
whts up guys any know abt the third party tools for my requirement

ashwinvn · 10-30-2006, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsr_kashyap

sorry mackdav we dont have a jumpstat infra here
whts up guys any know abt the third party tools for my requirement

Hi Kashyap,

Even i am in need of such a software which shall take a snapshot/ghost image of the OS (Solaris)

Did you find any such software....please let me know..
chinnuu@gmail.com

Thanks,
Ashwin

gsr_kashyap · 10-30-2006, 04:23 AM

sure ashwin, the same with me, if u find plz do submit in this post
thnx in advance