LinuxQuestions.org - How do I create a rescue disk with Ubuntu

I'm trying to create a rescue disk for my Ubuntu system. (I think I remember during install if I wanted to, and I bypassed it...)

I have a DVD RW disk and am trying to use it as my rescue disk.

I am using Ubuntu 11.04
uname -r gives me : 2.6.38-13
I'm using GNU/Linux

In gparted
I have my partition setup as:
/dev/sda1 ext4
/dev/sda2 extended
/dev/sda5 linux-swap

I read that I need to have the lilo.conf file on the dvd.

i downloaded lilo

i try and run liloconfig, and I get errors saying it doesn't look like my root filesystem device isn't an "ordinary" block device (does this mean it's over 1024 cylinders??). either fstab is broken, and you should fix it or.. you are using hardware (such as raid array) which this simple config program doesn't handle (I'm not using raid). Either you could repair it or hand-roll your own /etc/lilo.conf (roll???) and run liloconfig again.

/etc/lilo.conf doesn't exist...

My lshw has :
*-cdrom
description: DVD-RAM writer
product: DVD-RW DVR-219L
vendor: PIONEER
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /dev/cdrw
logical name: /dev/dvd
logical name: /dev/dvdrw
logical name: /dev/scd0
logical name: /dev/sr0
version: 1.02
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=ready
*-medium
physical id: 0
logical name: /dev/cdrom

I've searched for and can't find related questions other than one which lists programs to run which will create images : mkcdrec, mondoarchive, and systemimager

Is this the only way to create a rescue disk (with these programs) or is there some sort of system utility ? I thought a rescue disk isn't just another image of Linux - I thought my install CD would be sufficient for that. (do i even need a rescue disk if I have the install cd?)

I'm a bit over my head as there is no lilo.conf on my system (in /etc), and the format of my drive is EXT4, which I'm not sure is the correct format.

Thank you