Using Golden Images with Virtual Partitions

4
Creating a Golden Image Archive
In general, the golden image is simply a system configured with all the software and
customizations needed to distribute to a group of clients. The golden image can be
saved to media from the golden system and installed on individual systems. Or, the
golden image can be stored on another system and installed remotely over the network.
You may have already created the equivalent of a golden system on which you have
configured modifications relating to your environment on top of a base HP-UX operating-
system release. Critical patches are installed onto the operating system. Local, common
software that is used generically is also layered on the operating system. The resulting
system is tested to ensure proper operation in your environment.
These systems represent a prototype or starting point for all users. The steps needed for
installation customizations are normally captured and are well known. They make good
candidates for a golden image archive as explained here.
Once you have a golden system with the base operating system, use Ignite-UX to create
an operating system archive. It is up to the administrator to define exactly what constitutes
a golden system. You may choose to place patches, applications, kernel configurations,
etc. on the golden system, or just include the core operating system. In our example, we
only include the core operating system. For speed, you may want to place all of your
common applications, patches and tools onto the golden system.
Ignite-UX is capable of installing systems from SD depots and/or archives. You may want
to use this capability when setting up your golden system, since you must have a system
installed before you can get an image.
Perform any customizations that you want to distribute to all clients. These might include
customized CDE login dialog boxes, base
/etc/passwd files, additional phone tools and
manpages, or corporate-wide default DNS and NIS setup. It would not include system,
work-group or site-specific changes such as gateways, user accounts, or machine-specific
networking; these are taken care of by Ignite-UX later.
Use the next steps to create the golden image from the golden system, and configure
Ignite-UX to use it. The make_sys_image command is provided to assist in creating the
operating system archive. For more information, refer to make_sys_image (1M).
Step 1. Copy
/opt/ignite/data/scripts/make_sys_image to /tmp on the golden system.
(Optionally, you may install the Ignite-UX product on the golden system.) Set the
permissions of /tmp/make_sys_image so that you can execute it. The /var/tmp directory
is the default location where make_sys_image stores the archive image. You can also