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Old 9th June 2008
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mtx mtx is offline
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Default Utility to make FreeBSD custom ISO

hello community,
maybe the thread's name doesn't really point out what i'm looking for but honestly couldn't find a better name, so here it goes.

I'm looking for an utility to make an ISO of the system after i have installed FreeBSD. I have configured the system for that specific box on which it is installed. I have added some directories, installed some applications and so on.

I want to write an ISO with the system, so in case of hardware failure i'll just change the box with a new one that's exactly the same, plug in the disc, install FreeBSD and get the system back in production.

I have googled for such an app and couldn't find anything that fits my needs or maybe i haven't googled for the right thing. A hint in the right direction is more than welcomed. Thank you.

/v
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Old 9th June 2008
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gkontos gkontos is offline
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The only open source application I know of is G4u. It doesn't actually create an ISO image but it clones your hard disk via ftp to another machine.
Hope that helps,

George
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Old 9th June 2008
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mtx mtx is offline
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thanks gkontos
g4u looks promising, the only problem i see is that i have to reboot the server, and the server i am talking about is in production and more than that it is in a data center so i don't (personally) have physical access to it to enter the g4u boot CD.

the physical access thing is quite simple, i'll ask someone from the date center to enter the CD and through the management console i've received with the server i'll do the work, BUT the production & reboot part isn't that simple.

any other suggestions?

/v
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Old 9th June 2008
kazcor kazcor is offline
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You could take a fbsd install ISO, place the required packages (compiled from ports) in the usual place on the disc, create a special package using pkg_create(1), which holds all your configuration, 3rd party stuff or other backups, afterwards write a sysinstall config (see sysinstall(8) and usr.sbin/sysinstall/install.cfg) and that's it.

However, if you manage to automate this process, please post your efforts here, because personally I think its a good alternative to dump/restore by means of distribution of a generic system install. However, for simple backup solutions, dump/restore might be less effort to deal with
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Old 9th June 2008
davidgurvich davidgurvich is offline
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You could do what DesktopBSD does, store an archive of the filesystem on the livecd. I've actually installed using this method from a bootcd. For your purposes a script that automatically partitions and unpacks from a bootcd should work, as you are using identical equipment.
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Old 9th June 2008
J65nko J65nko is offline
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The classical Unix way is to use dump and restore.

With a LiveCD or fixit CD you recreate the partitions with fdisk and recreate the disk labels with bsdlabel. Only when this basic disk infrastructure is present, restore can work.
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