Re: Image Catalog over NFS

Hi Marc,

On 09/12/24 11:49, Marc Rauzier wrote:

Wouldn't it be possible to prepare the image catalog with VFYIMGCLG TYPE(*UPGRADE) NFSSHR(*YES) so that the VOLUME_LIST file and BOOTP subdirectory and appropriate files are created? You could try to run this command just after the Save21.

Yes, I was able to do that. When we have more than 500GB I prefer to create a GO SAVE 22 to the Remote Optical Image Catalog + QGPL + QUSRSYS , and option 23 to a Virtual Tape Image Catalog , just because it is faster.

But the option 21 works, slow but works.

I usually extract the files using the VFYIMGCLG to a local IFS directory , create a .tar file with all the files I need and set the TFTPD server.

If you can set up an NFS and TFTP server on Linux (which I am quite sure is possible), you could try to run a network install from your Linux server as described in this redbook https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpapers/pdfs/redp4937.pdf. Although everything is done with an NFS and TFTP server running on an IBM i system, maybe it will work the same from a Linux one.

It is important to use a Linux distribution you know and control. Some distributions use NFS on TCP, not UDP, or force NFS V4. You need NFS V3 with UDP . I guess you have dealed with that to create the NFS server for backups.

I suggest to avoid using compression, but you can compress the ISO images once you have finished. ZSTD is a great option.

Good luck with this "journey".