gendisk(1) General Commands Manual gendisk(1)
NAME
gendisk - Produces magnetic disk distribution media
SYNOPSIS
/usr/bin/gendisk [-d] [-i] [-k filename] [-w] [-v] [hostname:] prodID devname
OPTIONS
Creates a distribution disk in direct CD format. This means that the distribution disk contains uncompressed file systems that are laid out
just as the software is installed on the system. Creates a distribution disk in ISO 9660 format. This means that the distribution disk
contains an ISO 9660-compliant CD-ROM file system (CDFS). Uses an alternate kit descriptor database, filename, on the local system. You
may use either a full absolute pathname or a relative pathname from the directory where you run the gendisk utility. The file does not
have to be named kitcap. Writes the product media without verification, if used without the -v option. If used with the -w option, the
gendisk utility writes and then verifies the product media. Verifies the product media without writing it first, if used without the -w
option. This assumes that you have already written kit files to the distribution media. If used with the -w option, the gendisk utility
writes and then verifies the product media.
OPERANDS
The optional hostname: operand is the name of a remote machine that contains the kit descriptor database. The gendisk utility searches the
kit descriptor database on the remote machine for the kit identifier (prodIDHD) and uses it to create the distribution media. The colon (:)
is a required delimiter for TCP/IP networks, and space is permitted between the colon and the prodID. For example, if the product code is
OAT100 and you are using the kit descriptor database on node mynode, use mynode:OAT100 for this option. The mandatory prodID operand is a
kit identifier consisting of the product code and version number specified in the CODE and VERS fields of the kit's key file. Refer to the
Guide to Preparing Product Kits for information about the key file. The mandatory devname operand specifies the device special file name
for a raw or character disk device such as /dev/rdisk/dsk1. The gendisk utility uses the disk partition specified in the kit descriptor and
ignores any partition specified on the command line.
DESCRIPTION
Use the gendisk utility to produce disk distribution media. The gendisk utility performs the following tasks: Searches the kit descriptor
database for the prodID specified on the command line. The default kit descriptor database is the /etc/kitcap file. Creates a new file
system on the disk partition specified in the kit description. Mounts the disk containing the new file system. Asks whether you want to
clean the whole disk before writing to it. If you do, the gendisk utility erases the entire contents of the disk and writes a new disk
label using default information. Copies files and subsets specified in the kit description to the distribution media. If you specified
verification, uses the sum utility to verify file transfer accuracy. Refer to the sum(1) reference page for more information about this
utility. Unmounts the file system.
If you use the -k option, you can use any valid file name for the alternate kit descriptor database and may specify either an absolute or
relative path to the file location.
If you do not use either of the -w or -v options, the gendisk utility writes and then verifies the files in the kit descriptor. This
default behavior is the same as when you use both the -w and -v options together.
The gendisk utility can create multiple directories on the disk for separate products or combine multiple products into one product, as
specified in the kit descriptor database.
RESTRICTIONS
You must have root privileges to run this program. If you use the optional hostname operand, you must have root privileges to access files
on the remote host.
If you do not use the optional hostname operand, you can access the files used by the gendisk utility only if you add the local hostname to
the local /.rhosts file, for example: hostname root.
The gendisk utility does not support chained disk kits. A kit written to diskette must either fit onto a single diskette or be packaged as
a set of kits on separate diskettes.
FILES
Device special files for raw or character disk devices Default kit descriptor database
SEE ALSO
gentapes(1), sum(1) kitcap(4) Guide to Preparing Product Kits
gendisk(1)