Creating your own bootable ISOs

[stephan.steiner]

We all know the situation... you're about to get ready for a new install, the servers are in your lab, but the DVDs haven't shipped yet. But since you did the last install, you have a bootable DVD from the last version you installed - but you don't want to spend the time installing rel X (DVD shipment from last install), then upgrading to rel X+1 (using ISO downloaded from CCO).

So, what better than to take the bootable version you have, download the latest non bootable version and make it bootable. Has anybody ever successfully managed to do that and if so, what process did you follow?

[htluo]

Take a look at http://htluo.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-make-non-bootable-iso-image.html.

Thanks!

Michael

http://htluo.blogspot.com

[stephan.steiner]

I wonder if the makers of UltraISO have anything to do MagicISO - they have the same 300MB demo limit which basically prevents you from knowing if this works before making the purchase (unless you go rogue - and you can't really do that at work). Armed with my credit card I took the plunge and it worked out

Thanks. Now if maybe Cisco will get the hint and put bootable images online. In the age of licensing, they'll know about any new install anyway when they get the licensing request from the partner.

[Tommer Catlin]

actually, if you get TAC on the phone, you can ask them for a link to download a bootable disc if you are in a pinch. I have done it a couple times.  But again, if you are in deployment... you should already have multiply bootable copies in ISO format on a portable drive.  I carry around 5x, 6.x and 7x.  At least you can boot from one these versions, then download the version you want to patch on install.  Its the quickest method I have found.    When in ISO, I just burn a DVD in about 10 minutes, stick the disc in and off and running.

[stephan.steiner]

Speaking of USB.. has anybody managed to create a bootable USB stick with CCM?

I gave it a spin with pendrive linux but it doesn't support red hat flavors, and while it booted (even when you create a stick from a non bootable CCM image), it then couldn't find the file that talls it what to launch in the installer (I don't have the error on screen anymore so I can't tell you exactly what it complained about).

While not all server support booting from the stick, it's certainly the quickest way to install something and booting off a stick is so much more elegant than using a clunky DVD that you need to burn first.

[Aaron Harrison]

Hi

Sounds like the same kind of error that you get when you try and run Cisco disks (CCM or recovery CD) via iLO - loses the plot halfway through boot up and can't find the disc any more..

Aaron

[srosenthal]

I downloaded the ER 7.1 iso file and then used Roxio to burn the image to a DVD.  The server does not recognize the disk and I know the drive is good because if I put a Cisco CUCM DVD in the drive it starts to boot from that.

I think I left my ER install disk in the defective server that I RMA'd back to cisco.

Any suggestions?