Creating and configuring the golden image
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Creating and configuring the golden image

The basic idea is to create a point-in-time image based on a master or gold image. The image will serve as the basis for all boot images once it is set up. Hence, first set up a complete virtual machine boot volume as a golden boot volume.

To create the golden image

  1. In the selected disk group, create a VxVM volume. Use the size that is recommended by your Linux documentation. For example, the disk group is boot_dg, the golden boot volume is gold-boot-disk-vol, the volume size is 16GB.
    sys1# vxassist -g boot_dg make gold-boot-disk-vol 16g
  2. Follow the recommended steps in your Linux documentation to install and boot a VM guest.

    When requested to select managed or existing storage for the boot device, use the full path to the VxVM storage volume block device.

    For example: /dev/vx/dsk/boot_dg/gold-boot-disk-vol.

  3. If using the virt-install utility, enter the full path to the VxVM volume block device with the --disk parameter.

    For example: --disk path=/dev/vx/dsk/boot_dg/gold-boot-disk-vol.

  4. After the virtual machine is created, install any guest operating system with the boot volume and the virtual machine configured exactly as required.
  5. After the virtual machine is created and configured, shut it down.

You can now use the boot image as a image (hence called a golden image) for provisioning additional virtual machines that are based on snapshots of the Golden Boot Volume. These snapshots can be full copies (mirror images) or they can be space-optimized snapshots. Using space-optimized snapshots greatly reduces the storage required to host the boot disks of identical multiple virtual machines. Note that since both, the full and space-optimized snapshots, are instantly available (no need to wait for the disk copy operation), provisioning of new virtual machines can now be instantaneous as well.

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