Description
NOTE: Starting with Flex 2.0, the USB flash drive (aka USB key) is no longer shipped with the Flex appliance.You can create a bootable USB flash drive using the following instructions.
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Where to obtain a Veritas Appliance USB image file
Go to https://www.veritas.com/support, and Sign In. After you've signed in, click on Downloads.
How to verify the USB image file
NOTE: Be sure to verify that the downloaded release image (eg. Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img) file MD5 checksum matches the checksum that is contained in the Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img.md5.txt file.
NOTE: For models 5260, 5360 and 5362, the image file (.img) is not required. Be sure to verify that the downloaded release ISO (eg. Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso) file MD5 checksum matches the checksum that is contained in the Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso.md5.txt file.
Use one of the following commands based upon your operating system to compute the checksum value for the .img file. Replace the file name in these examples with the actual file name of the .img file you downloaded.
Examples:
For Linux systems, run:
For models 5260, 5360 and 5362:
md5sum Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso
For all other supported models:
md5sum Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img
For Mac systems, run:
For models 5260, 5360 and 5362:
md5 Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso
For all other supported models:
md5 Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img
For Windows systems, run:
For models 5260, 5360 and 5362:
certutil -hashfile Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso md5
For all other supported models:
certutil -hashfile Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img md5
How to create a Bootable Veritas Appliance USB flash drive from a USB image file on a Mac
These instructions work on a Mac using GNU dd or Mac OS dd. You can install GNU dd (part of the coreutils package) onto a Mac using Homebrew. To verify the USB, you need the truncate utility (also part of the coreutils package), which is also available through Homebrew.
Before you insert the USB flash drive
1. Open up Terminal.app and type: diskutil list
2. Insert your USB flash drive and list the disks again to determine the device node that is assigned to your flash media (for example, /dev/disk2).
3. diskutil list
4. Run the following command to unmount all the partitions that may have been automounted:
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk<number>
Where <number> is the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, <number> is 2. For example: /dev/disk2, /dev/disk3, etc.
5. Use the dd command as a parameter of the sudo command to write the IMG image to the flash drive, as follows:
For models 5260, 5360 and 5362, run:
$ sudo dd if=</path/to/isofile.iso> of=/dev/rdisk<number> bs=1M
Where </path/to/isofile.iso> is the path to the ISO file that you saved, and <number> is the disk number from the previous steps.
For all other models, run:
$ sudo dd if=</path/to/image.img> of=/dev/rdisk<number> bs=1M
Where </path/to/image.img> is the path to the IMG image that you saved, and <number> is the disk number from the previous steps.
WARNING
Be careful to enter the correct disk number. Running this command deletes all data that is currently on the USB key. If you enter the wrong disk number, that data cannot be recovered.
Note: Mac OS X provides both a block (/dev/disk<number>) and character device (/dev/rdisk<number>) file for each storage device. Writing an iso or an image to the /dev/ rdisk<number> character device is faster than to the /dev/disk<number> block device.
For example:
For models 5260, 5360 and 5362:
To write the /Users/user_name/Downloads/NB-3.1.2-2018093.iso file to the /dev/rdisk2 device, run the following command:
$ sudo dd if=/Users/user_name/Downloads/Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso of=/dev/rdisk2
For all other supported models:
To write the /Users/user_name/Downloads/NB-3.1.2-20180913.img file to the /dev/rdisk2 device, run the following command:
$ sudo dd if=/Users/user_name/Downloads/Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img of=/dev/rdisk2
6. Wait for the command to finish. Note that no progress bar is displayed; however, to check the status of the operation while it is still running, press Ctrl+t in the terminal. For example:
load: 1.02 cmd: dd 3668 uninterruptible 0.00u 1.91s
112+0 records in
111+0 records out
116391936 bytes transferred in 114.834860 secs (1013559 bytes/sec)
The speed of the data transfer depends on the speed of your USB ports and the flash drive. After the prompt is displayed again, the data transfer is finished. You can then unplug the flash drive.
7. For models 5260, 5360 and 5362, go to the following section to complete the remaining steps: Grub changes required for models 5260, 5360 and 5362 at runtime during installation using the USB
For all other supported models, the flash drive is now ready to be used as a boot device.
How to create a Bootable Veritas Appliance USB flash drive from a USB image file on Linux
1. Connect a USB flash drive to the system and run the dmesg command. A log that details all recent events is displayed. At the bottom of this log, you can see a set of messages that are caused by the USB flash drive that you connected. It should look like a set of lines similar to the following:
[ 170.171135] sd 5:0:0:0: [sds] Attached SCSI removable disk
Note the name of the connected device. In the previous example, it is “sds”.
2. Run the following command to log in as root:
$ su -Provide your root password when prompted.
3. Make sure that the device is not mounted, as follows:
First, use the findmnt device command and the device name you found in the earlier steps. For example, if the device name is “sds”, use the following command:
# findmnt /dev/sdsIf the command displays no output, you can proceed with the next step. However, if the command does provide output, it means that the device is automatically mounted and you must unmount it before you proceed. A sample output looks similar to the following:
# findmnt /dev/sds
TARGET SOURCE FSTYPE OPTIONS
/mnt/iso /dev/sds iso9660 ro,relatime
Note the TARGET column. In the previous example, it is “/mnt/iso”. Next, use the umount target command to unmount the device from the TARGET column, as follows:
# umount /mnt/iso
4. Use the dd command to write the installation IMG image directly to the USB flash drive, as follows:
For models 5260, 5360 and 5362 run:
dd if=<ISO file path> of=/dev/<device name> bs=<block size>
Where <ISO file path> is the full path to the ISO file you downloaded, <device name> is the device name that the dmesg command showed, and <block size> is a reasonable block size (for example, 512k) to speed up the writing process. The bs parameter is optional, but it can speed up the process considerably.
For all other supported models, run:
# dd if=<IMG file path> of=/dev/<device name> bs=<block size>
Where <IMG file path> is the full path to the IMG image file you downloaded, <device name> is the device name that the dmesg command showed, and <block size> is a reasonable block size (for example, 512k) to speed up the writing process. The bs parameter is optional, but it can speed up the process considerably.
IMPORTANT
Make sure to specify the output as the device name (for example, /dev/sds), not as a name of a partition on the device (for example, /dev/sds1).
For example:
- For models 5260, 5360 and 5362:
If the ISO file is located in /home/user/Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso and the detected device name is sds, the command looks like the following:
# dd if=/home/user/Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.iso of=/dev/sds bs=512k
- For all other supported models:
If the IMG image is located in /home/user/Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img and the detected device name is sds, the command looks like the following:
# dd if=/home/user/Flex-Appliance-<version>-YYYYMMDD.img of=/dev/sds bs=512k
5. Wait for dd to finish writing the image to the device. Note that no progress bar is displayed; the data transfer is finished when the # prompt appears again. The data transfer can take up to a few hours, depending on the speed of the USB flash drive and the system. After the prompt is displayed, log out from the root account and unplug the USB drive.
6. For models 5260, 5360 and 5362, go to the following section to complete the remaining steps: Grub changes required for models 5260, 5360 and 5362 at runtime during installation using the USB
For all other supported models, the flash drive is now ready to be used as a boot device.
How to create a Bootable Veritas Appliance USB flash drive from a USB image file on Windows
1. Download Fedora Media Writer (32bit) or Fedora Media Writer (64bit) and Install it.
2. Plug in the USB drive you want to use to create the bootable media.
3. Open Fedora Media Writer from the Start menu.
NOTE: You MUST right-click and choose "Run as Administrator" to avoid issues.
Newer Fedora Media Writer versions:
...it should auto-detect the USB stick....click 'Select .iso file' and browse to the .iso file(for 5260, 5360 and 5362) or .img file(for other supported models), select it and then click 'Write'. When it completes, select 'Finish'.
Older Fedora Media Writer versions:
4. In the main window,
- For models 5260, 5360 and 5362:
Click Custom OS and select the downloaded USB image (.iso) file.
- For all other supported models run:
Click Custom OS and select the downloaded USB image (.img) file.
5. From the drop-down menu, select the drive you want to use. If the drive does not appear, verify that the USB drive is connected and restart Fedora Media Writer.
6. Click Write to disk. The boot media creation process begins. Do not unplug the drive until the operation is completed. Depending on the size of the .img file and the write speed of the USB drive, writing the image can take several minutes.
Figure 3.1. Fedora Media Writer
7. When the creation process finishes and the Finished! message appears, unmount the USB drive using the Safely remove hardware icon in the system's notification area.
8. For models 5260, 5360 and 5362, go to the following section to complete the remaining steps: Grub changes required for models 5260, 5360 and 5362 at runtime during installation using the USB
For all other supported models, the USB drive is now ready to be used as a boot device.
Grub changes required for models 5260, 5360 and 5362 at runtime during installation using the USB:
NOTE: The Access 3360 also requires these changes if using this article for the 3360 image.
1. After the appliance boots from the USB drive, the following screen appears. Do not hit ENTER. On this screen, ensure that the "Install Veritas Optimised OS (RA Appliances Only!)" option is selected and press 'e' on the screen below.
2. On the next screen, replace inst.ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg inst.xdriver=vesa modprobe.blacklist=qla2xxx,lpfc,ocs..fc..scst,ahci,isci,ast pcie_aspm=off in the first line with inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=VxOS inst.ks=hd:LABEL=VxOS:/ks.cfg inst.repo=hd:LABEL=VxOS:/ , as seen in the following screenshot:
3. Press Ctrl-x to start the installation.
4. The installation should begin.
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Please note that this document is a translation from English, and may have been machine-translated. It is possible that updates have been made to the original version after this document was translated and published. Veritas does not guarantee the accuracy regarding the completeness of the translation. You may also refer to the English Version of this knowledge base article for up-to-date information.