Ghost Solution Suite

Hi,

Can anybody tell me if I should be able to create a 2003 bootdisk and clone a linux disk?

I have tried with one server, running Redhat 4 update 7, but recived errors when it started to try and image the disk. I found a PDF called   Ghost_imp_guide.pdf and its says it should work with 5.1, which i have. Although it lists lots of command line stuff rather than using a boot disk.

I also found http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/on-technology.nsf/docid/1999021909463125 which lists some compatilbility.

Thanks

Ryan

Hi Ryan,

By "2003 bootdisk" do you mean a boot disk with Norton Ghost 2003 on it?

And by Redhat 4 update 7 I suspect you mean "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7" released in July 2008.

The supported Linux versions listed for Ghost 2003 on the KB you linked are for "Red Hat Linux", i.e. it has no support for RHEL.  Whereas the Ghost_imp_guide.pdf you have is from the latest version of Ghost (Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5).

I suggest you look at upgrading to GSS2.5. 

However if you want to give the error messages.  I'll see if I can suggest anything.

Regards,
David.

Thanks David,

Looks like I am mixing up my verions of Linux.

If I upgrade to GSS2.5 are there any white papers on how to clone a linux box? I'm looking to clone the enitre disk and restore on another server.

Thanks,
Ryan

RyanK

In Ghost 2.5 there is an option create a 'Linux' boot disk. You may want to add some switches to the creation of the disk. -IAL and -NOLILO are the two switches that are usually used in conjunction with one another when imaging Linux.

IAL will create a sector by sector copy of Linux disks. And the NOLILO switch does not attempt to patch the GRUB or LILO boot loader after a clone.

GSS2.5 support for cloning Linux is covered in this KB.  You'll see Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 4 is supported.

Have a look in the Ghost_imp_guide.pdf section 4 - Using Symantec Ghost locally.  There's many different options.  One way is to create a boot CD and then clone to a network share.

A common misconception since we introduced the Linux preOS boot disk seems to be that it is the only boot disk which will clone a Linux system.  Actually you can use any of DOS, WinPE or Linux.  (And Ghost has supported cloning Linux much longer than it has supported running on Linux.)  Correspondingly the Linux preOS can also be used to clone a Windows system if memory is tight or a faster boot time is preferred.

I recommend against using -IAL and -NOLILO.  They should not be necessary for cloning RHEL 4 and using them will result in taking a long time to create a huge image file (given modern HDD sizes).  Also a sector-by-sector copy (which is what IAL creates) can not be edited in GhostExplorer.


Regards,
David.