Preparing an optical image catalog to install software

These steps show how you create an image catalog and an image catalog entry, add an image catalog entry, and load the image catalog in preparation of performing an IBM® i software upgrade. The steps use a virtual optical device in the example. The server setup requires an image catalog setup that will then be shared with the client partition.

1. Create a virtual optical device.

   To create a device description, enter the following:

   CRTDEVOPT DEVD(virtual-device-name) RSRCNAME(*VRT)+
    ONLINE(*YES) TEXT(text-description)

2. Vary on the virtual optical device
   Enter the following:

   VRYCFG CFGOBJ(virtual-device-name) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*ON)

3. Create an image catalog

   Create an image catalog for the licensed programs that you want to install. The Create Image Catalog (CRTIMGCLG) command associates an image catalog with a target directory where the optical image files are loaded.

   CRTIMGCLG IMGCLG(catalog-name) DIR(catalog-path) 
    CRTDIR(*YES) TEXT(text-description)

   If you have downloaded your images into an image catalog directory, there is a fast way to add all of the images at one time into your image catalog. There are two methods to do this.

   • Use the CRTIMGCLG command.

     
         CRTIMGCLG IMGCLG(catalog-name) DIR(catalog-path) ADDVRTVOL(*DIR) 
          IMGTYPE(*ALL) TEXT(text-dscription)

   • Use the QVOIFIMG API when the image catalog already exists

     
         CALL PGM(QVOIFIMG) PARM('catalog-name' '*ALL' 0)

     
     
4. Add an image catalog entry

   Add an image catalog entry for each physical media or optical image file that you have. You need to repeat this step for each volume of media. You should add the physical media or optical image files in the same order as if you were going to install from them. Start with the first media in the list and continue until all the media are loaded.

   You can add the entries from either an optical device or from an existing optical image file. Select one of the following ways:

   From an image file:

   • (This is the fastest way.) To add an image entry to an image catalog from an integrated-file-system file that is already in the image catalog directory, enter the following:

     ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(catalog-name) FROMFILE(file-name)
      TOFILE(*fromfile) TEXT(text-description)

   • If you have multiple images to add, see the CRTIMGCLG command and the QVOIFIMG API to add all the images at the same time.
   • To add an image catalog entry to an image catalog from an existing integrated-file-system optical image file from a directory other than the image catalog directory, enter the following:

     ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(catalog-name)
      FROMFILE(/directory-name/directory-name/file-name)
      TOFILE(file-name or *FROMFILE) TEXT(text-description)

   From a physical device:

   • To add an image catalog entry to an image catalog from a physical optical media using optical device named OPT01, enter the following:

     ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(catalog-name) FROMDEV(OPT01) 
      TOFILE(file-name or *GEN) TEXT(text-description)

   Note: To generate a name for the TOFILE parameter, specify *GEN. To generate a text description from the media, specify *GEN.
5. Load the image catalog

   This step associates the virtual optical device to the image catalog. Only one image catalog at a time can be associated with a specific virtual optical device. To load the image catalog, type the following command:

   LODIMGCLG IMGCLG(catalog-name) 
    DEV(virtual-device-name) OPTION(*LOAD)

6. Verify that the images are in the correct order
   Attention: If you are here because you are performing the steps in Preselecting the licensed programs to install, do not perform this step at this time. You are directed to perform this step later.

   If you are preparing for an upgrade, you need to verify that the required media for an upgrade exist and are sorted in the correct sequence. You also need to verify that your software agreements have been accepted, and that you have enough reserved storage for the Licensed Internal Code. Refer to Required: Allocating additional space for Licensed Internal Code for details.

   Enter the following command:

   VFYIMGCLG IMGCLG(catalog-name) TYPE(*UPGRADE) SORT(*YES)

   To verify that images are added, an additional method would be to enter the following:

   WRKIMGCLGE IMGCLG(catalog-name)

   Then press F7 to prompt for the VFYIMGCLG command. Enter *UPGRADE for the type and *YES for the sort field.

   The system puts the images in the correct order. (If you are not successful, refer to Image catalog recovery.) By default, the volume with the lowest index is mounted. Then all the other volumes are loaded. To see the order of the images, use the Work with Image Catalog Entries (WRKIMGCLGE) command:

   WRKIMGCLGE IMGCLG(catalog-name)