Creating Distribution Diskettes Under MS-DOS^(tm)

We have a file type for convenient downloading of BackupEDGE evaluations and updates.

Many clients have Unix servers, but their only access to the Internet is from a stand alone PC running some form of Windows. Downloading disk images has alway been easy. Transferring the disk image to Unix can been cumbersome.

We've written software that allows us to place our Unix installation diskette images in compressed DOS executable files. When the resulting executable is run, it makes a Unix format diskette right on the PC.

Usage is simple... Just download the executable, for example, EDGESCO5.EXE, which contains our OpenServer 5 Custom Diskette, to your PC. Place a formatted (Unix or DOS) diskette in drive A:.

Then, from a DOS prompt or from the "File -> Run" command, type:

  EDGESCO5 A:

If you've downloaded to a sub-directory on the PC, make sure to include the pathname on the command line.

This will automatically uncompress the self contained Unix disk image write it directly to the diskette in drive A:. (Use B: for your secondary floppy drive, of course.)  If you do not specify a drive, A: will be assumed.

1. Once this is done, you would install the diskette through SCO custom (SCO OpenServer and SCO UNIX only), or with the commands:
2. # cd /
3. # tar xvf /dev/fd0  (replace /dev/fd0 as appropriate.  See below for # suggestions)
4. # /tmp/init.edge

The floppy device is generally /dev/rdsk/f03ht for SCO UnixWare, and /dev/fd0 for just about everything else.

This technology is NOT available for MAC users.

Last Modified Friday, July 11, 2008
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