Mounting ISO images on AIX

There is a known problem with mounting ISO images on the AIX platform. To workaround the problem, complete the following instructions:

1. Obtain the size of the image.

   For example:

   # ls -al
   total 731594
   drwxr-xr-x   2 root     system          512 Aug 18 11:33 .
   drwxr-xr-x   6 root     system          512 Aug 18 11:32 ..
   -rw-r--r--   1 root     system    374575104 Apr 29 02:59 
                                               fim_console_rios_aix_5.iso
   

2. Identify the nearest multiple of 128 MB that will provide enough space for the image. In the above example, the image is approximately 374 MB, so use 384 MB as an image size.

   Make a logical volume of this size. Ensure that there is enough space on the physical volume. For example, hdisk0.

   # mklv -y cdlv -s n -L /dev/cdlv rootvg 384M hdisk0

   If the command fails, increase the volume size by a multiple of 128.

3. Use thedd command to create a pseudo-device. Ensure that the partition has enough space for the pseudo-device. In the following example command, the pseudo-device is /dev/cdlv.

   # dd if=/opt/software/iso/fim_console_rios_aix_5.iso of=/dev/cdlv

   Note that this command may take a long time and will create two dd processes.

4. Mount the device like a CD-ROM in AIX. Ensure that the mount point exists.

   # mount -v cdrfs -o ro /dev/cdlv /mnt/iso

5. Change directory into /mnt/iso.