Writing CD-Roms In The Public Windows XP Lab

The Computer Systems Lab has created and tested a process for saving students accounts to CD. There are two different processes. There is one process for saving Windows XP accounts, and there is a different process for saving UNIX accounts.

Accounts written using either procedure are readable from any platform except DOS due to filename length limitations. Also, discs are written under the ISO9660 standard which only allows subdirectories 8 deep.

What CD Writing Facilities Are Available?

We have a DVD writer installed on pub-winxp1.cs.wisc.edu, (in room 1355) running Windows XP Professional. If the room is locked and you do not have an O.D. key, come to the systems lab (room 2350) during normal business hours and ask someone to open the door for you.

How Do I Save A Copy Of My NT Account To CD?

1. Purchase one CD-R/RW disc for every 650 MB or one DVD+R/RW for every 4.7GB of data. You may want to purchase a second piece of media in case there are problems with the first disc you create.
2. Come to the general purpose Windows lab (room 1355 CS)
3. Log in to pub-winxp1.cs.wisc.edu using your regular CS login and password.
4. Copy the files or directiories that you want to save to C:\Temp.
5. Start Nero Burning Rom (using the desktop icon)
6. If the New Compilation windows appears, choose Cancel. Then select Help->Use the Nero Wizard, followed by File->New....
7. On the first screen of the Nero Wizard choose your type of media (CD or DVD) and click Next. Now choose Compile a new CD/DVD and choose Next.
8. Choose Data CD/DVD on the next screen followed by Next.
9. Finally, choose Compile a new data-CD/DVD, followed by Next, and then Finish.
10. Drag and drop the folders or files that you want to save from C:\Temp to the Nero Burning ROM write list on the left side of the screen.
11. When finished selecting files, go to the File menu and choose Write CD
12. Insert your media into the DVD-writer drive. Be careful not to touch the writeable side of the CD/DVD media. Check that there isn't any dust or debris on the writeable side of the media.
13. In the window that pops up, make sure Burn Image is NOT checked, and click Burn
14. Wait....
15. Test the CD/DVD by clicking on the D:\ drive in the Windows XP Explorer.
16. When you are done, remove all of your files from C:\Temp

How Do I Save A Copy Of My UNIX Account On CD?

• Purchase one CD-R/RW disc for every 650 MB or one DVD+R/RW for every 4.7GB of data. You may want to purchase a second piece of media in case there are problems with the first disc you create.
• Find the size of your account: /usr/afsws/bin/fs lq ~
• Find out how much free space is available in /common/tmp: /usr/afsws/bin/fs lq /common/tmp
• If the space available in /common/tmp is more than the amount that you need you may proceed. If not, either wait, or send mail to lab@cs.wisc.edu to report the problem.

• Create an image of your home directory with the mkisofs command (note that this should be one line):

mkisofs -a -A Application-Description -f -J -r -V USERNAME -o /common/tmp/USERNAME.iso PATH_TO_DIRECTORY

for example:

mkisofs -a -A joeuser_cs_account_spring_99 -f -J -r -V joeuser -o /common/tmp/joeuser.iso ~joeuser

mkisofs has several options. Here are the options we have tested, and a short explanation of each:

-a

includes all files in the archive. Normally files that contain the charaters ~ or # will not be included

-A Application_id

Specifies a text string that will be written into the volume header. There is room for 128 characters. We recomend putting your name and the date of the archive, for example joeuser_cs_account_spring_98

-f

causes symbolic links to be "followed" and replaced by hte contents of the file. Without the -f flag, the symbolic link will be preserved, but the contents of the actual file will not be archived if it is not in your directory.

-J

uses the Joliet extensions, so that long file names are visible on Windows NT and Windows 95/98 systems.

-r

Use the Rock Ridge extensions and change all file ownerships and modes to be more useful: * The uid and gid are set to zero, because they are usually only useful on the original computer system, and not useful on the computer where the CD is mounted. * All the file read bits are set to true, so that files and directories are globally readable when the CD is mounted on a new system. * If any execute bit is et for a file, set all of the execute bits, so that executables are globally executable when the CD is mounted on a new system. * If any search bit is set for a directory, set all of the search bits, so that directories are globally searchable on the CD. * All write bits are cleared, because the CD-Rom will be mounted read-only in any case.

-V

Volume-name: Specifies a volume name for the CD. We recommend your username.

-o /common/tmp/USERNAME.iso

specifies the output file (cd image file). Use your username instead of USERNAME.

path_to_directory

specifies the directory to archive (your home directory)

• for more information on the options and flags of the mkisofs command type man mkisofs Wait for this command to complete. This is the most time consuming step of the process, and takes approx. 20 minutes for a 70MB directory

• Wait for this command to complete. This is the most time consuming step of the process, and takes approx. 20 minutes for a 70MB directory
• Go to the general purpose Windows lab (room 1355 CS).
• Log in to pub-winxp1.cs.wisc.edu using your regular CS login and password.
• Copy the USERNAME.iso file that you created, from W:\common\tmp to C:\Temp
• Start Nero Burning ROM. (Start->Programs->Nero Burning ROM)
• If the New Compilation windows appears, choose Cancel. Then select Help->Use the Nero Wizard, followed by File->New....
• On the first screen of the Nero Wizard choose your type of media (CD or DVD) and click Next. Now choose Compile a new CD/DVD and choose Next.
• Choose Other CD/DVD formats... followed by Next. Then select Create CD/DVD from an image file and Next, followed by Finish on the next screen.
• Select the *.iso file that you earlier copied into C:\Temp and click Open.
• Insert your media into the DVD-writer drive. Be careful not to touch the writeable side of the CD/DVD media. Check that there isn't any dust or debris on the writeable side of the media.
• In the window that pops up, make sure Burn Image is NOT checked, and click Burn
• Wait....
• Test the CD by clicking on the D:\ drive in the Windows XP Explorer
• When you are done, remove your USERNAME.iso file from C:\Temp
• Remove your USERNAME.iso file from /common/tmp

Notes For Making Software Archive CDs

• To make an archive of a software project from Windows NT, follow the instructions above for archiving a Windows NT account.
• To make an archive of a UNIX software project:
  • read the instructions above for archiving a UNIX account.
  • read the mkisofs man page
  • select the appropriate options. Pay particular attention to the -f and -r options.
  • make sure to test your CD archive on a UNIX system outside the CS department, to make sure that you do not have any dependencies on our configuration.