How to build a floppy disk image file?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6

Issue

How to build a floppy driver disk?
How to build a floppy disk image share ks.cfg via HP iLO.
How to build a floppy disk image share ks.cfg via IBM IMM.
How to build a floppy disk image share ks.cfg via Dell DRAC.

Resolution

1. Build an empty floppy image file using dd command:

[root]# dd if=/dev/zero of=./floppy.img bs=512 count=2880
2880+0 records in
2880+0 records out
1474560 bytes (1.5 MB) copied, 0.00821857 s, 179 MB/s

2. Set up a loop device with the image file:

[root]# losetup /dev/loop0 ./floppy.img

3. Create the file system with the loop device:

[root]# mkfs.msdos /dev/loop0
mkfs.msdos 3.0.16 (01 Mar 2013)

4. Check the filesystem:

[root]# fsck.msdos /dev/loop0
dosfsck 3.0.16, 01 Mar 2013, FAT32, LFN
Logical sector size is zero.

5. Clean up and delete the loop device:

[root]# losetup -d /dev/loop0

6. Mount the loop device:

[root]# mount -o loop -t auto floppy.img /mnt/floppy/

Files such as ks.cfg can now be written to the directory mounted.

This floppy.img file can now be shared via a Lights Out device such as HP iLO, IBM IMM, or Dell DRAC. It can also be copied to a physical media using the dd command.

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