About Updating the Compact Flash
The IBM NetVista IDF Builder and SDF Creator Utility only creates flash images. It does not perform the update of the flash card. However, below is information about updating the flash once your IDF is built.

The program which handles the updating of the client flash card is the Linux Client Management Agent, or lcma. This program operates in two modes - Software Update and Flash Recovery. In both of these modes you select an IDF file on the server to apply to the client machine's flash card.

In Software Update mode, lcma will compare the IDF which exists on the flash with the one you selected on the server. If lcma detects any packages that have been added, removed, or changed on the server then it updates the flash card. If there are no differences between the packages, there will be no update performed.

In Flash Recovery mode, lcma will reformat the flash card and copy all the packages listed in the IDF you selected. In this case all profiles stored on the flash card are lost. However, if you chose to store your profiles on a remote server, then these will be preserved.

The Linux Client file system uses compression when writing data to the flash card. Uncompressed data from the server is generally compressed to 50% of its original size.

The Flash Recovery and Software Update modes of lcma can be invoked in the following ways: