Fastest reinstall of IBM i on AS/400

I have a iSeries that I am using for learning. Because it is for learning, I continually mess it up and end up having to reinstall the OS. This is a highly time consuming process, mainly because I have to babysit the machine as it asks for more disks (9+). I'm trying to figure out a more speedy process to reinstall the OS. This is my current approach:

1. Reinstall LMC (Optical media)
2. Reinstall OS (Optical media)
3. Install minimal LICPGMs (QSYS, etc.)
4. Create image catalog, load from IFS
5. Install remaining LICPGM

Running 7.2 of a 8203-E4A with DVD and Tape drives. Is there a faster way?

Solution 1:

There are two ways to achieve what you want:

• After a known good install with all PTFs applied, to a GO SAVE followed by a 21. This creates a tape you can IPL from and restore the system to it's last state.
• You could install a primary IBM i LPAR as Hypervisor (to not mess up with) and host a second one within to mess up with. When your secondary install has a known good state, shut it down and simply create a tar or *SAVF from the virtual disk files in */QFPNWSSTG'. If you need to restore, delete the storage files, unpack the old ones, reapply to the *NWSD and go again.

Solution 2:

what are you doing to wreak the box? Sound like you are wiping and starting from scratch...is that really necessary? If the box IPLs, you should be able to re-install from an image catalog automatically. Replacing software using the automatic installation method