I'm looking for a script or some tool that enables me to create custom iso's for centos 4.3 I'l also need tools to build some custom rpm's.
What i want to do is create a cd that will install centos 4.3 fully updated (at the time of cd creation) together with self created rpm's of ispconfig.
Michel wrote:
I'm looking for a script or some tool that enables me to create custom iso's for centos 4.3 I'l also need tools to build some custom rpm's.
What i want to do is create a cd that will install centos 4.3 fully updated (at the time of cd creation) together with self created rpm's of ispconfig.
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Welcome to the wonderful world of kickstart installations. I believe you will find this link interesting and helpful:
http://www.centos.org/docs/4/html/rhel-sag-en-4/ch-kickstart2.html
Kickstart is fun. Hope you enjoy it. I, myself use it to create custom CD sets that I can hand over to nontechnical people at my client sites. They can then take pretty much any machine, pop in a CD, turn it on, wait 10 minutes, and have a basic CentOS install reboot itself directly into a remote XDMCP session with the local desktop server without ever picking up the phone to call me. It's fun watching Linux desktop use at my client sites expand all by itself, without any further efforts from me. Bad for the paycheck. But good for the soul.
-Steve
Steve schreef:
Michel wrote:
I'm looking for a script or some tool that enables me to create custom iso's for centos 4.3 I'l also need tools to build some custom rpm's.
What i want to do is create a cd that will install centos 4.3 fully updated (at the time of cd creation) together with self created rpm's of ispconfig.
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Welcome to the wonderful world of kickstart installations. I believe you will find this link interesting and helpful:
http://www.centos.org/docs/4/html/rhel-sag-en-4/ch-kickstart2.html
Kickstart is fun. Hope you enjoy it. I, myself use it to create custom CD sets that I can hand over to nontechnical people at my client sites. They can then take pretty much any machine, pop in a CD, turn it on, wait 10 minutes, and have a basic CentOS install reboot itself directly into a remote XDMCP session with the local desktop server without ever picking up the phone to call me. It's fun watching Linux desktop use at my client sites expand all by itself, without any further efforts from me. Bad for the paycheck. But good for the soul.
-Steve _______________________________________________ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Looks interesting but i have the feeling it doesn't allow the end user to make decisions like how to parition, keyboard layout etc... I realy need this as i will have no idea about the configuration of the box that will be used to install it on
Michel wrote:
Looks interesting but i have the feeling it doesn't allow the end user to make decisions like how to parition, keyboard layout etc... I realy need this as i will have no idea about the configuration of the box that will be used to install it on
Any part of the config that you do not specify defaults back to normal anaconda behavior. If you don't tell it how to partition, the user gets control.
However, what I do is autopartition and let the installer make the appropriate decisions based upon what it see's at install time. I make conservative (manual) assumptions about the monitor (1024x768.16 @ 60hz), etc.
My nontechnical users install on everything from creaky old 64mb HP Pavillions to brand spanking new Dell P4's with the same CD set and without ever having to answer a question, and they do it mostly without issue. The most common problem by far is flaky cdrom readers that don't read the CD or read it incorrectly. (And I don't care what people tell me about crc's and stuff. In my experience, cdrom readers will happily return invalid data without indicating an error.)
-Steve
Steve schreef:
Michel wrote:
Looks interesting but i have the feeling it doesn't allow the end user to make decisions like how to parition, keyboard layout etc... I realy need this as i will have no idea about the configuration of the box that will be used to install it on
Any part of the config that you do not specify defaults back to normal anaconda behavior. If you don't tell it how to partition, the user gets control.
However, what I do is autopartition and let the installer make the appropriate decisions based upon what it see's at install time. I make conservative (manual) assumptions about the monitor (1024x768.16 @ 60hz), etc.
My nontechnical users install on everything from creaky old 64mb HP Pavillions to brand spanking new Dell P4's with the same CD set and without ever having to answer a question, and they do it mostly without issue. The most common problem by far is flaky cdrom readers that don't read the CD or read it incorrectly. (And I don't care what people tell me about crc's and stuff. In my experience, cdrom readers will happily return invalid data without indicating an error.)
-Steve
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
ok i have a spindel of 100 cdr's lying around here so i'll give it a try :)
Michel wrote:
ok i have a spindel of 100 cdr's lying around here so i'll give it a try :)
I really mean it when I say it's fun. I would recommend a few cdrw's rather than a bunch of cdr's. You're going to be making a *lot* of minor adjustments, and that's where the fun lies.
-Steve
ok i have a spindel of 100 cdr's lying around here so i'll give it a try :)
ACK! This is when vmware (and I'd assume other virtualization software) is at its best. No need to burn disks. make the iso, point vmware at the iso instead of the cdrom, and test your install. Salt to taste, rinse & repeat.
--
Facts are stuborn things
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
On Fri, 2006-06-09 at 10:23 -0500, Steve wrote:
Kickstart is fun. Hope you enjoy it. I, myself use it to create custom CD sets that I can hand over to nontechnical people at my client sites. They can then take pretty much any machine, pop in a CD, turn it on, wait 10 minutes, and have a basic CentOS install reboot itself directly into a remote XDMCP session with the local desktop server without ever picking up the phone to call me. It's fun watching Linux desktop use at my client sites expand all by itself, without any further efforts from me. Bad for the paycheck. But good for the soul.
If you are just going to run as a thin client, why not PXE boot instead of installing anything locally? The k12ltsp distro has everything canned for that - install it on a server and you are done.
Les Mikesell wrote:
On Fri, 2006-06-09 at 10:23 -0500, Steve wrote:
If you are just going to run as a thin client, why not PXE boot instead of installing anything locally? The k12ltsp distro has everything canned for that - install it on a server and you are done.
Because I don't like the way k12ltsp works. Because it requires PXE. Because I feel that certain things belong on the client, and certain things belong on the server.
I've thought about using k12ltsp instead, but somehow it seems "messy" compared to what I am doing.
I believe in server-centricity. But too much of a good thing can still be bad. YMMV. It depends on the exact situation and the people involved.
-Steve
On Fri, 2006-06-09 at 14:00 -0500, Steve wrote:
If you are just going to run as a thin client, why not PXE boot instead of installing anything locally? The k12ltsp distro has everything canned for that - install it on a server and you are done.
Because I don't like the way k12ltsp works. Because it requires PXE. Because I feel that certain things belong on the client, and certain things belong on the server.
Actually there are several variations, including etherboot floppies or CDs, or bootable CDs that contain the whole thin client (pxes and thinstation, I forget which is which, but either will do an xdm session back to your server - and they work with the k12ltsp server).
I've thought about using k12ltsp instead, but somehow it seems "messy" compared to what I am doing.
Until there is an update you want on the client side and someone has to reinstall...
I believe in server-centricity. But too much of a good thing can still be bad. YMMV. It depends on the exact situation and the people involved.
The default k12ltsp way of doing things is with a dual-nic'd server and clients all on the 'inside'. However you can set it up to work on a flat LAN without breaking anything else. That is, having a PXE/etherboot setup installed just gives you another option. You can still install locally if you want or mix and match.
On Fri, 2006-09-06 at 14:00 -0500, Steve wrote:
Because I don't like the way k12ltsp works. Because it requires PXE. Because I feel that certain things belong on the client, and certain things belong on the server.
I've thought about using k12ltsp instead, but somehow it seems "messy" compared to what I am doing.
I believe in server-centricity. But too much of a good thing can still be bad. YMMV. It depends on the exact situation and the people involved.
LTSP has it's good points, but based on your answer, I think you might like Thinstation a whole lot better.
Same concept: PXE boot thin client. But:
1. Doesn't use NFS 2. Run apps on the server or on the thin client, or both at the same time (on different virtual terminals). 3. XDMCP, NX, RDP, VNC, Tarantella, Citrix ICA, ThinLinc (wtf?), Telnet, tn5250, VMS term and SSH. 4. Boot from PXE, floppy, CD, HD, flash disk 5. Local device support: HD, flopper, CD, USB keys, printers 6. Easily customize up the wazoo 7. Local light desktop option: icewm or blackbox 8. Auto install/update HD/flash disk installs, and schedule reboots! 9. Excellent wireless support. 10. MASSIVE installations in use: 2000+ for one site alone, expanding to add 2000+ more (check out the mail list archives).
There's more, but that gives you an idea.
Thinstation is heavily being used in Windows environments to connect to Citrix and WTS farms. But, there are a lot of XDMCP users, too. I'm currently rolling it out to a big site here in Ontario.
BTW, lately there has been a very bug uptake in interest in Thinstation. Not quite sure why since Thinstation isn't widely known in the Linux/FOSS communities. Seems like the Windows people are spreading the word and dumping their pseudo thin clients (e.g. Wyse) for Thinstation.
HTH,
Regards
On Fri, 2006-06-09 at 15:45 -0400, Kanwar Ranbir Sandhu wrote:
LTSP has it's good points, but based on your answer, I think you might like Thinstation a whole lot better.
Same concept: PXE boot thin client. But:
- Doesn't use NFS
- Run apps on the server or on the thin client, or both at the same
time (on different virtual terminals). 3. XDMCP, NX, RDP, VNC, Tarantella, Citrix ICA, ThinLinc (wtf?), Telnet, tn5250, VMS term and SSH.
LTSP can do some of this too.
- Boot from PXE, floppy, CD, HD, flash disk
- Local device support: HD, flopper, CD, USB keys, printers
This too - and sound.
- Easily customize up the wazoo
- Local light desktop option: icewm or blackbox
This runs on the server, so anything you have there should work.
- Auto install/update HD/flash disk installs, and schedule reboots!
- Excellent wireless support.
That's a problem - but any way of getting to an xdm login will work, including booting a knoppix into runlevel 2, then starting X with "X -query server"
There's more, but that gives you an idea.
Do you know if there is any handy way to make a local multi-boot install offer a choice of network booting or not? You can pxe-boot pxelinux which can have a lilo-like selection but in some cases it would be nicer to have a local boot menu that could boot either your local HD installations or a selection from the network. I thought I saw a network-aware version of grub a long time ago but nothing seems to use it.
-
Jim Perrin -
Kanwar Ranbir Sandhu -
Les Mikesell -
Michel -
Steve