Re: [Fwd: Re: [seul-edu] RE: [why schools don't adopt OSS]]

["M. David Minnigerode" <minniger@gemteq.com>]

Michael Hall wrote:

>Why not start with a script (bash or perl or python) that modifies a
>standard distro a bit like bastille, except that it creates a setup
>optimised for school students/staff/whatever.
>
>wget could be used to download extra packages.
>
>one setup computer could then be ghosted onto others.
>
>A stopgap measure, perhaps, but one way of doing it in the absence of a
>distro. Load a standard RedHat workstation, for example, then run the
>customisation script on that, and there you have it ... 
>
>Again, I'd be happy to contribute to this. I have gone some way towards
>this anyway with a script for building a web server just how I like it.
>
>Michael
>
>

The RedHat Kick Start stuff is a good way to accomplish this sort of thing.
Once you've generated a KS file for a class of machine you can create
new machines with a floppy or bootable cdrom. I can take a bare
machine (no OS or disk partition) and get a ready to use node for
our web server cluster in a matter of minutes using
the NFS install. It's pretty nifty.  Just boot of the installer CD-ROM
and at the boot prompt do:

ks=nfs:<server>:/<path to ks file on nfs server>


Doing a similar thing for a standard workstation
would be straightforward.  Any special configuration can be done
by  your own bash scripts in the KS file.

See the Customization Guide at redhat:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/custom-guide/

Feel free to contact me with questions.


later


dave