Customized Red Hat Boot Disks 56
Anonymous Coward writes "I've just opened up FezBox, a site which will build you your very own, customized Red Hat boot disks. It makes installing Red Hat 6.0 a breeze, and once you've got a boot disk created, you can typically do an installation in 5-10 minutes..." This ought to be especially interesting for low-volume clone builders who want a production-speed method of installing RH Linux but don't have a lot of time to invest in coming up with their own "custom" installs.
vi ks.cfg (Score:1)
Especially that the ks.cfg created by fezbox.com contains
# This kickstart script was created at FezBox (http://www.fezbox.com),
# your best source for customized Linux solutions.
is a bit of an overstatement, isn't it?
Anonymous Coward now gets free adspace here? (Score:1)
Seems ridiculous.
Re:NFS (Score:1)
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"This moon-cheese will make me very rich! Very rich indeed!
Re:Good Start! (Score:1)
Try searching www.deja.com and find out what happened to cause this after package selection during an RH6.0 FTP install, on a Compaq 486/33 with 12mb RAM and a 350mb HDD.
You won't find it -- I didn't. I gave up and used Linux Router Project instead.
Does the redhat i.d. have a "write config to disk" (Score:1)
LINUX stands for: Linux Inux Nux Ux X
Hmmmmm... Security implications? (Score:2)
What security precautions are in place on the server that hosts that CGI to keep someone from hacking *that* machine, and introducing a change the author doesn't know about to the CGI.
I think its a good idea, but for security's sake, everyone should probably double check the install discs, or if you're not fairly confident you could spot something malicious, use the RedHat-standard boot disc.
Sure most of the install stuff runs from binaries/scripts on the install media itself, but there's no reason a malicious script couldn't be tacked onto the end of whatever starts the install program. IMHO, this is a problem with RedHat in general, since they tend to use a more complex boot process, between the boot disk being FAT, to the fact that most systems end up booting initially from a ramdisk, and so on. It makes it much more complex to keep close tabs on what the system did during the install, and how that install process works.
spelt (Score:1)
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
spelt \Spelt\, n. [AS. spelt, fr. L. spelta.] (Bot.) A species of grain (Triticum Spelta) much cultivated for food in Germany and Switzerland; -- called also German wheat.
smelt \Smelt\, n. [AS. smelt, smylt; akin to Dan. smelt.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small silvery salmonoid fishes of the genus Osmerus and allied genera, which ascend rivers to spawn, and sometimes become landlocked in lakes. They are esteemed as food, and have a peculiar odor and taste.
Note: The most important species are the European smelt (Osmerus eperlans) (called also eperlan, sparling, and spirling), the Eastern American smelt (O. mordax), the California smelt (O. thalichthys), and the surf smelt (Hypomesus olidus). The name is loosely applied to various other small fishes, as the lant, the California tomcod, the spawn eater, the silverside.
2. Fig.: A gull; a simpleton. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
Sand smelt (Zo["o]l.), the silverside.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
smelt \Smelt\, imp. & p. p. of Smell.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
-----------------------------------------------
smelt \Smelt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Smelted; p. pr. & vb. n. Smelting.] [Of foreign origin; cf. Sw. sm["a]lta, D. smelten, Dan. smelte, Icel. smelta, G. schmelzen OHG. smelzan, smelzen; probably akin to Gr. ?????. Cf. Enamel, Melt, Mute, v. i., Smalt.] (Metal.) To melt or fuse, as, ore, for the purpose of separating and refining the metal; hence, to reduce; to refine; to flux or scorify; as, to smelt tin.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Very good for test platforms (Score:1)
We run a test lab in which we need to frequently rebuild machines with the exact same configuration.
I've always meant to look at the kickstart stuff but just never had the time.
This is the perfect tool for me. The only drawback for me is that we generally use a customized RedHat 6.0 CD that contains some additional packages we use internally.
If they could come up with a mechanism to allow me to specify additional packages then I'm all set.
Re:ALREADY DONE - OpenLinux2.2 - Re:Good Start! (Score:1)
more than just a tool for cloning... (Score:1)
put in the kickstart, sit back and relax while IT DOES IT ALL FOR YOU
not to mention that the redhat install questions haven't really changed all that much in the past few years. this makes it nice for using the same kickstart config file for installing newer versions of redhat!
Re:Good Start! (Score:2)
FTP installs are possible with RH (Score:1)
Having said that, I found the Fez deal to be interesting (I only went through part of it, but it looks like a normal RH install process). But it struck me as dumb that they don't give you an option to kickstart an FTP install (assuming such a thing is possible). It would be really easy for me to just take the new machine, plug it onto my hub and fire away. That other guy mentioned that he doesn't have a floppy drive, and I always seem to have a shortage of old CDROM drives -- it's a pain to rip out a CD drive and install it just to do a RH install. And installing via 100Mbps Ethernet is way faster than an old CDROM anyway.
Fez does allow you to install via NFS, but I don't think that's as handy as an FTP install. It isn't for me anyway. Although I probably ought to have installed and set up NFS by now...
-B
Where do I .... (Score:1)
Re:erk.. (Score:1)
Re:Good Idea? (Score:1)
nice process (Score:1)
On the other hand, no FTP is a killer drawback. I don't remember the last time I've done an install that wasn't over FTP. I'm the linux virus at my company (wherever I go, machines suddenly start running linux :-), and I just have the RH6 cdrom sitting in the tray of one of our smaller servers, ready to do another install whenever it's needed.
Basically, this would be cool for many machines, EXCEPT that if I were installing on many machines, I'd want to be doing it over ftp (who wants to screw with setting up NFS if you didn't already need it?). Hopefully this is just an alpha version, and they'll be including that capability soon...
Nice web page though.
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"This moon-cheese will make me very rich! Very rich indeed!
Re:Good Start! (Score:1)
Web - based install lets you research the choices (Score:1)
Newbies may find this especially useful, if even to just practice an installation before the "real" one. The little blurbs in the RH install that describe each app are generally good, but it's nowhere near enough info to make an informed decision.
I agree that an ftp - based quickstart would be very cool.
Re:nice process (Score:1)
redhat-6.0/i386/doc/README.ks (Score:1)
kickstart, but now that fezbox has shown how easy
it is it's going to save me a lot of time. The
%post commands are *very* nice for installing the
gaggle of post-6.0 updates, stripping inetd, etc.
To install from a ftp or http server, use:
url --url http://hostname.of.server/path/to/RH
for http or:
url --url ftp://hostname.of.server/path/to/RH
for ftp. To use a non-anonymous server, use:
url --url ftp://username:password@hostname.of.server/path/t
To use a FTP or HTTP proxy, use:
url --url ftp://server/path/to/RH --proxy proxy.server.hostname --proxyport 201
Re:What's the point? (Score:1)
market segment, say a large bank, gas company,
or retailer, wants to do mojo installs and
guarantee that they're all the same.
Imaging disks is one option.
This is another.
'Nuff said.
Not ALWAYS easy to install... (Score:1)
It did NOT detect the graphics card, and I've NEVER had it detect the monitor, and yes that's made a difference on several occasions. (Especially with another box that had an SiS 5595, another piece of junk embedded video chip. With Red Hat 6 it worked fine, but only after I found the right monitor from the "nameless Dell 14 inch" list. The wrong monitor options included "refuse to run because it can't find a mode" and "loud screeching noise from the back so I shut the monitor off even before I hit ctrl-alt-backspace because I'm afraid smoke's about to come out of it". Oh configuring X is just a JOY...
Also, the modem I pulled out of the drawer for one machine recently had a jumper setting that insisted it was Com 3 according to the little sticker, but it turned out to be Com 11. (Extra jumper to shift the IRQ to 16 bit mode that was not documented on the sticker. Fun.) No Linux install has EVER found a modem on a nonstandard setting automatically (although OS/2 never had any trouble, you'd think that the INSTALL could scan for IRQ's...) This particular joy took 2 days worth of free time (I.E. most of an hour sitting down and scratching head) to figure out. Eventually scrubbed through the man pages and figured out how to run "setserial auto_irq autoconfig", which is remarkably non-obvious when you can't remember what "setserial" is called... But only after a lot of red herrings in the "plug and play" section of the Bios telling it to reserve IRQ 3 for the ISA bus...
I've been banging my head on computers since I was 12, so I've known where to stick the hot poker to get the system to confess most of the time. But a newbie would have given up, and I've wasted a LOT of time setting up boxes.
I still haven't gotten Red Hat 6 to connect to my ISP, the ISP-HOWTO that ships with this version is a JOKE, sentences cut off in the middle and it tells you to make changes to files it doesn't name. It's been a year since I last configured networking, I don't remember this stuff... I remembered where to look it up and it wasn't there, I feel cheated. :P
(I went out and bought a "Linux for dummies quick reference" after that experience with the Howtos... May not have the info I need but at least someone will have read it through before shipping it.)
Oh, another fun little detail: getting to the power down message on shutdown is no guarantee that it won't fsck on the way back up. On any Red Hat 6 system I've seen so far. Dunno why...
You can tell I detoured through OS/2 for a couple of years, can't you... Their hardware detection positively spoiled me...
Still, can't complain. A friend wanted me to explain why Windows 95 was booting into "safe mode". That'll put things right into perspective, won't it? It turned out to be a missing font. Now that's just pure evil... (Strangely enough, Red Hat 6 installed without a hitch on that box, apart from guessing the monitor type again. :) Rob
Works Great. But... (Score:1)
Much to my joy this artocle was here. Perfect I thought, I'll give it a shot.
I went over the web interface till I was satisfied, then did a run for my system.
dd'd it to the floppy.
Copied my data to another system on the network.
Rebooted and made my fat32 partition (dont' ask).
The only thing that I was prompted for was my hostname and domain name.
This is because my system is not a permanent a piece of the internet, and the redhat installer tried to do a dns lookup on my non-routable IP address.
The second part that didn't quite go as I expected was after telling the web interface that I wanted to setup automatically, it didn't gicve me an option to have the system start in runlevel 5.
I hope they can work around these.
Job well done so far though!
Re:So burn your own CDROM (Score:1)
chmod -R 755
chown -R root:root
cd
mkisofs -b images/boot.img -c boot.catalog \
-o
-J -r -T \
-p Your_Name \
-P www.redhat.com \
-A RedHat_Linux_6.0 \
-V RH60 \
.
Good luck.
Re:So burn your own CDROM (Score:1)
ALREADY DONE - OpenLinux2.2 - Re:Good Start! (Score:1)
My friends have been completely blown away.
It has 100% graphical install and 100% graphical boot. Personally, I would rate the install a 10, NT a 4, RedHat 6.0 a 3 and Win95/98 a 8.
See: http://www.calderasystems.com
Jim
I'd have to ask the same... (Score:1)
for companies rolling out large amounts of cloned RH boxes, this approach
wouldn't be anything short of stupid.
creating one install that's what you want clones of, then creating disk images using Ghost or Power Quest's Drive Image software would be MUCH faster and more efficient...
IMHO, of course.
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Reveal your Source, Unleash the Power. (tm)
learning (Score:1)
Of course... but then, for some (like me), it's more fun (as I noticed someone earlier said) to learn the hard way by installing it yourself using the boot disks (the CD, for me)....
Even though I complained about it (technical difficulties....... you know) I'm still glad I did it myself, and learned.
What's the point? (Score:1)
Good Idea? (Score:1)
To tell you the truth though, its probably better for the unexperienced to have to toy with things to get them to work, makes you learn a lot more.....hrmm...maybe this isn't such a great idea after all
Neat Tool (Score:1)
sKroz
Re:Good Idea? (Score:1)
...the stupidity of these mortals do delight the gods...
multiple machines (Score:2)
--
Re:Good Idea? (Score:1)
This Rocks! (Score:1)
We purchased two Dell machines destined to be the first two Linux desktops at our work. I'm going to have to give this a try for this!!
Kinda ironic though isn't it? A GUI interface to a command line installer?
Yes! Way better than ANSI. "Amiga Kickstart" TM? (Score:1)
Amiga Kickstart is TM on page 3 in the RKM's.
Linux Kickstart should be ok.
Re:score 1?? (Score:1)
So burn your own CDROM (Score:2)
Granted, this is a little beyond the realm of "new users that want a neat web-based installer", but for people who want to do many multiple machine installs, this looks viable even without a floppy to do it with.
So how do the guts of this thing work? Does it just set up Red Hat's kickstart system?
Re:erk.. (Score:1)
Re:So burn your own CDROM (Score:1)
Would somebody be kind enough as to pass along the command-line arguments to burn a bootable RH 6.0 CD? I've made 3 coasters so far...here are the arguments I'm using:
mkisofs -a -b images/boot.img -c boot.cat -A "Red Hat 6.0 for i386" -f -d -l -N -P "CD image written by Steve Frampton " -R -T -v -oBy the way, it'd also be nice to know how I can update some of the RPM files first before creating the ISO file. It appears to involve more than just replacing the appropriate RPM's. :-)
Re:Neat but? change your root pasword later :) (Score:1)
Re:So burn your own CDROM (Score:1)
Re:Good Start! (Score:2)
The point is, everyone's got their installation nightmare stories. No installer is perfect; however, Linux is just as simple (and conversely, just as difficult) to install as Windows is, in my experience.
erk.. (Score:1)
Since I do not use Red Hat this may be a lame-o question...
Why no ftp install option for Red Hat? Yeah I know CDs are much easier, but
Seems like this was one reason I went with Debian. Above and beyond the "other" reasons. No Flamewar, Please!
I always wanted to put up a custom kernel burner box. This was an idea from the (386SX 4 meg) overnight compile days which has no merit in this day of huge horsepower on the average box.
FezBox is a nice idea for those who like using those kind of toyZ.
RH Kickstart does not support FTP (yet) (Score:1)
Cool thing about FezBox is that it creates the ks.cfg file and then includes it in the image file. Neat.
Re:Hmmmmm... Security implications? (Score:1)
And that disk you bought from cheapbytes? They downloaded a CD image from somewhere too...
The reality is that even with the standard disk you can't be sure. If you are running a critical system then you need to check even if you're using the standard disks.
The rest of us, we take our chances. Decide what level of risk you are willing to accept. I like to checksum all my packages. But does that do any good? Anyone can generate checksums, do I validate the origin fully? PGP signatures help there. But anybody can sign a message, do I know that I really have the originators fingerprint?
You have examined every line of kernel source for trojans haven't you?
Re:Neat but? change your root pasword later :) (Score:1)
echo 'echo "Welcome to yada yada" && passwd && echo "#this would be the standard user bashrc" > /root/.bashrc';
or something of the sorts). Anyways, I think that would be the main application of this very nice cgi, anyways.