On Wed, 2013-03-20 at 08:51 -0400, Anton Aylward wrote:
In the past I've only ever had to install Linux on single machines at a time, but a new client has raised the question of doing a bulk install on many (more than 20, possibly as many as a hundred) workstations. Step and repeat, all the same.
Rather than the long work off an installation DVD, I'm wondering...
Is is possible to set up what amount to a LiveUSB stick, (Yes I've seen https://en.opensuse.org/Live_USB_stick) boot from it, then use 'dd' to copy the stick to the hard drive, and then finally do some magic to make the new Linux on the hard drive bootable?
Just a few minutes work.inux on the hard drive bootable?
Yes I appreciate that I'll have to do much setup before hands for the server that handles the logins and configure the various files on the stick-image.
In an ideal world I want to be able to make a couple or more of these sticks and give them to the clients IT staff - or at least the ones enthusiastic about Linux/Suse in the future - with a set of idiot poof instructions. Hopefully that way the "hundred or so" that the manager talks about can be accomplished in a few hours. Then we're down to the step-and-repeat of testing. Of course no-one is going to test a machine he did the install on :-0
I do exactly this. I build my images with kiwi. There you select what you want installed, and it makes many image types. The one you want is called OEM. It makes an image that is dd's to the disk, via either a bootable USB, DVD or via PXE. kiwi makes the entire thing - including the bootable GUI that does the DD. You can have as much set up as you would like. We use this so we can do identical installs on many machines, many of which do not have internet access. Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org