We don't really like having our customers do this kind of thing. So it typically happens when we get them to schedule service. But some systems never get sent in for service. One reason we like to keep systems up-to-date (i.e., a OS release no more than two or so years old) is that is makes it easier for us to maintain our own software releases. The main thing is that the versions of the various libraries that we use that come with the OS change over time, and often in incompatible ways. So we find ourselves maintain an installable for each OS version. The use of KIWI to make our own openSUSE install as an OEM image has been a significant help. But that is always done as a destructive install. We have a running openSUSE with all the packages exactly as we want and many things configured within 10-15 minutes of unpacking the new computer without worry that something was selected/installed differently. But we have to configure all the system-specific things again. Using something like Tumbleweed to do incremental updates and thus keep the system configuration would be a step forward. Or so we have been thinking. I suspect our solution will eventually be to stay wiyh our KIWI/OEM images and keep as much of the current config as we can on our own, do our destructive install, and then put back what we can. Of course, this will require coordination between releases. Our settings are mainly related to: - Disk layout. Where is /home? How many additional data disks are there? - Network interface configuration. This is a big one. We often have 6 Ethernet interfaces with various alias and subnets. So much of our equipment/transducers are ethernet based. BTW, the recent interface naming method change have been a real blessing for us. Talk about disaster if the interfaces came up in a different order. - System services like dhcp, tftp, NFS, AoE/vblade. If we keep the config files related to this and put back as many as we can, life is easier. Most everything else is managed by our KIWI/OEM image. Our plan is something like: 1. Put in a USB stick and click on our ICON that says something like "Keep System Settings" that makes an archive on the USB stick of various system configuration flies. This can also be done when the system layout changes just in case. We could even have the customer then send us a copy of the archive so we can see that it is ok before they proceed. It should be rather small. 2. Install the KIWI/OEM image. 3. Put in a USB stick and click on our ICON that says something like "Get System Settings" that reads the archive from step 1 and puts back whatever file it thinks are appropriate. Step 3 is the most difficult one. But we really are trying to limit the things we really need to maintain across releases. I think it is doable. If we ever get to the point where a customer can do this is another question. So many options. On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 5:36 PM, jdd <jdd@dodin.org> wrote:
Le 08/01/2015 17:24, Roger Oberholtzer a écrit :
As to sending disks: we sometimes do this. The trick is that some systems have unusual hardware setups. Testing the new install is good thing. It really depends on the skills we feel the customer has and the effort they want to spend. Our own systems are always properly maintained ;)
sure :-)
phone call and ssh connection :-)
I can't see other way. I do not really trust customers :-)
jdd
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