From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Apr 13 04:01:54 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9993D106564A for ; Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:01:54 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.e.sanliturk@gmail.com) Received: from mail-bw0-f164.google.com (mail-bw0-f164.google.com [209.85.218.164]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DC13E8FC19 for ; Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:01:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.e.sanliturk@gmail.com) Received: by bwz8 with SMTP id 8so1876396bwz.43 for ; Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:01:52 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type; bh=Pkj39z0YAv6BOrVJLQBjFofSo+2AtxzTA9qF2XPYf/w=; b=SP5RGMsXsNPzwZgnwmjjcR427hE5EqVjlmQnw50pjhhZI/mSvawQwIiR0qSNXpQ4n1 V4/HC7ShrborwblHRuRR2qh7wzXd4F9eIF4/f3GNe/9jq7ay2XMI1Ps6uoFHDXRq2pVj bU1Au3uHJM9HU33p8Y0rP6He1OBpmtKtnTcko= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type; b=lCxDi8Y7M+Ken3fsP0tSA9L44TCH7j0Qr3NpsNemjHl8Cf0i34Fe8dEqCDua/thL98 2ORnH/O3hkvfKXoooveHCVDeq8ma1Z5Hyv5OXqb3jBmUcLpBZ9gwXhJ3Xjf2O6CKhCtA Ed28el/5XVErXf0oCvLZUSdlYYrMHWm+Q3Cio= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.204.116.15 with SMTP id k15mr5504124bkq.118.1239593939869; Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:38:59 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <5.2.0.9.2.20090412203550.0212d070@mail.raiden.net> References: <5.2.0.9.2.20090412203550.0212d070@mail.raiden.net> Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:38:59 -0400 Message-ID: From: Mehmet Erol Sanliturk To: Steve Lake Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Creating a custom install disk for Freebsd? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:01:54 -0000 On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 8:45 PM, Steve Lake wrote: > Hi all. I'm looking at trying to create a custom install disk for > Freebsd based off an existing install to make reinstallation quick and > painless, similar to how apt-on-cd works for Linux. The reason behind this > is I'm looking at going overseas for a couple years and will be leaving a > bsd server in my brother-in-law's care. Since he's a hardware guy, if the > server fails, he can easily fix it and get it back up. But he will be > clueless as to how to reinstall the server itself and get it running > afterwards (assuming the failure was caused by the HD failing). > > So I want to leave behind a cd that's setup in such a way that all > he has to do is pop it in, boot it up, and maybe answer a couple questions > prior to install. After that the cd does the rest. And when it's finished, > the system ends up with a fresh copy of the server as it was when the > snapshot was created, including all settings and applications. > > ... > > Steven Lake > Owner/Technical Writer > Raiden's Realm > www.raiden.net > Bringing Linux and BSD to the World > > The following is not an answer to your question but only to suggest a possible installation step to be able to use in such an instance and many repeated installations . There is such a facility in Mandriva Free 2008 ( www.mandriva.com ) . During installation it is possible to use a diskette to save all of the responses of the user for the installation . Then , for a new installation on another PC , when this diskette is submitted to the Mandriva installer , it is not asking any question about installation and it is using the parameters stored in that diskette . I wish that the FreeBSD is also applies such a step . It would be very useful for the installers because re-entry of all of the parameters for a new install of the same operating system on the same machine or a similar another machine really is very time consuming . Even such a facility may use XML files to make it usable for different successive releases with a possible update of the XML files . Instead of diskette , a USB stick may also be used because diskette drives are disappearing slowly . Thank you very much Mehmet Erol Sanliturk