Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 01:59:36 -0400 From: Mark Fullmer <maf@net.ohio-state.edu> To: jason <jason@intercom.com>, freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Batch installs Message-ID: <19981022015936.A10914@net.ohio-state.edu> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.981020110926.21031B-100000@mail.intercom.com>; from jason on Tue, Oct 20, 1998 at 11:11:43AM -0400 References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.981020111015.3743A-100000@shell.kawartha.com> <Pine.BSF.3.96.981020110926.21031B-100000@mail.intercom.com>
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On Tue, Oct 20, 1998 at 11:11:43AM -0400, jason wrote: > I have searched on the freebsd site for a way to do batch installs, > but have come up with nothing. Is there a way to have a file that > states all the things you would like to install, etc to make > installing on several servers easier? Custom boot floppy and sdist. For a new install/upgrade the box boots with a minimal floppy that NFS mounts /usr and a configuration directory specific to the machine from the master server. The configuration file tells it how to setup the disk(s), file systems, and copy in a /, /usr, and /var. Once the file systems are in place config files get copied over, a ssh host key generated, etc. To keep it up to date, the master server dists out /usr to all the clients. Configuration changes like rc.conf are also disted out. Software always gets installed on the master and disted out. Use sym links to maintain multiple versions of the same package in /usr/local. The one important thing to remember is not to store local machine state in /usr, ie /usr/local/etc/configfile won't work because there's no easy way to keep separate files on the master for each client. The FreeBSD ports collection has always been a problem because of this... I have about 30 or so fbsd boxes all synch'd to 1 running like this. -- mark To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message
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