[et-mgmt-tools] Cobbler and Ghost

[Seann Clark]

Michael DeHaan wrote:
> Seann Clark wrote:
>> All,
>>
>>    I am new to the list, and have a working cobbler running perfectly 
>> save for kickstarts (I have no clue where to begin with that, but 
>> that is a different issue). 
>
> system-config-kickstart is a great way to build them.
>
> The other way is to install a system and look at /root/anaconda.ks 
> that is left over after installation.
Thanks, I will look over that. I have just started reviewing KS stuff 
for this (Automated Windows installs are easy for me, so I am not seeing 
much of a problem with this outside of the learning curve)
>
>> What I am desiring to get going is the ability to set up  a ghost for 
>> linux (G4L) image on cobbler to be able to netboot/ghost a drive to a 
>> network location, and I am wondering if anyone else has done this 
>> before, or if it would be advisable. 
>
> I recently started a thread about exploring inclusion of imaging tools 
> in Cobbler, so it can keep track of images and make that easier.
>
> So far udpcast and systemimager came up.     I'm still looking into 
> options as right now udpcast involves a bit of setup that I find a bit 
> too involved for most users (including me) to get the target image 
> working correctly.  G4L might be another one to look at, though I'm 
> suprised they haven't been talked to about the name yet.
G4L is not too bad of a tool, it is an ncurses UI that looks and feels a 
lot like Nortan Ghost (I am used to Nortan, hence why I took that route) 
but I don't have enough foresight into cobbler to figure much out 
(Matter of fact, the only reason I started on Cobbler was it was a good 
PXE boot manager, and so far it works perfectly for that)
I had recently come across systemimager but only glanced at that. My 
current project is a bit... complex and finding the way to do it so it 
works will be, well, kind of fun. Said project is to move my current 
server (web/media/cobbler) to a newer more robust 'real' server (going 
from 32 bit to 64 bit) and getting it set up again to match will be a 
nightmare, because this system has been my workhorse for about 3-4 years 
and I don't remember some of the dependencies I have set up for it, so I 
prob. will look into a configuration manager as mentioned below.
>
>> I have a few systems that are laboriously configured that I would 
>> like to be able to periodically ghost before, and after an upgrade 
>> (in case something goes very wrong, like my last Fedora 7 --> Fedora 
>> 8 fun, where my install lost the LVM from the previous install and I 
>> had to fight it to get it to update, which isn't good at all).
>
> This looks like a good time to pick up a config management tool 
> (something like Puppet), plus a backup tool, so that you can express 
> your configuration in terms of kickstarts, configurations, and so 
> forth.  Imaging is a problem because you usually don't know what went 
> into the image, so changing it can be kind of haphazard.    That's why 
> we want to encourage kickstart + config management wherever 
> possible.    That's not to say imaging doesn't have it's case... for 
> Windows, that's one of the better options.
>>
>>    I have successfully completed manual cobbler assisted installs, 
>> and my install works pretty well, and I am looking at fleshing it out 
>> a bit to other O/s's besides just Linux (namely Solaris if it is 
>> supported, I haven't read into that too much) and am looking at a 
>> Windows remote installer (Unattended looked to be the best so far).
>
> Imaging windows seems to be the way to go to me.   That way other 
> distributions are covered under the same proverbial umbrella.
I am currently testing Unattended with a couple of 'core' images. With 
this, I plan on taking a distro, and making a 'clean' install available 
for quick testing of install/performance in the Windows environment,  
and imaging my current running systems as a decent backup for this.
>>
>>    If doing a network bootable Ghost system isn't feasible in 
>> Cobbler, would there be anything else that isn't commercial (I know 
>> Nortan Ghost does network ghosting with its server products) that I 
>> could use for this?
>>
>
> Any of the above...
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Seann Clark
Tsukinokage.net
nombrandue at tsukinokage.net