Create Distro from running config, possible?

[Silver-0-surfer]

Hi

So I have been putting together a server including lots of applications and modifying them to suit my needs.

Now I need to "push" this config (including all apps, config files, EVERYTHING) onto like 50 other boxes. Is it possible to do this, sort of like create a ISO of my current working distro and then burn it to a new server?

Any advice?

Im running CentOS btw

 

[riscbroker]

Is it possible to save an image of your current config with Clonezilla or whatever - much as one would with a Windows install? I've got no idea whether this would work with a Linux O/S

 

[sn3rd]

Assuming the partition to be imaged is /dev/sda1 and assuming you have a second partition on a flash (or anything, really) that is large enough to hold it, on /dev/sdb1 mounted at, say /media/external :

# dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/media/external/image.iso

Then you can image it onto the identical other machines by doing :

# dd if=/media/external/image.iso of=/dev/sda1

Although this is still a lot of effort for a large number of machines, so a network-based approach might make more sense.

 

[w1z4rd]

Do images. Is it the same hardware?

 

[Silver-0-surfer]

thanks guys,

It all be the same HW so maybe I will just build one and then try to copy the image accross to all the hard-drive. now to just remember everything i've done..

 

[IkilledSpongebob]

Puppet (management tool) could be useful, esp if it's a networked environment or requires regular updates

http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/143893
http://projects.puppetlabs.com/projects/puppet
http://projects.puppetlabs.com/projects/puppet/wiki/About_Puppet

 

[warchylde]

If you are using certs and a lot of specialised non standard configs you are in for quite a bit of work..... what distro are you using?

 

[Silver-0-surfer]

If you are using certs and a lot of specialised non standard configs you are in for quite a bit of work..... what distro are you using?

thats exactly why I opened this thread using CentOS

 

[warchylde]

You can try this Mondo Rescue but you are going to spend a lot of time re-issueing certs etc.... It may be better to just set up a repository and create a scripted install (but this will also be time consuming but at least you will have something that can be stored and modified for future use)

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I have asked the same Q on another forum, will give feedback should the answer be favourable.

 

[Logo]

Just remember that if you "install" the image onto the 50 other machines they will all have the same configs and settings. This is not a bad thing in general but if they are servers with static IPs you will still need to update the IP config on each machine if you are using DHCP with statically assigned IPs to MAC addresses then that should not be a problem.

Also remember the machine names will need to be updated, certs will need to be re-issued and that is just the start of it. I would really recommend a scripted install. Yes it will take some time to get it up and running but it is so worth it for the long run.

 

[Nod]

Some tools that might be of help.
http://www.trickytools.com/php/clonesys.php
http://udpcast.linux.lu/
http://clonezilla.org/
http://www.mondorescue.org/
http://rescuecd.sourceforge.net/

Just to add to Logo's comment: It might be a good idea to set up an install server, especially if you plan on installing/reinstalling a lot of machines.

Some info on that:
http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_pxe_install_server
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infoc...cluster.csm16010.install.doc/am7il_sulis.html
http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/...WTO_:_Ch25_:_Network-Based_Linux_Installation
https://fedorahosted.org/cobbler/

 

[SBSP]

Ive done this a few times using Remastersys but this was done on Ubuntu, and its a very simple procedure you literally set up your os the way you want and then remastersys it to a burnable/bootable ISO which can then be installed again or run live on any or rather most hardware.

 

[Silver-0-surfer]

Ive done this a few times using Remastersys but this was done on Ubuntu, and its a very simple procedure you literally set up your os the way you want and then remastersys it to a burnable/bootable ISO which can then be installed again or run live on any or rather most hardware.

Ye but Remastersys is for Debian/Ubuntu only. It looks like Revisor might be what I'm looking for https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Drafts/Spins/RevisorHowTo#Respin_Fedora_With_Custom_Packages

@Nod

Thanks for all the links, will have to check them out.

 

[Kasyx]

I would recommend writing a kickstart script for the install, and then a secondary script that uses rsync to connect to the "host" server and copy across all relevant config files.