Im looking to build up a Linux distro for a customer. All it needs to have on it is enough networking to connect to a Citrix server over a dedicated ADSL Connection. I know someone posted a link to a tool a while back to help with this, if nobody has that then a decent tutorial would help. I started doing this for another guy about a year back, and then he bough HP terminals instead. This dude just needs to run it on some 600Mhz P3s, and he doesnt have the budget for all new machines.
Why cant you use any number of free distros? If you really want to get fancy, you could certainly recompile the kernels. Ubuntu Server (http://www.ubuntu.com/server), or Fedora should do the trick. Replace the boot splash with your corporations logos of course. :lol:
Quote from: maximusotterWhy cant you use any number of free distros? If you really want to get fancy, you could certainly recompile the kernels. Ubuntu Server, or Fedora should do the trick. Replace the boot splash with your corporations logos of course. :lol:
nah, he wants ZERO functionality, meaning im prolly better off building it from scratch. Plus itll look good on a CV if i pull it off, if it falls on its arse i just dont need to mention it. ;)
#1 on Google seems to be the one Ive heard of the most:
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
There was a distro I ran a while back that allowed you to remaster it to a custom ISO--I think it was PCLOS--probably not the best choice for a server, but it was interesting nonetheless.
I still vote for deconstructing somebody elses work and claiming it as your own. :lol:
Cheers, ive had a poke around there already, but figured i might be able to save some time (im being lazy). Ill give it a go, if it works itll look SHINY on the CV.
An slighty easier way would be to do a Gentoo (http://www.gentoo.org/) compile from source (if you want to be really uber nerdy :P), you can completely optimize for the CPU youre installing on with a few Emerge flags (SSE, SSE2 etc). :)
It has to be said....RICER!!! :lol:
Quote from: maximusotterIt has to be said....RICER!!! :lol:
Riding dem spiinaz, Fo shizzle! :P
Quote from: skidzillaAn slighty easier way would be to do a Gentoo compile from source (if you want to be really uber nerdy :P), you can completely optimize for the CPU youre installing on with a few Emerge flags (SSE, SSE2 etc). :)
thats a thought, have to see how things work out, but i will need _some_ flexibilty with it i think. There is some variation in the machines im told, but they are all about the same age, and all Compaq rigs.
Theres much easier ways of getting reasonably well-performing systems than stripping all the functionality out.
Some starting points:
- Limit to most essential servies
- Run a lightweight GUI, if you want one at all
- Make sure the boxes have a reasonable amount of RAM.
- Find out what he actually means by "Networking to connect to a citrix server" - is it going to run a terminal emulator or something like that?
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary pain to me otherwise.
Make a custom Ubuntu ISO. :D
http://freeshell.in/~taggy/blog/2006/12/31/how-to-create-a-custom-ubuntu-distro/
Quote from: BigSoyTheres much easier ways of getting reasonably well-performing systems than stripping all the functionality out.
Some starting points:
- Limit to most essential servies
- Run a lightweight GUI, if you want one at all
- Make sure the boxes have a reasonable amount of RAM.
- Find out what he actually means by "Networking to connect to a citrix server" - is it going to run a terminal emulator or something like that?
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary pain to me otherwise.
its a security and monitoring issue. The offices the guy has are staffed by morons. By giving them an ICA client, and access to their applications from the server end the data is easier to lock down. At the moment its running a mix of Win98SE, NT4, W2k in the offfices, with the sales guys running XP laptops. Hes already got some company to supply the Citrix they are already using, but we want to lock everything out except the applications they need for work, and also control their internet browsing.
Seeing as how I have deployed 750 citrix thinstations out in my organisation, I feel like I can offer some advice :)
Get yourself the thinstation distro. I have used this and customised it to roll out to half the PCs in our company, enabling us to use old hardware as thin stations. I have a build that will run on just about any hardware. The image size is a few MB and I have mine setup to install via floppy/usb - install per desktop takes about 1 min. You can also set it up as a LAN boot.
It boots to a thin client which can be configured to open a browser (To hit the presentation server web interface) or to go straight to a presentation server via config.
If you need a hand, let me know.
Ill expect the consultancy fee, at my usual rate of Ã,£750 per day in the post :D
*note* Mark only works from 12 noon to 1PM - and expects an hour for lunch :mrgreen:
Getting a small distro and stripping it would probably be easier.
Quote from: BeakerQuote from: BigSoyTheres much easier ways of getting reasonably well-performing systems than stripping all the functionality out.
Some starting points:
- Limit to most essential servies
- Run a lightweight GUI, if you want one at all
- Make sure the boxes have a reasonable amount of RAM.
- Find out what he actually means by "Networking to connect to a citrix server" - is it going to run a terminal emulator or something like that?
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary pain to me otherwise.
its a security and monitoring issue. The offices the guy has are staffed by morons. By giving them an ICA client, and access to their applications from the server end the data is easier to lock down. At the moment its running a mix of Win98SE, NT4, W2k in the offfices, with the sales guys running XP laptops. Hes already got some company to supply the Citrix they are already using, but we want to lock everything out except the applications they need for work, and also control their internet browsing.
Surely something along those lines just needs a decent security policy and sensible restriction of the root password?
Quote from: MarkSeeing as how I have deployed 750 citrix thinstations out in my organisation, I feel like I can offer some advice :)
Get yourself the thinstation distro. I have used this and customised it to roll out to half the PCs in our company, enabling us to use old hardware as thin stations. I have a build that will run on just about any hardware. The image size is a few MB and I have mine setup to install via floppy/usb - install per desktop takes about 1 min. You can also set it up as a LAN boot.
It boots to a thin client which can be configured to open a browser (To hit the presentation server web interface) or to go straight to a presentation server via config.
If you need a hand, let me know.
Ill expect the consultancy fee, at my usual rate of Ã,£750 per day in the post :D
Cheers man, ill take a look into that. I was trying to figure out a quick install method, and that would seem to be a good way to take things.
Quote from: BigSoySurely something along those lines just needs a decent security policy and sensible restriction of the root password?
Wont work on the 98 machines, they wont take a Domain Policy as 98 was never meant to, and the NT4 machines will be somewhat dodgy to try it with when you take into account that the 2k3 servers that are in place arent running in mixed mode.
Most of the 2007 IT Purchasing Budget was swallowed up by the main office getting all new gear, and the Citrix was about twice the price that he budgeted for. The only way we could take things would be to put 2k or XP on the rigs that are in place, but as there isnt that much cash available at the moment to pay for 24 licences, plus they wont run very well with only 128Mb in RAM in them.
Easiest from an administration POV is to pull all the services into the main office. The Citrix cluser already runs the branch offices, so we know its got the capacity, but the constant visits by his 2 IT staff to remove viruses, adware and Yahoo! f***ing toolbar are getting to the point they have no time to do anythign else. By giving them no choice by Citrix they can be carefully controlled.
2008s Budget is already partly allocated, they are getting HP terminals for all the offices. So this is just to last until about August 08.
Quote from: BeakerQuote from: BigSoySurely something along those lines just needs a decent security policy and sensible restriction of the root password?
Wont work on the 98 machines, they wont take a Domain Policy as 98 was never meant to, and the NT4 machines will be somewhat dodgy to try it with when you take into account that the 2k3 servers that are in place arent running in mixed mode.
Most of the 2007 IT Purchasing Budget was swallowed up by the main office getting all new gear, and the Citrix was about twice the price that he budgeted for. The only way we could take things would be to put 2k or XP on the rigs that are in place, but as there isnt that much cash available at the moment to pay for 24 licences, plus they wont run very well with only 128Mb in RAM in them.
Easiest from an administration POV is to pull all the services into the main office. The Citrix cluser already runs the branch offices, so we know its got the capacity, but the constant visits by his 2 IT staff to remove viruses, adware and Yahoo! f***ing toolbar are getting to the point they have no time to do anythign else. By giving them no choice by Citrix they can be carefully controlled.
2008s Budget is already partly allocated, they are getting HP terminals for all the offices. So this is just to last until about August 08.
I thought we were talking about a linux distribution replacing that stuff though?
Quote from: BigSoyQuote from: BeakerQuote from: BigSoySurely something along those lines just needs a decent security policy and sensible restriction of the root password?
Wont work on the 98 machines, they wont take a Domain Policy as 98 was never meant to, and the NT4 machines will be somewhat dodgy to try it with when you take into account that the 2k3 servers that are in place arent running in mixed mode.
Most of the 2007 IT Purchasing Budget was swallowed up by the main office getting all new gear, and the Citrix was about twice the price that he budgeted for. The only way we could take things would be to put 2k or XP on the rigs that are in place, but as there isnt that much cash available at the moment to pay for 24 licences, plus they wont run very well with only 128Mb in RAM in them.
Easiest from an administration POV is to pull all the services into the main office. The Citrix cluser already runs the branch offices, so we know its got the capacity, but the constant visits by his 2 IT staff to remove viruses, adware and Yahoo! f***ing toolbar are getting to the point they have no time to do anythign else. By giving them no choice by Citrix they can be carefully controlled.
2008s Budget is already partly allocated, they are getting HP terminals for all the offices. So this is just to last until about August 08.
I thought we were talking about a linux distribution replacing that stuff though?
yeah, very basic, with no user accessable programs. Just an ICA Client unless you are a root user, even then I know ive got enough spare HDDs for every machine, and there are some caddys sat there. So if we deploy the distro out, and leave spare IDE caddys at each branch with a bootable image on them we are looking at trouble free living (Hopefully). The 2 IT guys dont have the time to do it (Though i think its more they can;t be arsed).
So by the way Im thinking, they turn on the machine, they get the ICA client login, they enter their name and password, then they use everything through Citrix.
Quote from: BeakerQuote from: skidzillaAn slighty easier way would be to do a Gentoo compile from source (if you want to be really uber nerdy :P), you can completely optimize for the CPU youre installing on with a few Emerge flags (SSE, SSE2 etc). :)
thats a thought, have to see how things work out, but i will need _some_ flexibilty with it i think. There is some variation in the machines im told, but they are all about the same age, and all Compaq rigs.
Gentoo is perfect for this sort of thing. If you use just i386/586/686 and stay away from the SSE SSE2 flags then it should work on pretty much any box.
Itll give you the flexibility of linuxfromscratch but with an easy way of managing packages.
You can easily write ebuilds (install scripts) for all the 3rd part software you need.
Anyone who things Gentoo is all about optermisation and "ricers" doesnt understand what its all about.
Cornet
I understand that Gentoo is usually about wasting time. :P Its got a few nice tricks, granted, but Id personally stick to Debian or a red haired step child. Ive compiled kernels before, never noticed any worthwhile difference for a bog standard chipset.
Kickstart and Fedora is also a good choice for this, and supposedly a walk in the park. Never tried it, so cant endorse.
Debian is great for a distro that you can install and forget, other than a few security updates now and then.
The problem I nearly always hit with distros like debian/ubuntu/redhat is when you come to do something "non-standard".
It could be a package thats not in a repository. Now you have a few options:
* Compile from source and install manually
The problem with this is now that your package management has been thrown out the window, often uninstalling can be almost impossible unless you contain everything in its own directory. (Many packages still dont have a make uninstall target).
* Build a .deb/.rpm
Have you ever tries to build these things, and what happens when something that it depends on is upgraded, you have to rebuild the thing again, and remember how to do it.
With gentoo ebuilds are easy to write, they can handle source built pkgs, binary packages, commercial packages with easy and it doesnt take a guru to write one.
If something gets upgraded that it depends on you just do a revdep-rebuild and itll sort it out for you.
The other major problem is when a package isnt built with the compile options you need. For example exim on debian never used to include MySQL support, even thou it was very stable.
Thats ok, you just build your own version and install it by hand.... but you now hit a brick wall cos lots of stuff depends on having an MTA installed and unless you take the time to build a .deb youre gonna have fun (I ended up making fake pkgs to get round this which was an ugly hack).
Yes there is the obvious thing that you have to wait for everything to compile from source... Really thou, this doesnt take much of your time up. I can set my workstation off recompiling X while still using it. When its finished all that is left is to update the config files (and of course gentoo provides you with a way to version control your config files so you can easily roll back).
Maintaining lots of gentoo boxes is a breeze, you have one to compile the updates and for testing, then the others can just grab the pre-built binary pkgs off that box.
On another note relating to Debian, it would appear that a few of the maintainers are slowly loosing their minds. Exim is a prime example. Its config has become more and more convoluted, not to mention his decision to run it as the user/group "debian-mail" so to "avoid user namespace conflicts" (yes cos people often run more than one MTA on their server!)