[Infrastructures] System Installation Suite

[James Neal]

In message <777056A4A8F1D21180EF0008C7DF75EE01E66850@accnt.sunbelt.org>you writ
e:
>Just curious and wanting some feedback the System Installation Suite.  Has
>anyone used it before?  Is it viable?

If this is the package formerly known as "VA SystemImager" (I think it
is), then we use it.

It's your  basic image-based  installer.. It consists  of a  boot floppy
(which I  serve up  using dhcp->tftp->grub->more  tftp), which  copies a
shell script  from the install  server and  runs it. You're  pretty much
responsible for that shell script (which in our case partitions the hard
disks and  rsyncs over the image),  and creating the image  (though they
have tools to do that).

The advantages  are that it's pretty  quick and simple. Create  an image
(by either rsyncing a live image, using their tools, or writing a script
that runs debootstrap),  create a script that uses that  image, and away
you go.

The   disadvantages   are   that    it   doesn't   perform   an   actual
from-install-media install (like Solaris's  Jumpstart, or Debian's FAI),
which I think allows a single configuration to work on a greater variety
of hardware, and that it pretty  much leaves YOU responsible for all the
steps of  pre and post  installation configuration. For example,  if you
want a machine with a different partitioning, you must edit your install
script  (a  normal  shell  script),  change  the  "sfdisk"  lines  which
partition  the disk,  then  create  a new  fstab  that  matches the  new
configuration, and possibly a new bootloader config, among other things.

All that  being said, it's  still what we  use, for the  primary reasons
that we've  adapted to  its strengths and  weaknesses and  haven't found
anything better.

Hope this helps,
-James