<div dir="ltr">Thanks, Jim. <br><br>Tai, Someone else just sent me this link, in case it is helpful, not sure:<br><br><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallServer">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallServer</a><br><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 1:13 PM, jim <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jim@well.com" target="_blank">jim@well.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
<font face="monospace">jim is lurking and attentive. <br>
<br>
</font><br>
<div>On 03/23/2015 07:34 PM, Christian
Einfeldt wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Hi Tai, <br>
<br>
</div>
thanks for your great work ! Also, I am cc'ing everyone,
because I am not sure who is on the tech list, and Lyz has sent
in a trouble ticket to Dream Host, because it has not been
archiving the tech list. I will send an email to the tech list
asking everyone to put up their hands if they can see the emails
coming through to that list. Thanks! <br>
<br>
My comments are in line below. <br>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 10:38 AM, Tai
Kedzierski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dch.tai@gmail.com" target="_blank">dch.tai@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>Hi all,<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Some notes of what I've done,
and a request for advice, as well
as suggestions for Abigail. Please
feel free to disagree and improve!<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>=== ISO Customization<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
I had a go at the ISO customization
task over the week-end.
Unfortunately the instructions are
old, and oscillate between helpful
and omissive... My resulting ISO
caused kernal panic before even
loading boot, but I think I know
where to look to troubleshoot
that...<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
I've started constructing a bash
script to automate as much of it as I
can (it's also a good way to re-verify
knowledge ;-) )<br>
<br>
</div>
For the technically inclined, you can
find that script here <a href="https://github.com/taikedz/handy-scripts/blob/master/in-progress/customiso/autobuild.sh" target="_blank">https://github.com/taikedz/handy-scripts/blob/master/in-progress/customiso/autobuild.sh</a><br>
<br>
</div>
Sporadic notes start at line 111 , actual
steps start at line 167. It is incomplete.<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>May I share that link with Charlie Reisinger? He said
that he would try to reach one of his tech gurus to see if
they might be willing to help us out, and maybe that guru
would be able to offer you some additional insight as you
have requested below.<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
=== PXE Server / machine boot (help needed?)<br>
<br>
</div>
I also tried setting up a server to centrally
serve ISO images over PXE with a tftp server.
Again, shaky tutorials abound, no end-to-end
solution. I had troubles with (I think)
setting up an internal DNS and having my VMs
start there (VirtualBox does not have any
"BIOS" settings as far as I've so far seen)<br>
<br>
</div>
If I can get this much fixed, I can put together
a comprehensive guide on setting up the PXE
component with better documentation and caveat
highlighting.<br>
<br>
</div>
A lot of it requires manual work so cannot be so
easily automated unless I prepare a template, and
even then may depend on the target network
infrastructure.<br>
<br>
</div>
<span style="background-color:rgb(0,255,255)">**Is
there anyone who could offer guidance</span> on
setting up BIOS / etc so that a machine can be
specifically pointed in BIOS to the PXE server? </div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I am continuing to do outreach to try to build up a
community of people who might be able to help you out,
including Charlie Reisinger and others.<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>I am testing on VirtualBox, but I suspect many
real machines also just look for the network's
default DNS server... over which I have little
control in fact, and the teachers may hit a similar
problem...<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Alternatively, I might need to put together a PXE
booting CD which has the presets loaded into it
(similar to what I saw at the Uni but not sure...)
which would be able to allow us to do away with
having to even set up a local DNS server<br>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>=== Software requirements<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Pulling from Abigail's list, these
divide fairly nicely into two
categories:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
/==<br>
<div style="margin-left:40px"><b>I am
currently running:</b> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)">(productivity)</span><br>
Google docs<br>
GIMP *<span><br>
Blue Fish editor (html)<br>
Firefox<br>
Chrome (which crashes a lot and
needs to get removed)<br>
<br>
</span><b>It would be great to have:</b>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)">(media
production)</span><span><br>
3d modeling software<br>
video editing software<br>
sound editing software<br>
drawing software<br>
</span></div>
==/<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)">Productivity</span>
- these can be added as standard to the
Lubuntu machine. GIMP may be a bit heavy
for the older machines, and I might
suggest moving it into the media
category. If only light image editing
needs doing, I can suggest gPaint which
is more like MS Paint in terms of
features and lightness.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Can I suggest adding LibreOffice as
well? </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>These are elementary students that are using these
machines, and so I am thinking that the lighter weight
editing tools that come standard with Lubuntu might be
adequate for that. I use Libre Office myself personally,
but I find it to be very heavy weight. I think that
Lubuntu comes with AbiWord preinstalled, doesn't it? I
think AbiWord is also much lighter weight than Libre
Office<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>It follows the goal of FOSS and works
fine offline too. Also uses open
document standards. A good habit to
instill in students once they move on to
using their own computers.<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I think that AbiWord uses open document standards and
is completely free as in freedom.<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)">Media
Production</span> - Machines { 8, 19,
12 } from your spreadsheet could house
and handle media production suites, I'd
be wary of putting it on the standard
install. Once I get the customization
procedure down, it should be easy enough
to produce a second, media-oriented ISO.<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We are going to be delivering 15 additional machines to
Abigail on Wednesday, March 25. That will be the first
step in replacing some of the older, slower machines.
Slow machines are the bane of my existence, because we are
essentially establishing negative branding with old
machines ("FOSS doesn't work"), when actually FOSS works
much better on those older, slower machines; however,
students and teachers just conclude if it is free as in
free beer, then it must be junk. So I am going to
emphasize a search for better machines. <br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
As my mantra goes, it depends on the
workflow and activity goals what we'll
be choosing in terms of specific
software. I can suggest Abigail have a
look at the below list and see what
meets her or he r tutors' needs.<br>
<br>
<br>
<u>3d modelling</u> - <b>Blender</b>
seems to be the preferred software for
3d animation. The Free video "Big Buck
Bunny" was created using Blender as a
demo of what it can achieve - plays with
the quality of a Pixar short!<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I agree, let's add Blender.<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>For modelling-only, here's some other
ones <a href="http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/08/5-open-source-3d-modelling-rendering.html" target="_blank">http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/08/5-open-source-3d-modelling-rendering.html</a><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><u>Video editing</u> - funnily
enough, <b>Blender</b> has also been
recommended for this task on numerous
reviews. Otherwise <b>OpenShot</b> and
<b>pitivi</b> suites are good
alternatives, though this is not my area
of expertise.<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I think that OpenShot is becoming a standard for FOSS
video editing, so let's go with that, IMHO.<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><u>Sound editing</u> - for sound
/editing/ <b>Audacity</b> is a good
choice. For /music production/ a heftier
suite is called for. Perhaps <b>LMMS</b>?<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Audacity is adequate, and has a simpler GUI, which will
be better for the elementary school kids she is teaching<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><u>"Drawing" software</u> - What's
the use case? There are many categories
of "drawing" software - vector drawing
(more suited to graphical design and
logo creation) can be done with <b>InkScape</b>
(proprietary equivalent is Adobe
Illustrator); digital painting is well
served by <b>Krita</b> (proprietary
equivalent... none really. Manga Studio
perhaps). <b>GIMP</b> also can serve
this purpose but is more geared towards
photo-manipulation.<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Yea, Krita is very good. Let's give them both GIMP and
Krita. Krita is easier to use, but GIMP is more powerful.
<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>My own photographic workflow makes
use of digiKam and GIMP (I used to use
Adobe Lightroom and PhotoShop; I'm
finding I don't need them anymore and am
now free of Apple!)<br>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>For a full creativity set, I could
aslo suggest adding <b>Scribus</b> to
the standard set for desktop publishing
& professional layout preparation
(equivalent proprietary is Adobe
InDesign)<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Okay, let's try Scribus. <br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
<i><br>
</i></div>
<div><i>--- A note on creativity/media
production distros:</i><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Whilst Lubuntu will be perfectly fine
for most productivity and study tasks,
you may want to consider a different
distro for media.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I could suggest Abigail have a look
at "<b>Ubuntu Studio</b>", a full media
production suite distro. Only
customization that would be needed would
be to make it Unattended Install. <a href="http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ubuntustudio" target="_blank">http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ubuntustudio</a><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>ArtistX is another distro worth a
look. This too is based on Ubuntu, and
again, the same Unattended customization
should need doing. <a href="http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=artistx" target="_blank">http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=artistx</a><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>My concern with these other two distros is that they
will come with a heavy desktop, such as Unity. Until we
get her better hardware, it seems to me that staying with
Lubuntu is a good idea. <br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>That's me until next week-end :-)<span><font color="#888888"><br>
</font></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thank you so much for your work, Tai !!! Please let me
know if I can tweet your github code, as I am going to try
to find other people who might be able to help you out!
Thanks! <br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><span><font color="#888888"><br>
</font></span></div>
<span><font color="#888888">
<div>Tai<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</font></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><span><br clear="all">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<br>
===<br>
Tai Kedzierski<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>IT Services Specialist<br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr"><a href="http://helpuse.com" target="_blank">http://helpuse.com</a><br>
<a href="tel:%2B44%20%280%29%207526%20963%20612" value="+447526963612" target="_blank">+44
(0) 7526 963 612</a> (portable GB)<br>
</div>
<br>
<div dir="ltr"><span></span><font size="1"><img src="http://www.free-mac-programs.com/images/applications/libreoffice.png" height="19" width="19"> I use <a href="http://www.libreoffice.org" target="_blank">www.libreoffice.org</a><br>
<br>
<i>"Open Source Free Software is a
matter of liberty, not price."</i><br>
<a href="https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc" target="_blank">https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc</a><br>
</font><font><br>
</font></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</span>
<div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On 20 March 2015 at 22:01,
Christian Einfeldt <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:einfeldt@gmail.com" target="_blank">einfeldt@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Hi,<br>
<br>
</div>
Bottom posting...<br>
<div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><span>On Fri, Mar
20, 2015 at 2:40 PM, Tai Kedzierski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dch.tai@gmail.com" target="_blank">dch.tai@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">I'll certainly have a
look at Chrome problems once we
have the basics in place. If I can
replicate the issue I /may/ be
able to solve it, otherwise we
need to look at what the problems
w other browsers are and if the
trade off is worth it.</p>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
</span>
<div>Thx! <br>
</div>
<span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">I should mention
privately that I am totally
willing to set up this system for
them and Partimus, as it is
learning exp for me too, and I
commit to provide the best result
to my abilities;</p>
<p dir="ltr">However for anything
that relates to troubleshooting
and tech support outwith the
direct project, I am happy to muck
in initially, but may have to meet
a professional upsell point, or
pass the flame... of course, I'll
/never/ seek to charge anything
without prior agreement - keep
this paragraph as testament!</p>
</blockquote>
</span>
<div>Thanks, we understand that you need
to make a living, and we will never
expect you to commit to doing
volunteer work. We all are volunteers
with jobs, which is why we appreciate
your help! <br>
</div>
<span>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">I'm signing off now as
I have started the Friday evening
at a party and want to not send
inebriated emails...! So please
pardon radio silence ...</p>
</blockquote>
</span>
<div>heh, enjoy! <br>
</div>
<span>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">I would be interested
in having a quick talk with you
over skype or similar, and also
with volunteer team on this
project - I can set up a Mumble
VoIP server if preferable. Twould
be evening UTC , morning PST<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
</span>
<div>I can do skype on Tuesday, March 24
at 10 am PST time, which is 5:00 pm
Edinburgh time. Does that work for
you? Thanks! <br>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">--Tai</p>
<p dir="ltr">// Sent from a mobile
device; rogue typos may be
lurking</p>
<div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On 20
Mar 2015 20:50, "Christian
Einfeldt" <<a href="mailto:einfeldt@gmail.com" target="_blank">einfeldt@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br type="attribution">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>Hi,<br>
<br>
</div>
I have gotten some
feedback from the
teacher, Abigail
Rudner. She says that
she has been having
trouble with the
Chrome browser
crashing. I don't
know what that is all
about. Maybe the
conflicts that James
Howard experienced
between Firefox and
iTalc have been
resolved, and maybe we
can remove Chrome as
she requests:<br>
<br>
<b><br>
</b><b>I am currently
running:</b><br>
Google docs<br>
GIMP<br>
Blue Fish editor
(html)<br>
Firefox<br>
Chrome (which crashes
a lot and needs to get
removed)<br>
<b><br>
</b><b>It would be
great to have:</b><br>
3d modeling software<br>
video editing software<br>
sound editing
softwaredrawing
software<br>
<br>
</div>
Thanks! <br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On
Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at
11:34 AM, Tai
Kedzierski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dch.tai@gmail.com" target="_blank">dch.tai@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>Dear
Christian,
All,<br>
<br>
Hello :-)<br>
<br>
<br>
I'd like to
get the ball
rolling first
by outlining
what we're
actually
trying to do.
I've added my
notes to the
shared
document, and
below.<br>
<br>
<b>@Christian,</b>
please let me
know if I've
gotten carried
away. As you
haven't yet
given a
wishlist, I
have dreamt
one up....!<br>
<br>
<br>
At this point
in time, the
outline points
are educated
guesses on my
part - I've
looked into
PXE and
unattended
installs in
the past, and
worked with
some pre-setup
ones in past
positions, but
not yet had a
project goal
to work to
myself - hence
I am taking
this
opportunity
:-).<br>
<br>
It may be full
of holes. <br>
<br>
Please do poke
those holes
and
suggest/add
any
improvements/changes!<br>
<br>
<br>
If anybody has
a burning
desire to look
into any one
Task in
particular,
maybe let the
group know/put
your name next
to it so we're
not doubling
effort - and
of course, add
sub/tasks as
you see
necessary :-)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>I look
forward to
working on
this with you
all!<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
Cheers<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Tai<br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
/============<br>
<br>
<div style="margin-left:40px">Following
from my earlier
notes, I would
like to suggest
attaining the
goals outlined
below, to wit:<br>
<br>
## Goal workflow
for workstation
install:<br>
<br>
*
teacher inserts
CD into machine
and reboots it
from said CD<br>
*
teacher needs to
only click a
couple of times
to launch the
install process<br>
----
this may also
involve choosing
a network name
for the PC<br>
*
teacher can
remove the CD
and walk away,
whilst the PC
does its thing
on the network<br>
<br>
<br>
## Server
install/maintenance<br>
<br>
Installation of
the server may
need sending
someone onsite,
or we can
prepare an image
that the teacher
can install,
with a
post-install
script to finish
the job.<br>
<br>
The server
should be able
to just run
headless and
will probably be
in command line
mode unless
specified
otherwise (who
normally
performs
maintenance?)<br>
<br>
System updates
may or may not
be installed by
a remote
technician, or
automatically.
From a
break-prevention
point of view I
prefer the
former (or a
technician at
the school can
be trained); for
the school's
independence,
the latter may
be more
relevant.<br>
<br>
At any rate,
since the server
is to host a
master image,
I'd like to
insist that the
machine /needs/
keeping up to
date and secure
from any
non-authorized
users in the
school, or
super-savvy/curious
students :-)<br>
<br>
<br>
###<br>
<br>
I propose the
following
deliverables:<br>
<br>
* An
install image
with the
required
software and
very-few-questions-asked<br>
* PXE
server serving
the image<br>
*
Pre-seed file
served from PXE
server<br>
* PXE
server install
image itself (in
case the server
needs resetting)
and/or install
procedure<br>
*
Delivery on DVDs
for archival and
off-Internet
purposes<br>
*
Hopefully, a
full build
manual for
future
maintainers<br>
<br>
###<br>
<br>
Tasks to attain
this, as far as
I can see, are:<br>
<br>
* Create custom
"ISO" of target
desktop setup
(rather, dir
structure for
serving over the
web) from Ubuntu
server<br>
* Prepare the
pre-seed file
(which needs to
include
installation of
Lubuntu desktop)
(this is the
workaround I can
imagine to get
around Lubuntu's
lack of netboot)<br>
* Prepare a PXE
server setup<br>
* Prepare an
image of the PXE
setup (which
will include the
contents of the
target ISO)<br>
<br>
===<br>
<br>
Resources I've
found most
relevant so far:<br>
<br>
</div>
<ul style="margin-left:40px">
<li>UnattendedInstall
CD : <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/UnattendedCD" target="_blank">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/UnattendedCD</a></li>
<li>Custom CD
incl pre-seed
: <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallCDCustomization" target="_blank">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallCDCustomization</a></li>
<li>PXE setup :
<a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallServer" target="_blank">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallServer</a></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-left:40px"><br>
For Lubuntu,
this may require
using tasksel to
install Lubuntu
on top of a
server base, as
the std Lubuntu
CD does not have
the requisite
config files (
/netboot )<br>
</div>
<br>
=============/<br>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<br>
===<br>
Tai Kedzierski<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>IT
Services
Specialist<br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr"><a href="http://helpuse.com" target="_blank">http://helpuse.com</a><br>
<a href="tel:%2B44%20%280%29%207526%20963%20612" value="+447526963612" target="_blank">+44
(0) 7526 963
612</a>
(portable GB)<br>
</div>
<br>
<div dir="ltr"><span></span><font size="1"><img height="19" width="19"> I use <a href="http://www.libreoffice.org" target="_blank">www.libreoffice.org</a><br>
<br>
<i>"Open
Source Free
Software is a
matter of
liberty, not
price."</i><br>
<a href="https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc" target="_blank">https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc</a><br>
</font><font><br>
</font></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On
18 March 2015
at 23:01,
Christian
Einfeldt <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:einfeldt@gmail.com" target="_blank">einfeldt@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>Hi
everyone,<br>
<br>
</div>
Thanks to
everyone for
your replies
over the past
couple of days
about moving
forward with
the Ascend
Linux lab, and
thanks to each
of you for
your interest
in the
project. I
have gotten
some good
feedback from
you all about
this project,
and I greatly
appreciate
what I have
heard from
each of you.
I have
introduced
each of you in
an invitation
to the google
docs document,
so that you
hopefully
might have an
idea as to who
everyone is.
To that list I
will add Jim
Stockford, who
runs a tech
company called
Systemateka.com
that provides
a wide array
of open source
computer
solutions.
Jim is one of
our leading
volunteers in
our lab
projects, and
has been a
major backbone
of our work on
our Linux labs
in schools.<br>
<br>
</div>
Partimus has
always moved
forward by
relying on
preserving the
goodwill of
the members of
the projects
we work on and
as a board all
of our
decisions thus
far have been
unanimous
decisions, as
far as I can
see. I think
the fact that
our formal
votes are
unanimous
reflects the
fact that we
value the
input of each
of our
participants,
and we want to
build
consensus and
goodwill,
rather than
focus on short
term outcomes.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Partimus
also tends to
be a
do-ocracy,
meaning that
people who
have the
greatest
passion and
time for a
given project
tend to take
the reigns of
a project, and
the others
tend to
support them.
So if you see
something that
interests you,
please feel
free to take
the ball and
run with it.
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
And so at this
time, it
appears that
Tai
Kedzierski,
Mike Rojas,
and Jim
Stockford have
the kind of
time and
expertise
needed to
bring
completion to
the PXE
bootable .iso
project. It
seems that
Elizabeth and
Grant have the
expertise, but
are slammed
with projects
at this time
and so might
not be among
the first
responders on
this project;
Jim Stockford
describes
himself as
interested in
the PXE boot
project but
says that he
has not done
such an .iso
yet, but
thinks he can
help out; and
Eric Burke has
said that
coding is not
his forte but
is interested
in following
the project
and is writing
a doctoral
thesis on open
source
projects; and
I absolutely
suck at
coding.
Please correct
me if I have
not correctly
stated
anyone's
interest or
availability
correctly, and
my apologies
in advance if
I have made a
mistake. <br>
<br>
</div>
<div>If anyone
would like to
have an IRC
chat about
this project,
I am up for
that. Please
just remember
that Tai is in
Scotland. The
rest of us are
in the San
Francisco Bay
Area, at least
right now.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Eric has
found a
documentation
page that
might be
helpful for us
in starting
out the PXE
boot project:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallMultiDistro" target="_blank">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallMultiDistro</a><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
Tai has sent
me an email
about the
Google doc
that I
circulated.
Elizabeth
tells me that
doc is
actually for a
specialized
manual install
.iso, not a
PXE-boot .iso,
so again my
apologies if I
have started
us down the
wrong road,
and thanks for
that
correction,
Elizabeth.
Here is a link
to that Google
doc:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UEgt_fkGUVdANcnZ1W2S5Rv15Hx3S92Ynn9Mui3xB_E/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UEgt_fkGUVdANcnZ1W2S5Rv15Hx3S92Ynn9Mui3xB_E/edit?usp=sharing</a><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Eric
Burke's link
above might be
a better
starting
point, I'm not
sure<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
More comments
below in
response to a
recent email
from Tai:<br>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><span>On
Wed, Mar 18,
2015 at 4:21
AM, Tai
Kedzierski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dch.tai@gmail.com" target="_blank">dch.tai@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>Hi
Christian<br>
<br>
</div>
<span>Thanks -
I wasn't
expecting the
"League of
Extraordinary
Sysadmins"
gathering!<br>
<br>
</span></div>
<span>
<div>Good to
know there are
others who
will be able
to provide
insight!<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Rather
than muck
around in the
document you
provided
(which has the
initial vital
info!) would
it be possible
you share a
separate empty
Google doc to
serve as a
collaboration/communication
area? I'll
dump the
following in
it afterwards<br>
</div>
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks,
Tai. As I
said above, I
think I might
have started
us off on the
wrong
document, and
maybe Eric
Burke's link
would be
better? I
don't know.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>At any
rate, the
document that
I circulated
is a copy, it
is not the
original, so
if you would
like to add
the text below
to that
document, it
doesn't bother
me. If you
would like to
start another
google
document, that
would be fine
as well. <br>
<br>
</div>
<div>More from
Tai below:<br>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
===<br>
</div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
I had a quick
look at PXE
setup
yesterday
[2015/03/17]
and it seems
the
straightforward
setup simply
serves the
installation
media over the
network
instead of
reducing steps
to install -
James's notes
seem to align
with this, as
in there is
customization
done but the
teacher still
has to
manually sit
through the
initial
install
screens
(select
languages,
accept
partitions,
choose various
options etc)?</div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
Probably what
we are looking
for then is an
"Unattended
install"?<br>
<br>
</div>
To that end I
wanted to ask
what the
intended/acceptable
workflow was -
when I was at
the University
of Edinburgh
IT desk, our
workflow for
installing
was:<br>
<br>
</div>
<div style="margin-left:40px">*
Go to physical
machine<br>
* Reboot to
special CD<br>
* hit enter<br>
* walk away
with CD whilst
the PC
automatically
downloaded
from the
network and
installed
everything<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>
##<br>
Another issue
I encountered
was a lack of
netboot/pxeboot.cfg
files on the
Lubuntu ISO
which might
need working
around (though
have not yet
had time to
check if there
are
alternative
methods).<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>I'm sure
there's a
straighforward
solution
however.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>##<br>
</div>
I think
Machine #3 (P4
@ 1.8 GHz +
500MB RAM)
will be the
target
candidate for
becoming the
server.<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div><span>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<br>
===<br>
Tai Kedzierski<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>IT
Services
Specialist<br>
</div>
</span>
<div dir="ltr"><a href="http://helpuse.com" target="_blank">http://helpuse.com</a><span><br>
<a href="tel:%2B44%20%280%29%207526%20963%20612" value="+447526963612" target="_blank">+44
(0) 7526 963
612</a>
(portable GB)<br>
</span></div>
<span><br>
<div dir="ltr"><span></span><font size="1"><img height="19" width="19"> I use <a href="http://www.libreoffice.org" target="_blank">www.libreoffice.org</a><br>
<br>
<i>"Open
Source Free
Software is a
matter of
liberty, not
price."</i><br>
<a href="https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc" target="_blank">https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc</a><br>
</font><font><br>
</font></div>
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On
17 March 2015
at 21:12,
Christian
Einfeldt <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:einfeldt@gmail.com" target="_blank">einfeldt@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Hi, <br>
<br>
</div>
thanks for
your reply,
Tai. Comments
in line
below....<br>
<div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><span>On
Tue, Mar 17,
2015 at 12:33
PM, Tai
Kedzierski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dch.tai@gmail.com" target="_blank">dch.tai@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">Hi
Christian</p>
<p dir="ltr">I'll
see what I can
do as fastest
for this.</p>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks so
much! <br>
</div>
<span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">For
proper PXE +
Customized ISO
it would
require work
to integrate
it all;</p>
<p dir="ltr">However
we can break
it into PXE as
first goal;
and until ISO
customization
os done, I can
certainly
envisage a
fully
automating
script for the
rest of the
installation
of custom s.w
and settings.
</p>
</blockquote>
</span>
<div>Hi,
thanks for
that info. I
have found
some of the
notes from one
of our Linux
gurus about
what he did
with regard to
making a
Lubuntu PXE
boot disc for
another
teacher. I
have invited
you to the
google doc so
that you can
see it and
possibly get a
little bit of
a jump on the
project. In
the meantime,
I am going to
try to
assemble our
gurus for a
chat about the
document,
either in IRC
or elsewhere,
perhaps even
in a chat in
the document
itself. I
have invited
you to the
document, but
here is a link
to it:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UEgt_fkGUVdANcnZ1W2S5Rv15Hx3S92Ynn9Mui3xB_E/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UEgt_fkGUVdANcnZ1W2S5Rv15Hx3S92Ynn9Mui3xB_E/edit?usp=sharing</a><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Here is a
link to the
summary of the
Ascend
school's Linux
lab:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_s0E7w40zs80yZNrVRqupml6jqADKjD9XoJ3uFkhQMw/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_s0E7w40zs80yZNrVRqupml6jqADKjD9XoJ3uFkhQMw/edit?usp=sharing</a><br>
</div>
<span>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">Can
you provide
them a server
to serve as
core PXE
master, or
will we
repurpose a
desktop PC to
this end?</p>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
</span>
<div>We will
be looking for
a server, but
for now, we
will probably
repurpose a
desktop
machine.<br>
</div>
<span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">How
frequently do
they need to
do installs?</p>
</blockquote>
</span>
<div>Initially,
they will want
to flash all
25 machines.
Then it will
be a couple
times a month
as the older
machines fail.<br>
</div>
<span>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">Are
you mostly
installing
Ubuntu
derivatives?</p>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
</span>
<div>Yes, that
is all that we
are doing. We
try to use as
few distros as
possible, and
one of our
board members,
Elizabeth
Krumbach
Joseph, is a
Ubuntu
Community
Council
member. Plus
Ubuntu has
good
documentation,
which is good
for a simple
end user like
me. <br>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
Thanks for
your interest!
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span><font color="#888888"><br>
<br clear="all">
<span><font color="#888888"><br>
-- <br>
<div>Christian
Einfeldt</div>
</font></span></font></span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div>Christian Einfeldt</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span><font color="#888888"><br>
<br clear="all"><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<br>
-- <br>
<div>Christian Einfeldt</div>
</font></span></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></blockquote><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<br>
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></blockquote><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div>Christian Einfeldt</div>
</font></span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">Christian Einfeldt</div>
</div>