[leaf-user] RFE, Details of my hack: Storing different LEAF setups in different h/d folders

[freeman]

I moved back to a HD setup because I was doing some testing and changes 
which required frequent reboots.

What I also decided to do was have some different folders on my HD, to 
keep various different configs. It has worked quite well for me so my 
RFE is this: do the powers to be see any merit for built-in support for 
the .LRP packages living within a subfolder of the storage partition, 
instead of the root folder of this partition? I suspect that I'm nearly 
unique in my desire and employment of this. If not, this following info 
might be helpful to others...

This is what I found worked (for my Bering 1.2 setup). Please note that 
I use a separate lrpkg.cfg file, as opposed to the singular syslinux.cfg.
   These files /have/ to live in the root of the the storage partition 
(no simple work-around that I found):
       initrd.lrp
       ldlinux.sys
       linux
       lrpkg.cfg
       syslinux.cfg
       syslinux.dpy
   ... the only one that _might_ concern you here is initrd.lrp, but 
even that one is ever-so-rarely changed so it will probably be the same 
for all your different configs. All the rest of the .LRP files can live 
within an individualized sub-folder.

   So say you have a folder SOME_DIR on your h/d. Here's 1) how to tell 
LEAF where to find the .LRP files, and 2) how to make backing up happen 
properly (the tougher part).

   1) Simple - have the folder name as part of the .LRP filename within 
lrpkg.cfg, e.g.:
      
SOME_DIR/root,SOME_DIR/etc,SOME_DIR/local,SOME_DIR/modules,SOME_DIR/iptables,SOME_DIR/ppp, 
etc...

   2) Make these changes:
      a) - to the file /etc/profile add in the lines:
               export HD_DIR="SOME_DIR"
               mkdir /tmp/$HD_DIR 2>/dev/nul
               mkdir /var/lib/lrpkg/$HD_DIR 2>/dev/nul
               mkdir /var/lib/lrpkg/$HD_DIR/mnt
               cp /var/lib/lrpkg/* /var/lib/lrpkg/$HD_DIR/. 2>/dev/nul
          - this sets an environment variable so other scripts know 
what the folder_name is ('export'). It will get set anytime that you 
login, which you must do before you do a backup! It also makes the 
necessary folder names and copies the package info to a dedicated 
folder. This is probably excessive but it's what I settled on and it 
worked for me.

      b) Adjust the backup script, /usr/sbin/lrcfg.back.script:
            - Change
               INCLUDE="/tmp/INCLUDE"
              To
               INCLUDE="/tmp/$HD_DIR/INCLUDE"
            - Change
               EXCLUDE=/tmp/EXCLUDE"
              To
               EXCLUDE="/tmp/$HD_DIR/EXCLUDE"
            - Change
               TMP_EXCLUDE="/tmp/TMP_EXCLUDE"
              To
               TMP_EXCLUDE="/tmp/$HD_DIR/TMP_EXCLUDE"
            - Change
               cat /var/lib/lrpkg/*.list /var/lib/lrpkg/*.links 
>>$TMP_EXCLUDE
              To
               cat /var/lib/lrpkg/$HD_DIR/*.list 
/var/lib/lrpkg/$HD_DIR/*.links >>$TMP_EXCLUDE

            - Below
               [ "$PACKAGE" = "root" ]         && cat  $TMP_EXCLUDE > 
$EXCLUDE
              Add
               [ "$PACKAGE" = "$HD_DIR/root" ] && cat  $TMP_EXCLUDE > 
$EXCLUDE

   That should be it. I agree, my use of $HD_DIR beneath 
/var/lib/lrpkg, etc, is probably unnecessary but it's where I ended up.

   A precautionary tale: Backup your .LRP packages elsewhere before 
trying this. If something's amiss you may overwrite a valid .LRP package 
with an empty one. The way I verify I'm setup properly is that the 
'C'onfirm Writes=On, and when I backup a .LRP I verify that the new 
package is about the same size as the old one.

   How to make it all easy to change between different configs: The 
only thing different, from a boot-up standpoint, is that I have various 
lrpkg.XXX files in my root folder, and copy them over the lrpkg.cfg file 
to tell LEAF where my current setup is. After a new setup boots up I 
have to change the HD_DIR var within /etc/profile, save the file (but 
don't backup yet), re-login (so the updated HD_DIR is now live) ... then 
I can go in and backup my LEAF packages.

   I created some scripts to:
       - mount the h/d
       - copy over the adjusted lrpkg.XXX file onto \lrpkg.cfg
       - unmount the h/d
       - reboot
      and voila! I have a quick & easy way to switch between different 
configs. It's really, really nice & sweet, once it's setup.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I tried to make the HD_DIR issue invisible to LEAF by mucking with 
syslinux.cfg but got no success. Specifically, what doesn't work (or at 
least not for me):
   Within syslinux.cfg, trying something like:
      default... init=/SOME_DIR/linuxrc ...
         or
      default... boot=/dev/hda1/SOME_DIR:msdos ...
         or
      default... PKGPATH=/dev/hda1/SOME_DIR ...
   My experience was that all these options had to point to the root of 
a partition (or rather, a partition 'proper' if you prefer).

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So, is there any interest in the LEAF developers to include subfolder 
support for storing .LRP packages? I'd spend some time to streamline my 
solution if it makes it more attractive for inclusion.

Thanks to the LEAF community, and especially the developers!

scott; canada



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