Starting new thread: with Forwarded conversation Subject: was: [Fedora-livecd-list] Development of biarch live CD script. ------------------------
From: *Jasper Hartline* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 4:50 PM To: [email protected] Here is another one I've started work on: http://autopsy.liveprojects.info/scripts/mkbackup.py It's purpose is to create a LiveDVD out of the running system. This LiveDVD in conjunction with Anaconda's liveinst method of doing a direct copy of sr0 to sda or similar lays the basis for using this as a possible installable, backup solution. Also has LiveCD/DVD capability, which is ok. If you come up with anything we can do on that one too I would be glad to know. I looked at the patch you sent for mkbiarch.py and the directory part isn't a good thing, we don't want to make it so non-dynamic. If we create /x86 and /x64 we could even create /x86/{kde,gnome} /x64/{kde,gnome} which would in thoery, be able to create USB disk image fitting all 4 ISO discs, two for x86 and two for x64. Also adding Live.ISO capability, we want to keep extlinux and isolinux dirs. mkbiarch.py still needs checkisomd5() though. It is apparently only available in Anaconda, but I can't find where. I am pretty sure it implants a MD5SUM file somewhere hidden on the ISO,m which can be checked against the ISO files to make sure they are not corrupt. This was really something that could be useful.. and thank you for bringing it, up. ---------- From: *Frederick Grose* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 6:02 PM To: [email protected] See https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=448030 , in particular, the edit-livecd and edit-liveos attachments. This posting has some more background, http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/livecd/2010-August/006098.html . It's good to see someone else working on this goal. --Fred ---------- From: *Jasper Hartline* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 6:19 PM To: [email protected] Well. These are similar but not the same. mkbackup.py would create a LiveCD/LiveDVD out of a running system. I don't know what edit-liveos does or edit-livecd but to my knowledge they are only for inserting packages into an already built LiveCD ISO. The mkbackup.py script does not do that, it simply would create a LiveCD/DVD out of the current installed system as a means for a Live bootable backup image, which with Anaconda, can be reinstalled to a machine in case of disk failure or other problems. ---------- From: *Frederick Grose* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 6:34 PM To: [email protected] Yes, and as the running system may have been modified, it is much like an intentional customization (if the dump procedure does not exclude changes). edit-livecd is for inserting packages or files; edit-liveos is proposed as a new version to accommodate customization and branding. Not being familiar with dump, I found this thread interesting, http://lists.samba.org/archive/linux/2005-April/013361.html . --Fred ---------- From: *Bruno Wolff III* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 7:04 PM To: Jasper Hartline <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 22:19:04 +0000, That's a pretty neat feature. It even gives you a good way to test that your backups work. You'd still want to have some incremental backups to save space. This might be worth calling a feature for F15. ---------- From: *Jasper Hartline* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 10:28 PM To: [email protected] Ok. I thought it was pretty neat too, you really have some range of motion in your backups when and if you can do it this way, instead of you know, the random disk-backup image file laying around on CD. The only really limitation I see it has, is the fact, a DVD is 4.7GB. This means, if we squash the root filesystem of any given system, files there must not be larger than the maximum of what will fit squashed in 4.7GB. Smaller of course is not an issue, but until Blueray is more popular.. I think this Live backup media limitation would need to be limited to a single DVD size. There may be ways around this, maybe not. I will be at least working on getting some base level functionality working with it here in the coming days and would be glad to hear suggestions. ---------- From: *Jasper Hartline* <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 10:35 PM To: [email protected] Hm. I'm not sure I follow yet, but maybe I'm just not understanding. What I want to work on with mkbackup.py is creating a LiveCD/LiveDVD out of the running system, not a LiveCD system created with livecd-creator. mkbackup.py will take the root filesystem of any given host and squash it up and create a Live media out of it, essentially making an exact backup of the machine's drive, which has the ability to run as a Live operating system, but also is installable with Anaconda's liveinst method. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (end of forwarded conversation) For those who are interested in taking a stock LiveOS image and customizing it with specific content, such as adding or removing features, documents, images, bookmarks, ebooks, etc., the procedure you describe will serve those purposes as well. (The Sugar on a Stick Spin folks, http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/, have be working on customization kits for this purpose. We use Live USB devices to provide a portable learning platform, and would like to allow teachers and students replicate a course or semester of study or work (or proposed study or work) from their working Live USB device to their students, classmates, or playmates. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Sugar_Clone describes the project and provides a more crude, copy-overlay and copy-home solution based on the livecd-iso-to-disk script.) So one feature we would need to achieve is to be able to mkbackup/mkclone with a running LiveOS image. --Fred
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