Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 16:40, Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org wrote: Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Hi, This journey of ours came with its share of pains missed our daily siesta, had to contend with rice,pulses,rajmas and rotis for lunch on most of the days. And look at the result, a lady mentioned yesterday Tirveni has grown old. Well! what do you expect, young lady? You grow old when you install 700+ systems in a single day, and keep up with expectations of 20 systems in ten minutes and no time to drink hot cup of tea and no dead animal to eat. Where did my peaceful and quite life go? Enough of the rant, Pointers to the help we got from the Internet: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/apb.html.en http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/478 -- Regards, Tirveni Yadav What is this Universe ? From what it arises ? Into what does it go? In freedom it arises, In freedom it rests and into freedom it melts away. Upanishads. ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
Message: 3 Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:40:05 +0530 From: Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org To: The Linux-Delhi mailing list ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org Subject: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India Message-ID: AANLkTineGc-BUVqQ=o0y0x_pjnmfsqz+vhzkv9dze...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Regards, -- Raj Hi, First, congratulations on the large scale deployment ! May I also add a few related questions. Feel free to ignore any if they fall in the NDA domain :) 1) Regarding support and access: Setting up telephony systems is not such an easy job and messing them up seems to be even easier. So my question is how much of access do you give the organisation's in-house support team on your servers. Do you for example take the risk of asterisk config files getting messed by somebody at your client's location? Or do you only expose only the dynamic parts of the system (adding users, retrieving call recordings etc). I imagine it would be mandatory to give them root access. Is that correct? If yes, then is it the case of implementing as many safeguards as you can? 2) Licensing: How do you go about explaining them the license. Do you just list major parts like asterisk and debian and tell them we used this and its licensed under so and so foss license? Is there detailed written license documentation to be provided or just providing links to licenses sufficient? Regards, Gurteshwar ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
On Sunday 03 Apr 2011, gurteshwar singh wrote: 1) Regarding support and access: Setting up telephony systems is not such an easy job and messing them up seems to be even easier. So my question is how much of access do you give the organisation's in-house support team on your servers. Do you for example take the risk of asterisk config files getting messed by somebody at your client's location? Or do you only expose only the dynamic parts of the system (adding users, retrieving call recordings etc). I imagine it would be mandatory to give them root access. Is that correct? If yes, then is it the case of implementing as many safeguards as you can? Support falls into two categories: 1. Operational support -- diagnosing and fixing problems, adding resources, monitoring, etc. 2. Provisioning -- adding desktops, configuring for specific users, adding Asterisk accounts, etc. For the first we've tried to create base documentation which the client's tech team can use to monitor, diagnose and fix common problems. Out of the whole tech team, there are two people who have the authorisation to login as root onto the Asterisk servers and run diagnostics and fixes. One has years of Unix experience, the other is a Windows wiz-kid who's learning Linux and seems, so far, to be enjoying it. He paid me the ultimate compliment the other day, saying he was -- and I quote -- the Raj Mathur of Windows. Provisioning is handled completely through scripts. Asterisk provisioning is handled by keeping base configurations in immutable files, which #include the files that contain the changing information. These dynamic files (user extensions, user-level call routing, inward routing, etc.) are again generated through scripts and copied by one of the two people mentioned above to the appropriate place in the Asterisk servers on a regular basis. Provisioning of desktops for a specific user is completely scripted: login as guest, ssh to a specific account on a defined server which will prompt you for an employee ID, enter the ID, sit back for 2 minutes and the machine you were on is provisioned for that employee. There's still lots of scope for improvement here, but we're in no hurry to implement systems piece-meal. The organisation has an IT strategy, and the voice system processes too will get streamlined as dependent portions of the strategy fall into place. For instance, once HR processes are in place, Asterisk user provisioning will automatically become a part of those. Of course, we would have shifted to Asterisk Realtime (dynamic configurations from a database rather than static configurations from file) too by then. 2) Licensing: How do you go about explaining them the license. Do you just list major parts like asterisk and debian and tell them we used this and its licensed under so and so foss license? Is there detailed written license documentation to be provided or just providing links to licenses sufficient? Actually that is one thing we haven't had any issues with, since the CTO understands FOSS licensing. The only time we had to explain things was when he saw me writing a script and putting the GPL clause at the top. However I explained to him that licensing and releasing were two different things, and just because the script was GPL didn't mean that he had to give it to anyone for the asking. I think the point got through. Regards, -- Raj -- Raj Mathurr...@kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ GPG: 78D4 FC67 367F 40E2 0DD5 0FEF C968 D0EF CC68 D17F PsyTrance Chill: http://schizoid.in/ || It is the mind that moves ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org wrote: Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? LIC? I don't know their numbers but do know a couple people who work there and have been given Linux desktops. Given it's size and pan India presence, their number may be large. Congratulations!! A big job indeed. I have read your responses to queries for documentation and process. Do try to give this project publicity via a case study or a white paper (IIRC one other company Om Logistics has been featured in an Intel white paper). -- Arun Khan ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org wrote: Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Largest Debian Installation in India was IT@school Project of Kerala till 2 years back. But now they shifted to an Ubuntu Derivative. Anivar -- [It is not] possible to distinguish between 'numerical' and 'nonnumerical' algorithms, as if numbers were somehow different from other kinds of precise information. - Donald Knuth ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
[ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Regards, -- Raj -- Raj Mathurr...@kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ GPG: 78D4 FC67 367F 40E2 0DD5 0FEF C968 D0EF CC68 D17F PsyTrance Chill: http://schizoid.in/ || It is the mind that moves ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
--- On Thu, 3/31/11, Sudhanwa Jogalekar sudhanwa@gmail.com wrote: From: Sudhanwa Jogalekar sudhanwa@gmail.com Subject: Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India To: Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org Cc: The Linux-Delhi mailing list ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org Date: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 5:48 PM Hi, On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org wrote: Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Congrats !!! No idea whether there is any other bigger Linux setup (not just Debian, but any Linux distro). But this IS a huge setup. Few questions popped up. Hope you will answer them for everybody's benefits. (Organisation name is not required) A. On what parameters selection of a particular distro is done. Pricing, support, stability etc. etc. B. Is the decision taken by some central IT department and imposed on all others or is it coming from user requirements across the country? C. How the organisation is going to get support? Inhouse? services from vendors or consultants? Outsourced activity completely? D. What is the typical configuration of desktops, servers. E. What was the timeframe to complete the project? F. What are the most troublesome situations you face during the whole exercise. Technical, manpower handling, financial etc. Any other points you wish to share with us. I am sure answers to these will be helpful to all the FOSS implementors as a reference point and even more to the people who are converting from non-FOSS to FOSS environment. Thanks and regards, -Sudhanwa Also I have some questions... 1) How the servers are connected? 2) Are they connected as nodes of a big cluster or they are placed in different location of the country and form a distributed server setup? --- নির্মাল্য লাহিড়ী [Nirmalya Lahiri] +৯১-৯৪৩৩১১৩৫৩৬ [+91-9433113536] ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Raj Mathur r...@linux-delhi.org wrote: Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Regards, congratulations! regarding whether this is the larger deployment or not: we need to check with some Govt department deployments done by BOSS team of CDAC. Assam Govt and Kerala Govt. are other possible places. -- GN ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA512 Raj Mathur writes: Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? w00t. Unless bound by some NDA, do you mind posting some technical details (minus IPv[46] addresses, username, passwords, and private keys ;)) about the project ? Thanks - -- Ashish SHUKLA “I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously.” (Douglas Adams) -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v2.0.16 (FreeBSD) iQIcBAEBCgAGBQJNlMLwAAoJEMdGz6nnT6SwMk8QALLn2auhAQ6URfrcaUWfVnWK oxIMQ1HJL2yogydyaNx+f7ANYw1EtT+kOLfWjpgomc6ypFhs2iPvHo5TM87QgoLK x+ru/pmetHvkEdtZ4eTeuHj53tu4u2KrULD2O7/Txn/dzfzxN6GY+AbauaRF2kgd tdJlc4u/0ZmcsXPqg1dYK1fkxiSrgBrfdAG+XQh61VNqAnHN5Wkdr/sP2Eby0zIS Y1FgGayW3XRJniMZ2ARFVfM15N0rYF0A2ochJt+ZE1M52+o9f+y5lnN3EkDuwOmi wWMDVdCzTJ6Bp6w+XGjQpMAsfH3gLeItwp6mNVxqU2MuZuGtnDT5O4MgSqVm6EJx O0UgZOVqcEUYA6GE3UjHsSqxU1Kx9WI6zfPf6UD7svxuKMMTlEPFAgC/HwESz/9D WO6y8xOs3NcZkobbuB19wOYrVu2i6jQckFL4+zGjDhFLdrvbd3sObcvIQys2NvPl Tju8kAzQmjVk2VuuzFveP09FqXWg+MzweM5mS43UpV0Tzknx3zG+kq7EowdNhLdp 5HnClfP7LK1SYQ3m0fLDqne2uKfmlnHwbn+5c5I2mLxPPKxn538JvdpbJ+14M2gh XlK9OgTgIUCFOn8tdu00K/KYkj7JAjZKsaKJ29S4BwyTzPaKSHGlVQUa51zv4/Nj J/5RUvkm8mfRpuYagD6y =kVn1 -END PGP SIGNATURE- ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
I know linux-desktops are being used in various courts in Delhi. I can't estimate the exact number of installations there. If we consider all district courts as one organisation, we will get an impressive figure. Any more ideas? -Niyaz -Original Message- From: Raj Mathur Sent: 31-03-2011 16:40:05 Subject: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India Hi, Tirveni and I just completed a large (~2500 desktops + ~40 servers) installation of Debian -- Squeeze and Wheezy -- in 6 locations in India. Was wondering, is anyone aware of larger or comparable Debian installations in the country? Or should we be spraining our wrists trying to pat ourselves on our backs? Regards, -- Raj -- Raj Mathurr...@kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ GPG: 78D4 FC67 367F 40E2 0DD5 0FEF C968 D0EF CC68 D17F PsyTrance Chill: http://schizoid.in/ || It is the mind that moves ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
Re: [ilugd] Large Debian installations in India
Oops. Sorry friends. I did a top posting. please ignore the mistake . -Niyaz ___ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
