On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 11:23 AM, Joseph Areeda <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> On 07/05/2014 08:03 AM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:
>>
>> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:43 AM, Joseph Areeda <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 07/04/2014 09:12 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:

>> Set up a local rsync mirror from any of the locally fast upstream
>> repositories, and slap a web server in front of it. Use the
>> 'netinstall' from th elocal mirror,, or even a PXE setup, not the full
>> DVD, to point to the local mirror. Ideally, set up a kickstart file
>> too on the local mirror, ideally tied to a the PXE setup.
>>
>> Then just use the PXE or netinstall ISO to do a kickstarted, network
>> based re-install. That way, you don't even have to download the DVD
>> images, which are quite builky. If you like, I'll post my download
>> scripts....
>
> Thanks Nico,
>
> I would like to see your scripts.

Let me put them up at github.com, and give me a day.

> What I will be testing is what changes are needed to our packaged and
> unpackaged applications.
>
> Excuse the basic questions but I'm more of a developer than a sysadmin.  If
> I understand your recommendations the system including user accounts will be
> rebuilt on each boot.  So if I want to work through multiple reboots I could
> put my home directory on an NFS mount and end up with fresh software but the
> same environment. Correct?

That's one workable way, yes. If PXE and kickstart can be set up
correctly, the "kickstart" can even set up your NFS mounted home
directory and local authentication and sudo privileges, and the PXE
can allow a "rebuild me from scratch" option at boot time. that will
select and automatically use the relevant kickstart file. It can even
be set to auto-rebuild every time, if you want.

I've done this a lot for hardware testing, and for building clusters.
One of the limitations is local bandwidth: if you're rebuilding a
bunch of times from the upstream SL 7 Alpha website, well, that's
rude. It's hundereds of megs, possibly  even Gigs, of bandwidth. Set
up a local mirror to pull from instead, and keep *that* updated.

> Thanks.  I'm sure others in our collaboration will be doing more extensive
> tests.
>
> Best,
> Joe