On 07/05/2014 11:02 AM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:
> 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
Thanks again, I appreciate the help.

I've set up kickstart once, successfully and I'm ready to do battle with 
PXE.  Just one of quick question for now, I'm sure more will follow later:

The mirror I've started is 
rsync://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/scientific-linux/7rolling/x86_64/os  I think 
that's all I need to maintain, correct?  I'm in Los Angeles.

Best,
Joe