simple-cdd/readme.txt

   1 ** Introduction
   2
   3 This uses the simple-cdd package (available on the official Debian repository) to create a custom install CD for the master blade of the TRC6500 system's computing cluster. A number of components are installed automatically (either during install or on first boot) ; the CD also includes useful files for subsequent configuration.
   4
   5
   6 ** What the built CD includes
   7
   8 - a selection of useful/required packages
   9 - a selection of custom packages scarcely available elsewhere
  10 - unpacking of config files and scripts during install
  11 - automatic execution of some configuration options
  12
  13 This CD does NOT create an usable operating system. All included systems should be reviewed, but particularly the network configuration (/etc/hosts, DHCP config, TFTP config..), which is partly automated thanks to scripts provided by the TRC6500 exploitation software, which is NOT bundled with this CD.
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  15
  16 ** What files we'll be using
  17
  18 - simple-cdd.conf (name is clear enough) should be passed to the build-simple-cdd program
  19 - the entire profiles/ directory is used by build-simple-cdd
  20 - myrc.local is the script executed on first boot
  21 - the local_packages/ directory contains packages not available on the regular repository, or more recent versions of packages available there.
  22 - the deb_build/ folder contains the necessary stuff to build the trc6500-master-files deb package which contains a collection of scripts, config files and config instructions
  23 - TRC6500.pub is a GPG public key added to the OS's keyring during install, corresponding to a makeshift Debian repo from T. Pérennou
  24 - splash-thales.png is a 640*480 image used for the splashscreen
  25
  26
  27 ** How build-simple-cdd works
  28
  29 The build-simple-cdd program is to be called like this :
  30 build-simple-cdd --dist wheezy --conf ./simple-cdd.conf
  31
  32 Most options described in the documentation are included in the simple-cdd.conf file. The program will use those (in addition to the default settings) to build a list of what is to be included on the CD. Primarily, it includes itself, profile(s) scripts, and pulls packages (from the <profile>.packages list) from whatever repositories are in /etc/apt/sources.list, or from the ./tmp folder if the packages have already been fetched.
  33
  34 Additional packages are to be put in the local_packages directory (which is specified in our own simple_cdd.conf). It should be noted that packages placed there simply join the pool of available packages : to actually include them on the CD, they should be added in an itself included profile's packages list (say, profiles/trc6500.packages). The list of packages added this way is :
  35 cpumon dce firmware-bnx2 libcalloc1 libcycle1 libdebug1 libmcore1 raf swb webconfig xcfe
  36
  37 Additional files are included with the all_extras="<path>,<path>" option in our simple-cdd.conf file.
  38
  39 You should look into the provided simple-cdd.conf file ! It is tailored to a quite specific use case, and making your own should be easy enough since the simple-cdd package contains a detailed config file.
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  41
  42 ** Building the trc6500-master-files deb packages
  43
  44 This package has been put together in replacement of an earlier tarball ; the main benefit to using a deb being easier upgrade of existing systems.
  45
  46 Check out the deb_build/ folder to learn more ; most of it is done by the Makefile.
  47
  48
  49 ** Regarding install vectors
  50
  51 To set up a bootable USB key :
  52 cp <iso file> /dev/<key> && sync
  53 <key> should be the device, not a partition of it. The key will get partitioned like the CD (and how the CD is partitioned is a whole other topic).
  54
  55 To burn your ISO to a CD :
  56 xorriso -as cdrecord -v dev=/dev/sr0 blank=as_needed <iso file>
  57
  58
  59 ** Additional documentation
  60 /usr/share/simple-cdd
  61 /usr/share/doc/simple-cdd
  62 /usr/share/doc/installation-guide-amd64 (talks about preseeds)
  63