On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 07:26:18AM -0500, Richard Owlett wrote: > Richard Owlett wrote: > >I have two objectives: > >1. Define, by experimentation, optimal installation > >parameters to meet my > >idiosyncratic concept of a "minimal install". > >2. Determine if there are bugs in Debian Installer, the > >instructions for > >the installer, or MY reading of those instructions. > > > >I've bought the 8 DVD set of Debian 6.0.5 and have set aside > >a laptop as a testbed. I would divvy up the 80GB drive with > >8-10GB for a quasi-static Debian install [some other > >experiments, possible supervisor for these tests] and ~40GB > >for DVD content [possibly some additional packages]. The > >rest would be for the resulting test install and possibly > >preserving some log files. > > > >[SNIP the majority of my original post] > > > >Are there other routes to my goals I should investigate? > > > > In this thread, and others, there have been an underlying > assumption/suggestion that I do a netinstall. I do not now, nor in > foreseeable future, have a home network. And as my only web access > at home is dial-up, that is out ;) > Even more reason to use apt-cacher-ng or something similar. If you have multiple Debian installations, you will only have to download updates once. All Debian installations will get their updates from apt-cacher-ng.
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~bloch/acng/ I'd recommend you use Virtualbox for all of your "test" installations. So start by installing Debian on the laptop, and include a GUI (the default is Gnome, but you could pick something else if you already have a favorite. apt-get install apt-cacher-ng You can even import the deb files from some/all of the 8-DVD set you bought, so they will be available any machine configured to use this proxy. http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~bloch/acng/html/howtos.html#imp Configure the laptop to use the apt-cacher-ng proxy by putting this line in /etc/apt/apt.conf: Acquire::http::Proxy "http://localhost:3142"; Then configure that machine to be a gateway (sorry, I don't have a link for a how-to). As a gateway, all computers on the local network will get their internet access through the gateway machine. You will probably want to configure a DHCP server on the laptop. So if you had a real network, the ethernet port of the laptop would connect to a switch, which would connect to many other computers. They would all get IP addresses from the DHCP server on the laptop. The DHCP server would be configured to tell those other computers that the laptop is their gateway. apt-get install virtualbox-dkms Now you can use virtual machines instead of real machines to set up your local network. It works the same as I described above. You will need to read up a bit on the networking options that Virtualbox provides. I think you want "bridged networking", but it's been a while since I've used it. You should be able to get ip addresses on your virtual machines that are similar to your laptop's ip address (192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, etc) http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch06.html When you install Debian in a virtual machine, make sure to specify the proxy that apt should use (the installer asks you). Enter it in this form: http://192.168.1.1:3142 (make sure that you specify the IP address of your laptop's ethernet port). Have fun practicing networking! -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20120829010449.gd5...@aurora.owens.net