Hi Mike, I don't really know anything about JeOS. It sounds interesting, but I use CentOS almost exclusively.
What you're talking about sounds a lot like Anaconda, though I doubt that Anaconda exists on Debian platforms? As for VMWare, I really don't know too much about their products either. XenServer did the trick for me and I stuck with that. Sorry I can't provide more info! On Sep 22, 2011, at 11:57 AM, mikevan wrote: > Brian, > > Another issue I'm seeing when creating virtual apps is because the > applications are being deployed into JeOS, you need to identify all of the > operating system dependencies of your application that aren't in JeOS. So, > if Karaf needs a certain set of OS libraries, you have to explicitly state > them. This seems like something that could be automated when creating the > rpm. Do you know of any tools that take care of this for you? I was looking > at VMWare's VStudio, but it looks like it requires you to have a VMWare > system to connect to. Does that sound right to you? > > Mike Van > > > > Brian Topping wrote: >> >> Yes, I see where you guys are going with this. It does seem very valuable >> to have an RPM that has all the proper dependencies for the raw >> environment so that something like 'yum' can pull in everything, including >> Java, for someone that wants to run Karaf / Cellar / Cave. At that point, >> what I was talking about kicks in. >> >> Would it also be valuable to create an Anaconda script so raw machines >> (whether virtual or on bare metal) could be generated from scratch in an >> unattended manner? It's a little more obscure and a little less direct >> than downloading a VM from the net and booting it, but Anaconda scripts >> are short and readable, allowing for security-conscious admins to >> understand exactly what is being built and from where. It would also >> provide the ability for the VM creator to tune what version of the OS was >> put on the VM image in a predictable manner, or even generate a batch of >> different VMs, each with a different underlying OS. In other words, the >> Anaconda script would serve for the building of the VMs for distribution, >> as well as provide a source for people to build their own. >> >> Another consideration is the hosting of the RPM artifacts in an accessible >> yum repository. Once a VM was set up and cloned like this, I'm probably >> not going to want to replace it when minor releases to Karaf come out, but >> would rather that it can update itself with new RPMs via 'yum update' or >> equivalent. Doing so would ideally include having that VM set up with the >> yum repo already enabled. One of the typical problems with jpackage.org >> is the RPM releases there lag pretty far behind the actual core software >> release, and if they could be done together, it might make a pretty big >> impact on people's use. >> >> If I understand it correctly, hosting a yum repo is very similar to >> hosting a Maven repo, including the availability of optional tools for >> those that are so inclined. >> >> >> On Sep 22, 2011, at 10:25 AM, mikevan wrote: >> >>> Thanks for all of your suggestions. To be clear, I'm talking about >>> creating >>> an RPM of vanilla Karaf. If folks want to add thier application bundles >>> to >>> it, then I feel they should repackage thier own RPM. >>> >>> Stephen, >>> >>> I looked at three vendors for creating and deploying my vapp. The basic >>> item I considered was the ability to deploy on a low-end, but modern >>> laptop. >>> I want other folks to be able to duplicate what I did, so the minimum >>> installation I found was 2 low-end laptops. And by low-end, I mean I went >>> into best buy and bought the least expensive laptops they had. I ended >>> up >>> with a Dell Inspiron and a Toshiba Satellite. >>> >>> I reviewed three different cloud vendors: Citrix XenServer, VMWare >>> Hypervisor, and Suse Studio. VMWare Hypervisor was ruled out because it >>> requires a gigabit ethernet controller or a nic card capable of >>> transmitting >>> 1B/s. Despite this, I attempted to install it on my Toshiba Satellite, >>> and >>> it did not have drivers for my ethernet card. Suse Studio seemed viable, >>> but it required an rpm of the applications I wanted to install in my >>> virtuall appliance. XenServer did completely install on my Toshiba >>> Satellite, and I am now configuring it. Because XenServer installed, I >>> chose to move forward with that option. >>> >>> I hope that answers your question. Moving forward, my plan is to create >>> rpm's containing Karaf, Cellar and Cave, and use those to create a >>> virtual >>> appliance. Because rpm's appear to be the deployment mechanism of choice >>> for deploying applications to virtual appliances, I asked if the Karaf >>> group >>> would consider creating distributions in .rpm's. >>> >>> >>> >>> Stephen Evanchik wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi Mike, >>>> >>>> On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 11:38 PM, mikevan >>>> <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>>> Currently, we distribute Karaf as a tar.gz, and a zip. I'm finding >>>>> that >>>>> .rpm's are also a useful deployment mechanism. In fact, when creating >>>>> virtual appliances, I continue seeing rpm's as an option (sometimes the >>>>> only >>>>> option) for uploading applications into the Vapp. With this in mind, >>>>> should >>>>> we be creating .rpm distributions of Karaf, Cellar, Cave, and the >>>>> Webconsole? >>>> >>>> I work on a Karaf based product that ships as an RPM. It has been >>>> great for the initial installation but maintenance has been >>>> challenging to say the least. Respinning an RPM to do a patch or minor >>>> release is not desirable and the product is searching for alternative >>>> installation mechanisms. >>>> >>>> As an aside, since you mention vApp: are you using VMware Studio? I >>>> know that it has a"limitation" that makes consuming non-RPM >>>> installation units difficult. >>>> >>>> >>>> Stephen >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Stephen Evanchik >>>> http://stephen.evanchik.com >>>> >>> >>> >>> ----- >>> Mike Van >>> Mike Van's Open Source Technologies Blog >>> -- >>> View this message in context: >>> http://karaf.922171.n3.nabble.com/Karaf-rpm-distribution-tp3357636p3358946.html >>> Sent from the Karaf - Dev mailing list archive at Nabble.com. >>> >> > > > ----- > Mike Van > Mike Van's Open Source Technologies Blog > -- > View this message in context: > http://karaf.922171.n3.nabble.com/Karaf-rpm-distribution-tp3357636p3359232.html > Sent from the Karaf - Dev mailing list archive at Nabble.com. >
