On Mon, 2008-04-28 at 17:09 +1000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I'm in a situation where I need to duplicate on a mass basis - > to the > order or 3000-5000 units - a Linux setup off a headless box. > > All the destination boxes will be identical in specification, > and the > same as the original. At this point (trial - only 15 to do), > I've made > an image of the disk using DD to a USB attached drive - which > works, > and gets the new boxes working, but takes 3+ hours to dump the > image > back to the new boxes. > > 3+ hours over 5000 machines is not really acceptable. :-) > > Is there a better way to do this? Something which will make a > smaller > image and dump back quicker - most of the disk is empty, > there's only > about 15 gig of actual data/setup on a 160 gig drive - and > still > maintain the partition setup/bootability like using DD does? > > Willing to listen to anyone who has a cluestick and is willing > to apply it.
For 1000s units ... make a custom install CD (or usb). Ubuntu/redhat/suse have easy to use tools. No doubt others do too. In addition you can replicate to a known start point anytime in future. James -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
