Looking for A Minimal Install - Ala JeOS

Hi Guys,

https://software.opensuse.org/distributions/leap#JeOS-ports

Will these ISOs at the link above allow me to do a minimal server type install ( ala Ubuntu Server LTS - no desktop needed but installer must be a full installer with full functionality ) but with standard
repos active ( so that I can add server type rpms later ).

I ask this bcos, they talk more about installing this in VMs but in my case i want to install into a physical server?

Thanks.

Download your preferred flavour (standard download location for TW or Leap) and start the install process. During the installation you can choose “server” type installation. In the very end, before the installation starts to install opensuse, you can add/delete software deliberately (don’t forget to taboo deleted software, otherwise it will come back with next update, thanks to patterns)…

Use this installation image:
https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.1/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.1-NET-x86_64.iso

As per rasputin the choices given during installation (from memory) are KDE, Gnome and Other. Select “Other” to see the minimal (server) option. When editing the software selection, choose “Expert” mode to fine tune the patterns and packages you desire.

Yep… this is what I have been doing since the 11.1 days
But I am really looking for a Miinimal Server Tye ISO ( < 1gb ) , like Ubuntu Server LTS ( approx 700 mb ) as compared to the full DVD type ISOs which are normally
4+gb.

I did try looking at Suse Studio to build a custom ISO but got stuck from the get go ( I could only create an empty project ). This was the link
i followed Create Your Own Distribution Based On SUSE/openSUSE but its outdated.

Thanks everybody for trying…
But I am really looking for a Miinimal Server Tye ISO ( < 1gb ) , like Ubuntu Server LTS ( approx 600-700 mb ) as compared to the full DVD type ISOs which are normally
4+gb.

…take the net installer image (some 123 MB, you can use a CD if you want) and choose only the pacakges you need on install. You can have the install (nearly) as slim as you like.

You are referring to the size of the installation image, not the size of the installed system. The link that I provided has an image size of approximately 125 MiB and I believe is the equivalent of the Ubuntu image that you reference.

Thank you. The danger of this method is that you need to have an online connection to do the install. You cannot do an offline installation. With the Ubuntu Server ISOs, all the packages are in the ISO enabling an offline installation.

I have come across GitHub - openSUSE/mksusecd: Script to create a SUSE installation ISO image. and have made an enquiry.

I guess my question would be your reasons for wanting a JeOS.
Although I’m not aware of any JeOS by way of installation, there are many JeOS by way of images.
The reason why there are JeOS images for various virtualization technologies (your link), containers like Docker and limited hardware like embedded devices is that it’s common to deploy multiple instances on a single machine so there is a reason to be as efficient as possible with resources including disk storage.

On the other hand, today’s typical hardware is so large (typically gigabytes and terabytes), a few hundred megabytes is hardly noticeable…

Disk storage is only one consideration for using minimal OS versions…
If you’re looking to use as little CPU and RAM, I wouldn’t expect that there should be much if any difference between a JeOS and the text-only “Server” install… I’ve run both in a virtual machine with similar performance and as little as 768MB RAM (despite openSUSE install restrictions) doing real work (not simply as a demo to show it can be done).
In fact, the main most obvious differences between a JeOS and the text-only Server install are all the support/documentation files and commonly used “basic” utilities that might be installed in a text-mode Server (but many utilities are now kernel mode processes).

In fact, I’ve also surprisingly found that the minimal X graphics system doesn’t even seem to make a noticeable difference in resource usage compared to a basic text-only Server… So, depending on your reasons for JeOS for many the extra awkwardness and lack of functionality without a GUI may be unnecessary.

Given the above,
Then the remaining reason to prefer a JeOS over other distro versions is if you have an especially paranoid requirement… Minimizing attack surface reduces exposure to possible threats. It’s theoretical because there is a lot of attention paid to security at many upstream stages of development and maintenance, from original source to our distro maintainers. If you have that kind of requirement, I’d probably recommend you make use of one of the virtualization or container JeOS images and do your work within that instance instead of in your HostOS, done correctly there is little to no known additional security issues.

IMO,
TSU