On 2014-02-15 01:16, ManOfPlants wrote:
>
> Thank you very much for responding Robin. That would definitely be a
> good solution to cloning the disk, but I already have a “clone”. What I
> am really looking for is an ISO file (similar to what you use to do the
> initial installation. For instance, openSUSE-13.1-DVD-i586.iso) that
> includes all the programs and packages already installed with the
> current configuration of the machine.
I see.
> Many organizations currently do this with their Windows machines. That
> way when a user does something that renders the machine unusable (i.e.
> virus, registry errors, etc) they don’t need to spend valuable man hours
> to repair it. They simply “re-image” the machine with the ISO with the
> modified “install.wim” file.
The places I have been at used Ghost images or equivalent. I have never
seen those .wim files you mention.
> I would think there would be a way to do this in a Linux environment,
> otherwise technicians would have to reinstall the OS and programs from
> scratch every time one of the hundreds of machines they service went
> down. Maybe even a third party utility?
No, there isn’t.
Or not that easy.
You have, as I said, susestudio (go to susestudio.com). Basically, you
create your own install disk: AFAIK, not based on the installation you
are using on your computer, but based on what you design on that web
page (from scratch, or based on a previous one). I think you test the
resulting install media virtually, on the web. Finally, you download
your cd or dvd.
I do not see a link with demo or instructions, though. The place wants
you to login first.
Then there is also autoyast. You can create an autoconfig file based on
the current list of packages, then you have to continue and adapt it.
Documented. Complex.
If you search “autoyast” in the package manager, you will see three
packages.
During installation, you have to feed the openSUSE DVD plus the
autoinstallation xml file; initially, it was searched for in the floppy,
automatically, and used. I don’t know where nowdays you are supposed to
put it.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))