[gentoo-user] multiple installs

[gentoo-user] multiple installs

[James]

Hello,

I have quit a few amd64 systems to install, hopefully
mostly unattended. I'm looking for a way to install quick and simple
workstations running kde. All will have (boot, root and swap partitions only).
They can be updated to current, individually. later.

http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Install_LiveDVD_11.2_to_hard_disk_drive

So the best guide I have found is this one for the
livedvd 11.2.  Any modifications for the
livedvd-amd64-multilib-20121221.iso version?

Grub-2, udev, and some other changes may make following
this 11.2 guide, problematic?

I wanted to do these installs with ZFS and this is the
best guide?

http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/ZFS
 
I suspect there is way to dd an image right to a 
(pre-formatted) hard drive just like you would a flash drive?


suggestions and comments are welcome.

Re: [gentoo-user] multiple installs

[Walter Dnes]

On Fri, Feb 08, 2013 at 07:46:34PM +0000, James wrote

> I suspect there is way to dd an image right to a 
> (pre-formatted) hard drive just like you would a flash drive?

  Are the machines identical (cpu/gpu/peripherals)?  I.e. can you use
the same USE flags and kernel configs on them?  If so, running dd off a
master image could work.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

[gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[James]

Walter Dnes <waltdnes <at> waltdnes.org> writes:


> > I suspect there is way to dd an image right to a 
> > (pre-formatted) hard drive just like you would a flash drive?

>   Are the machines identical (cpu/gpu/peripherals)?  I.e. can you use
> the same USE flags and kernel configs on them?  If so, running dd off a
> master image could work.


All are AMD64. 
3 are : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
3 are : 8 core FX8350 (new machines)

All will have the same use flags/kernels/

The peripherals will only slightly be different
bands of DVD. All video cards are ATI, so it should work?

Or at least set up one from each of the 2 classes and dd to the
other 2 drives? I'm game for  this approach.


curiously,
James

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[Alecks Gates]

On Sat, 2013-02-09 at 01:58 +0000, James wrote:
> Walter Dnes <waltdnes <at> waltdnes.org> writes:
> 
> 
> > > I suspect there is way to dd an image right to a 
> > > (pre-formatted) hard drive just like you would a flash drive?
> 
> >   Are the machines identical (cpu/gpu/peripherals)?  I.e. can you use
> > the same USE flags and kernel configs on them?  If so, running dd off a
> > master image could work.
> 
> 
> All are AMD64. 
> 3 are : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
> 3 are : 8 core FX8350 (new machines)
> 
> All will have the same use flags/kernels/
> 
> The peripherals will only slightly be different
> bands of DVD. All video cards are ATI, so it should work?
> 
> Or at least set up one from each of the 2 classes and dd to the
> other 2 drives? I'm game for  this approach.
> 
> 
> curiously,
> James
You could install to one of the Athlons, then copy it to the other two
Athlons and one of the FX machines.  Then, reconfigure the FX install
for more CPUs and native -march, recompile world and copy it to the
other two FX machines.

At least, I think that would work :).

I don't believe the video cards will be an issue, especially if you
stick with the radeon driver.

-- 
Alecks Gates <alecks.g@gmail.com>

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[Adam Carter]

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You could install to one of the Athlons, then copy it to the other two

> Athlons and one of the FX machines.  Then, reconfigure the FX install
> for more CPUs and native -march, recompile world and copy it to the
> other two FX machines.
>

Even that might not be worth it. Unless you're using something that
benefits from the new instructions in the FXes, or requires the last .1%
performance, a single install on an Athlon and copy onto the remaining 5
systems will give you more time for something else. From a support point of
view the consistency can be a win. Just remember to specify the Althlon64
CPU type in the kernel config, but with 8 cores max.

For the hardware, just select a superset of the two systems requirements in
your kernel config. If you build as modules any superfluous code wont even
be loaded.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[Alecks Gates]

On Sat, 2013-02-09 at 21:20 +1100, Adam Carter wrote:
> You could install to one of the Athlons, then copy it to the other two
>         Athlons and one of the FX machines.  Then, reconfigure the FX
>         install
>         for more CPUs and native -march, recompile world and copy it
>         to the
>         other two FX machines.
> 
> 
> Even that might not be worth it. Unless you're using something that
> benefits from the new instructions in the FXes, or requires the
> last .1% performance, a single install on an Athlon and copy onto the
> remaining 5 systems will give you more time for something else. From a
> support point of view the consistency can be a win. Just remember to
> specify the Althlon64 CPU type in the kernel config, but with 8 cores
> max.
> 
> 
> For the hardware, just select a superset of the two systems
> requirements in your kernel config. If you build as modules any
> superfluous code wont even be loaded. 
> 
That might even depend on the compiler version anyway.  But, I agree.
Building with -march=athlon (I think it's athlon?) on one FX machine and
copying to the rest would be fastest.
-- 
Alecks Gates <alecks.g@gmail.com>

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[Adam Carter]

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>
> That might even depend on the compiler version anyway.  But, I agree.
> Building with -march=athlon (I think it's athlon?) on one FX machine and
> copying to the rest would be fastest.
>
>
Good call, I missed that. Of course it makes much more sense to build on a
fast FX box with -j8, but have CFLAGs for the X2, which according to the
safe cflags wiki (
http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Safe_Cflags/AMD#Athlon_64_X2) is:

CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=k8 -O2 -pipe"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"

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[gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[walt]

On 02/08/2013 11:46 AM, James wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have quit a few amd64 systems to install, hopefully
> mostly unattended. I'm looking for a way to install quick and simple
> workstations running kde. All will have (boot, root and swap partitions only).
> They can be updated to current, individually. later.
> 
> http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Install_LiveDVD_11.2_to_hard_disk_drive
> 
> So the best guide I have found is this one for the
> livedvd 11.2.  Any modifications for the
> livedvd-amd64-multilib-20121221.iso version?
> 
> Grub-2, udev, and some other changes may make following
> this 11.2 guide, problematic?
> 
> I wanted to do these installs with ZFS 

The only obvious problem I can see is that grub2 will need zfs support
if your /boot is going to be zfs.  I don't recall all of the details,
but at one point during the grub2 install you can tell it to pre-load
the zfs module (and any other modules you may want) during the install.

[gentoo-user] Re: multiple installs

[James]

walt <w41ter <at> gmail.com> writes:


> The only obvious problem I can see is that grub2 will need zfs support
> if your /boot is going to be zfs.  I don't recall all of the details,
> but at one point during the grub2 install you can tell it to pre-load
> the zfs module (and any other modules you may want) during the install.

thanks to everyone for the input ideas....

I'm experimenting right now on multiple cloned installs....

thx,
James