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Hi,

For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
(Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
(re)install the complete system? Can I just duplicate the root partition
and modify /etc/fstab of the copied system accordingly? Will there be
network issues (we use dhcp on our network, so I don't think that will
be a problem). Anything else to take into account?

In short:
step 1. install 1 linux system
step 2. duplicate installed linux system on same machine
==> How do i go about this?

tnx,
E.T.

Erik T. wrote:

> For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
> (Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
> way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
> (re)install the complete system?

.... http://www.partimage.org/
--
<< http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/ >>
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In comp.os.linux.setup Erik T. <et@homeplanet.universe>:
> Hi,

> For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
> (Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
> way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
> (re)install the complete system? Can I just duplicate the root partition
> and modify /etc/fstab of the copied system accordingly? Will there be
> network issues (we use dhcp on our network, so I don't think that will
> be a problem). Anything else to take into account?

> In short:
> step 1. install 1 linux system
> step 2. duplicate installed linux system on same machine
> ==> How do i go about this?

There are several ways, depending on the hardware, if disks are
exactly the same, the easiest should be using 'netcat' or
'partimage' over the LAN. If this isn't possible, put in the disk
from another box in the already installed and clone the disk
using 'dd'.

Anyway, I'd strongly recommend taking a look into LTSP
(http://www.ltsp.org/), something like this is a far better
solution and saves lots of trouble/work in the long run.

Good luck

--
Michael Heiming (X-PGP-Sig > GPG-Key ID: EDD27B94)
mail: echo zvpunry@urvzvat.qr | perl -pe 'y/a-z/n-za-m/'
#bofh excuse 178: short leg on process table

>>For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
>>(Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
>>way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
>>(re)install the complete system?
>
>
> ... http://www.partimage.org/

Ok, maybe my question wasn't clear. I want to install 3 linux systems on
the same physical computer. That's: one harddisk, containing 3 x Linux
in a multi-boot setup. To not having to go through 3 installations, I'd
like to know if it's possible to "duplicate" the first installation to
another partition.

So

1. install linux on 1st partition
2. copy linux installation to 2nd partition
3. copy linux installation to 3rd partition

Can this be done easily?

tnx,
E.T.

Erik T. wrote:

>>>For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
>>>(Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
>>>way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
>>>(re)install the complete system?

>> ... http://www.partimage.org/
>
> Ok, maybe my question wasn't clear.

.... or i hadnt had enough coffee yet sorry, i was
thinking "same kind of machine", and considering a
classroom setup, it made sense to duplicate a setup
to multiple machines. anyway, my mistake.

> I want to install 3 linux systems on
> the same physical computer. That's: one harddisk, containing 3 x Linux
> in a multi-boot setup. To not having to go through 3 installations, I'd
> like to know if it's possible to "duplicate" the first installation to
> another partition.

yes, you can use 'dd' to do this. you'll want the partitions
to be the same size for this method to be effective. of course,
you'll have to modify any config files, such as /etc/fstab,
on the copied-to partitions (as you previously mentioned).

all this begs the question: why are you wanting to create two
additional "images" of an installation on other partitions?


--
<< http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/ >>
WHOA!! Ken and Barbie are having TOO MUCH FUN!! It must be the
NEGATIVE IONS!!

"Erik T." <et@homeplanet.universe> wrote in message
news:cuadn1$sfa$1@ikaria.belnet.be...
>>>For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
>>>(Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
>>>way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
>>>(re)install the complete system?
>>
>>
>> ... http://www.partimage.org/
>
> Ok, maybe my question wasn't clear. I want to install 3 linux systems on
> the same physical computer. That's: one harddisk, containing 3 x Linux in
> a multi-boot setup. To not having to go through 3 installations, I'd like
> to know if it's possible to "duplicate" the first installation to another
> partition.
>
> So
>
> 1. install linux on 1st partition
> 2. copy linux installation to 2nd partition
> 3. copy linux installation to 3rd partition
>
> Can this be done easily?

Yes. You need to keep the same *kernel* on all the images, or be prepared to
duplicate kernels from one to the other to get grub and LILO to work right
even if you don't use all the same kernels in active use.

> all this begs the question: why are you wanting to create two
> additional "images" of an installation on other partitions?

It is for a classroom environment, were several (3) different student
groups are being taught the linux principles. To prevent one student
from messing up the system for all groups, each group would use it's own
dedicated linux partition.

cheers,
E.T.

On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 09:50:44 +0100, Erik T. <et@homeplanet.universe> wrote:
>Hi,

>For a classroom setup, I am asked to install multiple copies of Linux
>(Fedora Core 3) on the same machines in a classroom. Is there a (easy)
>way to duplicate one system to a new partition, without having to
>(re)install the complete system? Can I just duplicate the root partition
>and modify /etc/fstab of the copied system accordingly? Will there be
>network issues (we use dhcp on our network, so I don't think that will
>be a problem). Anything else to take into account?

>In short:
>step 1. install 1 linux system
>step 2. duplicate installed linux system on same machine
>==> How do i go about this?

Get a copy of ghost and copy partition to partition.

Or just mount the new partition and do a 'cp -a' to copy everything to it.

On 2005-02-08, Erik T. <et@homeplanet.universe> wrote:

> It is for a classroom environment, were several (3) different student
> groups are being taught the linux principles. To prevent one student
> from messing up the system for all groups, each group would use it's own
> dedicated linux partition.

This certainly won't be foolproof--a student from group A could simply
mount group B's partitions and do whatever he wanted. I would keep a
pristine image of the partition somewhere, in case something like this
does occur.

--keith

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In comp.os.linux.setup Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us>:
> On 2005-02-08, Erik T. <et@homeplanet.universe> wrote:

>> It is for a classroom environment, were several (3) different student
>> groups are being taught the linux principles. To prevent one student
>> from messing up the system for all groups, each group would use it's own
>> dedicated linux partition.

> This certainly won't be foolproof--a student from group A could simply
> mount group B's partitions and do whatever he wanted. I would keep a
> pristine image of the partition somewhere, in case something like this
> does occur.

100% ack, had exactly the same thoughts.

Perhaps, he could setup a custom kickstart cd or floppy and
students would network install their installation, you could
mount for group A another nfs share keeping their stuff then for
group B auto-magically. This shouldn't need more then 2-4 minutes
depending on how much you install, presuming 100 Mbit LAN. There
are rh docs available about kickstart, forget the fedora docu it
seems to be more or less non existent?

Presuming fedora can use kickstart as rh distro?

--
Michael Heiming (X-PGP-Sig > GPG-Key ID: EDD27B94)
mail: echo zvpunry@urvzvat.qr | perl -pe 'y/a-z/n-za-m/'
#bofh excuse 177: sticktion