[conspire] (forw) Re: install Edubuntu LTSP

[Rick Moen]

----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 16:21:02 -0800
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: YFeldman at aol.com
Subject: Re: install Edubuntu LTSP
Reply-To: installers at linuxmafia.com

Quoting YFeldman at aol.com (YFeldman at aol.com):

> I want to install Edubuntu LTSP system at my home for my kids. But not sure 
> how to set up thin clients. Do you offer any help o this?

Yacov, yes and no.  ;->

Using LTSP in a family setting is indeed a really good idea.  However,
speaking as the guy whose house CABAL has met in for some years, and
thus de-facto leader (I guess), I only know some (much, most) of the 
underlying technology underneath LTSP, and have never worked with that
software bundle _as such_, let alone with Edubuntu.

Basically, if I understand correctly, to get Edubuntu LTSP going, you 
set up PXEboot / tftp / DHCP to netboot thin clients, set up an NFS 
export, then put OS images on the server that you want the clients to
netboot including X11.  There's probably the usual grim assortment of
scutwork tasks including ensuring that the client IPs are authorised to
talk to the server's X11 server, making sure the kids' usernames are in
/etc/passwd, making sure you're not shooting yourself in the foot with
firewalling scripts, and so on.

Then, to make sure it works, you borrow a network hub/switch, put your
server on it along with a test client machine, netboot the latter, and
login using one of the kids' logins to ensure that everything's there
that's supposed to be there.

What you should do is first find, print out, and skim-read one or more
checklist / tutorial on setting the thing up.  Logic suggests that
Web-searching for

    "ubuntu ltsp" setup

...might be a good tactic.  These seem like good starting points:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/LTSPQuickInstall

So, a week or so before you install, you should find what seems like the
most-useful, clearest such set of HOW-TO docs, print that stuff out, and
bring it with you along with a little block diagram of your network
(which machine has which IP, and so on), for use in diagnosis.

CABAL provides loaner gear (so you aren't stymied if you leave at home a
network cable, keyboard, hub, or whatever), food-to-share cooked by some
attendees, comfortable places to work, and companionship.  You _might_
find people who've worked on the same problems, but shouldn't count on
it, especially with something as relatively specialised as LTSP.

----- End forwarded message -----