On Thu April 14 2011, Roderick A. Anderson wrote: > Adrian Reyer wrote: > > On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 02:19:26PM -0700, Roderick A. Anderson wrote: > >> 1. Is it possible to build a non-Gentoo based guest template? > > > > I take it you run a Gentoo host toi ask that question? > > I run Debian hosts and I used Debian, SuSE, Fedora and CentOS guests so > > far. I see no reason why you should be restricted on Gentoo. > > Actually I run CentOS. (I've been using Redhat based distributions > since Redhat 3.0.3) But I am looking for a minimalist > setup/distribution for the host. > > >> Say I have a CentOS or Ubuntu guest on one system and want _VERY_ > >> similar bunches of guests on other systems. Can I build a template > >> of a guest to put somewhere (CD/DVD, USB thumb, network) and use as > >> needed? > > > > Sure. If you run i386 host kernels, you can run i386 guests, if you run > > amd64 kernels, you can run i386 or amd64 guests. > > > >> 2. If so, how do I create the template? > >> Is it as simple as building a tarball of a (non-running) guest? > > > > That's a possibility, however, I suggest you check out method 'rsync' > > for vserver build and just have a suitable resynced tree around on your > > flash drive. If you point /etc/vservers/NAME/vdir at the right location > > you could even run your guest on different hosts, taking it with you. > > You should make sure to set the barrier-flag correctly. > > Well it has to come out eventually but what I was hoping to do is come > up with a Linux-Vserver distribution that would fit on a CD/DVD. Get > the host OS installed and offer guests (mostly ready to go) of other > distributions that could be installed. > > >> 3. And if I'm heading down a good path what would you say is the > >> most stripped down distribution that could be used for the host? > > > > Sorry, no useful opinion here, I just happen to run an 'approx' vserver > > for my debian based guests. And while vserver setup deletes startup > > links for hardware-centric services, they happen and reappear on > > updates. I suggest setting them to 'K' links instead. At least the ones > > that don't try and modify hardware on shutdown. > > As I said above I'm looking for the most generic and minimal host OS I > can find. Probably wishful thinking. > A kernel + a minimal build of busybox should fill that bill. A common add-on to "minimal" is an application providing sshd (often DropBear). Unless your definition of "minimal host" includes KDE or other GUI. ;-) Mike > > \\||/ > Rod