Changes between Version 25 and Version 26 of WikiStart


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Timestamp:
06/07/10 13:47:02 (14 years ago)
Author:
bas
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  • WikiStart

    v25 v26  
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    9 = Welcome to '''Sali'''! =
     9= Welcome to '''SALI'''! =
    1010Here at Sara we use [http://wiki.systemimager.org SystemImager] to install our nodes on different types of clusters. SystemImager allows you to create a clone of your running system. This clone can than be distributed by various protocols, eg:
    1111 * rsync
    1212 * bittorrent
    1313 * flamethrower
    14  * floppy disks
     14 * floppy disk
    1515
    16 When installing an image the target system shall be booted with a kernel/initrd which contains the needed utilities for initializing a SystemImager installation. This initrd is very basic.  When the system is booted it will fetch the [http://wiki.systemimager.org/index.php/BOEL BOEL] utilities. The BOEL utilites contains, eg:
     16When installing an image the target system shall be booted with a kernel/initrd which contains the needed utilities for initializing a SystemImager installation. When the system is booted it will fetch the [http://wiki.systemimager.org/index.php/BOEL BOEL] utilities. The BOEL utilites contains, eg:
    1717 * kernel modules
    1818 * partition utility
    1919 * formatting utilities for ext2, ext3, xfs, ...
    20  * various protocols to get the image. 
     20 * various protocols to get the image 
    2121
    22 Sali is created due the fact that the current initrd/kernel and BOEL utilities are outdated. The trigger was that there is no ''grub2'' support. We thought this could be easily added, but during this process we decided to upgrade all software to the newest levels. The biggest hurdle was detecting of which hardware is in the system ([http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/udev.html udev]). We believe that SALI is better in detecting which hardware is in the system then the systemimager setup.
     22Sali is created due the fact that the current initrd/kernel and BOEL utilities are outdated. The trigger was that there is no ''grub2'' support. We
     23thought this could be easily added, but during this process we decided to upgrade all software to the newest levels. The biggest hurdle was detecting of which hardware is in the system ([http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/udev.html udev]). We believe that SALI is better in detecting which hardware is in the system then the SystemImager setup.
    2324
    2425The focus for this project is/was:
    25  * Easily create a new kernel/initrd when a new kernel is released or one of the sofware compents is update, eg: [http://www.busybox.net busybox]. The sali initrd contains all kernel modules and software utilities.  In systemimager this software is distributes as separate packagge (BOEL binaries).
    26 
     26 * Easily create a new kernel/initrd when a new kernel is released or one of the sofware components is
     27updated, eg: [http://www.busybox.net busybox]. The SALI initrd contains all kernel modules and software utilities. 
     28In SystemImager this software is distributed as a separate package (BOEL binaries).
    2729 * PXE installations with rsync and/or Bittorent. Drop support for flamthrower/multicast and floppy disk support.
    28 
    29 But the current initrd and BOEL binaries of SystemImager is quite old. So we created Sali to replace '''only''' the kernel, initrd and BOEL. During the development we only focussed on PXE installations with rsync and/or Bittorrent. So you can't use for floppy disk or flamethrower/multicast. Also we focussed on supporting the 2.6 kernels. Because we removed floppy support we also removed the BOEL. The BOEL utilities are now implemented in the initrd.
    30 
    31 Also we started to increase the functionality of /etc/init.d/functions with some functions that could replace a lot of code in you Master script ( Sali supports the Master Script generated by SystemImage 4.1.6 ). For detailed overview of the changes read this [source:trunk/Changelog changelog].
     30 * Support for the old generated SystemImager scripts. These scripts uses ''/etc/init.d/functions'' which is included
     31in the initrd. We have added/changed a lot of functions to hide the complexity. We have reduced the code of the SystemImager scripts significantly,
     32 for detailed overview of the changes read this [source:trunk/Changelog changelog]
    3233
    3334= Documentation =