[Beowulf] Parallel Development Tools

[tegner at nada.kth.se]

> Debian/Ubuntu both have automated install methods.  There's the
> 'preseeding' method, which is pretty similar in principle to
> kickstart; you just tell the installer where to find all the answers
> to the questions it would have asked.
>
> There's also the more flexible FAI, which is what we tend to use,
> which boots the machine into an NFS root, then uses debbootstrap and
> custom scripts to build the machine.  It's faster than preseeding,
> and a lot more flexible.  I use it to build all of our Debian
> machines, both desktops and servers.  One of its nice features is
> that it starts an SSH server as soon as the NFS root is booted, and
> before the actual install begins, so if you're trying the install on
> a new type of hardware, you can get in there and mess with it if it
> goes wrong.

Thanks, didn't know about the preseeding method. Also, there seems to be a
kickstart, at least for ubuntu. Has anyone compared FAI to kickstart (for
ubuntu/debian)?

Thanks,

/jon