Pontifex_Maximus
August 31st, 2008, 11:25 PM
I'm searching for an OSS solution that:
1) LiveCD based or PXE bootable
2) Can burn a disk image to a local hard drive, via pulling a disk image from a central server
3) Can do it on diverse hardware
4) Can work with minimal user intervention
5) Has a friendly and intuitive interface
Bonus points:
* Multicast support
* Auto-size partitions to fill any sized disk
Other considerations:
* Preference for free software
* Low cost or small cost to non-profits are okay
Long winded explanation:
I'm doing some work for a local non-profit (Computers for Classrooms). They do *a lot* of volume: Testing computers for functionality, installing Operating Systems (Ubuntu and Windows) and installing other programs (AV, Anti-Adware, Teaching Tools, other free programs, etc). This takes quite a bit of time, as you can imagine.
Being the enterprising volunteer that I am, I wanted to find them software to automate the task of getting software onto their computers. This seems to be best handled by Windows Deployment Services, on the Microsoft side. And Clonezilla on the OSS side. WDS fulfills all my requirements, but is Microsoft.
For OSS the potential is there. Heck, Knoppix + DD + SMB + Parted would do the job in a basic fashion; Some automation with Python / Perl could round it out. But am I to assume that no one has put together anything as of yet?
1) LiveCD based or PXE bootable
2) Can burn a disk image to a local hard drive, via pulling a disk image from a central server
3) Can do it on diverse hardware
4) Can work with minimal user intervention
5) Has a friendly and intuitive interface
Bonus points:
* Multicast support
* Auto-size partitions to fill any sized disk
Other considerations:
* Preference for free software
* Low cost or small cost to non-profits are okay
Long winded explanation:
I'm doing some work for a local non-profit (Computers for Classrooms). They do *a lot* of volume: Testing computers for functionality, installing Operating Systems (Ubuntu and Windows) and installing other programs (AV, Anti-Adware, Teaching Tools, other free programs, etc). This takes quite a bit of time, as you can imagine.
Being the enterprising volunteer that I am, I wanted to find them software to automate the task of getting software onto their computers. This seems to be best handled by Windows Deployment Services, on the Microsoft side. And Clonezilla on the OSS side. WDS fulfills all my requirements, but is Microsoft.
For OSS the potential is there. Heck, Knoppix + DD + SMB + Parted would do the job in a basic fashion; Some automation with Python / Perl could round it out. But am I to assume that no one has put together anything as of yet?