[NCLUG] RH 6.1 programs?

[jbass at dmsd.com]

BOF writes:
> Additionally, RH 7.3 can be installed in as little as 400 MB if you're 
> will to forgo bloated features like Xwindows, Emacs, source code, 
> compilers and development tools, etc, and run off the command line.

The minimal install under the GUI for both RedHat 8 and 9 is not much
larger, and can be pruned with a small effort to under 300MB after
installation. The installs abort if you agressively prune packages
to that level during install due to some unspecified dependencies.

Inside CWX we built RH based routers that small:

	[root at BuckhornMtn root]# df
	Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
	/dev/hda2               705400    339724    329844  51% /
	/dev/hda1                69266      9155     56535  14% /boot
	/dev/hda3              2391080   2131780    137836  94% /var/ftp/pub
	none                     22312         0     22312   0% /dev/shm
	[root at BuckhornMtn root]# cat /etc/issue
	Red Hat Linux release 8.0 (Psyche)
	Kernel \r on an \m

We build such machines with two small nearly identical root filesystems, one
for normal operation, one as a backup root filesystem if it gets damaged.
This also allows remote upgrades, by untaring or rsync'ing to the alternate
root, updating /boot (which is shared), updating the default grub boot,
and remotely rebooting. As long as the system doesn't hang on the way down,
or in the bios, this avoids a trip to the server/router.
	
Building up a kickstart file for minimalist machines is useful for well
defined applications, like routers/servers, that several of may be needed,
or for fast recovery if the drive on a machine fails, get's hacked, or
is otherwise needs to be rapidly taken back to virgin state. The ks.cfg
file can load the minimal set allowed by the installer, then proceed to
uninstall extra required packages when done.

Have fun,
John Bass

FYI - script to manage dual identical root's, just edit filesystem id's
for both filesystems into the script. Periodically sync the filesystems
so that log files, spool files, and passwd files are replicated. rsync
is fast and low overhead.

--------------------------- /root/bin/syncroot -----------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
#
# backup files to alternate root
# John Bass, DMS Design
#
if [ -d /recover ] && [ ! -d /prod ]; then
        dest=recover
        destfs="UUID=65c77910-3b63-11d6-9ef5-fc2eb1583f52"
        src=prod
        srcfs="UUID=d45e09de-3b63-11d6-8752-ad14a4ad0097"
elif [ ! -d /recover ] && [ -d /prod ]; then
        dest=prod
        destfs="UUID=d45e09de-3b63-11d6-8752-ad14a4ad0097"
        src=recover
        srcfs="UUID=65c77910-3b63-11d6-9ef5-fc2eb1583f52"
else
        echo error: both /recover and /prod exist
        exit 0
fi

echo backing up $src to $dest

if [ ! -d /$dest/lost+found ] && [ ! -d /$dest/root ]; then
        mount /$dest
fi

rsync -avxHS --exclude /lost+found --exclude /etc/fstab --exclude /$dest --exclude /$src --delete / /$dest
#
# update config files specific to dest filesystem
#
sed -e "1s/$srcfs/$destfs/" -e "2s/$destfs/$srcfs/" -e "2s/$dest/$src/" /etc/fstab > /$dest/etc/fstab
if [ ! -d /$dest/$src ]; then mkdir /$dest/$src; fi
if [ -d /$dest/$dest ]; then rmdir /$dest/$dest; fi
#
# unmount /$dest
#
umount /$dest