InstallationInstallation

InstallationInstallation

There are three phases to building an LTSP server:

– Installing the LTSP utilities

– Installing the LTSP client packages

– Configuring the services needed by LTSP

Installing the LTSP utilitiesInstalling the LTSP utilities Includes utilities for installing and managing the

LTSP client packages, and for configuring the services on the LTSP server.

The last version is LTSP 4-2. Availability in several formats

– tgz, rpm, dev About 40KB. You can download the rpm version from

– http://ltsp.mirrors.tds.net/pub/ltsp/utils/ltsp-utils-0.25-0.noarch.rpm

Other formats can be found in:– http://www.ltsp.org/download/

Install the package:– rpm -ivh ltsp-utils-0.25-0.noarch.rpm

Installing the LTSP client Installing the LTSP client packagespackages

Run the “ltspadmin” command in a shell. You will see the administration window. Choose "Install/Update" option to install the

packages.

Installing the LTSP client Installing the LTSP client packages (2)packages (2)

The LTSP Installer configuration window will appear.

Installing the LTSP client Installing the LTSP client packages (3)packages (3)

The options that you have are:– Select the source of the packages.

If your computer is connected to Internet type http://ltsp.mirrors.tds.net/pub/ltsp/ltsp-4.2/

Else you have to download the files and save them in a file. For the LTSP 4-1 version and below you can download the ISO file and burn it into a CD (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=17723). After you have to specify your source, for example file:///media/cdrecorder if is a CD.

– Directory of the client tree. Accept the default value

– Http proxy URL. If your connections go through one, specify the URL. Otherwise

accept the default options– FTP proxy.

The same than before.

Installing the LTSP client Installing the LTSP client packages (4)packages (4)

Press “a” to select all components and “q” to install them.

Configuring the services needed Configuring the services needed by LTSPby LTSP

LTSP relys on 4 services:– DHCP [Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol]: used to

lease IPs to clients.– TFTP [Trivial Transfer File Protocol]: to transfer files to

clients, like the client software.– NFS [Network File System]: used to mount remote

directories.– XDMCP [X Display Manager Controller Protocol]: used to

implement graphical login displays.

Configuring the services needed Configuring the services needed by LTSP (2)by LTSP (2)

Type “ltspcfg”. That are the options you have to configure:

Configuring the services needed Configuring the services needed by LTSP (3)by LTSP (3)

Runlevel– Select runlevel 5 to indicate that your system is in

graphical mode in a network.

Interface selection– Select the current NIC

DHCP– It will create a default dhcpd.conf file and run the service.

TFTP– Enable the service

Portmapper– Used by RPC services, such as NFS

Configuring the services needed Configuring the services needed by LTSP (4)by LTSP (4)

NFS– It will create the default configuration file and start the

service. XDMCP

– Allow graphical logins in the client. Enable it. Create /etc/hosts entries

– Some services like NFS need to be able to map the IP of a workstation to a host name. Create the entries.

Create /etc/host.allow entries– This file provides security. Create it.

Create the /etc/exports file– This file is used by NFS to determine which directories

are allowed to be mounted by remote machines. Create it.

Configuring the services needed Configuring the services needed by LTSP (5)by LTSP (5)

Create the lts.conf file– The configuration of each workstation is in this file.

Type “ltspcfg” and “s” to check the configuration.

Workstation specific configurationWorkstation specific configuration

For your specific network there are 3 files you need to edit.– /etc/dhcpd.conf

For the DHCP service.

– /etc/hosts For the name/IP address mapping.

– /opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf Specific configuration of the workstation.

The explanation of how to edit /etc/dhcpd.conf and /etc/hosts goes beyond this paper.

Workstation specific configuration Workstation specific configuration (2)(2)

The file /opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf includes a default configuration for the clients.

[Default] SERVER = 192.168.0.254 XSERVER = auto X_MOUSE_PROTOCOL = "PS/2" X_MOUSE_DEVICE = "/dev/psaux" X_MOUSE_RESOLUTION = 400 X_MOUSE_BUTTONS = 3 USE_XFS = N LOCAL_APPS = N RUNLEVEL = 5

Workstation specific configuration Workstation specific configuration (3)(3)

Use the default values but “SERVER”, specify your server IP address.

Booting workstationsBooting workstations

Set up the workstations to boot up.– Hard disk– CD– Floppy disk– Network Interface Card

Technologies– PXE [Pre-boot eXecution Environment]– Etherboot

Booting technologiesBooting technologies

PXE [Pre-boot eXecution Environment]– Allows you to boot a computer without hard

disk or floppy disk or CD.– It boots from network.

You need a NIC.

– It is a feature available in most NICs.– You have to enable PXE in the BIOS setup– This is the process:

Send DHCP requests. Get IP. Get the boot file.

Booting technologies (2)Booting technologies (2)

Etherboot– A boot image is required for starting the boot

process.– You create a boot image in a CD or floppy disk.

Set up the BIOS to boot from CD/floppy disk. http://www.Rom-O-Matic.net/

– You also can create the boot image in the NIC The boot program is written in an EPROM memory. The EPROM is inserted in a socket in the NIC. Set up the BIOS to boot from a LAN. http://www.Rom-O-Matic.net/