Here Comes ALICE!

Jana Jaeger

Table of Contents

• What is ALICE ?
• All You Need To Get Started
• Installing With ALICE - in a Nutshell
• In Conclusion

In a professional environment, automation of system installations is a means to secure efficiency and reproducable quality. So far, the Linux world lacked this tool. This has changed since ALICE, the Advanced Linux Installation and Configuration Environment has been made widely available by SUSE.

What is ALICE ?

Basically, ALICE is a system of scripts and programs which make life easier for administrators. Instead of performing numerous installations of the same kind, they can focus their attention on the development of a target system exactly suiting their needs. ALICE will duplicate this system.

Once the volume of the installation has been determined, it is kept in a special directory on a dedicated server (the so-called installation server).

The configuration files of ALICE are kept in a well organized and documented manner by means of CVS. Multiple administrators can access and edit these files while the changes they make are kept in a consistent state on a separate server, the configuration server.

Provided the configuration of ALICE has been done properly, you will only need human interaction when putting a special boot disk (floppy or CD) into the appropriate drive. Start your machine and wait for things to come :-)

All You Need To Get Started

This section will provide a brief outline of what you need to do before an ALICE-based installation will be possible. First, determine the kind of boot and installation media to use. In case the final installation of the target systems has to be performed off-site (without a proper network connection) and as long as your selection of desired software packages fits on a single CD, CD-based installation will be the best choice. Most systems will nowadays support booting from CD, so boot and installation medium may be one and the same. If a network and a dedicated NFS server are available, choose an NFS-based installation. This method has one great advantage: In case you make any last-minute change to the installation, you do not need to re-create the boot medium.

Now, we come to the work environment section: Your work environment consists of the following components:

Note!: The following requirements are logical requirements, meaning one machine can fulfill more than one of the described tasks at a time.

Workstation

The workstation is needed to edit the configuration files and to generate boot disks. ALICE, CVS , and ssh need to be installed on this system.

Configuration server

The configuration server is a CVS server which serves as the main storage location for ALICE's configuration files. Software requirements are the same as for the workstation.

Installation server

The installation server is an NFS server which exports the SUSE LINUX distribution files plus a special ALICE directory. Software requirements are the same as for the workstation and for the configuration server. But of course you will need to put your SUSE LINUX distribution here :-).

CD writer

The CD writer is a computer which serves for the one and only purpose of CD writing. Thus the writing process will not be disturbed by other services running.

Depending on the chosen mode of installation, you will need either an installation server rather than a CD writer or the other way round.

Installing With ALICE - in a Nutshell

This section will not give detailed advice on how to set up a complete ALICE -based installation, but it is a try to outline its basic principles. Mind to set certain important environment variables for the overall work environment before you start with ALICE :

$ALICE_HOME

This is the place where the ALICE configuration files are stored.

$CVSROOT

specifies the full path name of the cvs repository in an NFS-style syntax (machine:/path, e.g. quark:/positron/cvs). This variable does not need to be set on the configuration server.

$CVS_RSH

specifies the external program used by cvs to connect to the configuration server. Use ssh here. Obviously, this variable does not need to be set on the configuration server.

Create a subdirectory ALICE which will hold the required configuration files exported from the cvs repository on the configuration server and which will carry ALICE's scripts and utilities during the installation process. Finally, set up $ALICE_HOME to point to this subdirectory. Make this variable permanent using an entry in your shell's login scripts (e.g. /etc/profile).

The machine designated as CD writer will be set up in the same way as the installation server except that the installation directory is not exported via NFS. Additionally, make sure that the CD writing software is installed (mkisofs and cdrecord) and that is has enough free disk space to store the CD images.

Next, set up the cvs repository for ALICE's configuration files. All computers in the work environment must have the environment variable $CVSROOT pointing to this directory. Details can be obtained from the ALICE manual.

Once these preparations have been accomplished, you can go ahead and install. First, specify the hardware and partitioning settings in the ALICE configuration files. This can be done from any machine designated as workstation. These settings are committed to the cvs repository on the configuration server via an ssh connection. They will be synced over the whole network by means of CVS. Configuration data plus the SUSE LINUX distribution files can either be written on CD (in case you want to install the target system from CD-ROM) or stored in the appropriate directory on the installation and exported via NFS.

Finally, go for the actual installation of the target system. Put a boot disk (either a floppy or a bootable CD) into the appropriate drive and start the system. The installation will be performed automatically. After it has been successfully accomplished, you can log into the freshly installed system using the root account with the predefined password blank.

In Conclusion

Further information on ALICE and a detailed description of a sample installation can be found in the ALICE manual. The ALICE , ssh and cvs packages come as part of the SUSE LINUX 7.2 Professional distribution. If you wish support in deploying ALICE, please refer to SUSE Professional Services.