Re: running multiple distros (LSB-internal use)

Here's what I do:

1. Install onto a test or staging machine
2. Reboot test machine into a different partition from the one
   just installed, or to a knoppix CD or something. 
3. mount the partition containing the distro just installed. 
4. rsync the whole partition (rsync -e ssh -az ...) to a directory
   on the file server. 

Note that you have to be root on both sides of the rsync to get the
files read/created properly. 

This way you don't have to take down or reboot the 
"lsb build machines", you just have to have another box
around that you can have your way with, then rsync the 
installed distro to the "lsb build machines."

You might be able to skip steps 2 and 3 and just rsync the running
system, but that always made me a little nervous.  Knoppix solves
the problem quite well. 

On Wednesday 19 November 2003 12:55 pm, Wichmann, Mats D wrote:
> Perhaps lsb-discuss isn't the best place
> to put this question, but I can't think of
> a better one.  This has nothing to do with
> the LSB spec, but does affect LSB team
> internal operations.
>
> The LSB team is building up a battery
> of machines for the different supported
> architectures, so that we can test things,
> do builds, etc.
>
> However there's a desire to have multiple
> distributions resident on some of the
> machines to test cross-distro compatibility
> when we do silly things like, say, muck
> with the C++ abi.  Debian has a fairly reasonable
> way to set this up, providing support
> for installing into a chroot so that you
> can run, say, "stable" on the base machine
> and "testing" inside a chroot.
>
> Does anyone have advice on good ways to
> set this kind of thing up for rpm-distros
> in general, or for any specific distros?
>
> I've done something like this on a machine
> here in my office which has nine different
> ia32 distros on it, but I've done those
> by cd-installs each to an empty partition;
> we don't necessarily have access to physcially
> plug media into the lsb build machines (or
> even to reboot them, for that matter), so
> a different "set up a chroot" mechanism
> is needed.
>
> You can drop me a line privately or post
> here.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mats
>
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