Re: Holiday Project for my job
On 09/03/2011 11:35 AM, ZephyrQ wrote:
I am trying to set up several Linux desktops for a secure (locked)
facility for troubled teenagers. I brought one home to set up (so I can
have unfettered internet access) but then I need to be able to 'clone'
it to others without internet access (so package retrieval is impossible
unless I bring home every single desktop; and we are talking about up to
50). So I need advice on the following:
1. Which distro to use? I've used Mint before in a similar setting
(and was pleased) but I'm now stuck with 6 year old Dells with almost no
video acceleration and .5 G memory each. I'm thinking XFCE with Mint or
Xbuntu, but am open to others (even a stock debian install which I use
on my home machine) but I will not be able to update unless I do so
manually (which a CD or thumbdrive).
2. How do I 'clone' the machine to a CD or, preferably, a thumb drive
so I can install the same configuration to all machines (limiting menu
options, put in educational games, add openoffice or libreoffice, etc.)?
Thank you for your time.
If you have a thumb drive big enough for the whole system, then copy the
HD to the thumb drive, and then copy to the new drive, from the thumb.
A program called HDClone, from a German outfit, will do that perfectly.
There are versions from free to several levels of pay. The highest level
of pay will work the fastest, but otherwise, they all will work.
I used this system to copy off a 60GB drive from a laptop, and then burned
the thumb to a replacement 250GB HD. (I have a 64GB thumb drive from
Kingston.) The new drive can be bigger, and you can scale the
partitions up,
or copy them the same, and then make new extra partitions, whichever you
like.
I think there are free Linux tools to do that, too, but to me they're not
user-friendly!
--doug
--
Blessed are the peacemakers...for they shall be shot at from both sides. --A. M. Greeley
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