Setting up to do repetitive installs on ONE machine (cf BabelBox)
[Previously sent to debian-user list, was advised here was
more appropriate]
I have two objectives:
1. Define, by experimentation, optimal installation
parameters to meet my
idiosyncratic concept of a "minimal install".
2. Determine if there are bugs in Debian Installer, the
instructions for
the installer, or MY reading of those instructions.
I've bought the 8 DVD set of Debian 6.0.5 and have set aside
a laptop as a testbed. I would divvy up the 80GB drive with
8-10GB for a quasi-static Debian install [some other
experiments, possible supervisor for these tests] and ~40GB
for DVD content [possibly some additional packages]. The
rest would be for the resulting test install and possibly
preserving some log files.
"Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" (particularly sections
4 & 5 and appendix B) give some indication that what I want
to do is feasible. BabelBox
{http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/BabelBox} indicates
that something quite _similar_ has been done.
Open questions about BabelBox and its suitability for my goals:
BabelBox is apparently aimed at a fully scripted fully
automated repetitive install install dependent only on the
first DVD of a release [e.g. "When you get to partitioning,
create a Linux partition on /dev/sda1 ( *_about 1.5 to 4GB_*
depending on which media you want to use as installation
media)..." {EMPHASIS added}].
I will, initially, be doing only manual installs using
preseeding to avoid entering fixed data - keyboard, time
zone, user name/password, no networking etc.
Can I simply copy all 8 DVD's to the root of my supervising
Debian install?
After an install will I be able to do apt-get to access the
DVD content now residing on the hard drive?
Am I missing something?
Are there other routes to my goals I should investigate?
TIA
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