Re: Backing up system customization: Is Debian packaging better than Remastersys?
On 01/27/2013 07:42 PM, Martin Steigerwald wrote:
> Am Sonntag, 27. Januar 2013 schrieb Linux-Fan:
>> Dear Debian users,
>>
>> I have configured my system to my specific needs by installing packages,
>> changing their configuration, adding a useful HTML-Documentation
>> collection and installing some programs from source. The resulting
>> system is used on four different machines with two different
>> architectures: amd64 and i386. I have been using "Remastersys"
>> (http://www.remastersys.com/) to build a live-DVD from my system that
>> can be installed on other computers and is really nice for
>> administration purposes: Carry a fully-featured working-environment on
>> a single-layered DVD.
> […]
>>
>> Recently, when I read about Debian packaging and preseeding on this
>> list, I got another idea: I could package all my customization into
>> some Debian packages and some virtual packages which would then install
>> all software I use as dependencies. This would also make the updating
>> of my i386 machines much easier: If I only changed configuration or
>> such they could just update via aptitude update && aptitude full-upgrade
>> or similar and if I updated some of my self-compiled software, I could
>> (a) use the source-package or (b) download an i386 version that was
>> cross-compiled on my amd64 machine. I would be able to have the most
>> recent configuration and package selection on all three systems while
>> only maintaining a common and customized repository. In order to back
>> up my system I would only need to backup the repository. Live-DVDs
>> could still be created with remastersys but I would no longer depend on
>> them and I could safely do re-installations even changing
>> Debian-releases with minor problems only. I could further divide my
>> custom packages to be able to create a CD version of my system with
>> limited features or such. Adding some of the customization to my
>> friends' systems would also be much easier.
>>
>> Is it a good idea to use the Debian package system for these needs? Or
>> is there something I have overlooked? Are there other systems/programs
>> that probably already automate much of what I am aiming for? (Because I
>> believe creating packages of all my customization will be quite some
>> work and I should therefore think and ask first.)
>
> I also suggest browsing / scanning Debian Reference[1] and other Debian
> books for hints. Especially the package management section.
>
> For gem such as:
>
> - dpkg --get-selections / --set-selections
I saw this several times when I searched the web for ways of replicating
system-setups to other systems but it seems that there is more behind it
to copy configuration, self-compiled applications and such.
> - ways to store answers to debconf, there are some, you can basically make a
> backup of all debconf settings and restore them AFAIK.
I will have to deal with that I think: Thanks for the hint!
> debian-handbook.info has also some more stuff like Simple-CDD and preseeding.
>
> [1] http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/index.en.html
Thanks for the link as well.
Linux-Fan
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