Recycling Old Computers with LTSP

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VU2SWX aka Sunil TT

College of Engineering

Attingal. Trivandrum

$ blogs htttp://brainstorms.in

http://unixlab.blogspot.com

Catch me on Amateur Radio as VU2SWX

Overview

Brief introduction to LTSP Requirements for running LTSP Advantages and disadvantages links

What is LTSP?

Linux Terminal Server Project Allows “thin” clients to connect to a Linux Terminal Server. All programs run on the server Clients run a thin Linux base with network

and X session capabilities. LTSP allows for a single point of

configuration and control Great for lab environments

How it works

A “thin” client performs a Prebootxecution Environment (PXE) boot and retrieves an IP from the LTSP server via DHCP.

dhcp server runs on the private network interface on the LTSP server

How it works

A small footprint Linux kernel is sent

to the thin client computer via TFTP.

The client loads the Linux image and

starts the X window system via

secure shell (ssh)

How College of Engg. Attingal LAN Looks like

What we have as server

Server

CPU should be powerful enough to run multiple X sessions.

We have

Intel Xeon processor. 8 GB memory

160GB *3 sata hdd ( Raid)

Running ubuntu 8.10

Our clients

Client

Minimum

Pentium II with 48 MB RAM and a 2M

video card.

Recommended Pentium II and above with 64MB RAM and

4MB display card.

Identical hardware preferred

Software

A Linux distribution with or without

LTSP included.

Most distros except Ubuntu and Debian do not have LTSP 5 by default.

Software

Four services running on the LTSP

server: DHCP for IP address leases TFTP for initial netboot kernel NFS for forwarding filesystems SSH for all communication on the LAN

Networking Requirements

Avoid

Hubs

10-BaseT cards Preferred: 100 Mbps switch

100-BaseT cards Ideal:

Gigabit switch.

100 Mbps switch with 1 Gbps uplink to the

LTSP server.

How to make a quick install

Grab ubuntu 9.10 alternate install CD Boot it up Press F4 Select LTSP server install Set up an IP address manually (Say

192.168.0.1) Complete the install Boot the server

How to boot clients

Enable network boot if the machine support Pxe If it is an older machine , get etherboot rom

image and burn it to an EPROM Or use a CD or floppy to start the network

booting process.

Advantages Disadvantages

Diskless clients Highly Centralized

patches and firewalling

Cost effective no licensing fees Customized profiles

LDAP auth Change lab footprint

asneeds grow

Invest in powerfulserver

Need a fast network Documentation is

weak Time sensitive apps

may not work well,

especially multimedia

Services you can provide

Internet access Office Automation OpenOffice Graphics GIMPInkscape Scribus Printing via network Any thing you can run on a linux desktop

Links

http:www.ltsp.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTSP http://www.edubuntu.org http://www.etherboot.org/

Questions ?

VU2SWX College of Engineering

Attingal. Trivandrum

Blogs htttp://brainstorms.in

http://unixlab.blogspot.com

Twitter @vu2swx

Email vu2swx@gmail.com

Radio vu2swx

Thank you