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Build A Cross-Platform Test Network With Samba & GRUB
An anonymous reader writes "This tutorial shows how to combine Samba and GRUB to build a compact, highly adaptable, cross-platform test network, capable of booting and networking a large number of operating systems on a small number of machines. Though Samba and GRUB can manage many different operating systems, this tutorial focuses on Linux and Windows." Reg required on the story.
With Grub you still can only really have as many machines up and running concurrently as, well, as you have physical machines.
VMware allows you to run multiple systems on the same network, with relative ease - although granted it isn't free, but it does run under Linux (and runs Linux as a guest OS)
I actually have only one dual-boot system on my network, the others are all on their own dedicated operating systems.
The dual-boot system is capable of running quite a few virtual machines at the same time - Great for testing, and it's possible to transfer virtual disks across the network, or use real partitions.
Meh, you need an IBM Login to access it, anyone want to paste the contents, I have so had enough of signing up to junk all the time.
37 - what does it stand for really...
Can I use TCP too? Man, that would kick ass. Imagine using TCP to connect machines on different platforms. Shit, we could even develop a WORLD WIDE NETWORK!
password: slash1
Simple enough.
Karma whorin' since 1999
Interesting stuff, with some good humor (I especially liked "Windows NT/2000/XP are not possessed of such tender sensibilities; still, we'll deceive them too, as they have their own little quirks. Besides, it's easy and fun.").
Personally, I hate rebooting and I also need to test my Java code on Mac OS X, so how I handle this problem is by keeping my source code in a directory on my Linux machine mountable via Samba and NFS. Compiling and testing on Windows 2000 or OS X is just a matter of hitting a button on the KVM switch. You could probably do it via VNC if you don't want to invest in a KVM (or, of course, if you don't mind having multiple monitors and keyboards, you could just have independent machines).
they had to so a wet tity scene.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
For all the good information this tutorial has in it, I am still reading it, the greatest part would have to be the incredibly clear and nicely laid out set of instructions on how to use Grub with different operating systems. Normally I find this information scattered across half a dozen different pages.
Anyone who actually reads it and finds it useful look hard as there is a pdf link for the entire document, as it is only 72k its a lot easier than waiting for IBM's servers to load each page. A nice touch from IBM I think. Makes life over a slow connection a little easier.
Cheers gatesh8r for the l/p
37 - what does it stand for really...
The article focuses mainly on installing multiple OSs with Grub as the boot loader. This information is widely available (and without registration). The section I was interested in was on Samba. Which it doesn't talk about except to say "here's a tutorial, because I don't feel like writing about this stuff."
Waste of time.
Your brain is not a computer.
I haven't read the article as I don't want to subscribe... but is there a way to modify the GRUB menu and the default choice from within Windows before rebooting?
Better documentation on accomplishing dual booting is available at The Linux Documentation Project's site. Kudos to IBM tho for making an effort. :)
Carla Schroder wrote a good little tutorial but the writing style put me off a little. She sprinkled little biblical phrases throught out the artical. It was a little jarring to have Grub being hailed as the promised land. Not exactly what I was expecting from an IBM site but then maybe IBM has really caught the Linux religion. ;-)
What this tutorial covers
page 1 of 4
This tutorial shows how to combine Samba and GRUB to build a compact, highly adaptable, cross-platform test network, capable of booting and networking a large number of operating systems on a small number of machines. Though Samba and GRUB can manage many different operating systems, this tutorial focuses on Linux and Windows.
Who should take this tutorial
page 2 of 4
This is neither a networking tutorial, nor a Linux system administration tutorial. Basic knowledge of running Linux and Windows, including user authentication, installing operating systems, partitioning, and managing user accounts will get you going a lot faster. I'll use values that are valid for my system, such as fd0 and hda. I trust that you will use what is correct for your system. What prerequisites you'll need
page 3 of 4
You'll need reasonably modern hardware: PCs four years old and newer ought to do the job. Running multiboot systems requires large hard drives, and support for Large-Block Addressing (LBA). GRUB can read any part of a hard disk supported by true LBA. Unfortunately, a small number of motherboards that claim to support LBA do not, and the only way to find out which ones they are is to try to boot a system from beyond the 1024 cylinder limit. Also needed are a generic Linux boot/rescue disk, such as tomsrtbt, or H. Peter Anvin's SuperRescue CD, and a Windows 98 rescue disk, which is the all-time most useful Windows disk. GRUB does not yet have the ability to boot a CD; we still need floppy disk
Who wrote this tutorial
page 4 of 4
Carla Schroder is a freelance PC tamer, administering Linux and Windows systems for small businesses, and writes how-tos for real people. Loves computers and high tech, thinks Linux/Open Source/Free Software is the best playground in the world. Carla discovered computers and high-tech in 1994; her first PC was an Apple II. She progressed through DOS/Windows, from 3.1 to XP. Discovered Linux in 1998. Carla is living proof that self-taught middle-aged ladies can be fine computer gurus.
You can contact Carla directly, or click Feedback at the top of any panel.
Cross-platform developers face interesting challenges for building testing environments. In my ideal happy world, computer labs are huge, stocked with every little gadget a person might ever need -- even a Segway to scoot around on. But, as we are all painfully aware, resources are more limited in the real world.
One good option is to use excellent programs like VMWare or User-Mode Linux. These create virtual environments for running several operating systems side-by-side on a single PC. (See the Resources for links to more info on VMWare and User-Mode Linux.)
But for users who prefer completely native environments, the open source/free software world gives us two great tools for packing a lot of operating systems into a small space: Samba and GRUB.
Samba enables file and printer sharing between different operating systems. It can be a primary domain controller or a stand-alone server. It is primarily used to network Linux, UNIX, and Windows. Macintosh, OS X, OS/2, and other platforms are supported with varying degrees of tweakage.
GRUB, the Grand Unified Bootloader, is a most remarkable program. GRUB is capable of booting nearly any OS, and nearly any number of them. This tutorial will focus on multibooting and networking Linux and Windows.
Testing in native environments
page 2 of 2
I use a three-PC test network. Thanks to the combined magic of Samba and GRUB, there is enormous flexibility; you can:
Test applications and application servers (in native environments)
Test all manner of networking configurations
Use removable drive trays to swap in and out as needed
Boot bare kernels, passing in parameters and modules from the GRUB command line
You have probably already spotted the one flaw in this beautiful scheme: the inconvenience of rebooting (as only
Linux 2.6.0-test4. Get it before SCO does!
Clicking around found me here:
u x/ tutorials.jsp
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/
They have a lot of stuff there. I always found IBM docs more clear and complete than Windows docs. But that may have simply been due to the fact that Windows never came with printed docs to my memory (oo, wait, I do seem to remember something with my win3.1 machine. Yeah, lost it as soon as I found OS/2...)
Anyways, if all you want are tutorials by IBM:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/views/lin
You can make your /boot partition type vfat32. Then you will be able to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst with wordpad or win32-vi :-)
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
Why post articles that require a registration?
I have a very small mind and must live with it.
-- E. Dijkstra
n/t
Somebody changed it again
SMB is a open standard. And what is it illegal to try and compete with Microsoft?
Info is a piece of crap. The UI plainly sucks ass.
Much like the autoconf/automake debacle. Horrible, horrible stuff designed by uber-retarted freaks.
...haven't we been doing this for years now? What's the big deal? I found nothing new in this article. It reminded me of one of those uber tech power point presentations you're forced to sit through every month at work... yeah, you know the ones I'm talking about. I think the fact that she admits to having a segway in her office speaks volumes to her apparent lack of anything better to do(r).
Thank you.
uh huh huh, she said "fickleness", huh huh
hrm, yeah, eh heh heh
get an intel pro/100s.
build pxegrub and nbgrub.
use floppy image of etherboot with vmware.
netboot freebsd, netbsd, openbsd (tricky), linux.
alpha, indigo2 and amiga netboot, too.
all system trees reside on one server.
fun.
The article was pretty boring up until the last 4 paragraphs
Well now, there is some solid information upon which we should all act.
Slashlight! (Can't find the funk) kewl base part
boch.sf.net or plex86.sf.net Yep does what VMWARE with out paying a cent. It does not perform as good as VMWARE in some case but it works.
Note boch work even if you are running on a mac speed cost of course that the hardware is full vertual. Plex86 only work with x86 compad hardware also it can be linked to parts in boch to enhance performace and also require a kernel patch.
Basicly pick sides.
Hiding linux partions from 98 is about posistion of partions if a linux partion is in front of a windows partion windows will not look past the linux partion for a windows one so the partion is missing this is in extended partions.
Trick to create a partion with fdisk under linux as you have to play guess the type. If you get it wrong strange things will happen.
Debian is the only Linux with a package management system? This state ment is wrong and right at the same time. Debian package management system will handle all source files by default but redhat only handles some and is picky and the others are about the same. Basicly Debian is the current best of the breed. Ie before installing a tar something on a rpm machine try rpm -tb or rpmbuild -tb then the filename ie rpm or rpmbuild depend on the version of the rpm installed on the system. Note it does not always work.
zcat is a old hapid that dies hard tar did not always have internal compression and the flags sometimes change from version to version. Basicly the fool proff way of doing it is using zcat and gzip.
Disable encrypted network passwords in Windows? Required with samaba depending on the version of windows and the version of samaba. Note even when mixing windows with windows it can fix some problems but it weakens secrity.
Explicitly set all NICs to 100TX This is required with some 100 speed cards ie they default for some unknown resean to 10(they do it one day then not the next and change a card linked to a hub and the ghost and just disappear note that is not the card doing the 10 speed). Also can be a good idea when linking 1000 to 100 just so things don't go nuts.
Oooh, pxeGRUB... do tell. I have been using syslinux/pxelinux, but I was kinda hoping the U in GRUB was not a misnomer. Sine I use GRUB on all my non-netbooting *Xs, I did want to use it for netbooting but hadn't found the way. I guess now that I have the names, I can google with the best of them. Thanks for helping out.
Can I bum a sig? I left mine at the office.
Actually, wanker, I do have a programming tip... go do some instead of pestering folks who have work to do. I had never come across a pxe variant of GRUB and so I asked the question, as pxeLinux does most of what I need at my job, but I'm still not knocked out. I myself have gotten over the need to pretend there is nothing I don't know or can't learn from another. If you are so damned well-versed in everything, why the hell do you bother with /.? It's rarely entertaining, and it can't be very informative for someone with your gargantuan intellect and endless expertise. You must have very little to do indeed if this is your form of entertainment. As ever, I am serious.
BTW... I never said I don't program... I said I'm not a programmer, as in that is not what I get paid to do. Of course, by that criteria, you could claim you're not a wanker.
Can I bum a sig? I left mine at the office.
Troglodite feces by itself is probably pretty innocuous. But if you were to mix it with SARS, I'd be willing to bet the combination would kick your ass. Slide down that scale, troll. Take your bitching to news://alt.my.pussy.hurts or similar.
Can I bum a sig? I left mine at the office.