[Server-devel] Nepal XS deployment

[Tony Anderson]

Hi,

I am currently working to build a local version of XS 0.4. The goal is 
to be able to install XS from a USB drive requiring the installer only 
to provide the name of the school and the ip address of the server.

Yesterday I was able to install XS 0.4 from a USB drive with help from 
Jeremy Katz.

Most USB drives are not bootable. This requires:

parted /dev/sdb
toggle 1 boot
quit

after which livecd-iso-to-disk should accept it.

The rabbit-hole is to attempt the obvious:

parted /dev/sdb1
toggle 1 boot

which does not work.

The three remaining (big) steps are:

1. Add Dansguardian
2. Add Moodle
3. Develop custom install script which accepts the school name and the 
server ip address and completes the configuration of the server 
automatically.

Naturally, I would like to work in collaboration with the XS development 
team so as not to duplicate too much of this effort. For example, it 
would be easy to add the Dansguardian and Moodle files to the USB drive.
If the XS release install script executed a file (script) with a 
well-known name on the USB drive, it would be possible for local 
deployments to use this file for a configuration script. This would also 
make it easy for us to develop our script and then make it available to 
you to see what should be included in the standard release and what 
should be left local.

Another area that deserves some attention is how to test a server 
installation in the field. For example, use two XOs to verify ejabberd 
functionality. Use browse to verify that the schoolserver link delivers 
the Moodle (site) home page. Use browse to verify internet connectivity.
Try to access a 'forbidden' site to verify Dansguardian is working. In 
short, a checklist of simple tests to verify server functions.

Tony