[Server-devel] OLPC Australia XS [WAS: Installing XS with one interface?]

[Sridhar Dhanapalan]

On 25 May 2010 21:14, Andrew van der Stock <vanderaj at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I have a donated old PC with a single ethernet interface. Is there a way I can configure XS to do something like this:
>
> D/Link AP
> --- "WAN" interface hooked to my internal network (172.....), which has internet connectivity
> --- Wireless / LAN 10.1.2.0
>
> XS eth0 10.1.2.2
> OLPCx3 ---- 10.1.2.5-254/24
>
> So effectively, I'm looking for the XS to be single armed. Is this possible?

Yes! I've engaged with Jerry Vonau to get this operating for OLPC
Australia. Australian schools typically have existing network
infrastructure, making the default XS very cumbersome. I've attached a
set of files for getting this running, including a features comparison
of the vanilla XS versus this OLPC Australia variant and a stock
Fedora 9 (the base OS for the XS).

The OLPC Australia XS is a reconfiguration of the XS and is not a
fork. It has been successfully tested in Northern Territory schools
(working with NT DET), and next week I'll be giving it a shot in
Queensland (working with EQ).

Here are some quick directions for setting it up.

You will need:

 * a 1GB USB drive with a FAT32 filesystem
 * the latest XS ISO: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Installing_Software
 * an Internet connection
 * Fedora 12 to run the script (I haven't tried any other distribution)

The attached mkusbinstall script has been modified to pull in
additional updates, hence the need for an Internet connection.

To create the stick:

 1. make the mkusbinstall script executable
 2. execute the script from a terminal to see its syntax
 3. insert the USB drive
 4. run the script , using the --reset-mbr flag (writes the bootloader
correctly)

Then you need to set the attached kickstart files (ks.cfg, local.cfg,
part.cfg), which contain additional customisations.

 1. copy the files to the root of the USB drive (you can back up the
existing ks.cfg)
 2. open local.cfg in a text editor
 3. uncomment line 14 if you want the server to get its address via
DHCP, or uncomment line 15 and fill in the variables if you prefer
static
 4. you can review the notes from line 22 if you need help with step 3
 5. set the host name to replace $DOMAIN on line 18. This should match
what is defined on line 14/15.
 6. optionally, you can uncomment line 10 to set the time zone. A list
of time zones starts on line 96. If you do not do this, you will be
prompted during the installation.

Boot your server hardware from the USB drive. You should be greeted by
the installer.

We are really excited about this configuration, as it makes the XS
useful in school systems that already have networks, such as those
found in developed countries. These school systems typically have
resources to devote towards testing and development. We are already
seeing increased buy-in from government departments of education here
in Australia.

Martin, any chance we can get this integrated into the main XS project?


Sridhar Dhanapalan
Technical Co-ordinator
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Australia
p: +61 425 239 701
w: http://laptop.org.au
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