Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utcs.toronto.edu!cks From: cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu (Chris Siebenmann) Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix Subject: Re: diskless client environment question Message-ID: <1990Dec17.131028.947@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> Date: 17 Dec 90 18:10:28 GMT References: <4681@umbc3.UMBC.EDU> <19128@yunexus.YorkU.CA> Organization: Ziebmef home away from home Lines: 32 Just as another datapoint, I've always run diskless clients with /usr imported from the server /usr and not from /dlenv?/usr. You have to make sure you have a real /var (either by doing an advanced install when you set up your system or by some tar'ing afterwards). We don't have any licensed software that can't run on the clients, so I haven't had to worry about that. You can even set it up so the clients have a root filesystem but get /usr off the server, although this requires editing your client /etc/rc.local's up a bit and making a few programs be really there instead of symlinks. Another cute thing you can do to save disk space if you have multiple clients of the same architecture is hardlink all the executables together (heck, you can do this for almost all the files in their root areas). The disk space savings are noticable. I've never understood why DEC does so many stupid things with their diskless client setup and associated programs, although I've heard a vague rumour that dms is being completely overhauled soon (about time). For one thing, I'd love a non-interactive version; stick all the data into a file, run a program, the client is set up; almost all the time I have a batch of clients who differ only in Ethernet # and hostname to set up. Maybe someday I'll reverse-engineer the dms script(s) and see what the hell they really do. -- "The Law of Software Development and Envelopment at MIT: Every program in development at MIT expands until it can read mail." - greg@math.berkeley.edu cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu ...!{utgpu,utzoo,watmath}!utgpu!cks