Scientific Linux

SL is a Linux release put together by various labs and universities around the world. It's primary purpose is to reduce duplicated effort of the labs, and to have a common install base for the various experimentors. The base SL distribution is basically Enterprise Linux, recompiled from source. Our main goal for the base distribution is to have everything compatible with Enterprise, with only a few minor additions or changes. An example of of items that were added are Pine, and OpenAFS. Our secondary goal is to allow easy customization for a site, without disturbing the Scientific Linux base. The various labs are able to add their own modifications to their own site areas. By the magic of scripts, and the anaconda installer, each site is be able to create their own distributions with minimal effort. Or, if a users wishes, they can simply install the base SL release.

Costruzione di una site distribution (SICR)

Nella sezione Documentation --> How To sono reperibili le istruzioni per effettuare un mirror locale della distribuzione completa.

How To Mirror

(estratto del file https://www.scientificlinux.org/documentation/howto/mirror)

Different ways to mirror Scientific Linux

Via ftp

ftp is the prefered way that we would like people to mirror Scientific Linux. We have found that while wget is quite good, lftp has many features that make it preferable.

Some of the functions that I like is the ability to use a script, parallel downloads, and being able to put the processes into the background easily.

Below are two sample config files that demonstrate some of different ways to do the mirroring.

download.background

set ftp:list-options -a 

open linux21:/linux/scientific/30rolling

lcd /export/linux/scientific/30rolling

mirror --delete --exclude sites/FNAL --exclude sites/EDGE &

open linux21:/linux/scientific/301 

lcd /export/linux/scientific/301

mirror --delete --exclude sites/FNAL --exclude sites/EDGE &

quit

scientific#

Sul server scientific.roma1.infn.it è ora disponibile tutto l'albero della distribuzione Scientific Linux 3.0.3. Nel nostro caso la radice dell'albero è /distrib/scientific/303/i386/.

Nella sottodirectory ./sites/example/build/documentation alcuni README files descrivono come procedere ulteriormente.

#file README.steps

(disponibile anche in 

ftp://ftp.scientificlinux.org/linux/scientific/303/i386/sites/example/build/documentation/README.steps)

Definitions used in this document.

        where <default> is the default directory of the base RPMS.

        where <sitename> is your sitename which is the directory under sites/ .

        where <tree> is the directory where <default>/ exists

        In this example it is /mnt/src/sl30rolling/i386/

        Note that it must be a full path name.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steps for making your own site customization

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prereqs

-------

Note that the steps outlined here must be executed on a system which has Scientific Linux (SL) with the anaconda and anaconda-runtime rpms installed.

The "Development Tools" group must have been installed if you wish to build your own rpms.

STEPS

-----

In this example we will use

        new site "newsite" so $SITE is "newsite".

        <tree> is in /mnt/src/sl30rolling/i386/ and is defined as $TREE

        <default> is SL and is defined as $DEFAULT

        DEFAULT=SL

        SITE=newsite

        TREE=/mnt/src/sl30rolling/i386/

cd $TREE

mkdir sites/newsite                        # Create new site area

cd sites/example

find . -print | cpio -pvdum ../newsite     # copy over example area as a start

scientific# pwd

/root

scientific# cat .scientific303

# environment per costruzione/modifica distribuzioni

# Scientific Linux 303 sicr

DEFAULT=SL

SITE=sicr

TREE=/distrib/scientific/303/i386/

scientific#

scientific# source .scientific303

scientific# echo $DEFAULT $SITE $TREE

SL sicr /distrib/scientific/303/i386/

scientific# cd $TREE

scientific# pwd

/distrib/scientific/303/i386

scientific# mkdir sites/$SITE

scientific# ls -l sites

total 16

drwxr-xr-x   13 root     4096 Sep 29 17:50 example

drwxr-xr-x    2 root     4096 Nov 25 17:30 sicr

scientific#

scientific# cd sites/example

scientific# find . -print | cpio -pvdum ../sicr

../sicr/./README

../sicr/./RHupdates

../sicr/./RHupdates/iw

../sicr/./RHupdates/pixmaps

... omissis ...

../sicr/./isolinux/splash.lss

../sicr/./isolinux/syslinux.cfg

../sicr/./isolinux/vmlinuz

410500 blocks

scientific#

cd ../newsite/Updates

    <add and remove RPMS in "Updates" to customize as you want>

    For the rpms you want to change install the SRPM and then make changes

    as necessary in /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/. You should change the version

    string so as to distinguish it from the original.

    Some rpms that you might want to change are

        yum-conf

            so to point to your local yum repository

        example-release

            to contain your own release name. This will change the name of this

            rpm and will require you to change the example-release entry in

            ../base/comps* so the installer will find the right rpm.

            To install the SRPM for example-release so that you can modify it

            for your needs.

                rpm -iv $TREE/sites/example/SRPMS/example-release*

            The spec file after installing will be in

            /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/example-release.spec. It is easiest to copy

            this spec file as newsite-release.spec and modify that. Then rebuild

            your new release rpm with

                rpmbuild -ba /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/newsite-release.spec

            The new newsite-release rpm will be in /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/

scientific# cd $TREE/sites scientific# pwd /distrib/scientific/303/i386/sites scientific# scientific# rpm -iv example/SRPMS/example-release-303-9.2.src.rpm warning: example/SRPMS/example-release-303-9.2.src.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 82fd17b2 example-release-303-9.2 scientific# scientific# cd /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/ scientific# cp example-release.spec sicr-release.spec scientific# vi sicr-release.spec scientific# scientific# diff example-release.spec sicr-release.spec 4,5c4,5 < %define builtin_release_name "Example Linux" < %define builtin_release_variant SL --- > %define builtin_release_name "sicr Linux" > %define builtin_release_variant SLs1 7c7 < %define builtin_release_codename example --- > %define builtin_release_codename sicr 9c9 < %define builtin_release_shortname example --- > %define builtin_release_shortname sicr scientific# cientific# cd /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES scientific# scientific# gunzip -c generic-release-SL-3.0.3.tar.gz| tar -xf - scientific# ls -l total 300 drwxr-xr-x    2 root     4096 Sep 13 17:17 generic-release-SL-3.0.3 -rw-r--r--    1 root   110621 Sep 13 17:19 generic-release-SL-3.0.3.tar.gz scientific# mv generic-release-SL-3.0.3 generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3 scientific# tar -cf generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3.tar generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3 scientific# gzip generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3.tar scientific# ls -l total 416 -rw-r--r--    1 root   110621 Sep 13 17:19 generic-release-SL-3.0.3.tar.gz drwxr-xr-x    2 root     4096 Sep 13 17:17 generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3 -rw-r--r--    1 root   110671 Nov 26 13:14 generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3.tar.gz scientific# scientific# cd /usr/src/redhat scientific# scientific# rpmbuild -ba /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/sicr-release.spec Executing(%prep): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.59071 + umask 022   ... omissis ...   Wrote: /usr/src/redhat/SRPMS/sicr-release-303-9.2.src.rpm Wrote: /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/sicr-release-303-9.2.noarch.rpm Executing(%clean): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.59071 + umask 022 + cd /usr/src/redhat/BUILD + cd generic-release-SLs1-3.0.3 + rm -rf /var/tmp/redhat-release-root + exit 0 scientific# scientific# ls -l RPMS/noarch total 208 -rw-r--r--    1 root   114877 Nov 26 13:17 sicr-release-303-9.2.noarch.rpm scientific# scientific# cd /distrib/scientific/303/i386/sites/sicr scientific# cp /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/sicr-release-303-9.2.noarch.rpm Updates/.

        anaconda-images

           This rpm contains the graphics used during the install. See

            README.images for info on what could/should be changed.

        anaconda-help

            This rpm contains the "help" info on the left side of the gui installer

            screen. You might want to change the "SL" to be your site name.

cd ../base

    <modify "comps.xml.main" to include added RPMS and other site

    customizations, The one included here is the same as what is in SL itself,

    with sl-release changed to example-release>

modify "scripts/comps.site.spec"

    Change the "example" entries at the beginning to be your site

    Also make sure that basedir is what your base directory really is

sh scripts/cp.comps.xml.main.sh

cd ../build/isolinux

    <modify files in "build/isolinux" as described in "build/isolinux/README"

    NOTE that this is <tree>/sites/$SITE/build/isolinux and NOT

    <tree>/isolinux/ >

cd ../scripts

    <modify "locations.include" to fix TREE= and SITE= to be

    TREE=<where ever your tree is located>        # In our case it is already ok.

    SITE=newsite

    change --product string in build.release.site.sh>

modify rpmdb-example.spec.in

    < cp rpmdb-example.spec.in rpmdb-newsite.spec.in>

    < modify rpmdb-newsite.spec.in to have your newsite in it instead of example>

sh make.updates.img.sh      # Need to do whenever you change contents of

                            # $TREE/sites/$SITE/RHupdates/

sh build.hdlist.site.sh     # Run this whenever you change contents of

                            # $TREE/sites/$SITE/Updates/

sh build.release.site.sh    # Only need to run this when changing installer

                            # kernel , but at least 1 time

<now test install with images in "$TREE/sites/$SITE/images/">

while <not_right_yet>

    <add and remove RPMS in "$TREE/sites/$SITE/Updates" to customize as you want>

    <run $TREE/sites/$SITE/build/scripts/build.hdlist.site.sh after each

    batch of changes>

    <modify $TREE/sites/$SITE/base/comps.xml.main and run

    $TREE/sites/$SITE/base/scripts/cp.comps.xml.main.sh when you want to move

    these changes over as your "real comps.xml">

    <test with install images in $TREE/sites/$SITE/images/, only need to

    rebuild these when installer kernel changes or anaconda rpms change

    and you want to include those changes

    Note that anaconda python script changes can be placed in

    $TREE/sites/$SITE/RHupdates/ , this makes testing easier, they do

    NOT have to be put in the anaconda rpms unless that is what you want>

end

    <After you are happy. There are a few scripts that should be run that

    create a rpm that contain info about all the other rpms. This is why

    it should be done at the end. It does not hurt to run it more it

    just takes time.>

cd $TREE/$ARCH/sites/newsite/build/scripts

make.rpmdb-site.sh

    <I have also included a script to make cd isos. The created isos are

    placed in $TREE/$ARCH/sites/newsite/iso/. Verify that you have at

    least 650MB x 4 disk space free there.>

cd buildisoimages

make.cdisos.sh

    <I have created a script that will build everything. It asks if you

    want to build install images and cd iso images. It calls all the

    other scripts and thus makes sure that all things have been built.

    It is located in

        $TREE/$ARCH/sites/newsite/build/scripts

    make.everything.sh

     >

If you have any questions about this procedure please send me email.

Sul server scientific.roma1.infn.it è ora disponibile la nuova distribuzione Scientific Linux 3.0.3. sicr.

Ultima operazione da compiere è la creazione di un link logico, come di seguito descritto:

Last update: 11 gennaio 2005

Daniela Anzellotti