Group: Manchester/ltsp

Setting up a LTSP cluster

This page details the steps to take when setting up an LTSP cluster, similar to the Marbella Cafe setup.

Resources

http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/LtspDocumentationUpstream (good introduction)
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP
http://www.ltsp.org/~sbalneav/LTSPManual.html

Hardware requirements

Server+client requirements: http://www.ltsp.org/~sbalneav/LTSPManual.html#requirements-server

Assuming you just want an internet cluster, you will need:

A server (preferably something like a dual core 2Ghz processor, 4GB of RAM, two network cards and raid - this will be able to handle 12+ client computers I think)
Desktop PCs (at least a 400Mhz processor, with 256MB RAM, network card that supports PXE boot. No hdd or cdrom required), with monitors, keyboards and mice.
Lots of network cable (this will depend on location, probably best to have a reel of cat5e and lots of RJ45 connectors).
A switch (with enough ports for each computer).
Power strips (again will depend on location).

Other resources:

http://wiki.debian.org/LTSP/Howto (slightly out-of-date -> dnsmasq now provides a built-in tftpd server)
http://www.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/Debian#LTSP_5 (outofdate)

Marbella Cafe Setup

See the debian HOWTO and Dave's notes.

pxe boot - is assigned an IP address by dnsmasq, then provided with a kernel via tftp
login screen via ldm (similar to gdm/kdm, but encrypted - this should be disabled for older pcs on a secure network)
/opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf - config file containing a list of automatic logins, based on mac address. can also be used to configure screen and other info for each individual client.
/opt/ltsp/i386 - location of image used after login (accessed via nfs)