As of now, cobbler has the following etc templates < https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/tree/master/templates/etc>;: dhcp.template dnsmasq.template named.template rsync.template secondary.template tftpd.template zone.template For those of you who need to deal with Debian/Ubuntu network install, what do you think about adding a debmirror.template to the collection? Rationales: the use of debmirror is no less complex than say dnsmasq, rsync, and definitely more so than tftpd. These three have templates, so why debmirror can't? Motivation: recently Canoncial decided to stop providing a full alternate iso for its default release. There are alternate install isos for other variants, but IMHO the digging and reviewing a collection of disjointed documentation (often are out of date or somewhat inaccurate) is such a waste of time. One of cobbler's main design goal is to mask the complexities of serveral tools typically used for PXE network install. Given what Ubuntu has done, IMHO debmirror becomes an important tool and thus qualifies to have a template. Regards, -- Zack _______________________________________________ cobbler mailing list cobbler(a)lists.fedorahosted.org https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/cobbler

- But with Ubuntu, once an official repository is mirrored locally using e.g. debmirror, without fetching and unpacking the netboot tar ball, the result can be only used for installing packages. Thus, the degree of automation is at least two steps behind what cobbler does for Red Hat systems. IMHO this "gap" should be filled.

I have also made the following observations: * With Red Hat alike systems, once an official mirror is mirrored locally, it can be used for PXE booting, for package installation, or both. * The iso images provides more or less the same content as the official mirrors. So, an iso image is good for everything. * But with Ubuntu, once an official repository is mirrored locally using e.g. debmirror, without fetching and unpacking the netboot tar ball, the result can be only used for installing packages. Thus, the degree of automation is at least two steps behind what cobbler does for Red Hat systems. IMHO this "gap" should be filled. * Iso images for Ubuntu releases come many variants, some with alternate install, some don't. Thus, some can be used as basis for PXE network install, some can't. The entire situation is a big mess IMHO.

BTW, of the Debian/Ubuntu section of this file: https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/blob/master/config/import_rsync_whitelist, the sub-section about netboot is no longer applicable since Canonical has decided to provide the netboot images separately, outside of its offical repository hierarchy.