January, 14th 2004: NOTE this document is largely obsoleted by
"lessdisks_install.html"

Lessdisks is a "diskless" terminal "distribution" almost
entirely based on Debian GNU/Linux.  While it'll theoretically
work on any linux or other unix look-alike, as well as
architectures other than x86, that hasn't really been tested.

Throughout this installation, we make the assumption that
you're going to install lessdisks on a debian server.  some
notes on installing on an rpm based system will be included at
the end of this document...

To install lessdisks, include the lessdisks archive in your 
/etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://lessdisks.sourceforge.net/debian/current ./

and running:

apt-get update

You should be able to install lessdisks by typing:

apt-get install lessdisks

you might think you're done, but there's a lot of work ahead...

look in /usr/share/doc/lessdisks/examples for example config
files for /etc/dhcpd.conf and /etc/exports (for NFS).  dhcp may
be configured on another computer, but if you do, be sure to
use the next-server option.

modify them to suit your particular network, put them in /etc
and restart the services...

/etc/init.d/dhcp restart

/etc/init.d/nfs-common restart
/etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server restart


Installing Lessdisks

once you've got that all workin... run the real lessdisks
installation program:

lessdisks-install

This will bring up a menu of options.  It'll also guess a few
things about your particular situation, and use some
"reasonable" defaults.  If you're lucky, you can just select
"BeginInstall" (for more menu options, select "AdvancedMenu")
and be done with it. it will then proceed to install
lessdisks....

you may get a couple prompts to download and install programs-
unless things look real weird answer yes. (packages you know
you don't need, downloading way more than you thought)

if asked any questions about weather to configure your X
server with debconf, answer no.  if installing multiple X
servers, it doesn't matter which one gets installed by default.


Configuring a terminal

log into the server, and as root, add yourself to the
"lessdisk" group.  there's ways to do this with useradd, or
addgrp, but i generally just edit the group file manually...

vigr /etc/group

now login to the terminal as root.  as a horrible security
habit, the root password is empty(it is read-only... how much
damage could you do? :)  wise people would log into the server
and do a "chroot /var/lib/lessdisks passwd" and set a password.

if you don't want the graphical X environment, simply run
"lessdisks-setup" from the commandline of the terminal. it will
ask you for the username you'd like to log onto the server with
(the one you added to the "lessdisk" group) and will ask you a
few questions about the terminal, and then configure it. 
imagine that. if you don't already, you'll need ssh installed
before this'll work

chroot /var/lib/lessdisks apt-get install ssh


Configureing an X terminal

if you want X, i suggest running freex.  look for messages
about the system administrator having to install software- that
probably means you don't have the right xservers
installed(chroot /var/lib/lessdisks apt-get install
xserver-somethin), otherwise, everything should have worked
just fine.  then run:

X-lessdisks -query xdm1

now you'll hopefully see, at the very least, a grey thatched
screen with a "x" mouse cursor.  if you're lucky, you've
configured your x-display-manager (xdm, kdm, gdm, wdm) and
you're able to log in... lucky you! if you're not so lucky,
you'll have to configure your display manager and xfs server. i
think kdm and xdm are the easiest to configure, and someday
i'll get into the details... not today... but i'll at least
start you off with a few hints... take a look at the files in
/etc/X11/fs and /etc/X11/xdm or /etc/kde2/kdm. look for options
to enable XDMCP and TCP stuff.... go to it!

once you've got a login screen, you log into the server as the
user you added to the "lessdisk" group and run
"lessdisks-setup".  it should ask you a few questions and then
go get some files from the terminal...

then, when you reboot... well... hopefully X will start up and
everything's great.


Installing on a non-debian server:

bascially, all of lessdisks is essentially shell scripts.  this
means that, in theory, it should install on just about any
unix.

in practice, it's a little trickier than that.  i believe you
can extract the contents of a debian package with "ar"- that
might be one route to go.  for rpm-based systems, you might
have luck with "alien" to
convert the packages into rpms.

so, extract and install the "lessdisks" and "easydialog" and
"debootstrap" packages onto your NFS server.  make sure to
resolve any dependencies those packages depend on. then run
"lessdisks-install", and you'll probably find out you need some
other packages. once lessdisks-install is running cleanly, you
should be good to go- instructions should proceed as normal.

strangely enough, my first real installation of lessdisks was
done on a mandrake system, so it's definitely possible.  good
luck.
