Mass roll out of Linux with Windows Mass roll out of Linux with - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Mass roll out of Linux with Windows Mass roll out of Linux with - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 30, 2024 254 likes •390 views

Mass roll out of Linux with Windows Mass roll out of Linux with Windows as a VM Guest as a VM Guest Steven Sykes Systems Admin Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering University of Canterbury steven.sykes@canterbury.ac.nz

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Mass roll out of Linux with Windows Mass roll out of Linux with Windows as a VM Guest as a VM Guest

Steven Sykes – Systems Admin Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering University of Canterbury steven.sykes@canterbury.ac.nz Linux Conf 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

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The old setup

  • Over 260 machines in labs and offices
  • Used Fedora Linux and Windows 7 – dual boot
  • All Linux authentication and account

information came from LDAP

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Why change anything?

  • Dual booting is just a pain
  • Both Linux and Windows got behind on updates
  • Fedora release schedule and life cycle awkward
  • Fedora seemed to be too bleeding edge
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Why change anything?

  • Dual booting is just a pain
  • Both Linux and Windows got behind on updates
  • Fedora release schedule and life cycle awkward
  • Fedora seemed to be too bleeding edge

This could be better...

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What to do? Virtualise!

  • Run a barebones Linux as hypervisor, with

another Linux and Windows as guest VMs

  • Use Windows as the host OS with Linux as the

guest VM – yeah right

  • Use Linux as the host OS with Windows as the

guest VM – using Linux Mint LTS and VirtualBox Methods considered:

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Some preliminary stuff

  • A flat file database contains machine info:

hostname, MAC, VM hostname, VM MAC, Organisational Unit in AD

  • VM hostnames are based on host OS

hostname

  • VM MAC address comes from a precreated

pool of 10,000 addresses

  • Machine entries created with a Python program
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The Linux side of it

  • Linux Mint installs from a USB memory stick.

Some changes to the ISO made with modified UCK

  • When installing, a machine looks up the active

NIC's MAC address in the database to get intended hostname

  • Post install script configures mail, SSH, auto

mounter, adds machine to AD with SSSD, NVIDIA driver, PolicyKit and a truck load of other stuff

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Creating the Windows guest

  • Create a VM with network bridging, install Windows and

VirtualBox guest tools

  • Add it to a domain, install all updates
  • Install SCCM client
  • Disjoin domain and reboot
  • Copy unattend.xml, various PowerShell and Command

scripts in place

  • Run Sysprep utility
  • Export as an OVA
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Importing the VM on machines

  • A special user is made
  • The sysprepped Windows 7 is copied down and

imported into VirtualBox

  • Various settings in VirtualBox get set, extension

pack is imported, VM MAC address set

  • Cron entries for night time are made
  • udev rule for USB access from Linux and

Windows is made

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In the wee small hours...

  • Cron starts the Windows VM using VirtualBox's

headless mode

  • First use in Windows initialises OS, then

PowerShell scripts fetches the hostname, rename the guest and adds it to AD

  • SCCM and Group Policy does the rest
  • Graceful shutdown at 5am
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The Result?

  • Students often don't bother with Windows and

just use what's in front of them

  • Exceptions are MS Office and XBox camera

SDK

  • Feedback from staff and students has been

very positive

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Questions?