installing LM xfce on multiple machines

[getstarted]

I need to install LM cfce on two desktops + 4 laptops. These are single-boot, single-user machines. For each machine the installation process consists of

1. installing LM xfce via the DVD
2. purge a few items I don't use (e.g. transmission)
3. update the system
4. install additional software via synaptic
5. customize xfce

The six machines are meant to be set up the same way. I don't mind doing (1) and (2) one-at-a-time for each machine, but (3-5) get tedious. Questions: Is it possible to

1. complete all the setups for one machine
2. get a list of all programs I purged + additional ones (ie. not from default install) I installed in (3), and then manually run sudo apt install on each machine
3. get a list of xfce customization I made and load them to the other machines

Note:

• I will do (1+2) separately, in particular I will manually create user accounts on each machine (but if it can be automated, sure!)
• I'm okay doing this one machine at at time, i.e I am not looking for any sort of fancy simultaneous network install (the machines are not all in the same place anyway)
• The desktops and respectively the laptops are different so (I assume) I can't just "make one image" and load them onto the other ones, right? (also: some but not all have custom HDD/SSD partition)
• I searched online and found a post -- but can't find it again! -- that says after I set up one machine, I can download a complete copy of every .deb (default + new), create a "local repository" and load them to the new machines. But would that mess up future updates?
• the purge list is small and I'm okay doing this manually, so it's not a big deal

I am a LM user and not a super duper unix hacker, so a simple-albeit-not-the-most-efficient solution is preferable to sophisticated optimized solution.

THANKS for your help and suggestions!

[msseufert]

Yes, it's possible. Ubuntu supports unattended installs, but it may be more tedious to configure than manually installing 6 instances.

Here is an example:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/122505/ ... -of-ubuntu

A middle ground might be to write a bash script that does the customizing and do the installation manually.

Disclaimer: I've never actually done an unattended install, so more information may need to come from others. I just know it's possible.

[Marie SWE]

Hi
Take a look in my thread, as I was searching for ways to cut corners and find some new cheats to make multiple custom installs.
I got some suggestions that perhaps will be something for you.. viewtopic.php?f=61&t=373831
as for me, the choice became to learning how to make my own custom install ISO.. But some of the suggestions from the Gurus in here may serve you well.

[getstarted]

I neglected to mention one thing which might be important, so I'm putting this in a separate post: I don't know the exact name of the packages I manually install (eg all those additional packages that go with texlive, as well as various libdev for various things), which I why I use synatic. Also, synaptic would know what additional packages are needed to resolve dependency.

Additional basic unix question: If I use sudo apt get install to manually install a long list of programs, do the order matter? E.g. say in

sudo apt get install (1) (2) (3) (4)

if (1) depends on (3), could apt get complain? (which would be a huge problem as I have no way to manually sort out the dependency). THANKS!

[msseufert]

I neglected to mention one thing which might be important, so I'm putting this in a separate post: I don't know the exact name of the packages I manually install (eg all those additional packages that go with texlive, as well as various libdev for various things), which I why I use synatic. Also, synaptic would know what additional packages are needed to resolve dependency.

apt list --installed will list all the packages on the system, so you can run that after install of a "test" install and pipe the output to a text file.

Additional basic unix question: If I use sudo apt get install to manually install a long list of programs, do the order matter? E.g. say in

sudo apt get install (1) (2) (3) (4)

if (1) depends on (3), could apt get complain? (which would be a huge problem as I have no way to manually sort out the dependency). THANKS!

No, apt will calculate dependencies for all packages and install them as well. It will install the calculated dependencies first, then the the package(s) you requested. For example 1 depends on 3, it'll install 3 first, then 1.

[getstarted]

apt list --installed will list all the packages on the system, so you can run that after install of a "test" install and pipe the output to a text file.

I just did this on one of the machines and got a HUGE list that look like this:

libgcc-7-dev/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 7.5.0-3ubuntu1~18.04 amd64 [installed]
libgcc-9-dev/bionic,now 9.4.0-1ubuntu1~18.04 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libgcc-s1/bionic,now 11.1.0-1ubuntu1~18.04.1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libgcc1/bionic,now 1:11.1.0-1ubuntu1~18.04.1 amd64 [installed]
libgck-1-0/bionic,now 3.28.0-1 amd64 [installed]
libgconf-2-4/bionic,now 3.2.6-4ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
libgconf2.0-cil/bionic,bionic,now 2.24.2-4 all [installed]
libgcr-base-3-1/bionic,now 3.28.0-1 amd64 [installed]

Questions:

• What is the difference between "installed" and "installed,automatic"?
• How do I get the name of the actual apt package from this list?

THANKS!

[msseufert]

Just a guess on the "automatic", someone else is welcome to correct me. I believe that means it's a dependency.

libgcc-7-dev/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 7.5.0-3ubuntu1~18.04 amd64
package name/repo exact-version architecture

[AndyMH]

Providing the drives in the other machines are the same size or larger than the one you setup and customise as you want, you could clone the first machine to the other PCs.

• all computers need to boot in the same mode, e.g. legacy or UEFI.

• don't install any third party drivers, nvidia.

All you would need to do after the clone is run gparted to resize your / (and home partition if you have one) to use all the drive space on the new PC.

[getstarted]

Just a guess on the "automatic", someone else is welcome to correct me. I believe that means it's a dependency.

libgcc-7-dev/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 7.5.0-3ubuntu1~18.04 amd64
package name/repo exact-version architecture

So in this example "libgcc-7-dev" is the package name? Sweet! So what I need to do is

• use apt list --installed to generate a list
• write a python script to extract the package names and put that into a text file
• sudo apt-get install !

New problem: The list of packages will likely exceed the input limit of linux command line! And if I arbitrarily cut the list into several parts, I will likely run into dependency issues... ?

[Petermint]

sudo apt get install (1) (2) (3) (4)

Anything you type into a terminal can be copied into a text file on a USB stick then copied from the text file to the terminal on your next machine. It saves you retypeing.

The text file can be converted to a script with one extra line at the top and the execute bit set. You can then run the script with one line instead of running all the lines of text individually.

Some commands will ask Yes/No questions. You can add options to the commands to automatically reply yes.