Hello. We are experimenting with Clonezilla Server Edition in a lab setting and we have decided that we would like to modify Clonezilla to let us be able to do several things.
First, we would like a database for mapping certain images to certain clients, so that those same images will always go to the same clients each time. The database could also know what image each client currently has, so that it doesn't have to be re-imaged if not necessary.
Second, we would like the ability for a user to add a client to the server himself, through a web interface.
We would also like to be able to restore two or more different images to several clients at once.
If this functionality is already in Clonezilla that would be great, but if not we can write it and add it ourselves. These would of course need hooks into Clonezilla. My question is: Is there source documentation for Clonezilla, perhaps mapping out the operations, etc? That would be greatly helpful in adding to the project. Also, if you know of someone who has already added features similar to these, please let me know.
Thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
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Good project, if you realise this, can you tell me and give me sources ?
The second point is very important for me, but i don't know how to realise it :)
Bon courage :)
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J.M.
About your ideas,
(1) No, no one did that AFAIK.
(2) No one did that AFAIK.
(3) About "We would also like to be able to restore two or more different images to several clients at once.", if you mean multicast clone, then you have to modify the multicast mechanism of clonezilla. If you mean unicast, then it already exists. Just choose different clients when you run "/opt/drbl/sbin/dcs" then you can choose different images for different clients at same time.
So far there is no details doc about Clonezilla server edition (DRBL). The basic idea for DRBL is PXE booting via NFS. Most of the programs of Clonezilla and DRBL are just bash scripts, so I think you can easily understand that.
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About restoring different images to several clients at once, yes, we found out that that is possible with unicast soon after I posted. However, is there a way to select which image will be restored to which client from the server and then have each individual client know which image to restore when they boot, or is it only possible to choose the desired image from the client itself? (selecting the -u flag)
I understand that I can select the image in the server when I am giving the same image to all the clients, but I'm not sure if it is possible when a different image is going to different clients.
Thanks again.
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About "select which image will be restored to which client from the server and then have each individual client know which image to restore when they boot", the answer is yes.
When you start clonezilla by /opt/drbl/sbin/dcs, first choose which clients you want to deal with by IP addresses or MAC addresses, then you can choose the image to be restored. You can do it twice or more times for different images to different clients. The setting will remain until you run "/opt/drbl/sbin/dcs -> clonezilla-stop".
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hello. We are experimenting with Clonezilla Server Edition in a lab setting and we have decided that we would like to modify Clonezilla to let us be able to do several things.
First, we would like a database for mapping certain images to certain clients, so that those same images will always go to the same clients each time. The database could also know what image each client currently has, so that it doesn't have to be re-imaged if not necessary.
Second, we would like the ability for a user to add a client to the server himself, through a web interface.
We would also like to be able to restore two or more different images to several clients at once.
If this functionality is already in Clonezilla that would be great, but if not we can write it and add it ourselves. These would of course need hooks into Clonezilla. My question is: Is there source documentation for Clonezilla, perhaps mapping out the operations, etc? That would be greatly helpful in adding to the project. Also, if you know of someone who has already added features similar to these, please let me know.
Thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
Good project, if you realise this, can you tell me and give me sources ?
The second point is very important for me, but i don't know how to realise it :)
Bon courage :)
J.M.
About your ideas,
(1) No, no one did that AFAIK.
(2) No one did that AFAIK.
(3) About "We would also like to be able to restore two or more different images to several clients at once.", if you mean multicast clone, then you have to modify the multicast mechanism of clonezilla. If you mean unicast, then it already exists. Just choose different clients when you run "/opt/drbl/sbin/dcs" then you can choose different images for different clients at same time.
So far there is no details doc about Clonezilla server edition (DRBL). The basic idea for DRBL is PXE booting via NFS. Most of the programs of Clonezilla and DRBL are just bash scripts, so I think you can easily understand that.
Thanks for the reply.
About restoring different images to several clients at once, yes, we found out that that is possible with unicast soon after I posted. However, is there a way to select which image will be restored to which client from the server and then have each individual client know which image to restore when they boot, or is it only possible to choose the desired image from the client itself? (selecting the -u flag)
I understand that I can select the image in the server when I am giving the same image to all the clients, but I'm not sure if it is possible when a different image is going to different clients.
Thanks again.
About "select which image will be restored to which client from the server and then have each individual client know which image to restore when they boot", the answer is yes.
When you start clonezilla by /opt/drbl/sbin/dcs, first choose which clients you want to deal with by IP addresses or MAC addresses, then you can choose the image to be restored. You can do it twice or more times for different images to different clients. The setting will remain until you run "/opt/drbl/sbin/dcs -> clonezilla-stop".
Ah, okay, great. The settings remain because it is generating a PXE menu for each client. Fantastic.
Thanks for all the help.