Creating a bootable custom linux image

[axxon]

hi,
i have been looking a way to create a linux appliance ( not sure if appliance is the proper word for this ) . Here is the situation:

I have installed Centos 5.4 and then on top of that i have been installing many softwares over the time ( like pbx system , web console , billing etc.) and now it has come to a quite stable stage. the problem is i have to move this installation to another machine with different config etc. even have to install it on multiple systems. the idea is to create a bootable linux iso of the current machine with all the softwares so i can simply put it in a different machine and make it install and run without much fuss.

I am looking for the best way to solve this problem. is creating a linux appliance the only solution ? or is there any way to backup the current machine in an iso format and then install it on another machine? also i would like to make this completely hardware independent.

Any ideas ?

[coopstah13]

i would use a software such as clonezilla to clone the disk and then you can use clonezilla again on the other machines to apply this image

[axxon]

hi , i was looking at clonezilla , one thing confuses me . if i clone it using that , will it work on another hardware ? ( like the Network card might be different and so on)

[coopstah13]

it should, though they don't make any guarantees and i won't either

all drivers are included in the kernel, if it doesn't work, then an install of the OS won't work either

[axxon]

hi thankyou very much , i shall give it a try and come back .

[ptkobe]

I think Virtual machine, of course.
No?

[aot2002]

You could also create a kickstart installation that downloads from a server the custom rpm's to install.

[axxon]

actually i was wondering if anyone knows how linux appliances like Trixbox , asterisk at home , pfsense etc. are created ?

[axxon]

I think Virtual machine, of course.
No?

hi, i do not understand , do you mean install it on a virtual machine like vmware and create a vmware image ? i have not tried it personally , but will it work on a machine without vmware ?

[aot2002]

hi, i do not understand , do you mean install it on a virtual machine like vmware and create a vmware image ? i have not tried it personally , but will it work on a machine without vmware ?

Creating an appliance requires a lot of work, hope your up for it. If your going to do a distribution why not use custom RPM's that you create then you can distribute those and allow the user to install new versions of cent OS later if all packages are compatible of course.

Here's a link to basic building an appliance
w w w . daniweb.com/news/story219893.html