blog/archive/2012/02/02.rss

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   4                 <title>Petter Reinholdtsen - Entries from February 2012</title>
   5                 <description>Entries from February 2012</description>
   6                 <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>
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   9         <item>
  10                 <title>Third beta version of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</title>
  11                 <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_beta_version_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html</link>
  12                 <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_beta_version_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html</guid>
  13                 <pubDate>Sat, 4 Feb 2012 13:25:00 +0100</pubDate>
  14                 <description>&lt;p&gt;I am happy to announce that finally we managed today to wrap up and
  15 publish the third beta version of
  16 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skolelinux.org/&quot;&gt;Debian Edu / Skolelinux&lt;/a&gt; based
  17 on Squeeze.  If you want to test a LDAP backed Kerberos server with
  18 out of the box PXE configuration for running diskless machines and
  19 installing new machines, check it out.  If you need a software
  20 solution for your school, check it out too.  The full announcement is
  21 &lt;a href=&quot;http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/02/msg00000.html&quot;&gt;available&lt;/a&gt;
  22 on the project announcement list.&lt;/p&gt;
  23
  24 &lt;p&gt;I am very happy to report these changes and improvements since
  25 beta2 (there are more, see announcement for full list):&lt;/p&gt;
  26
  27 &lt;ul&gt;
  28
  29 &lt;li&gt;It is now possible to change the pre-configured IP subnet from
  30   10.0.0.0/8 to something else by using the subnet-change tool after
  31   the installation.&lt;/li&gt;
  32
  33 &lt;li&gt;Too full partitions are now automatically extended on the Main
  34   Server, based on the rules specified in /etc/fsautoresizetab.&lt;/li&gt;
  35
  36 &lt;li&gt;The CUPS queues are now automatically flushed every night, and all
  37   disabled queues are restarted every hour.  This should cut down on
  38   the amount of manual administration needed for printers.&lt;/li&gt;
  39
  40 &lt;li&gt;The set of initial users have been changed.  Now a personal user
  41   for the local system administrator is created during installation
  42   instead of the previously created localadmin and super-admin users,
  43   and this user is granted administrative privileges using group
  44   membership.  This reduces the number of passwords one need to keep
  45   up to date on the system.&lt;/li&gt;
  46
  47 &lt;/ul&gt;
  48
  49 &lt;p&gt;The new main server seem to work so well that I am testing it as my
  50 private DNS/LDAP/Kerberos/PXE/LTSP server at home.  I will use it look
  51 for issues we could fix to polish Debian Edu even further before the
  52 final Squeeze release is published.&lt;/p&gt;
  53
  54 &lt;p&gt;Next weekend the project organise a
  55 &lt;a href=&quot;http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/01/msg00001.html&quot;&gt;developer
  56 gathering&lt;/a&gt; in Oslo.  We will continue the work on the Squeeze
  57 version, and start initial planning for the Wheezy version.  Perhaps I
  58 will see you there?&lt;/p&gt;
  59 </description>
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  63                 <title>Saving power with Debian Edu / Skolelinux using shutdown-at-night</title>
  64                 <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Saving_power_with_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_using_shutdown_at_night.html</link>
  65                 <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Saving_power_with_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_using_shutdown_at_night.html</guid>
  66                 <pubDate>Sun, 5 Feb 2012 09:45:00 +0100</pubDate>
  67                 <description>&lt;p&gt;Since the Lenny version of
  68 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skolelinux.org/&quot;&gt;Debian Edu / Skolelinux&lt;/a&gt;, a
  69 feature to save power have been included.  It is as simple as it is
  70 practical: Shut down unused clients at night, and turn them on again
  71 in the morning.  This is done using the
  72 &lt;a href=&quot;http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/shutdown-at-night.html&quot;&gt;shutdown-at-night&lt;/a&gt; Debian package.&lt;/p&gt;
  73
  74 &lt;p&gt;To enable this feature on a client, the machine need to be added to
  75 the netgroup shutdown-at-night-hosts.  For Debian Edu, This is done in
  76 LDAP, and once this is in place, the machine in question will check
  77 every hour from 16:00 until 06:00 to see if the machine is unused, and
  78 shut it down if it is.  If the hardware in question is supported by
  79 the
  80 &lt;a href=&quot;http://packages.qa.debian.org/n/nvram-wakeup.html&quot;&gt;nvram-wakeup&lt;/a&gt;
  81 package, the BIOS is told to turn the machine back on around 07:00 +-
  82 10 minutes.  If this isn&#39;t working, one can configure wake-on-lan to
  83 try to turn on the client.  The wake-on-lan option is only documented
  84 and not enabled by default in Debian Edu.&lt;/p&gt;
  85
  86 &lt;p&gt;It is important to not turn all machines on at once, as this can
  87 blow a fuse if several computers are connected to the same fuse like
  88 the common setup for a classroom.  The nvram-wakeup method only work
  89 for machines with a functioning hardware/BIOS clock.  I&#39;ve seen old
  90 machines where the BIOS battery were dead and the hardware clock were
  91 starting from 0 (or was it 1990?) every boot.  If you have one of
  92 those, you have to turn on the computer manually.&lt;/p&gt;
  93
  94 &lt;p&gt;The shutdown-at-night package is completely self contained, and can
  95 also be used outside the Debian Edu environment.  For those without a
  96 central LDAP server with netgroups, one can instead touch the file
  97 &lt;tt&gt;/etc/shutdown-at-night/shutdown-at-night&lt;/tt&gt; to enable it.
  98 Perhaps you too can use it to save some power?&lt;/p&gt;
  99 </description>
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