• Plan out host name and IP address, configure DHCP server if relevant
• Install from DVD, choosing generic kernel (omitting “huge” kernel)
• Create initrd, using command generated by:

  chroot /mnt /usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh

  … a fairly commonly-generated command:

  chroot /mnt mkinitrd -c -k 3.10.17 -f ext4 -r /dev/sda1 -m usb-storage:ehci-hcd:ehci-pci:usbhid:hid_generic:uhci-hcd:mbcache:jbd2:ext4 -u -o /boot/initrd.gz

• Edit /mnt/etc/lilo.conf to add initrd line, with a KVM-based VM using virtio, add:

  disk = /dev/vda
  bios = 0x80
  max-partitions = 7

• Install lilo:

  chroot /mnt lilo

• Make sure there's an /sbin/initscript for new system:

  cp /mnt/sbin/initscript.sample /mnt/sbin/initscript

• Populate a ulimit setting for file descriptors:

  ulimit -Hn 32768

• Make sure there's a link in /etc:

  ln -s /sbin/initscript /mnt/etc/initscript

… at this point, system can be booted, or some pre-emptive changes can be made:

• Add $HOME/bin to PATH in /etc/profile
• Change root shell to ksh: vi /mnt/etc/passwd
• Make sure the wheel group is set up for sudo access: vi /mnt/etc/sudoers

… Now, log in as root and:

• Correct and populate /etc/hosts
• Change root shell to ksh (if desired and not already done) with: chsh -s /bin/ksh root
• Edit /etc/group to make sure user(s) are in groups as desired (especially the wheel group)
• Add user(s)
• Edit /etc/sudoers to make sure the wheel group is set up for access
• Change PermitRootLogin to no in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, then restart sshd with /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd restart
• Populate the newterm script and accompanying symbolic links into /usr/local/bin
• Remove undesired packages
  • ConsoleKit
• Add routing (if applicable) to /etc/rc.d/rc.inet2 for other subnets:

  # Add routing for WAN network on physical host
  route add -host 24.159.210.154 eth0
  route add -net 24.159.210.152 netmask 255.255.255.248 gw 24.159.210.154 eth0

• Configure NTP in /etc/ntp.conf and enable at startup with chmod 744 /etc/rc.d/rc.ntpd
  • server <ntpserveripaddr> iburst
  • restrict default ignore
  • restrict <ntpserveripaddr> mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap noquery

• Create directory /var/live
  … this will house the memory-resident “live” portion of the /var footprint
• Initialize the “live” area: mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /var/live -o nodev,uid=0,gid=0,size=100m
• Migrate these /var subdirectories to under the live portion, one at a time, with:
  cd /var ; mv subdirname live ; ln -s live/subdirname
  Including: cache, lib, lock, log, run, spool, state, tmp
• Initialize the storage “layers” from the current “live” footprint
  • The static layer: rsync -ai /var/live /var/static
  • The peristent layer: rsync -ai /var/live/ /opt/sys/var
• Prune the respective storage layers to accommodate desired layering (Note: see next section)

• The /usr/share/mime directory is re-built at every boot, so migrating that into the “live” footprint makes sense:
  mkdir -p /var/static/usr /var/live/usr/share
chmod 755 /var/static/usr /var/live/usr /var/live/usr/share
cd /usr/share
mv mime /var/live/usr/share
ln -s /var/live/usr/share/mime
rsync -ai /var/live/usr/ /var/static/usr/
• I have these links:

  /var/live/log/setup               -> /opt/sys/var/log/setup
  /var/live/log/scripts             -> /opt/sys/var/log/scripts
  /var/live/log/removed_scripts     -> /opt/sys/var/log/removed_scripts
  /var/live/log/removed_packages    -> /opt/sys/var/log/removed_packages
  /var/live/log/packages            -> /opt/sys/var/log/packages
  /var/live/lib/virtuoso            -> /opt/sys/var/lib/virtuoso
  /var/live/lib/rpm                 -> /opt/sys/var/lib/rpm
  /var/live/cache/ldconfig          -> /opt/sys/var/cache/ldconfig
  /var/live/cache/fontconfig        -> /opt/sys/var/cache/fontconfig
  /var/static/cache/fontconfig      -> /opt/sys/var/cache/fontconfig
  /var/static/cache/ldconfig        -> /opt/sys/var/cache/ldconfig
  /var/static/log/setup             -> /opt/sys/var/log/setup
  /var/static/log/removed_packages  -> /opt/sys/var/log/removed_packages
  /var/static/log/scripts           -> /opt/sys/var/log/scripts
  /var/static/log/removed_scripts   -> /opt/sys/var/log/removed_scripts
  /var/static/log/packages          -> /opt/sys/var/log/packages
  /var/static/lib/virtuoso          -> /opt/sys/var/lib/virtuoso
  /var/static/lib/rpm               -> /opt/sys/var/lib/rpm

• Add to /etc/rc.d/rc.S before loading loop device kernel module:

  # Mount the live filesystem
  if [ -d /var/live/log ]; then
  	/sbin/mount -v -n -t tmpfs tmpfs /var/live -o nodev,uid=0,gid=0,size=100m
  fi

• Add to /etc/rc.d/rc.S before Configure ISA Plug-n-Play devices:

  # Add /var/live to /etc/mtab, and sync from static:
  /sbin/mount -f tmpfs /var/live -t tmpfs
  /usr/bin/rsync -ai /var/static/ /var/live/

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