Automated installs

[Simon Hyde]

On Thu, 9 Oct 1997 00:33:06 +1000, you wrote:

>> Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 17:39:07 +0200 (SAT)
>> From: Louis Mandelstam <lma at sacc.org.za>
>> Subject: Re: Automated installs (very long)
>> Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971007172209.17454w-100000 at sacc2.sacc.org.za>
>> 
>> 5. Install script mounts the newly created C: into its filespace as a vfat
>>    fs.
>
>Dumb question here: Does Linux support fat32 fs yet? Maybe one of the
>development kernels?
>
>I ask this because our standard installation is Win95 OSR2 on >=1.6Gb hard
>disks; therefore, we can squeeze a lot more on them by using OSR2. 
>
>If the computers are identical, and Linux doesn't support FAT32, I'd use a
>"gzcat /server/mounted/dir/image.gz | dd(1) of=/dev/hda" to copy a full disk
>image from a compressed master image on the server.
>
>As a matter of fact, I'm pretty interested in this thread because I'm about to
>install 140 pcs here (in a one-month timeframe!), and even though the supplier
>is bound by contract to do the installation himself, I don't trust him to get
>all the details right with a manual installation. For this install I think I'll
>use the dd(1) technique, and then use the post-install personalization
>technique described by Louis. 
>
There are patches for the kernel and an altered version of mkdosfs
available from http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/chaffee/fat32.html