M23 software distribution system

m23 is a software distribution and management system for Debian Linux. m23 can partition and format the clients and install a Debian operating system and thousands of software packages over an existing network. All management is done with a web administration interface. A m23 server is used for software distribution and the management of the clients. Clients are computers which are administrated (e.g. software is installed) through the m23 server.

Installation

The client is booted over the network during the operating system installation. It is possible to start the client with a bootrom on its network card, a boot disk or a boot CD. The client's hardware is detected and set up. The gathered hardware and partition informtion is sent to the m23 server. This information is then made available from the m23 administration interface. The administrator can then choose how to partition and format the client as well as other settings, such as which distribution to be installed on the client.

Software installation and removal

Before you start the real (de)installation, you can test what will happen during (de)installation. You can check, which additional packages will be installed or removed or if there will be problems.

The software packages are downloaded from the internet to assure up-to-dateness. To prevent packages from being downloaded twice the packages are stored in a cache that is updated if there is a new version of the package.

m23 not only use the official Debian packages but also other package sources.

System maintenance

The recovery function reinstalls a client as it was setup before.

If you want to start a client for repairing or diagnostic purpose, you can boot the rescue system over the network. After the network boot the client starts a console that allows you to do your work.

Group functions and mass installation tools

The group functions are extremely useful if you want to update the software or do other administrative things on a huge number of clients. E.g. a software package can be (de)installed on/from all clients of a group.

The mass installation tool allows you to add a huge number of similar clients. It is possible to install a complete package selection (e.g. KDE 3, OpenOffice, Mozilla, Evolution, ...) including the operting system, partition and formating on houndreds of clients. There is no problem, if the hardware differs between the clients. The particular of this mass installation method is, that the complexity of adding the clients is impressivly reduced to adding each single client. You start your mass installation by defining a client, that hold the basic settings (partitioning, formating, the operating system and the packages to install). The settings are used as basis for the clients derived from this defined client. There are settings, that differ from client to client. E.g. the MAC address is individual for each client (You should talk with your network card dealer, if there are multiple cards with the same MAC address. ;-) ) There may be different types (keep the value from the defined client, enter or generate values) the to generate the individual values. The entered values can be input by hand or read from a formated file. Other values can be generated by parameters. E.g. IP addresses in fixed ranges, that are not assigned to m23 clients or client names with a base name and incremental numbers at the end. m23 extensions

m23 extension

Plugins can extend the administration interface or the whole m23 with additional functionality.

The MDK (m23 Development Kit) gives the m23 developer a mighty tool to adjust m23. E.g. you can build your own m23 server installation CDs or add new features to the network boot images.

External links

You can download the ISO file for burning the m23 server installation at http://m23.sf.net. There is a forum for submitting bugs and wishes or getting help too.