to use a VM for. Usually this is for something I may need to take to a
client or something that I need to run while I'm doing other work and
can't spare the CPU/memory. It's a T42 like my personal laptop, so I
also use it to test stuff out for home when I'm not using it for work.
Reading Alien Bob's blog (http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/) recently,
I saw his post about a script he wrote that I've been meaning to try.
The script mirrors the -current directory from a mirror of your choice
and optionally creates an ISO in either DVD or CD format.
So on my personal T42, I downloaded it, fired it up, and voila!, it
promptly ran out of space. A warning before trying this: make sure you
have the space for the entire -current tree as well as the ISO(s) you
want to create. It can take a good deal of space, time, and especially
bandwidth to finish. Now luckily it also provides options to minimize
bandwidth and space.
The -b option limits bandwidth, -o generates ISOs of a specific type,
i.e. CD, DVD, or both. A -p tells it to remove the old ISOs if they
exist.
The -o is particularly interesting to me, seeing as how it's only
recently that I came to own laptops that have a DVD drive instead of
the usual CDR/RW. So instead of wasting time on the CD version, I can
opt for the DVD instead, making the installation easier.
So all told, the script downloaded 4.2GB of packages, and created a
4.2GB ISO for me to test with.
I'm burning it now, and will be back with news on how the install goes.
