Installing the Linux Terminal Server on a stand alone network
This post is one of 3:
1/ Installing the Linux Terminal Server (LTSP) on a stand alone network
2/ Installing the Linux Terminal Server (LTSP) on an existing network
3/ Using the Linux Terminal Server (LTSP) with a Windows Server 2003 DHCP
This install is fairly easy though there are a few considerations to be made before starting.
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron has an option on the Alternate CD to install a stand alone LTSP server. It will work straight away out of the box as long as you install with 2 network cards. One network card will be used to connect to the outside world. In our case this was eth(0) the onboard 10/100 network card in our server. This card was connected to our network for install.
The second network card (eth(1) for us) was not connected during installation. We later connected it to a switch with the clients connected. We used a gigabit card here on the assumption that there will be more traffic on this interface. I’m afraid I don’t know if there are problems having the public and private interfaces exchanged.
Once the server hardware is in place it’s simply a case of booting the alternative Ubuntu cd pressing f2 for options then selecting LTSP, follow the on screen instructions, then reboot at the end.
Finally a network switch was connected to the 2nd network card and a thin client was plugged in. Once the thin client was set to boot from the network it simply powered up to an Ubuntu logon and desktop.
This setup is quite straight forward because all the dhcp and dns setup is done for you. It is however somewhat restrictive because it needs a seperate set of network cabling and will not work as an addition to an existing network on the same cabling. This would not be a problem for a new install in say a discrete classroom. However if you want an LTSP as an addition to your existing network you will want to have a look at Installing the Linux Terminal Server (LTSP) on an existing network