Re: [Fedora-livecd-list] PATCH: Disk (appliance) creator tool

[Douglas McClendon <dmc fedora filteredperception org>]

Douglas McClendon wrote:
> Daniel P. Berrange wrote:
> > This patch adds support for another installation variant. The 
> > livecd-creator
> > produces ISO images which boot using syslinux. The image-creator 
> > creates a
> > single file containing a filesystem in which the OS is installated. 
> > This patch
> > adds a new disk-creator, which creates a single file containing a 
> > partitioned
> > disk with potentially many filesystems in which the OS is installed. 
> > Furthermore
> > it installs grub in the boot sector, so this image is immediately 
> > bootable in
> > a virtual machine.
>
> FWIW, I advocate, (and my VirOS projects already uses), a system where 
> such a virtual appliance is a mandatory phase of livecd creation.  I 
> don't expect any buy-in to convert livecd-creator to this, but this 
> seems an appropriate time to advocate the design choice-
>
> Basically, I see it as useful to look at the process as
>
> distro_config
>
> --(phase1process)-->
>
> virtual_appliance_disk_image
>
> --(phase2process)-->
>
> livecd_image

Also, one other advantage of this pipeline, is that having the 
virt_appliance_disk_image, allows you to add interesting extra steps to 
the pipeline that involve virtually booting the appliance.  The two that 
come to mind are

a) virt booting to precook auto-logged-in-user home directory contents 
such that they needn't be created during livecd boot and live in ram 
(instead living in the squashfs).

b) virt booting to determine optimal ways to perform the livecd creation 
processing.  (i.e. determining boot file access order, and then sorting 
the filesystem...  I still need to prove that that is worth it, but I 
think it is)

-dmc