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GIS.lab Unit
Following procedure is assuming that GIS.lab Unit machine is going to be installed in network with automatic IP address assigning from DHCP server.
- GIS.lab Unit machine: Intel NUC, CPU Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge DC53427HYE
- 16 GB RAM: KINGSTON KVR16S11/8 8GB 2Rx8 1G x 64-Bit PC3-12800 CL11 204-Pin SODIMM DDR3 (Intel doc)
- mSata SSD 525 Series, 60GB
See also official Intel's documentation for NUC hardware Intel's documentation
- Intel NUC (*)
- 8 GB RAM (*)
- HDMI to DVI adapter
- 0,5m HDMI cable
- Logitech Wireless Keyboard
- Logitech Wireless Mouse
- LCD display
(*) - same hardware specification as used for GIS.lab Unit
- 1 Gb Ethernet switch (16 ports): Netgear GS116GE
- CAT 5e Ethernet cables
- Wireless AP: Zyxel WAP3205 v2
- latest GIS.lab source code from Git repository
- Ansible (in our case 1.7.2)
Current GIS.lab version runs on top of Ubuntu 12.04 Precise. Following steps will guide you to install basic Ubuntu operating system, with default 'ubuntu' super user account (password 'ubuntu'). Network is configured to automatically obtain IP address from DHCP server.
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download latest Ubuntu 12.04 Precise AMD64 Server installation ISO image from http://releases.ubuntu.com/precise
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use script providers/gislab-unit/gislab-unit-iso.sh to create custom GIS.lab Unit installation ISO image file from original Ubuntu Server ISO image file downloaded in previous step. Run gislab-unit-iso.sh -h to see required options. This image will be used for automatic installation of basic operating system on GIS.lab Unit machine.
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prepare bootable installation USB stick from custom GIS.lab Unit ISO image file created in previous step. On Ubuntu, you can use Startup Disk Creator application or UNetbootin which exists also for other Linux distributions, or eventually use dd command, see example bellow:
# Format USB flash disk
# In our example we assume that USB flash disk is connected as /dev/sdf
# Please check 'dmesg' for your configuration
sudo mkdosfs -n 'GIS.lab Base System' -I /dev/sdf -F 32
# note that syslinux-utils is required
isohybrid /path/to/your/gislab.iso
sudo dd if=/path/to/your/gislab.iso of=/dev/sdf bs=4k
sudo eject /dev/sdf
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attach power supply, HDMI display, keyboard and Ethernet cable in to GIS.lab Unit machine
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insert USB stick prepared in previous step in to GIS.lab Unit machine, power it on, press F10 key to run boot manager and select boot from USB. Then, fully automatic installation should start. When finished, machine will be turned of.
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remove USB stick used for installation
GIS.lab Unit is using SSD disk as primary storage. To perform well and preserve longer lifetime, some special configuration must be performed. Special Ansible playbook exists for this task.
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power on GIS.lab Unit machine
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log in to GIS.lab Unit machine using user name 'ubuntu' and password 'ubuntu' and run following command to detect IP assigned by DHCP server
$ ip addr | grep eth0
- create Ansible inventory file gislab-unit.inventory with following content (replace with IP address detected in previous step)
gislab-unit ansible_ssh_host=<gislab-unit-ip-address> ansible_ssh_user=ubuntu
- run following command to execute Ansible playbook, GIS.lab Unit will reboot when finished
$ ansible-playbook --inventory=gislab-unit.inventory --private-key=<private-SSH-key-file> providers/gislab-unit/gislab-unit.yml
It is recommended to set at least some basic configuration before GIS.lab installation is performed. GIS.lab configuration is done in system/host_vars directory. Configuration files placed in to this directory are automatically overriding default configuration set in system/group_vars/all. The most important task is to set GISLAB_NETWORK, to value which is not in conflict with your LAN configuration.
- create configuration file system/host_vars/gislab-unit and set GISLAB_NETWORK and other configuration there
# GIS.lab Unit example configuration file
GISLAB_NETWORK: 192.168.19
GISLAB_APT_HTTP_PROXY: http://192.168.1.218:3142
Once GIS.lab is configured, installation can be performed.
- run following command to execute Ansible playbook
$ ansible-playbook --inventory=gislab-unit.inventory --private-key=<private-SSH-key-file> system/gislab.yml
Now, GIS.lab Unit machine is installed with GIS.lab system. Do not forget to create user accounts by gislab-adduser command and allow their client machines to connect by running gislab-machines command.