There is a big update after the "Little update for Ubuntu users" and its temporary withdrawal.

This update solves the problems with the pool builder and offers two new desktops for Ubuntu (Gnome based) and Kubuntu (KDE based). A huge variety of DVDs can get read in and used for the installation of m23 clients.

I've tested the (probably) most common DVDs and enlisted in the DVD compatibility list. Please try additional DVDs and add the test result into the wiki page.

Have fun!

The new update makes the poolbuilder ready for usage with Ubuntu CDs. Please check if the new feature works and if not write error reports into the forum.

Update
The update was cancelled because of an user who reported errors with building pools from other DVDs and CDs. The Ubuntu 5.10-CD doesn't contain all for an m23 installation needed packages. I will try the DVD edition when the download of the 5.10 Ubuntu ISO is finished.

Have fun!

I've accidentally seen that m23 can be nominated for the "SOURCEFORGE.NET COMMUNITY CHOICE AWARDS". The phase of nomination is running till the 15th of March. You can vote for m23 from the 17th of March if there are enough nominations. There are multiple OpenSource projects in different categories.

You can nominate m23 in the category "Clustering" if you like.

The nomiation page can be found HERE.

Have fun!

Some time has pass since the last news update. This is a reason to announce the long existing but not public avaliable m23 WIKI. I entered some pages in the past that contain things that I need and which I forgot often. There are short help texts (mostly in German) e.g. about

• Linux kernel
• Encryption
• Server programms
• X11
• Web applications

Have a look and if you want to add pages: Feel free to do so. That's what WIKIs are for ;-) Have fun!

Some of the following features may be a bit old because they reference to the last final predecessor version m23 Shiver 0.4.8:

• Ubuntu is supported as additional distribution.
• Printer drivers can be installed and attached printers get detected automatically.
• You can choose the timezone and whether NTP should be used for updating the system time of the client.
• Imaging is now included. You can create image files from partitions or a whole harddisk and use these images to install clients with. The configuration can be done like on a "normal" Debian or Ubuntu system.
• Existing Debian or Ubuntu systems can get assimilated into m23 for further administartion and management with m23.
• BackupPC is included in m23 to backup client data.
• The installation of an LDAP server on the m23 server can be done in the webinterface.
• User account data can be stored on an LDAP server and read from it to allow logins into the clients.
• Home directories can be stored on a NFS server.
• Basic client settings (e.g. IP address) can get changed in the background.
• The pool buider creates repositories from software packages stored on CD/DVD or downloaded from the internet. These repositories can be used to install (with no internet connection) clients.
• The update function updates the server to the newest version.
• (Almost) automatic creation of update files.
• Nicer layout of the generated documentation.
• Some daemons (Apache, dhcpd3, ...) can get managed from the webinterface.
• Client boot CDs can get burned directly from the webinterface.
• The mass installation tools are helpfully to install a large number of clients with the same software configuration. It is possible to install a complete package selection (e.g. KDE 3, OpenOffice, Mozilla, Evolution, ...) including operating system, partitioning and formatting on hundreds of clients.
• Revised partitioning and formating functions.
• XFce is supported as alternative desktop environment.
• With the group functions you can do administrative jobs on a series of clients concurrently.
• You can log into your client (with SSH) during a running base system installation.
• SSL encryption of the client jobs.
• Gnome 2 is installable now.

Have fun!