Request for help implementing Edubuntu and LTSP

[G. T. Stresen-Reuter]

Hi Steve,

First and foremost thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I'm finding it difficult to find a "vibrant" user community, which makes finding answers to such questions difficult!

On Apr 11, 2011, at 5:52 AM, Rippl, Steve wrote:

> Integrating Edubuntu LTSP into an existing AD network is certainly possible, but if you want the kind of tight integration you seem to be driving at it isn't trivial.  If it's the best route for you to go down I can't answer, it's certainly great when it's all up and running but it can be a trial getting it to do exactly what you want if you don't have some technical aptitude, I'll answer some of your other stuff in line below...

In reality, all I *really* need is an authentication mechanism that maps to *a* user on the local system. I don't need quite the kind of integration I seem to have suggested. My goal is to avoid having to duplicate our AD users.

> On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 4:46 PM, G. T. Stresen-Reuter <tedmasterweb at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Can a single user have concurrent sessions from different machines and if so, what negative side-effects does this have? I'm asking because for the youngest users it is a logistical nightmare to ask them to remember their own username and password and we'd like a single username and password we can use for all of them.
>> 
> If they are running off the same central server so these concurrent sessions (single user) are sharing a home folder, then yes, you'll have problems with applications like OpenOffice and Firefox.  However, it is really easy to create individual local accounts for each client and have them autologin with that account so the Elementary school kids can just sit and have at it!

That crossed my mind and it may end up being the solution but there is a small logistical problem: when users other than the elementary and preschool users come in (about 50% of the student body), they'll have to turn on the computers, log off and then log back on again. Our classes are only about 54 minutes long and that process alone can take 10% of the class time!

I shall ponder...

>> I need to run Windows games that are 10 or more years old. How well is Wine supported?
> 
> Wine is supported well enough, if an app works on stand alone it will work under LTSP as far as I know.  Where it gets tricky is that the free version of Wine installs everything in the users home folder, which can be bad for space and maintenance reasons.  We've never followed it up but the paid for CrossOver version seems to have better support for deployment and central installation for multiple users.  Conversely, you may be better off ditching the old apps and trying to find native alternatives.

Yeah, out of habit I frequently fail to consider for-pay solutions even when they genuinely are the best choice. I use CrossOver on my own machine so it should have been obvios. Thanks for the idea.

>> On a similar note, if I install a Windows virtual machine will it have the same configuration for all users? Will video display properly running across a network via LTSP? 
>  
> Don't know, never tried it!

I ask because we have lots of Windows software we use for teaching and we aren't in a position to shelve those materials. However, if we can reduce support to a single virtual instance (rather than 20+ real computers) we'll be vastly simplifying our lives. I'll just have to try and report my findings somewhere, it seems.

>> Can I really use Active Directory to authenticate users as described in this article? I tried following the instructions with no luck at all.
>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/ActiveDirectoryIntegration
> 
> We stay away from Likewise and simply use the various Samba and Pam parts we need (as I mentioned above, Winbind is probably your best bet for the tightest AD integration).  The authentication part really isn't that hard, any how-to on Linux/Winbind authentication with AD will work for you, it doesn't need to be LTSP specific.  How/if you decide to integrate Networked home holders of some kind may prove more challenging!

Challenging indeed! Having spent 20 years as a technical person (developer) I'm shocked by how hard it is to do any kind of meaningful tech work while holding a full-time teaching position!

Like I said above, I'm really only looking to avoid maintaining two databases of usernames and passwords. Access to their home folders would be nice, I suppose, but can definitely be considered a version 2 type of detail.

>> Can anyone comment on their own experience in a similar situation? Should we be looking at alternative solutions (we've considered installing basic Linux distros with VMWare and making 3 Windows images available: one image for each group of students).
> 
> Really depends on you and your IT support staff's knowledge/interest/enthusiasm I would think...

We have about 400 students and 30 something teachers. We have roughly 50 computers (more outside the lab than in it), a Windows AD server and a few file servers. Our tech support staff (outsourced) comes twice per week for 4 to 6 hours each day. Just general maintenance is nearly impossible. I'm pretty much on my own on this (well, there are a few students who might be interested in helping). My interest is high (long-term solutions ultimately benefit everyone) but my time is so limited I can't really do much more than teach... and I suspect I'm representative of a lot of IT teachers and schools so it's a little surprising more hasn't been written about how to do all of this - I guess that's my calling!

>> And finally, where else can I go for help getting this set up (logistics, not so much technical)? Most information seems to be very technical but what I'm looking for is practical help on higher-level topics (like, does ltsp make sense in my situation).

Any thoughts on this last question? Are there any lists anyone can recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Ted S-R