New release candidates for TurnKey Linux 11.0 (part 1)

The webmin module for TKLBAM is the most interesting new thing :) . Also using LVM by default is a good decision.

Nice work! we were expecting the post. Today I'm testing the Core Appliance, and for what I've seen it's behaving real nice! But I'm writing down my feedback and I'll post it soon. 

For me, the nicest features are the dialogs on first boot, the webmin module and LVM. Of course fixing the network bug and removing byobu is also very welcome!

Great achievement! 

Very nice work guys!

I particularly like the way that TKLBAM is so tightly integrated that it definately looks like a fundamental part of the appliance (as it indeed now is)!

The new versioning scheme makes lots of sense (although personally I didn't mind the date based system). The config questions running on first boot, makes install and config consistent regardless of the image format which is very nice!

All-in-all an awesome RC release!

Congratulations on yet another milestone (they seem to come so rapidly - amazing given the human hours available). I'm digging in straight-away with dokuwiki, and I'll see where I'm taken from there. Looking forward to giving any that I can find a use for a go.

Great work,

Rik

---update---

Installed the Lucid RC of Dokuwiki into a VMware VM using Workstation. Wonderful stuff. Love the integration of TKLBAM and how it's worked into both confconsole and, more brilliantly, into Webmin. Love the opportunity to configure TKLBAM on first boot after installation  along with the root password.  Installing from the ISO to VMware was more painless than installing from repos onto a Lucid server on bare metal, which I have found to be nothing short of a pain in the neck (yeah, could be a problem between my brain and the keyboard - but the point stands that there's no such problems with TKL's appliance).

One thing I've been thinking about is providing easy instructions for changing the default passwords. I know for many of us, it's a few clicks away and possibly a search in Google. For some, however, that may not be the simple process it appears to be from our perspectives. I've thought about this particularly since I'm hosting appliances at our students' site and realize things may be smoother for the end user if we provided more than the default credentials: actual guides to changing and setting passwords so the appliances are more likely to be secure; even if those guides are just links to other documentation, it might secure one more user who may otherwise stay vulnerable. Of course, we haven't done this because of time constraints. Obviously it's more than likely that neither of you have the discretionary time for documenting something like what I'm describing here. Just some thinking I thought maybe I'd share.

When users are running TKL in their internal network (in a physical hardware or Citrix server ), it would be nice if the TKLBAM support target location like FTP Servers and WEBDAVs or even Rackspace Cloud file (since it is more cheaper that S3). In my humble openion , there should be a "drop down list" or "radio button" to select target location type :)

I stumbled upon Turnkey a few months ago but only downloaded the first Appliance yesterday.

I realize now that I should have done this sooner.

I like it very much and am looking forward to using the final 11.0 release.

Keep up the good work!

PS. Also thank you to Adrian & Basil for working real hard to provide additional Appliances.

First, excellent work with these appliances, they are fantastic.

I agree with Basil Kurian, it would be great to have other target options for TKLBAM.  I will be using these appliances at work and we already have an offsite backup solution in place.  However, the TKLBAM interface (GUI and CLI) are much nicer than our current backup software interface, so I'd much rather use that to send the backup to our SAN via SMB which is already set for nightly offsite backups.  

It would also be nice to have options like NFS and iSCSI or even over an SSH tunnel.

Thanks and keep up the good work!

I've probably done a testimonial like this before, but I can't find it and from my perspective it's worth repeating in light of Liraz's expression of appreciation:

I hold TKL in very high esteem, in part because my reliance on their products, which are used daily in some way or another. For two weeks of each year I do a unit on collaborative writing and editing. For that I rely heavily on a VM running Turnkey's Wikipedia appliance. This year I may turn to the Dokuwiki, to keep myself familiar with different wikitext conventions. In any case, TurnKey Linux makes that unit possible. To use our Head of School's language, our IEPs are one our primary products: the quality of the IEPs in the eyes of the stakeholders can make or break us. We've dependend on TKLPatch and TKLBAM to run IEP-IPP as a virtual machine in VMware Server. Flawless implementation and outstanding services from TKLBAM. On bare metal, we run an Ampache server built with TKLPatch and installed from the ISO. That's increasingly becoming part of the technology we use in the classroom daily to serve our students' diverse learning needs. The Limesurvey VM produced with TKLPatch is used to get some quantitative data for our ed research and I hope will eventually be used for student evaluation of courses. I rely on TKL's Joomla appliance (in a VM) for prototyping sites for which I've been asked to be part of the design process. For the products alone, I'm tremendously thankful; I am dependent on them and see that dependence increasing (our VMware Server is being supplemented by an ESXi server in coming days).

But I am thankful too for the opportunity to contribute: at my level, it's been tough finding projects that can use my expertise - even when I offer to document. At TKL, I found an opportunity to contribute - it was a struggle and a reach and I've come out knowing far more than I expected.  I'm more thankful for the warm welcome the students have received. I've been proud of their success, and that takes me to my next point.

The community here is for the most part outstanding. Having the Ubuntu Code of Conduct as a reminder of the culture we're aiming for is commendable. But the encouragement from others - JedMeister constantly reminding us of what we're capable of if we just reach; Liraz's honest challenges felt chilly at first, to me, but the students took the challenges and read them as very productive dares. They were spurred on by Liraz in every case, in all his ethical honesty. Liraz has gone above and beyond and offering suggestions on how to garner interest in our projects from local communities, and offering honest critiques of my write-ups. Alon never flagged in his support, always came to our aid when we found ourselves stuck in patch development (and in other areas). Alon's kindness and eagerness for us to succeed is an obvious reflection of his passion for TKL and its community to succeed.

So, yeah, thanks. Thanks for the curriculum material. Thanks for the opportunities for service learning hours (which the students would deserve if I pursued that). Thanks for the opportunity to contribute something meaningful and authentic - not only to TKL, but also to Ampache, Limesurvey, Elgg, and now IEP-IPP (over 50 d/ls now excluding direct downloads). And thanks for the appliances that serve me daily, either as instructional tools or administrative tools.

Is there any other tutorial other than the IRC chat training which was recorded a couple of months ago?  I am really jazzed about your project and the different virtual machines which have been created.  GREAT WORK...!

Sorry, I wasn't sure where to post this since it's an RC.  I've been messing with the MySQL appliance, and it seems that the InnoDB storage engine, among others, is missing?  Thinking something went wrong with the installer, I ran from the live cd and it is also missing from there.  In fact comparing the 8.04 appliance with the new 11.0 RC, half of the storage engines are missing.  Granted some were disabled in the 8.04 appliance.

Thanks!

I received your email announding the beta - and testers needed.  I go to your blog link, but I can't find the actual Files to test.  Is this all on Turnkey Hub?  I am wanting to test in a VM envirionment but not on the cloud.. (I read in your intro that you have VM's built).

What is the schedule for full release?

thank you all for your great work!

Great job, love my new box and webshell, until now no server issues. Webmin is more enjoyable somehow and index page is perfect for backoffice admin implementation.

No issues with php or mysql until now also (50.000 records tables)

One thing, will Lenny builds come out before Part 2 and the new appliances? 

PS - really... I'm olding back my self, because my wish is to migrate and put my new turnkey to intranet production... now :)

Hi,

I am wondering what the game plan is for full 11.0 Release packages?  Do you anticipate many changes?  Will the Package Sets be updated so that 11rc sets move into full Installs?

Lots to ask but all has to do w/ implementation plans.

Cool stuff!

The rails 3 console isn't working in the new appliance. The readline.so doesn't seem to be compiled. It's an easy enough fix. Download the ruby source, run apt-get install libncurses5-dev libreadline5-dev (if they're not installed, they're commonly missing from what I could see), run ruby extconf.rb form <ruby_source>/ext/readline, and then run make and make install.

Of course, would be nice if it worked by default, you're bound to forget about readline.so not being there until you need the console, and then have to go searching for the solution again =)