TKLPatch init point for TKLBAM

Hi, all; I am absolutely new to TKL and blown away by this project's elegance!

I would like to know if it is possible to build a custom appliance utilizing TKLPatch and have that be your init point for TKLBAM backups. For example, if you start with the TKL LAMP appliance and use TKLPatch to bring in git, samba, etc, is it then possible to set up TKLBAM to use this new appliance as the initial reference point for updates rather than the 'original' LAMP appliance?

To be explicit: As I undertand it, with a fresh install of the TKL LAMP appliance, your initial backup with TKLBAM is negligible in size. If you then proceed to update the appliance with several application installs, your next incremental backup can be quite extensive. Is it possible to set up your custom appliance and use this as the initial reference point for TKLBAM or are the initialization parameters 'hard-wired' to the existing official appliances?

Replies (2)

That's something to consider for future development

Reply 1 2010-12-12

Indeed Jeff, TKLBAM will calculate the delta from the base installation, with the reference point currently being hardwired per appliance. So as you correctly surmise, backups of customized appliances are not going to be as efficient as backups of your own custom appliances. That's the bad news. Well maybe "bad news" is a bit of an overstatement as this was an explicit design choice that allows you to easily migrate your application to a newer version of the LAMP stack appliance in a subsequent release. This behavior is not always optimal however.

The good news is that from the start TKLBAM was conceived with the aim of supporting more completely community development, in supplement to TKLPatch, so the user scenario you suggest (or something like it) may be supported more fully in the future. In the present, the inefficiency shouldn't be a show stopper, just a lack of optimization.

Thanks for the quick response!

Reply 2 2010-12-12

Indeed, it is no show stopper, and the show is still amazing without it. I do understand the exponential escalation of compromises (and resultant UX headaches) involved in trying to incorporate this functionality. I cannot presently conceive of this being easily employed, but hoped maybe you guys had done so. From what I have seen of this project in the few days I have been aware of it, you seem to have done so much already that it is hard to imagine you as mere mortals! :p I do see the shoulders you are standing on, but still...!

I look forward to more great things and am already generating ideas of my own for appliances which could bring linux to the technophobes of the world. :D Ubuntu is simple, but to some, it is still overly complicated.