Requirements

There are different ways of setting up a Skolelinux solution. It can be installed on just one standalone PC, or as a region-wide solution at many schools operated centrally. This flexibility makes a huge difference to the configuration of network components, servers and client machines.

Hardware requirements

The purpose of the different profiles is explained in the network architecture chapter.

/!\ If LTSP is intended to be used, take a look at the LTSP Hardware Requirements wiki page.

Hardware known to work

A list of tested hardware is provided at http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Hardware/ . This list is not nearly complete :)

http://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn is an effort to document how to install, configure and use Debian on some specific hardware, allowing potential buyers to know if that hardware is supported and existing owners to know how get the best out of that hardware.

An excellent database of hardware supported by Debian is online at http://kmuto.jp/debian/hcl/.

Requirements for network setup

Default Setup

When using the default network architecture, these rules apply:

Internet router

A router/gateway, connected to the Internet on the external interface and running on the IP address 10.0.0.1 with netmask 255.0.0.0 on the internal interface, is needed to connect to the Internet.

The router should not run a DHCP server, it can run a DNS server, though this is not needed and will not be used.

In case you already have a router but are unable to configure it as needed (eg because you are not allowed to do so, or for technical reasons), an older computer with two network interfaces can be turned into a gateway between the existing network and the Debian Edu one.

A simple way is to install Debian Edu on this computer; select 'Minimal' as profile during installation.

After the installation:

 #!/bin/sh
 # Turn a system with profile 'Minimal' into a gateway/firewall. 
 #
 sed -i 's/auto eth0/auto eth0 eth1/' /etc/network/interfaces
 sed -i '/eth1/ s/dhcp/static/' /etc/network/interfaces
 sed -i '/post-up/d' /etc/network/interfaces
 echo 'address 10.0.0.1' >> /etc/network/interfaces
 echo 'dns-nameservers 10.0.2.2' >> /etc/network/interfaces
 echo 'dns-domain intern' >> /etc/network/interfaces
 hostname -b gateway
 hostname > /etc/hostname
 rm -f /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/hostname
 rm -f /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/wpad-proxy-update
 rm -f /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/fetch-ldap-cert
 rm -f /etc/network/if-up.d/wpad-proxy-update
 sed -i 's/domain-name,//' /etc/dhcp/dhclient-debian-edu.conf
 sed -i 's/domain-search,//' /etc/dhcp/dhclient-debian-edu.conf
 service networking stop
 service networking start
 sed -i 's#NAT=#NAT="10.0.0.0/8"#' /etc/default/enable-nat
 service enable-nat restart
 # You might want a firewall (shorewall or ufw) and traffic shaping.
 #apt update
 #apt install shorewall
 # or
 #apt install ufw
 #apt install wondershaper  

If you need something for an embedded router or accesspoint we recommend using OpenWRT, though of course you can also use the original firmware. Using the original firmware is easier; using OpenWRT gives you more choices and control. Check the OpenWRT webpages for a list of supported hardware.

It is possible to use a different network setup (there is a documented procedure to do this), but if you are not forced to do this by an existing network infrastructure, we recommend against doing so and recommend you stay with the default network architecture.

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