Linbo is one of — a free . I have already described an overview of what is possible with Linbo in . There I mentioned a command line program which is simply super for the administration of the school computers: . You can do almost anything else you would do with the Linbo GUI, e.g. of the best features linuxmuster.net school server solution one of my last articles linbo-remote Partitioning and formatting computers, starting, shutting down, etc. distribute new images in one room or throughout the school (in combination with Wake-on-Lan) synchronize computers at any time and let the operating system of your choice start Create images on a computer and upload them to the server Combining with other scripts linbo-remote Today I would like to describe how we use in our school and show what you can do with it. linbo-remote Deploy new images with linbo-remote At regular intervals we update our Ubuntu image, which we use on all our school computers. We do this mostly during holidays or when there are new major updates (e.g. Firefox, LibreOffice, important security updates). With the following command we deploy the image to all computers in a room: $ linbo-remote -r room1 -p sync:1,halt -w 0 or $ linbo-remote -r room1 -c sync:1,halt -w 60 A short explanation of what the individual parameters mean. indicates the room. With you can also specify a group, with an IP or a hostname. -r -g -i stands for Wake-on-Lan, i.e. wakes up the computers. Wake-on-Lan must be activated in the BIOS and it only works via a plugged in network cable (e.g. for notebooks). The number after specifies the seconds to wait for Linbo to execute the commands. -w linbo-remote -w The difference between and is that with Linbo creates a file with the commands on the server. The computer gets this file as soon as it has booted to Linbo. tries to send the command directly to the computer via SSH. That’s why I entered a waiting time of 60 seconds, so that there is enough time for all computers to be woken up and booted. -p -c -p -c after and you can specify different commands. Enter to obtain all possibilities. Almost all commands are followed by a colon after the command, followed by the number of the operating system. For example, if you have a dual boot system with Windows and Ubuntu, Windows gets the number 1 and Ubuntu gets the number 2. -c -p linbo-remote -h ,halt means that synchronizes the first operating system on the computer and then shuts down the computer. sync:1 linbo-remote means that Linbo formats and synchronizes the partition of the first operating system, then synchronizes the second operating system and starts it. When synchronizing, Linbo checks if there is a new image on the server, downloads it if necessary and copies it to the corresponding partition. format:1,sync:1,sync:2,start:2 Automate administration of school computers We have already seen above what is possible with . Connected to a cronjob, for example, we can synchronize and start all computers in the school or in a certain room every morning, so that all computers are “fresh” for use in class. linbo-remote As root user you can create a new cronjob with root@server$ crontab -e and enter the following cronjob: 30 6 * * * * /usr/sbin/linbo-remote -r room1 -w 0 -p format:1,sync:1,sync:2,start:2 > /dev/null 2>&1 Every morning, at 6:30 a.m., every day of the year, Linbo now takes care of our computers in Room 1, synchronizing both operating systems and starting the second one so students can log on directly. You can also use to shut down all computers booted to Linbo. linbo-remote 0 13,15,17,20 * * * * /usr/sbin/linbo-remote -r room1 -c halt > /dev/null 2>&1 At 1, 3, 5 and 8 pm all computers in room 1 that have booted Linbo will be shut down. These cronjobs are a great help to create a reliable state on the school computers every morning. The disadvantage of this solution is that the cronjobs are executed every day, even on weekends or during holidays. But we can solve this problem 🙂 Combining linbo-remote with other programs A member of the Linuxmuster Community has written a script that checks if today is a school day. Because the is written in German I’ve translated it. You can and install it on the server as follows: original script find it on Github $ git clone $ $ cd linuxmuster-scripts/school-day https://github.com/cdscacth/linuxmuster-scripts.git In the files and you have to enter the dates for public and school holidays like this: holidays.conf exceptions.conf # Public Holiday20180301 Public Holiday 120181015 Public Holiday 2 # School Holidays20171223–20180112 Christmas Break20180319–20180417 Easter Break20180625–20180813 Summer Break Then you install the script with $ sudo make install If a school day is, the script returns a return value of “0”, otherwise e.g. “99” (for a holiday). We can adjust the cronjobs above so that they are only executed on one school day: 30 6 * * * * is-today-school-day && /usr/sbin/linbo-remote -r room1 -w 0 -p format:1,sync:1,sync:2,start:2 > /dev/null 2>&1 0 13,15,17,20 * * * * is-today-school-day && /usr/sbin/linbo-remote -r room1 -c halt > /dev/null 2>&1 Conclusion Linbo and especially takes a lot of work off our hands. While we did a lot of “sneaker administration” in the first year, now linbo-remote does it for us. Gone are the days when we ran from computer to computer in school to provide them with a new image. Linbo is for me the best feature of linuxmuster.net and I have not yet got to know any other software that helps us to automatically create a defined state every day. Once the image is on the computer, it also works offline, i.e. the students can reset their computers themselves if something is “broken”. linbo-remote Originally published at openschoolsolutions.org . 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