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I subscribed a few weeks ago at the fedora-devel-list to see if they could help. Following those messages, I think they keep working on the stateless. So I think the project isn't abandoned, as ikke asks. One of the first messages I saw there, was about an error in one of those scripts for stateless stuff, but not in the one we have problems with. A dev replied and made some changes in CVS, so I think they're still active.

A week ago, I tried to send an e-mail to that list with a description about our problem. I recieved a message back that I'm not a member of that list (but I am subscribed and listed on their page! yes, it was with the correct e-mail address) and that my message must be approved by a moderator. Now, I still haven't seen my message on the list, no replies, no message from moderator.

Now, I searched bugzilla, but I couldn't find a bug with the word "stateless" in it. Hmm, doesn't sound good, does it? So, I created an account there to submit our "bug". It tells me a new account is created and a message is sent to my mailbox. Half an hour later, still no message.

But now, while I'm typing this, the message arrives. So, I reported Bug 142629. Let's hope they pay attention to it and help us and maybe some others solve this problem.

Ikke and myself did some new efforts to get the stateless-snapshooter to work, but it was no use. First, I'll post the error that started it all:

[root@ftwlinux /]# stateless-snapshooter --list
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/share/stateless/stateless-snapshooter.py", line 22, in ?
import gtk
File "/usr/src/build/435489-i386/install/usr/lib/python2.3/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py",
line 37, in ?
RuntimeError: could not open display
[root@ftwlinux /]# stateless-snapshooter --new --protosystem LVStateless1
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/share/stateless/stateless-snapshooter.py", line 22, in ?
import gtk
File "/usr/src/build/435489-i386/install/usr/lib/python2.3/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py",
line 37, in ?
RuntimeError: could not open display

First I tried to adjust the old stateless-snapshooter.py file, by deleting all but one 'gtk' commands/calls/whatever :-P . This is the 'best' output I got:

[root@ftwlinux snapshooter]# sh stateless-snapshooter --list
Protosystems:
LVStateless1
[root@ftwlinux snapshooter]# sh stateless-snapshooter --new
--protosystem LVStateless1
[root@ftwlinux snapshooter]# ( 0%)

The snapshooting started, but failed immediately. No errors, however. So I changed everything back to the way it was, and left for class. XX(

After class, Ikke joined me, and we spent some time updating the entire system to Fedora Core 3 (stable, as it should be on a server). Again there were a few problems though. First some 404-errors (Ikke's fault :-P ), and then header errors, until we adjusted the /etc/yum.conf file so it would download everything from the Belnet server. That did the trick :. .

No luck with the snapshooting though, even with an up to date system. We got a could not connect to display error. In the mean time, we're starting to worry about the (very) low activity of the Fedora Stateless project...

This is my first post on this blog, so I'll introduce myself first. I'm studying engineering at the same faculty as Peter and Ikke. I'm rather new to GNU/Linux (5 months), but I learned a lot by setting up my Gentoo system. Peter asked me to help with the FS@U project, because he and Ikke are quite busy atm.

Peter thought of three solutions for the GTK-problem:

1. Downloading the new CVS-version


2. Asking/begging for help on the fedora-devel mailinglist


3. Changing the script by hand, and removing graphical references

I went for the first option. Unfortunately, logging in to the CVS failed. There's not much to do about it. It's just not possible (subnet stuff) and we don't have any permissions to change that.

But Ikke came up with a solution. We're planning to download the CVS-version on a different computer, upload it to some webspace and download it back on the server. Find out if this will solve the GTK problem in the next post.

Now, we're blocked. We followed the nice tutorial, but we have quite a problem on chapter 4, Creating a snapshot of a prototype system. When we try to execute stateless-snapshooter --list or stateless-snapshooter --new --protosystem DemoSystem or even just stateless-snapshooter, we recieve a message that some GTK libraries are not found. On a server, we think X and so GTK is not necessary, even not wanted. The tutorial also says that this is a command-line tool, but when it needs GTK, I don't think so. I also can't imagine that we are the only ones running a stateless server without GTK, so is there anybody who encountered the same problem and fixed or worked around it? Please let us know.

Sorry, I can't give the exact error message. I'm at home now and our server is only reachable from within it's own subnet. I'll post the message here as fast as possible, normally monday.