InstallParty

= InstallParty =

This page should give people an overview to organize their own InstallParty or InstallFestival and is more or less a summary of Linux Installfest HOWTO

Please note that the information on this page is fairly rough and subkect to change

Past InstallParties

 * IULinuxFest2007 - Indianapolis, USA - April 11, 2007
 * FLISOL2007 - April 28, 2007
 * Buenos Aires, Argentina
 * Peru
 * Venezuela
 * Santiago, Chile
 * LinuxTag 2007 - Berlin, Germany - May 31, 2007
 * InstallParty - Strasbourg, France - November 22, 2006
 * FLISOL 2006 South america - March 25, 2006

Humans
The need for event helpers depends on the size of the event.


 * Coordinator: contact for all other participants and person in charge
 * Host: has the connection to the owner of the location
 * Sponsor: represents an organization that provides the location, equipment, network, materials, food, beverages, etc. to the install party
 * Receptionist: Greets people as they come in. Can guide them to the restrooms or the nearest computer store. Is the "mother" at the event.
 * Supporter: People who are knowledgeable about Linux and are willing to share their knowledge and provide hands-on assistance to users who needs help
 * Technician: Sets up and maintains hardware and network services (NFS, DNS, DHCP)

and of course a lot of users...

Location
There are some basic requirements about the location.


 * Easy access to the location (elevators are required for disabled people and carring hardware to the venue)
 * Internet access for downloading special packages and updates as well as for testing
 * Adequate power supply for computers.

Not completely necessary, but strongly suggested


 * Enough parking places
 * Access with public transport
 * Telephone line for testing modems
 * Access to the circuit breakers

Hardware
There are two ways to do it.


 * 1) Installations from physical media
 * 2) Network installations

Installations with media
If you choose to let the people do their installations from CD-Rs or DVDs, there must be a place to burn the Fedora images to physical media. Or you may have enough Fedora media with you for all guests. Make a point to discuss ahead of the event whether people need to bring in blank-cd's or burners.

Network installations
The server which provide the access to the installation files should have the following services running.


 * DNS
 * DHCP
 * PXE
 * mirroring of all architectures (x86, x86_64 and ppc)

Without PXE there is still a need for a boot media to start up the installation process. It's easiser for you when there are multiple methods of accessing the installation files on the server because not everybody knows all protocols. ( an article about the installation of Fedora without media in german).


 * NFS
 * HTTP
 * FTP
 * (rcp)

A big poster with all information about the server would be useful too (IP adress of the DHCP server, gateway and installation server, path to the files). You will need some networking equipment like gigabit-switches and cables. If your Install Party is hosted at an university you can ask the information service team for using their local area network (sometimes it's possible to use servers or mirrors too).

Information for the visitors
Please advise the visitors of your event whether or not to bring. Every part mean: monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, USB and firewire devices, power strip and network cable. Very often the guests will only bring their laptops along because desktop systems are too heavy.

It's possible that some guests want to install Fedora on very old/slow systems in an attempt to make them usable. This is Ok, but make sure you lookup the requirements for the latest fedora distribution.

Food and Beverages
Due to the duration of the InstallParty you should consider the availability of food and drinks for the visitors. Visitors are likely to leave earlier if they arnt able to drink/eat at the location.