Hello list,
Not sure where to start with this so I'll start here.
I have a linux build which I use consistently and includes a series of scripts and customized configuration for packages which have been compiled from source.
It is based on CentOS 6.4 and I was looking at the idea of making it an install-able distribution.
Does anyone know the best way to go about this?
thanks,
ll
I do not fully understand what you're trying to explain.
So, the distribution you are using is not currently installable? Is it a live CD?
You can customize your own distribution. Putting RPMs together and bundling them into an existing distro is not that hard; a lot of people do that an call them "spins".
I have installed CentOS from a minimal install CD to a Virtual Machine. I have then installed numerous packages from either rpm, yum, or from source. So I have a build which is configured and customised in the way I want to redistribute it. It is almost like a virtual appliance. But I would like to think I have the option to reinstall on physical hardware so I have flexibility.
A spin sounds interesting, I think if I could turn this into an installable live CD that would also be good.
What are the options here?
Ah, so you already have a VM image.
There's indeed a way to convert a VM appliance into a bootable/installable ISO. quemu-img does exactly that.
I have never used it though, but I bet Google has several answers on the topic. 
That sounds like just the sort of thing I am looking for.
Now if this works I just need to find a way to install or image the configured state of the Live CD back to physical hardware again.
Also, is there a best practice on what to remove and clean off the vm image before creating a live cd? I want to strip out all of the unnecessarily developments tools and libraries and all else not needed.
Ll
There isn't any standard for this, but as a rule of thumb you don't want to include anything under /opt and /home .
The reverse process (converting an ISO to a VM appliance) should be pretty straightforward since it would essentially involve a standard Linux installation.
Keep in mind that quemu-img only works on installed operating systems. It won't work with a OS that is totally loaded into RAM (such as most Live-CD).