Auto-Reset
While in an ideal world, everyone would have their own laptop, there are situations where a group of laptops might be shared by a number of users, such as in a lab or shared mobile cart. Such an environment presents unique challenges, as various users can change settings, files, etc, thus causing a general degradation in quality of experience for each subsequent user. While the default quick restore features may work for some, others might want a more static experience, where user settings are reset to defaults after each reboot. Ubermix offers three auto-restore options that make this sort of configuration possible, as follows:
- Restore OS at startup (retain user files): Restores the default system software and settings every time a machine starts. This does not affect user files, just the system software, programs, and default settings (like wireless passwords, etc).
- Restore user home at startup: Erases any user files, but retains any programs or system software changes. Choose this if you want to enable users to add custom programs and software, but also want to prevent users from leaving anything behind or changing application settings.
- Restore both: Completely restores the machine to your defaults. All software changes and user files will be removed.
Setting these options will cost less than 30 seconds at boot time, and take place without any user intervention. To configure your ubermix system to auto-restore, follow these steps:
- Follow the steps on the Customization page to configure your system as you wish for it to remain after each auto restore. You'll want to follow steps under the section titled "Rebuilding the base image" to get your base system configuration exactly like you want it.
- Reboot the computer and press ESC immediately after your computer manufacturer's splash screen disappears (you should see a flashing cursor in the top left corner for a few seconds - press the escape key within 3 seconds to view the menu.)
- Select "Normal Boot" from the menu (but don't press enter) and press the "e" key on your keyboard
- Select the line in the box that begins with the word "initrd" and move the cursor to the end of the line. Backspace over the four letters "aufs" and replace them with "generic". Do not add any spaces.
- Press "ctrl+x" on your keyboard to boot. The system will boot with the User Changes space disabled, allowing you to run directly from the (ordinarily locked) "Default System" space.
- Press "ctrl-alt-t" to open a terminal window, and type "sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg" (without the quotes)
- When the grub.cfg file appears on your screen for editing, locate the section that starts with "Normal Boot". Place your cursor at the end of the line that ends with "splash" and add a space, followed by one of the following (no quotes): "aufs=restore_os", "aufs=restore_home", or "aufs=restore_both"
- Save the grub.cfg file
The next time your system reboots, the restore operation will occur at startup.
