Last updated: 10-05-2014 23:20

1. Computer systems: environments
   • 1.1. Workstation
   • 1.2. Server
   • 1.3. Desktop
2. Migration or coexistence
   • 2.1. Identify service requirements
   • 2.2. Migration process
   • 2.3. Migration workshop
3. Exercise 1 - Office365 Interoperability
4. Exercise 2 - Bulk convert MS Office format to Open Document Format

1. Computer systems: environments

1.1. Workstation

Tends to be a high performance machine used for a specific task instead of a general set of tasks.

1.2. Server

Offers services to other machines on the network: it offers a clearly distinct set of characteristics or functionality from other machines.

• Applications
• Files
• Database
• Printing
• E-mail
• Webserver
• Network information
• Names services
• Remote access services
• Name generation services
• Internet access services
• Filtering services

1.3. Desktop

Routine everyday computer tasks.

2. Migration or coexistence

Migrating to a new system is no trivial matter, it needs to be evaluated through a study that analyses both the costs and the beneficial features that we expect to obtain. Also, migration can be done in full or in part, with a certain degree of coexistence with former systems.

Once we start migrating to GNU/Linux, we will start to notice the advantages the system brings to our organisation:

• Costs
• Support
  • GNU/Linux offers the best maintenance support that any operating system has ever had, and it is mostly free.
  • Linux Howto's: The Linux Documentation Project

2.1. Identify service requirements

One of the first things that we will find is that we are not lacking support for any type of service we want. If anything, there will be differences in the way of doing things.

2.2. Migration process

In the migration process, we need to consider how we want to migrate and if we want to migrate totally or partially, coexisting with other services or equipment that has a different operating system.

We can migrate various elements, whether the services we offer, the machines that offer the services or the clients who access the services.

Elements that can be migrated include:

1. Services
   • Web applications
   • Databases
2. Workstation
3. Desktop client machines
   • Windows pre-installed
   • User reluctance
   • Simplicity
   • Transparency
   • Support
     • Opensource as an alternative
     • Linux alternative applications

2.3. Migration workshop

Consider the following case studies:

2.3.1. Individual migration of a Windows desktop user to a GNU/Linux system

• Dual boot
• VirtualBox / KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) Virtualisation.
• Sharing data between systems.
  • Indirect method - USB Stick, etc..
  • Direct method - File system mounting between OS's.
• Use of applications
  • dosemu
  • wine
  • XoverOffice
  • LibreOffice/Abiword/Koffice

2.3.2. Migration of a small organisation with Windows systems and a few UNIX

Migration within an organisation (even a small one) has several difficulties: we will have different work environments and heterogeneous software, and, once more, users who are resistant to change.

1. Migration of PC and SPARC to GNU/Linux.
2. Development environments, C, C++ and Java languages are easily portable.
3. Office users
   • Officesuite, browser and e-mail; LibreOffice, Firefox/Chrome, Thunderbird.
   • Office 365 - Calendar ???
4. Printers - Print Server, users CUPS.
5. Fileserver, SAMBA.

2.3.3. Migration of a standalone Windows server to a SAMBA server running GNU/ Linux

Basic required process for a migration from a Windows server that shares files and a printer to a SAMBA server in a GNU/Linux system.

• SMB/CIFS in GNU/Linux.
• smbd and nmbd daemons.
  • smbd process manages clients' requests from shared files or printers.
  • nmbd process
    • manages the machines' names system and resources under the NetBIOS protocol.
    • WINS Services (DNS & DHCP type service).
• smbfs and cifs Module support in Kernel.
• Install sudo apt-get install samba, samba-common, smbclient, smbfs

SAMBA 3 Server by example

2.3.3.1. GNU/Linux as a SAMBA Client

Regarding the use of GNU/Linux as a SAMBA client, it is fairly simple. Through the use of client commands for occasional use of the file system:

• We mount a Windows shared directory (for instance, host being the name of the Windows server), on an existing predefined mounting point:
  $ smbmount //host/carpeta /mnt/windows

• We will place the access to the Windows folder of the host machine in our local directory, accessing in the directory tree:
  /mnt/windows

• Next, when it is no longer in use we can dismount the resource with:
  $ smbumount /mnt/windows

• If we are not aware of the shared resources, we can obtain a list with:
  $ smbclient -L host

• and we can also use smbclient //host/folder, which is a similar program to an FTP client.

3. Exercise 1 - Office365 Interoperability

A company has a mix of personnel in differing roles, some using Microsoft Windows, some with Apple Mac and the remainder with a flavour of GNU/Linux. The Senior Management decided to impose Micorsoft Office365 on the cmpany for mail, calendar and file sharing services. The Linux users now have a problem as the Office365 browser client is poor. Propose solutions that the GNU/Linux users can use for interoperability.

4. Exercise 2 - Bulk convert MS Office format to Open Document Format

You have downloaded a mix of 100 files from a shared drive. The files are a mix of Microsoft Office Word, Excel and Powerpoint that were created by a previous employee who has now left the company. Propose a method to convert the files to Open Document Format so you can work on the files using LibreOffice while preserving the original files as they were for safekeeping.