REVIEW: SUSE Studio Is a Boon for Organizations Using Novell's Linux Distros (
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SUSE Studio is a Web-based service for creating custom operating system and
application bundles—also known as software appliances—based on Novell's family
of SUSE Linux-based operating systems.
The free service, which recently concluded its limited beta period and is
now broadly accessible, is part of Novell's SUSE Appliance Program—an
initiative intended to streamline product delivery and maintenance for ISVs by
enabling them to bundle their wares with everything required for direct
deployment to virtual, physical or cloud-based infrastructure.
For
images of SUSE Studio in action, click here.
However, SUSE Studio could prove very useful for any individual or
organization that uses Novell's Linux distributions. That's because while
Novell's Linux offerings include an assortment of typical roles that can be selected
at install time—such as those for installing a file server or Web server, or
for setting up a GNOME or KDE desktop—those
default options offer a relatively narrow range of customization.
Taking advantage of the full breadth of software component and configuration
options available to SUSE Linux, or any other popular Linux distribution,
requires post-install tweaks such as registering new software repositories,
uncovering application dependencies and modifying various configuration files.
During my tests of SUSE Studio, I was able to carry out most of these
customization tasks before ever booting into my custom Linux images using the
service's excellent Web interface. In particular, I found that SUSE Studio
significantly streamlined the task of locating applications or application
versions not available in the default SUSE repositories through integration
with the openSUSE Build Service.
Build Service enables users to create packages for various Linux
distributions from source code, much like the Personal Package Archives service
for Ubuntu Linux. When I couldn't find a particular package in the default
repositories, SUSE Studio offered to search in all compatible Build Service
repositories.
After setting those pre-boot customizations, I could call on SUSE
Studio's “test drive” feature to boot up and log into my custom images before
downloading and running them on my own hardware. I was also impressed to find
that I could pull up a list of any files I modified during my test drive, and
add those changes to the appliance image to be applied after another build
operation.
SUSE Studio isn't the first tool or service to take on Linux-based software
appliance creation. For instance, the rBuilder 5.2 product from rPath that I recently
reviewed has been around for a few years now, and takes on a broader set of
appliance management and deployment tasks than does SUSE Studio.
For example, SUSE Studio doesn't match the breadth of Linux distribution
support of rBuilder 5.2. What's more, Novell's new service supports fewer
virtualization and cloud computing services as targets for deployment, and
currently offers no facilities for directly launching or terminating the
virtual instances it creates.
With that said, SUSE Studio handles appliance creation tasks better, by far,
than any such tool I've tested.
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