Creating custom Linux appliances with SUSE Studio
I have been playing with SUSE Studio for quite some time, and it never fails to amaze me. In short, it’s a utility that allows you to build your own SuSE-based Linux: you start with a general selection (openSUSE, SLES, KDE, Gnome, a JeOS , …), add 
repositories and packages. Then you add your configuration: set your locale and keyboard, add users, rig the network settings and the firewall, add custom backgrounds and logos, add license(s) that have to be accepted by the end user, add your own files and folders, add your custom post-built/post-boot/first boot scripts … and change many more things.
After that, it’s time for building: you can create USB images, live CDs (.iso files), XEN guests and VMware / VirtualBox / KVM (.vmdk) appliances. Built time is just a few minutes, and you can either download your appliance or take it for a test drive it right away, on the SUSE Studio servers. For that, you can connect to the web server of your appliance, log in via SSH, or have the desktop displayed in an applet within your web browser.
One of the most interesting features of SUSE Studio is the ability to keep the changes you make in your test drive. In other words: you don’t have to stick with the web interface for refining your appliance, but you can apply the more delicate refinements in a live system.
The SUSE Gallery hosts an impressive number of appliances that were made with SUSE Studio. Let me highlight just a few examples:
- Android Developer’s Desktop Remix – an Android development environment, based on openSUSE
- BrowserBox – 22 versions of 13 different web browsers (Android Browser, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Lynx, Opera, …)
- iFolder Server – run your own iFolder file synchronization server
- Chrome OS – well, mostly Google Chrome
