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This question is cross posted from Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7113768/stripping-ubuntu-10-04-server-down-to-jeos-like-setup

I am setting up a web application to run on cloud servers that will be created and destroyed programmatically via a supplied API. For my purposes I want a stripped down version of ubuntu like JeOS, to which I would be adding Node.js and some Node modules. The server company offers the ability to create custom system images by taking an image of a running server but my initial server needs to be booted with an image provided by them, in this case an Ubuntu 10.04 LAMP image. I would therefore need to strip out the unneeded packages. What is the safe way to accomplish this? Is there a list somewhere of what is included in JeOS or something similar so I can determine what is unsafe to remove?

I want to note that I have read similar questions where uses are trying to strip the server down for performance reasons, where the key is minimizing the number of running processes and memory usage. In my situation I am looking to minimize the image size to reduce the time it takes to create a new server

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  • Actually, aptitude and apt-get (and also dpkg) will not let you remove critical packages, such as bash, upstart, etc. I've also needed a stripped down install of Ubuntu Server before, but I just ran dpkg -l | grep ^a and just went through the package list alphabetically, removing anything that it would allow me to remove. I don't know of any better way to do this. Aug 19, 2011 at 21:17
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    Feb 24, 2012 at 9:55

2 Answers 2

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I think what you want is called Ubuntu Core.

Ubuntu Core is a minimal rootfs for use in the creation of custom images for specific needs. Ubuntu Core strives to create a suitable minimal environment for use in Board Support Packages, constrained or integrated environments, or as the basis for application demonstration images. It is available for the i386, amd64, and armel architectures.

Here's a build example. Hope this helps.

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Turnkey Linux ha a couple minimal versions, one of which is called literally 'Bootstrap JEOS', based off 10.04 LTS server. Might be worth looking into, although their 'Core' image might be more useful, or just use their default LAMP image and be done with it...

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    I'm not sure how this is an answer to my question. I specifically mentioned that I do not have the option to start from a different base image than the standard LAMP image provided by the server company. The standard lamp image is not however what I want to end up with. Aug 20, 2011 at 4:38
  • Well if you can't use any other images other than the ones the service provider provides... the Turnkey images could at least be instructional as to what you can strip out, and possibly asking over on their forums might get you the specific answers you need.
    – memilanuk
    Aug 21, 2011 at 3:17

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