I recently tried to setup an Arch Linux VPS and whilst it did what I wanted it to do the fact that it started off with the 2010 install media it made it a little harder with more changes required than I would have liked when getting the VPS off the ground.

It would be great if you could update the default Arch Linux install to use the latest install media (2011-08-19).

http://www.archlinux.org/news/20110819- ... ion-media/

Oh and just as an aside the current Arch Linux default install includes a mirror list which is completely out of date so you have to generate a new mirror list on Arch Linux's website which is a bit inconvenient.

Speaking as someone who runs Arch, and frequently rebuilds his node from scratch, I don't see how the age of the Arch deploy image matters.

You deploy it, ssh in, run pacman -Syu, it updates pacman, you run the pacman-db-upgrade or whatever, pacman -Syu again, and it brings you completely up to date. If you look, doing that gives you an updated /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.pacnew, which should have up to date mirrors in it. That said, getting a new mirrors list is one of my first steps, because I then speed test it to ensure I get the fastest mirror.

Sure, it's not a big deal but there are things that require more work than you would have to if it had the more up to date install image. Such as things that have been replaced in Arch Linux since the old install image was deployed plus you also need to run through the 5 or 6 .pacnew files in /etc to make sure that the current ones are properly configured.

Since Arch is on a rolling release, they'd have to update the Arch image every time a package in their image was updated in order for it to be considered up-to-date. They should only update the image every time the package manager configuration changes. From the thread, I'd say it has, and if so, the image SHOULD be updated. I don't use Arch, though, so I can't say if it needs updating.

Thank you for sharing then.

You're welcome?

It's rolling but they release a base iso every six months or so, which is what I think the OP is referring to. Still nothing a pacman -Syu wouldn't fix, from the user's perspective.

IMO a rolling release distro doesn't need a new image on Linode every six months, just as long as the package manager is properly configured in that image. I'm sure it would help to have the image updated every year just to cut back on the number of upgrades needed, but it doesn't need two updates each year, that is a bit much.

Well the mirror list contained with it is out of date which means you need 5 minutes or so to put the latest one in, plus you need to go though a few files in /etc to make sure you have the correct stuff. While it is not essential it would certainly be useful.

Really this is one of the most significant releases in terms of what you end up with at the end of an install. The initramfs changes, kernel bump and shear size of the update all require a level of care and time that wouldn't hurt to avoid.

Also, wasn't it closer to 15 months since the last install media release? I use a 2 year old disc to do net installs locally, which does a great job of making the whole upgrade exercise easy. As a rolling release I think Arch has gotten in the habit of only releasing new install media when there are major changes to Arch itself or installer features.

Sure anyone using Arch all the time can get it running from the old images (even if it is basically a core install) but it's definitely a time consuming task and easy for people just getting started with Arch to have problems with.

I have a stackscript that goes through and updates to the latest revision as part of instance deployment. It hasn't been too much of a headache, but would like to see the base Linode image updated as well.

The latest Arch Linux installation media (2011.08.19) is now available from the "Deploy Linux Distribution" list at this time. Enjoy!

Excellent . Got myself a weekend project now.