Netshot on a RaspberryPi

The installation of Netshot on a RaspberryPi is not only a proof of concept. This could be of great help in some situations!!

Most of the time, the network where end users seat has a limited access to network devices, or no access at all.

From this starting point, you have two options :

• relax security rules and open management flows from end users LAN to your network devices,
• when first option is too complicated, or not feasible, you can imagine that a temporary access to network devices is enough.

Because Netshot is not a chatty and noisy solution, you can schedule your snapshots only when you need refresh, and use a small and portable RasberryPi to do this!

To install Netshot on a RaspberryPi, you basically have to follow the Debian installation rules, and pay attention to Java 8 installation on an ARM processor:

1. Download JDK8 for ARM processors: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-arm-downloads-2187472.html
2. Extract archive to a local dir on your PI:

   $ sudo tar zxvf jdk-8-linux-arm-vfp-hflt.tar.gz

3. Update alternatives:

   $ sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/path/to/bin/java" 1 $ sudo update-alternatives --set java /path/to/bin/java

Now you should have a working JRE on your Pi, check this out:

$ java -version java version "1.8.0_06" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_06-b23) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 25.6-b23, mixed mode)

When you need to refresh the snapshots:

1. plug the PI close to the network devices (or even into the network devices management ports)
2. update http.baseurl
3. Enjoy!!