Regional Contest OS Image Installation Instructions

1. Overview

This page describes how to set up a machine to run the current PacNW Regional Contest OS image (the "Contest OS"). The contest image consists of the Ubuntu Linux operating system and its tools and utilities, together with contest-specific software such as various IDEs and language compilers to be used for the Regional Contest. The Contest OS image is based on, and directly derived from, the ICPC World Finals OS image.

There are essentially two approaches which can be used to set up a machine to run the Contest OS. The first involves creating a bootable thumb drive ("chip") containing the Contest OS. Booting a machine from this chip will cause the machine to start running the Contest OS.

The second approach involves first creating a bootable thumb drive, and then copying the Contest OS from the thumb drive onto an internal drive of the machine. After doing this, booting the machine from the selected internal drive will cause the machine to start running the Contest OS. Note that this second approach (installing the Contest OS onto an internal drive) starts with first creating a bootable thumb drive.

The following sections describe both the above approaches: first, creating a bootable thumb drive containing the Contest OS, and then (if desired) copying the Contest OS onto an internal drive.

Note: if you are a contest administrator or staff member involved in managing multiple Contest OS machines (for example, setting up a laboratory to host multiple teams, or managing and updating the Contest OS configuration), you may be interested in additional information provided at Additional Information for Contest Administrators. Also, if you have trouble with the following instructions you may find the information on this Troubleshooting page to be helpful.

2. Creating a Bootable Thumb Drive Chip

1. Download pac2024-2024-11-14_image-amd64.img.gz onto your computer. This is the compressed IMG (image) file (6.3 GBytes).
   • Checksums for the image can be found here:   MD5   SHA1   SHA256   SHA512
   • A list of packages included in the image can be found here.
   • A list of Python3 modules included in the image can be found here.

2. Burn the IMG file onto a USB chip as a bootable image . The USB chip onto which you burn the image file is referred to as the "bootable chip".

   There are many tools which can be used to create a bootable chip from the downloaded compressed image file. One such tool for creating an image using a Windows system is Rufus (more information can be found here). Another tool is Balena Etcher, which we have tested under both MS Windows and MacOS. Both these tools will uncompress the image file automatically.

   We have used both of the above tools successfully many times. However, you can use any tool you like as long as it can create an EFI bootable image from the compressed (or manually uncompressed) IMG file.

   Be sure to see Additional Notes, below, for further information regarding constraints on USB chips.

3. If you need to customize the Contest OS image in any way (for example to handle local site-specific setup (printers, firewall changes, etc.)), then execute the following steps.
   • Boot a machine using the bootable thumb drive chip.
   • Customize the image as needed.
   • If using this chip to create duplicates, execute the following commands:

     		sudo -i
     		echo -n > /etc/machine-id
     		

   • Shut down the machine.

   You now have a USB chip with the fully-configured Contest OS image on it; we call this the "Contest OS chip".

3. Installing the Contest OS Onto An Internal Drive

This section only applies if you want to install the Contest OS onto your machine's hard drive (e.g. disk or SSD). If you want to run the Contest OS directly from the Contest OS USB chip, skip this section and proceed to the next one.

1. FIRST, follow the steps above to create a "bootable thumb drive chip" (a "Contest OS chip").
2. Obtain a second USB flash drive, which (like the bootable thumb drive Contest OS chip) must be at least 32GB.
3. Create a bootable "Clonezilla Live" on the second 32GB USB chip. The steps to do this are described at this page; essentially they instruct you to do the following:
   • Download the ISO file for the stable version of Clonezilla from Clonezilla.org.
   • Use a tool such as Rufus or Etcher (see above) to burn that ISO file onto the second USB chip.
   We refer to this second USB chip as the "Clonezilla chip".
4. Take the two chips (the Contest OS chip and the Clonezilla chip) to a machine onto which you wish to install the Contest OS on the hard drive. With the machine powered off, insert both chips into the machine.
5. Boot the machine from the Clonezilla USB chip. This will put you at a menu. Using that menu, perform the following steps:
   • Choose Clonezilla Live
   • Select the language
   • Select Start Clonezilla
   • Select "device-to-device" copying
   • Select "Beginner mode" (unless you are brave)
   • Select "disk to disk" (to specify copying the entire chip)
   • Pick the Contest OS chip as the "source disk"
   • Pick the internal disk as the "destination disk"
   • Accept the default choice to skip file system checking
   • Select option "-k1" to indicate creation of proportional partition tables
   • Select which option you want to happen after Clonezilla is done.
   • Answer the prompt questions appropriately (e.g. "continue?")

   When this finishes, you have installed the Contest OS on the selected internal ("destination") disk.

4. Running the Contest Image

To run the contest image, boot a computer from either the bootable thumb drive Contest OS chip created above, or from the internal drive onto which you have installed the Contest OS. This will start the contest image; you can login to the OS using the username team and password contest. Logging in will will put you at the Linux desktop configured as it will be for team machines at the Regional Contest.

5. Additional Notes

1. On many machines, pressing the the F12 key during the power-on sequence will allow you to select the boot device; on other machines it may be the F10 key or some other key.
2. You may have to make sure that booting from a USB chip is allowed in the BIOS configuration setup screen.
3. You may have to disable "Secure Booting" in the BIOS.
4. The USB chip (thumb drive) onto which you burn the bootable image must be at least 32GB.
5. In our experience, the USB bootable thumb drive should be at LEAST USB 3.2 Gen 1 or higher; anything less will likely be too slow to use effectively during a contest. You will get the best performance out of a USB 3.2 Gen 2 (or higher) device. (Those who are curious about the differences between various "USB 3" devices might be interested in this page.)
6. The bootable thumb drive must be inserted into a USB port that supports at least USB 3.2 Gen 1 or higher on the installation machine.

We've tried to make installing the Contest OS image as easy and as universally-compatible as possible. However, creating a single installation which can be easily installed on the literally thousands of machine hardware configurations which exist is a nearly impossible task; it's understandable that it might not go perfectly for you. If you are having problems with installing the Contest OS, this page contains a few notes which may be helpful.

Revised: Sat Nov 16 17:18:18 UTC 2024