How do you set up a barebones server with no compiler or package manager?

I originally set it up by copying the necessary files from my home computer, but now the time has come to make some changes, and I'm hoping there's a better way.

Thanks!

Is your decision to eliminate compiler and package-manager relative to disk space or what?

Sorry, maybe I should have been more clear.

The server is with Linode, and it comes with a "barebones" setup which does not include a compiler. I prefer Slackware for my distribution (there are others to choose from), which does not include a package manager.

When you perform the installation, go through the long form and de-select the options that you don't want. You can also do this via the installation menu, but it will probably be a tedious task.

I don't do the installation and have no control over what software comes pre-installed. I can only choose the OS.

That is too bad. This leaves you with a few options:
1 - slackpkg remove will manually remove the application you specify. For example, if you have firefox installed, slackpkg remove firefox will let you remove it.
2 - slackpkg clean-system:
3 - pkgtool: a curses menu based utility that will list the installed packages and let you select which ones to remove.

If you have any doubt about what packages you really need for a minimal install, look at slackware mirrors. There should be a couple of options for mini installations that you could mirror. If I recall correctly, the documentation (slackbook) also stipulates which package groups you *need* during an install. You could remove everything but the items listed in that particular group.

In any case, I wouldn't be over zealous in any one step. You could remove something and then find you can't reboot, so be careful.

First, find a machine with the same Slackware version you have in your Linode virtual machine.
Second, use scp to copy the desired packages to Linode machine.
Third, ssh in to Linode machine and installpkg the packages you previously copied.

For an idea on what packages you need to get slackpkg working, check here.
Once you get slackpkg working, use it to install more packages from the repository (even the full distro if you want).

Hi Norway2, thanks for the response.

This is certainly less customizable than running your own server, but at least you don't have to be responsible for the hardware. IME, this kind of barebones setup is the norm with servers like this.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my initial responses... the issue isn't that there is too much software, the issue is that there is not enough. I don't need to remove anything, I need to add the normal server software (ie, apache, mysql, etc) without a compiler or package manager.

Again, I will not be doing the installation, nor will I have any control over what software is installed when I gain control of it.

Thanks, Slax-Dude. I was under the impression that installpkg and slackpkg required a compiler. I generally install things from source, so I don't have any experience with them. I will try your steps.

What about slapt-get... will that work without a compiler?

I am not so sure about slapt-get, I haven't used it, but it looks like it has a glibc dependency which might mean compilation. It is supposed to be a lot more "apt" like in dependency resolving. In reality, this isn't too big of a problem and the dependencies are usually resolved with one or two quick installs. Normally, I would recommend the slackbuilds repository as I too usually build from source on Slackware and being a "source based" distro is one of the things that I like about it.

To be honest, I completely misunderstood your requirement as they would have installed a full install of slackware and you were trying to pare it back to a minimal one, not that you had too little stuff. Sorry.

The slackware mirrors should have binaries you can install (.tgz format) and use installpkg to add them. You may also want to look at alien bob's repository as it contains a lot of things that aren't in the standard mirrors and are not building from source.

Thanks for the help everyone. I have verified that the server has slackpkg installed. I haven't had the time to set it up yet, but I think this will solve my issue.

Just another update, I set up the server yesterday, and slackpkg worked great. The only snag was with httpd.. there were a number of dependencies I also had to install. After some research to figure out which Slackware package contained each missing lib, it now runs fine.