LTSP Installation Guides and Documentation: Where to Find Them

The Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) publishes its installation guides, documentation, and support resources on ltsp.org. The site organizes material into Documentation (Preparation, Installation, Raspberry Pi OS, Personal Package Archive, Netboot clients), Man pages, Guides, and community channels including a Chat room and Coding pages. If you are setting up LTSP for the first time, start with the Installation page linked from the Documentation section.

What the LTSP Website Offers

The site is structured around a few main areas, each serving a different stage of work:

The Documentation section is the practical starting point. "Preparation" covers what to have ready before installing; "Installation" is the main setup path; "Raspberry Pi OS" addresses that specific platform; "Personal Package Archive" covers the PPA; and "Netboot clients" deals with client-side booting.

How to Use the Man Pages

The Man pages section is a reference library rather than a tutorial. Each page documents one component:

• ltsp — the main command
• ltsp.conf — configuration file format
• ltsp-dnsmasq — dnsmasq integration
• ltsp-image — image creation
• ltsp-info — system information
• ltsp-initrd — initial ramdisk handling
• ltsp-ipxe — network boot loader
• ltsp-kernel — kernel handling
• ltsp-nfs — NFS serving
• ltsp-remoteapps — remote application support

Use these when you need exact syntax or option details, not when you are learning the overall workflow.

What LTSP Configures for You

Understanding what LTSP automates helps you know which man pages matter for your setup. According to the project, LTSP automatically configures and uses:

• iPXE — network boot loader showing the client boot menu and loading kernel/initrd
• dnsmasq or isc-dhcp-server — DHCP server assigning client IPs, or ProxyDHCP when another DHCP server (such as a router) is present
• dnsmasq or tftpd-hpa — TFTP server sending iPXE/kernel/initrd to clients
• dnsmasq — optional DNS server for caching or blacklisting
• mksquashfs — creates a compressed copy of the template image/chroot/VM used as the client root
• NFS or NBD — serves the squashfs image over the network
• tmpfs and overlayfs — make the squashfs image temporarily writable per client, similar to live CDs
• NFS or SSHFS — access the user's /home directory on the server
• SSH, SSHFS, or LDAP — authenticate users against the server

This is why the man pages list entries like ltsp-dnsmasq and ltsp-nfs: each maps to one of these integrated tools.

New LTSP vs. LTSP5

The project states that LTSP was redesigned and rewritten from scratch in 2019 by alkisg to support systemd, updated desktop environments, Wayland, UEFI, and similar technologies. Only the new version is actively developed; the older version is now called LTSP5 and is in minimal maintenance mode. If you are following a guide, check whether it targets the current version or LTSP5, since instructions are not interchangeable.

Getting Help

Beyond the documentation, the site links to a Chat room for community support and a Coding section for development. The GitHub repository holds the source. For installation questions, the Documentation → Installation path plus the relevant man pages will usually answer what you need; the chat room is the fallback for problems not covered there.