MT Server has officially moved into alpha testing.
This does not mean the system is ready for general public installation yet. It means the core architecture, installer work, and automated validation have reached the point where the next job is to start proving the system on real hardware and with real users.
Where the Project Is Now
The current MT Server alpha test media uses one external 64 GB USB flash drive carrying both the Debian installer and the MT Server payload. In a fully disconnected virtual machine with no network adapter at all, that media has already installed Debian, rebooted, rediscovered and verified its local payload, loaded the MT Server controller and containers, and completed the backend setup without needing the Internet.
- 478 automated tests are passing.
- The external 64 GB alpha test USB payload has been prepared and verified by checksum and readback.
- Post-copy filesystem checking has passed.
- The media tooling verifies the exact target device, partition layout, payload state, and installer identity before allowing writes.
- The next immediate step is the disposable physical target-machine install after the final read-only media checks.
What Alpha Means for MT Server
Alpha is where the project stops asking only, “Does the design make sense?” and starts asking, “Does this keep working when we put it on real, imperfect computers and hand it to real people?”
The first alpha work will concentrate on physical installation, hardware compatibility, service selection, recovery, documentation, and the kinds of failures that only show up once software leaves the development bench.
MT Server is being designed around one complete release stick rather than separate product editions. The planned production release uses an external 128 GB USB flash drive carrying the supported containers for that release. The default household services are simply what come on first; other supported services can be selected or deselected according to the job the machine needs to do and what its hardware can safely support.
Real Hardware, Real Households
The next phase will expand from disposable lab hardware into a wider collection of donated and reused systems, then into controlled real-world household testing. That matters because MT Server is not being built for one perfect machine. It is being built for the uneven desktops, small servers, reused drives, and ordinary home networks people can actually obtain.
Nontechnical testers are especially important. If somebody needs a Linux administrator standing beside them to understand the setup, use the dashboard, or recover from a basic problem, then the job is not finished.
Recovery Is Part of Alpha Too
A major MT Server requirement is that the original server computer must be replaceable. The planned production recovery model uses the external 128 GB MT Server installation USB plus the recommended external backup drive and a compatible replacement computer with suitable drives.
The server hardware is replaceable. The users’ data is not.
The backup and restore system will not be called production-ready until MT Server passes a destructive clean-machine offline recovery test with the original server treated as completely lost.
Want to Help With Alpha?
We need people who know Linux, people who absolutely do not, spare hardware, unusual hardware, households willing to test, documentation readers, and people willing to fund a few development or testing hours.
There will also be a few test rigs available for selected testers who want to participate but do not have a desktop computer they can dedicate to MT Server.
Testing / help: [email protected]
Project: danpetersdesigns.com/mt-server