Was bored so I thought I would try this on one of my unused remote servers. http://www.underhanded.org/papers/debian-conversion/remotedeb.html It's a method of formatting your swap partition and installing debian remotely, then changing your boot loader to let you boot from it. It was very good fun and interesting too..... My machine is now dead however, must have done something wrong LOL Will probably try again on a test box at home. If anyone has any experience in something similar, please let me know. Interested to know if Fedora can be installed remotely, maybe with rpmstrap ? Not been able to find much info on it yet.
Hi, here is a small shell script to install DEBIAN remotely. I've used it and it worked for me. The comments and questions are in german, but with a bit shell scripting knowledge you may understand it as well. The script is intended to be run from a net-booted linux rescue system that most server hosting providers are already offering in germany. Code: #!/bin/sh ############################################################## # # v1.6 # 25.03.2003 Christian Ney # # --------------------------------------------------- # Dieses Dokument unterliegt der GPL, # und darf frei kopiert und geändert werden, so lange # die Coprightinformation unverändert beigefügt # wird. # Bei Veröffentlichung und / oder kommerzieller # Nutzung ist der Autor ([email protected]) zu # informieren. # --------------------------------------------------- # # Die Benutzung dieses Scripts erfolgt auf eigene Gefahr # ############################################################## BLOCKS=`/sbin/fdisk -s /dev/hda` SPACE=`expr $BLOCKS / 1024` echo "---------------" echo "Partitionierung" echo "---------------" echo "" echo "Größe für das /-Filesystem (in MB) :" read ROOT LEFT=`expr $SPACE - $ROOT` ALL=$ROOT echo "" echo "OK, / soll also $ROOT MB groß sein. Übrig sind $LEFT MB." echo "" echo "Größe für die swap-Partition in MB :" read SWAP LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $SWAP` ALL=`expr $ALL + $SWAP` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." echo "" echo "Größe für das /boot-Filesystem in MB :" read BOOT LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $BOOT` ALL=`expr $ALL + $BOOT` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "/dev/hda1 -> /boot -> $BOOT MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." echo "" echo "Größe für das /usr-Filesystem in MB :" read USR LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $USR` ALL=`expr $ALL + $USR` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "/dev/hda1 -> /boot -> $BOOT MB" echo "/dev/hda5 -> /usr -> $USR MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." echo "" echo "Größe für das /home-Filesystem in MB :" read HOMEDIR LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $HOMEDIR` ALL=`expr $ALL + $HOMEDIR` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "/dev/hda1 -> /boot -> $BOOT MB" echo "/dev/hda5 -> /usr -> $USR MB" echo "/dev/hda6 -> /home -> $HOMEDIR MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." echo "" echo "Größe für das /tmp-Filesystem in MB :" read TMP LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $TMP` ALL=`expr $ALL + $TMP` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "/dev/hda1 -> /boot -> $BOOT MB" echo "/dev/hda5 -> /usr -> $USR MB" echo "/dev/hda6 -> /home -> $HOMEDIR MB" echo "/dev/hda7 -> /tmp -> $TMP MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." echo "" echo "Größe für das /var-Filesystem in MB (noch frei : $LEFT MB) :" read VAR LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $VAR` ALL=`expr $ALL + $VAR` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "/dev/hda1 -> /boot -> $BOOT MB" echo "/dev/hda5 -> /usr -> $USR MB" echo "/dev/hda6 -> /home -> $HOMEDIR MB" echo "/dev/hda7 -> /tmp -> $TMP MB" echo "/dev/hda8 -> /var -> $VAR MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." if [ "$1" = "--with-opt" ]; then echo "" echo "Größe für das /opt-Filesystem in MB (noch frei : $LEFT MB) :" read OPT LEFT=`expr $LEFT - $OPT` ALL=`expr $ALL + $OPT` echo "" echo "Deine Partitionierung sieht im Moment folgendermaßen aus :" echo "/dev/hda3 -> / -> $ROOT MB" echo "/dev/hda2 -> swap -> $SWAP MB" echo "/dev/hda1 -> /boot -> $BOOT MB" echo "/dev/hda5 -> /usr -> $USR MB" echo "/dev/hda6 -> /home -> $HOMEDIR MB" echo "/dev/hda7 -> /tmp -> $TMP MB" echo "/dev/hda8 -> /var -> $VAR MB" echo "/dev/hda9 -> /opt -> $OPT MB" echo "Übrig sind $LEFT MB." fi if [ $ALL -gt $SPACE ]; then echo "" echo "Plattengröße : $SPACE MB, du willst aber $ALL MB allokieren." echo "Partitionen sind zu groß für die Platte. Abbruch." exit 1 fi echo "" echo "---------------------" echo "Netzwerkkonfiguration" echo "---------------------" echo "" echo "IP-Adresse deines Servers :" read IPADD echo "" NETMASK=255.255.255.0 NETWORK=`echo $IPADD | cut -d "." -f 1,2,3`.0 BROADCAST=`echo $IPADD | cut -d "." -f 1,2,3`.255 GATEWAY=`echo $IPADD | cut -d "." -f 1,2,3`.1 echo "Hostname deines Server (pxxxxx.pureserver.info) :" read HOSTNAME echo "" cd / echo "#!/bin/sh" > ./stage2.sh echo "export IPADD=$IPADD" >> ./stage2.sh echo "export NETMASK=$NETMASK" >> ./stage2.sh echo "export NETWORK=$NETWORK" >> ./stage2.sh echo "export BROADCAST=$BROADCAST" >> ./stage2.sh echo "export GATEWAY=$GATEWAY" >> ./stage2.sh echo "export HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME" >> ./stage2.sh echo "chmod u+x ./stage3.sh" echo "./stage3.sh" >> ./stage2.sh chmod u+x ./stage2.sh # Get Debian-Start wget http://linux.roothell.org/debian-rootie/debian-start.tar.gz tar xzvf ./debian-start.tar.gz # Partitionierung löschen for i in `seq 1 9` do /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda rm $i done # Partitionieren /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart primary ext2 0 $BOOT && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda set 1 boot on && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart primary linux-swap $BOOT `expr $BOOT + $SWAP` && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda set 2 swap on SWAP=`expr $BOOT + $SWAP` /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart primary ext2 $SWAP `expr $SWAP + $ROOT` && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda set 3 root on ROOT=`expr $SWAP + $ROOT` if [ "$1" = "--with-opt" ]; then EXTEND=`expr $ROOT + $USR + $HOMEDIR + $TMP + $VAR + $OPT` else EXTEND=`expr $ROOT + $USR + $HOMEDIR + $TMP + $VAR` fi /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart extended $ROOT $EXTEND && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart logical ext2 $ROOT `expr $ROOT + $USR` && \ USR=`expr $ROOT + $USR` && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart logical ext2 $USR `expr $USR + $HOMEDIR` && \ HOMEDIR=`expr $USR + $HOMEDIR` && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart logical ext2 $HOMEDIR `expr $HOMEDIR + $TMP` && \ TMP=`expr $HOMEDIR + $TMP` && \ /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart logical ext2 $TMP `expr $TMP + $VAR` && \ if [ "$1" = "--with-opt" ]; then VAR=`expr $TMP + $VAR` /sbin/parted -s /dev/hda mkpart logical ext2 $VAR `expr $VAR + $OPT` fi # Filesysteme anlegen if [ "$1" = "--with-opt" ]; then for i in "1" "3" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" do /sbin/mke2fs -j /dev/hda$i done else for i in "1" "3" "5" "6" "7" "8" do /sbin/mke2fs -j /dev/hda$i done fi /sbin/mkswap /dev/hda2 # Filesysteme mounten /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda3 /mnt/debian /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian/boot /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda1 /mnt/debian/boot /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian/usr /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda5 /mnt/debian/usr /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian/home /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda6 /mnt/debian/home /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian/tmp /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda7 /mnt/debian/tmp /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian/var /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda8 /mnt/debian/var if [ "$1" = "--with-opt" ]; then /bin/mkdir /mnt/debian/opt /bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/hda9 /mnt/debian/opt /usr/bin/touch /mnt/debian/opt/tmpfile fi # debootstrap starten /usr/sbin/debootstrap woody /mnt/debian http://ftp.debian.de/debian/ && \ # Stage2-Script ins neue Root verschieben /bin/mv /stage2.sh /mnt/debian/ /bin/mv /stage3.sh /mnt/debian/ # Chroot ins "neue" System /usr/sbin/chroot /mnt/debian /stage2.sh
Cool thanks till. Will have a look at this. All my servers are colo so theres no rescue installed. Wondering if this is something else I can look at doing myself.
I dont know how these companies are managing it. You can select in the server control area wether the server shall boot from its own harddisk or from a network booted rescue systems. I know how to enable netboot in the bios of my PC, but how to manage my bios remotely???
Ah I see Worth trying to find out. Short of having a second BIOS which is switchable, I have no idea... and obviously nobody would go to that trouble would they ? Anyone know how it's done ? And yeah, I had a oneandone server until I realised my mistake, they had a system like this Thinking about it, surely it can be done by having a seperate partition with the rescue file system, and a custom boot loader which could be activated by a php script maybe.... but then again, the OS would need to be booting to do that (and thus not requiring rescuing !!!)
Yes and the customer has full control over the server and even if he/she formats the harddrive, the rescuesystem is working. Maybe they are using something like the ROLF network cards??
You can even find information about that topic here on HowtoForge! http://www.howtoforge.com/dedicated_server_backup_restore_systemimager
Yeah looked at that Falko, I am sure I will find a use for that Howto but not been through it yet. What I was trying to do however, is find a way whereby if your server becomes unbootable (and is a remote server), you could log into an independant system which would change the boot config of your machine, or at least enable you to mount the filesystem from your hard disk in order to let you fix the problems that are preventing it from booting And yeah, very true Domino !
