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Re: Boarding SuSE with Debian



On Mit, 07 Aug 2002, Marcin Sochacki wrote:

> On Wed, Aug 07, 2002 at 07:55:26PM +0200, Florian Bantner wrote:
> > my mission is following: Have rented a cheap server from
> > an cheap hoster for a customer of ours. Only drawback: It
> > is running suse linux. Since the provider is so cheap, he
> > tells us: Do with the server what you want. And so I want
> > Debian to take over. The problem:
> > 
> > 	1. No access to neither floppy nor cd-rom
> > 	2. Only service I get is pressing the reset button
> > 	3. The other service is to reinstall base suse-
> > 	   installation if the server fails to come up. 
> > 	   This will cost me 70 EUR/USD
> > 
> > What is the best way to get Debian on this box? And how
> > can I avoid the reboot->fail->reinstall->pay->tray again
> > trap?
> 
> If the machine has a secondary HDD or unused partition, or at least
> two partitions, you can install Debian parallel to the existing SuSE.
> 
> 1. Install a minimal Debian system on some local box. Remember to set
>    everything (kernel modules, IP address, etc.) just as you would do
>    on the server.
> 2. tar.gz the whole installation into one big archive (ommiting /proc).
> 3. Copy the archive to the server.
> 4. Create a new filesystem on spare partition/disk (or if SuSE already
>    occupies several partitions move the data, so that one of the
>    partitions is free).
> 5. Untar the archive to the fresh filesystem.
> 6. Correct the entries in Debian's /etc/fstab to match those on remote
>    server.
> 7. In SuSE's lilo.conf add a section with Debian's boot and set it
>    as default (but still leave SuSE section).
> 8. Make sure you have "prompt" and "timeout" options in lilo.conf.
> 9. Run "lilo".
> 10. Examine the Debian setup carefully, again.
> 11. Reboot the machine.
> 12. Pray/drink a coffee while pinging the machine.
> 13. If it comes up -- you have a Debian system and gradually you can
>     remove SuSE.
> 14. If it doesn't come up -- ask the ISP to go to the console, reset
>     the machine and choose SuSE at lilo prompt. I hope they can
>     do it for free.
> 
> Some caveats: /proc filesystem, swap partition, lilo, fstab, sshd/telnetd.
> 
> Good luck!
> Marcin
> 
> 
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> 

Thanks for the answer (to the other, too), but still there are two
points:
	1. Only one big partition (30GB) mountet as /
	2. Noone will go to the terminal for me, which means
	   either it comes up or -- hello again plain SuSE, goodbye 70.-

Best regards

Florian

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