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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