[gentoo-user] gentoo install on Dell restore partition... ..

So, I finally got the OK to nuke another Dell winbox. My dream is to:

* Partition the restore partition (3.6 GB) for any small linux
installation

* make that partition active, bootable, with grub installed

* reboot and ssh into that linux machine to finish by toasting NTFS
partition and making it my gentoo system '/' as per usual...

Can this be done without physical access to the machine which is
currently running windows XP? I am administrator and get 'there' via
RDP.

Any suggestions appreciated in advance.

Cheers,

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| |ichael | |iggins \^ /
michael.higgins[at]evolone[dot]org
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Michael Higgins wrote:
> So, I finally got the OK to nuke another Dell winbox. My dream is to:
>
> * Partition the restore partition (3.6 GB) for any small linux
> installation
>
> * make that partition active, bootable, with grub installed
>
> * reboot and ssh into that linux machine to finish by toasting NTFS
> partition and making it my gentoo system '/' as per usual...
>
> Can this be done without physical access to the machine which is
> currently running windows XP? I am administrator and get 'there' via
> RDP.

It is possible: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml#doc_chap5

But not really recommended because if you do something wrong (wrong grub
config, SSH misconfiguration, etc.) you'll need to go there and get
physical access.

Also, instead of installing a downloaded tarball, you can just clone the
existing Gentoo installation into the new partition and boot from it.
This usually means:

'cp -a' your existing / to your target / (except /dev, /sys and /proc).
If you mounted your target / as /root/target, you do:

cp -a /usr /root/hd
(repeat this for all directories in your current / *EXCEPT* /dev, /proc,
/sys and /lost+found)

mkdir /root/hd/dev
mkdir /root/hd/proc
mkdir /root/hd/sys
mknod /root/hd/dev/console c 5 1
mknod /root/hd/null c 1 3
touch /root/hd/dev/.keep
touch /root/hd/proc/.keep
touch /root/hd/sys/.keep

Now chroot into it:

mount -t proc none /root/mnt/proc
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
chroot /root/hd /bin/bash

Now edit /etc/fstab to use the new partitions, edit /boot/grub/grub.conf
and reinstall grub:

grub
root (hd0,0) <-- sustitute with what you really have/want
setup
quit

Now change your SSH config to allow for root login! (Or add a normal
user if you don't want that.) In any case, check your SSH config.

You're ready. Leave the chroot and unmount:

exit
umount /root/hd/dev
umount /root/hd/proc

If you've set up grub correctly while in the chroot, you can now reboot
and the new system should come up. If not, I hope it's not a long drive
or walk to get physical access

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