Talk:HOWTO Convert A RedHat Server to Gentoo Remotely
From Gentoo Linux Wiki
This recipe sounds dangerous.
A safer way would be to install gentoo into the swap partition the normal way. Then boot off of it and install gentoo into the more permanent partition the normal way and boot off of it. Once verified, convert your swap partition back into a swap partition.
I've had success with this method in the past.
Me too :) Thanks to you i have a gentoo system up and running on a server in a datacenter :) Info : My original distrib was a Debian Sarge 3.1, with 2.6.11 kernel. I dumped it on the 1Go-swap partition, and made a new partition to conserve the debian as a 'rescue' boot solution. It worked perfectly.
I think the approach is unneccessarily complicated, but I have to admit I haven't thought it through completely, so maybe I'm naive. What is wrong with this approach:
- backup and resize the original root partition with resize2fs/fdisk or parted
- create a new partition and install gentoo there, using a chroot jail
- reboot into the new partition, using the grub safety net you described
This is basically the same procedure you'd use with a computer you have physical access to.
- helge
helge, Here's a section from the parted manual (section 2.5.1)
"These steps will modify both the root file system on partition 1, and the swap device on partition 2. Therefore, you shouldn't be using either partitions. You should probably use a Parted boot disk."
If I understand it, then that's why you can't just resize the partition. Since you have to unmount it, and you're doing this remotely, you have to transfer your running system somewhere so you can still access via ssh while you unmount the root partition (where your normal OS resides). Therefore, you need the "turn the swap partition into a mini system until you're done" trick.
it seams that there is some others alternatives:
- don't touch your fedora install and install portage as in solaris or mac-osx
- convert your fedora to a gentoo migrating the programs,configurations files(with libconf) and such thing...
may need some heavy knowladge of both system and linux,bash or other languages but it's definitely safer...
- install gentoo and migrate fedora to uml(usermode linux)...same than previous one but with an uml that can run all the fedora apps while migratimng them
Neat solution, but...
I have an extra "backup" partition, used for FS and important data backups. Obviously it's larger than my swap and can be erased and used for the conversion. But say that I cloned my Fedora Core 4, and I get to the end of this guide telling me I won and I can install Gentoo...
The guide gets you up and running in a minimal Gentoo environment. From there you can follow steps in the Gentoo Handbook and elsewhere to construct a more complete Gentoo installation. I'm not going to duplicate the Gentoo Handbook here or try to track it. I changed things a bit to hopefully clear this up. -rice
