[ubuntu-us-mi] Knoppix-like recovery with Ubuntu?

[Robert Citek]

Hello all,

A few nice features of Knoppix are that it has bash, fdisk/parted, LVM
utilities, and an ssh service. In this way I can boot to a live CD via a
limited KVM, start ssh, then ssh to the system to work on recovering a
broken Ubuntu server system with LVM.

I tried to do the same using the rescue mode on the server CD but without
success. Is there a way to do what I do with Knoppix, but using an Ubuntu
CD? Perhaps the alternate CD?

Regards,
- Robert
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[Scott Moser]

Post by Robert Citek
Hello all,
A few nice features of Knoppix are that it has bash, fdisk/parted, LVM
utilities, and an ssh service. In this way I can boot to a live CD via a
limited KVM, start ssh, then ssh to the system to work on recovering a
broken Ubuntu server system with LVM.
I tried to do the same using the rescue mode on the server CD but without
success. Is there a way to do what I do with Knoppix, but using an Ubuntu
CD? Perhaps the alternate CD?

I'd recommend using the cloud images.
They're pretty much perfect for this task.

download the ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img image from
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/

Follow
http://ubuntu-smoser.blogspot.com/2013/02/using-ubuntu-cloud-images-without-cloud.html

You'll just want to also attach your other disks, and then log in and do
whatever you want.

(As an aside, you may want to just *start* from those imgaes in the future
and avoid installs entirely).


Scott

Post by Robert Citek
Regards,
- Robert

[Robert Citek]

Thanks, Scott,

Here's what I normally do to install/repair an Ubuntu server:

1) download ISO image
2) burn CD or 'dd' to USB stick
3) boot from CD/USB stick
4) install/repair system
5) eject CD/USB stick
6) reboot into system

The above instructions also work in a VM (e.g. VirtualBox) where I
"attach" the ISO as a virtual CD-ROM.

Thinking I would try out the process in a VM before attempting this in
the data center, I downloaded the cloud image
(http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img)
to my local system. However, when I attempt to use the image in a VM
as an attached CR-ROM, VirtualBox refuses to attach it. This is
understandable as it is not an ISO image, but a disk image. I was
able to attach it as a hard disk, but it would not boot. VBox
complained with "no bootable medium found."

Although the concept sounds intriguing, I think I'm missing the
step(s) on how to use this disk image to help me install or repair a
server.

Regards,
- Robert

Post by Scott Moser

Post by Robert Citek
Hello all,
A few nice features of Knoppix are that it has bash, fdisk/parted, LVM
utilities, and an ssh service. In this way I can boot to a live CD via a
limited KVM, start ssh, then ssh to the system to work on recovering a
broken Ubuntu server system with LVM.
I tried to do the same using the rescue mode on the server CD but without
success. Is there a way to do what I do with Knoppix, but using an Ubuntu
CD? Perhaps the alternate CD?

I'd recommend using the cloud images.
They're pretty much perfect for this task.
download the ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img image from
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/
Follow
http://ubuntu-smoser.blogspot.com/2013/02/using-ubuntu-cloud-images-without-cloud.html
You'll just want to also attach your other disks, and then log in and do
whatever you want.
(As an aside, you may want to just *start* from those imgaes in the future
and avoid installs entirely).
Scott

Post by Robert Citek
Regards,
- Robert

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[Jeff Hanson]

The alternate CD will not work live. It only has BusyBox. It does not
contain an installed filesystem, only packages.
It is possible to boot a live CD from an ISO using Grub. There are various
how-tos on Ubuntu's web site.
I generally just boot the live CD with PXE over TFTP/NFS. Not easy to set
up but very easy to use once it is. I can boot about two dozen live ISOs
off my server. Useful for demonstrating the various GUIs.
For general-purpose data recovery I use Parted Magic which can PXE boot
over just TFTP.


On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 10:51 AM, Robert Citek <robert.citek at gmail.com>

Post by Robert Citek
Thanks, Scott,
1) download ISO image
2) burn CD or 'dd' to USB stick
3) boot from CD/USB stick
4) install/repair system
5) eject CD/USB stick
6) reboot into system
The above instructions also work in a VM (e.g. VirtualBox) where I
"attach" the ISO as a virtual CD-ROM.
Thinking I would try out the process in a VM before attempting this in
the data center, I downloaded the cloud image
(
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img
)
to my local system. However, when I attempt to use the image in a VM
as an attached CR-ROM, VirtualBox refuses to attach it. This is
understandable as it is not an ISO image, but a disk image. I was
able to attach it as a hard disk, but it would not boot. VBox
complained with "no bootable medium found."
Although the concept sounds intriguing, I think I'm missing the
step(s) on how to use this disk image to help me install or repair a
server.
Regards,
- Robert

Post by Scott Moser

Post by Robert Citek
Hello all,
A few nice features of Knoppix are that it has bash, fdisk/parted, LVM
utilities, and an ssh service. In this way I can boot to a live CD via

a

Post by Scott Moser

Post by Robert Citek
limited KVM, start ssh, then ssh to the system to work on recovering a
broken Ubuntu server system with LVM.
I tried to do the same using the rescue mode on the server CD but

without

Post by Scott Moser

Post by Robert Citek
success. Is there a way to do what I do with Knoppix, but using an

Ubuntu

Post by Scott Moser

Post by Robert Citek
CD? Perhaps the alternate CD?

I'd recommend using the cloud images.
They're pretty much perfect for this task.
download the ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img image from
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/
Follow

http://ubuntu-smoser.blogspot.com/2013/02/using-ubuntu-cloud-images-without-cloud.html

Post by Scott Moser
You'll just want to also attach your other disks, and then log in and do
whatever you want.
(As an aside, you may want to just *start* from those imgaes in the

future

Post by Scott Moser
and avoid installs entirely).
Scott

Post by Robert Citek
Regards,
- Robert

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[Scott Moser]

Post by Robert Citek
Thanks, Scott,
1) download ISO image
2) burn CD or 'dd' to USB stick
3) boot from CD/USB stick
4) install/repair system
5) eject CD/USB stick
6) reboot into system
The above instructions also work in a VM (e.g. VirtualBox) where I
"attach" the ISO as a virtual CD-ROM.
Thinking I would try out the process in a VM before attempting this in
the data center, I downloaded the cloud image
(http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img)
to my local system. However, when I attempt to use the image in a VM
as an attached CR-ROM, VirtualBox refuses to attach it. This is
understandable as it is not an ISO image, but a disk image. I was
able to attach it as a hard disk, but it would not boot. VBox
complained with "no bootable medium found."

You need to convert it to a "raw" image or a virtual box disk format.

https://gist.github.com/smoser/5364534

that 'img-convert' there should reasonably do it for you.
wget http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img

sudo apt-get install qemu-utils virtualbox
img-convert original.img vdi vdi.img

Post by Robert Citek
Although the concept sounds intriguing, I think I'm missing the
step(s) on how to use this disk image to help me install or repair a
server.
Regards,
- Robert

Post by Scott Moser

Post by Robert Citek
Hello all,
A few nice features of Knoppix are that it has bash, fdisk/parted, LVM
utilities, and an ssh service. In this way I can boot to a live CD via a
limited KVM, start ssh, then ssh to the system to work on recovering a
broken Ubuntu server system with LVM.
I tried to do the same using the rescue mode on the server CD but without
success. Is there a way to do what I do with Knoppix, but using an Ubuntu
CD? Perhaps the alternate CD?

I'd recommend using the cloud images.
They're pretty much perfect for this task.
download the ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1.img image from
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/
Follow
http://ubuntu-smoser.blogspot.com/2013/02/using-ubuntu-cloud-images-without-cloud.html
You'll just want to also attach your other disks, and then log in and do
whatever you want.
(As an aside, you may want to just *start* from those imgaes in the future
and avoid installs entirely).
Scott

Post by Robert Citek
Regards,
- Robert

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