[H-GEN] Problem using Ghost to rollout/clone Linux systems

[Ewan Edwards]

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On Mon, 27 Aug 2001, you wrote:
> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and  ]
> [ Unix-related topics.  Please observe the list's charter.           ]
> [ Worthwhile understanding: http://www.humbug.org.au/netiquette.html ]
> 
> On Sun, 26 Aug 2001, Ewan Edwards wrote:
> 
> > If you have experience with using Ghost for Linux systems, read on.
> > 
> > I have built a Linux system (RH7.1) on a standard machine (for our
> > office) and taken a disc image using Symantec Ghost Enterprise 6.04.
> 
> Hi Ewan.  Any reason you didn't use dd?

That was going to be the next option to try.

Reasons for not trying first;
It would mean taking the HDDs from both the original machine and the
potential clone and putting them into a third machine already running
Linux / Unix.  A time and resource consuming process compared to using
Ghost, but certainly not out of the question.  With Ghost I can get an
image off the 8.4Gb disc in 15-20min and clone a new system in about
7min over the network.   Theoretically, Ghost will also allow me to
adjust partition sizes when cloning to different size HDDs.


> 
> > Problem is that every time I try to make a clone from the image the new
> > machine will not boot properly.  All I get is a kernel panic when it is
> > trying to mount the root file system.
> > 
> > LILO (installed in MBR of /dev/hda1) apparantly loads and executes the
> > kernel, then the kernel seems to start initialising all the compiled in
> > drivers (ie: I see the various boot time messages that can be reviewed
> > with the dmesg command after boot).  At the point the original machine
> > displays a message; "VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.",
> > the clones display a message about not being able to mount the root
> 
> What number do they display?  It'll be something like 03:01 or 08:01.

The number is either 08:01 or 08:04 - don't remember exactly, will
check when I get into the office.  


> 
> > file system.  In that message is something about using a "root="
> > parameter and a "boot=" parameter.
> 
> If you boot with "Linux root=/dev/hda1" (ie passing the parameter on the
> command line) does it work?

Haven't tried that yet.  Have tried "linux boot=/dev/hda", but it
didn't help.


> 
> > I have checked the lilo.conf on the original machine to ensure both
> > "boot=/dev/hda" and "root=/dev/hda1" exist.  I have even re-run lilo
> > before creating a new image.  This has made no difference to the
> > resulting clones.  I use the Ghost Multicast Server utility with the
> > Ghost client boot disc to get the images and to create the clones. 
> > These tools work well when rolling out NT4 & W2k clones on the same
> > hardware.
> 
> Have you rerun lilo on the box _following_ an install? (After using
> something like the root= line above to get into the system).

The plan is to do exactly that if I can just get the thing booted. 

Having thought about it a bit more, I'm going to try creating a boot
discette from the original machine (mkbootdisk), boot with that and
then re-run lilo to see if that will fix it.  (May not bother though if
booting with "Linux root=/dev/hda1" works.)


> 
> Given that I don't trust ghost as I do dd and that lilo maps the physical
> blocks of the kernel image rather than anything at a filesystem level[1],
> I'm a bit surprised you could boot the kernel at all :) [2]
> 
> [1] The reason it is possible to reboot a deleted kernel as long as lilo
> hasn't be re-run or a block appropriated.  Myself & many others have
> actually done this :)
> 
> [2] In other words, I'm not sure that ghost truly 'mirrors' the drive as a
> binary level.  Other might like to comment.
> Rob
> 
> -- Robert Brockway B.Sc. email: robert at timetraveller.org  ICQ: 104781119
>    Linux counter project ID #16440 (http://www.li.org)
>    blake: up 13 days, 23:30,  9 users,  load average: 1.04, 1.01, 1.00
>    "The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens" -Baha'u'llah
> 
> 
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