[HN Gopher] From Linux to NetBSD, with SSH Only
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From Linux to NetBSD, with SSH Only
Author : jaypatelani
Score : 160 points
Date : 2024-07-23 02:36 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (cloudbsd.xyz)
(TXT) w3m dump (cloudbsd.xyz)
| lagniappe wrote:
| Im watching the asciinema and wondering whats that first `ls`
| move? is that expanding files with `ls` somehow?
| thedanbob wrote:
| The top-level "takeover.sh" is actually a directory.
| lagniappe wrote:
| That's a dirty trick, I'm not sure how to feel about this. I
| don't like being hoodwinked.
| naguam wrote:
| Hi author here,
|
| I must say I made the basic git clone on Marcan's
| repository (named like this) without changing the default
| name.
|
| Then I just put my additions next to and into it.
|
| This did not look bad to me. Otherwise I would have done it
| differently.
|
| I made the two ls commands to show all files and avoid any
| confusion.
| DocChi77 wrote:
| Similarly, I've used a project called nixos-infect(1) to install
| NixOS on cloud providers that don't natively offer it. It's
| worked well on the handful of boxes I've ran it on.
|
| (1): https://github.com/elitak/nixos-infect
| Tepix wrote:
| Cute and scary. Reminds me of a time where i manually converted a
| remote Linux box to full disk encryption via SSH about 15 years
| ago. It worked, despite bugs in the debian start scripts. But it
| was, once again, very scary.
| doubled112 wrote:
| I've installed Debian (on ZFS with debootstrap and chroot) from
| inside a CentOS install over SSH before, but this is different.
| johnklos wrote:
| This will come in very handy, since many providers don't natively
| provide NetBSD.
|
| I've played similar tricks mounting a ramdisk, copying things in
| to it, starting daemons from it, then force-remounting rootfs
| read-only, then doing things you can't normally do. This takes
| things quite a bit further, and I like it.
|
| I've never quite understood the details of Linux boot methods.
| This article is wonderful because it doesn't just say what to do,
| but explains what's going on, and in detail. Can't wait to try!
| indigodaddy wrote:
| "This will come in very handy, since many providers don't
| natively provide NetBSD."
|
| I think prgmr.com (now known as Tornado VPS apparently) still
| does:
|
| https://tornadovps.com/about
|
| Edit: looks like no more Netbsd dom0's with prgmr, but their
| docs on netinstalling netbsd don't look entirely headache-
| inducing..
| j_not_j wrote:
| Offtopic:
|
| OpenBSD has an installation ramdisk. Just boot that.
|
| See https://raby.sh/installing-openbsd-on-ovhs-vps-2016-kvm-
| mach...
|
| I've also seen "dd if=path/to/install/ramdisk /dev/sd0" and
| reboot; depends on being classic BIOS not uefi. Can't find the
| link tho.
| naguam wrote:
| Hi, author (of cloudbsd.xyz) here,
|
| The method mentioned in the link you shared is indeed
| interesting and probably also works with NetBSD among others,
| but relies on having third party controls
|
| (such as having to select a grub entry and run the installer
| steps from a cloud control panel).
|
| The reason I experimented and wrote this article was because I
| thought interesting to find a way to avoid having to rely on
| any external controls.
|
| Thus this works even on bare metal servers and thanks to QEMU
| to install absolutely any OS that can boot on QEMU.
| darkhelmet wrote:
| One of the things I've done in the past that is quick and easy is
| to use grub to chainload another bootable volume. Scp an iso or
| other disk image over, chainload to that, run the installer
| inside it as though it had just been pxebooted or booted from a
| flash drive. If you can netinstall from there, then you're good
| to go with the OS of your choice.
|
| There's lots of ways if you have access to common cloud
| primatives (replacement root volume, etc) and have some
| creativity.
|
| I did appreciate this post though because it's for a way I
| haven't used before.
| naguam wrote:
| Hi, author of the article here.
|
| After reading all the comments, I believe I must precise, that I
| am aware of most of the mentioned alternative techniques.
|
| Most of these only work as long as remote screen/keyboard control
| access is possible throughout a cloud panel (VNC).
|
| My goal with this article was to avoid any third party control
| and making it to works even on a remote linux desktop pc used as
| a server.
|
| Thanks for all the feedbacks, I appreciate it.
| dgfitz wrote:
| I think it's a neat idea and shows a very solid understanding
| of many different concepts. I also have a lot of this kind of
| knowledge, but fuck me if I would have been able to put all the
| pieces together like this without a specific need/driver.
|
| Very neat, thanks for sharing.
| indigodaddy wrote:
| I'd like to note that there are a lot of cheap, reliable
| providers that support BSD, either with KVM templates already,
| installation with an available ISO, or many have custom ISO where
| you can upload or give the URI to any iso you wish to use.
| Obviously this will usually be KVM virtualization.
|
| Some providers off the top of my head:
|
| prgmr.com (now tornado vps apparently) - long-standing provider -
| they used to have netbsd dom0's but now it's all Linux based it
| looks like so appears you have to netinstall netbsd in your vm
| now)
|
| buyvm.net - reasonable pricing and have bsd available to install
| (can't remember if template or iso ready to mount/install)
|
| https://www.netcup.eu/vserver/ - excellent value / been around
| forever (they offer custom iso)
|
| I will add more here as I think of them..
| christophilus wrote:
| Vultr
| gslin wrote:
| This reminds me some other interesting things (but from Linux to
| FreeBSD) around 15-20 years ago:
|
| * https://www.daemonology.net/depenguinator/
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(page generated 2024-07-26 23:08 UTC)