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Re: [OCLUG-Tech] Copy of Server

On May 13, 2005 11:58 am, Brian McKee wrote:
> One thing to keep in mind - kudzu/harddrake/debian equiv
> usually 'fixes' a bunch of these issues on  first boot if it's enabled.
> It certainly should catch most/all the hardware related stuff.   A
> quick check
> of dmesg will make you feel more comftable that it got it all.
> Anything else hardware related is likely obvious and you won't miss it.
>
> Network and firewall settings shouldn't be too hard to change
> (and will be set by hand regardless of how you do it right?)

Nope, they're set before I copy over these files and I want to make sure they 
don't get changed by the files I copy over.  That way I don't have to change 
anything, right?  Sure, it's not difficult to do, but why do it at all if 
it's avoidable - especially if it might be done more than once.  As a 
development copy of the main server, I want to be able to set it back to the 
same config as the production server at any time.
>
> What's that leave that you might miss?

how about ssh keys for the host & root & pehaps mine, raid config files, 
/etc/mtab,  /etc/mdadm.conf, /etc/shadow, /etc/passwd, /etc/sysconfig/*, 
/etc/resolv.conf, /etc/lvm/*, /etc/fstab, /etc/grub.conf, /etc/hosts, 
/etc/mail/*, yum database, ok, I could go on, but . . . do I want to have to 
go in and change all those back each time - not really.

>
> Maybe a good checklist of all the functions the server is doing
> right now that you can test the clone for is a better way of
> not only making sure you didn't forget anything, but that
> everything is working before it goes into use.

But that doesn't tell me which files I have to copy, only which apps are 
running.  It's a clue but not the answer.

Your 2c appreciated, thanks;

Alex
====
>
> My 2c.
> Brian
>
> On 13-May-05, at 11:16 AM, Alex at Avantel wrote:
> > On May 13, 2005 09:43 am, Stephen Gregory wrote:
> >> On Thu, May 12, 2005 at 08:16:06PM -0400, Alex at Avantel wrote:
> >>>  Doing a straight "bare-matel" restore to a different box won't work
> >>
> >> I do bare-metal restores to different hardware all of the time. If you
> >> include a generic kernel image it is very easy and you will avoid most
> >> of the issues. After the restore there are always a few files to
> >> change but a simple checklist can take care of that. In my case it
> >> takes less then 5 minutes after the restore is complete.
> >
> > OK, maybe it's that "simple checklist" I'm trying to get a handle on -
> > but
> > it's probably a longer list since I'm not interested in a restore - I
> > want a
> > clone on a different box - different ip, dhcp rather than fixed ip,
> > different
> > gateway, different firewall, disks, cpu, etc.
> >
> >> I use Symantec Ghost. The tar, cpio, rsync, and mondo methods should
> >> all work as well, if not better. These methods are the best way.
> >
> > Well, the "best way" hasn't worked very well for me so far.  Sure I
> > can make
> > it work - I'm not totally clueless.  I was hoping there was a more
> > proactive
> > way, and that's why I'm checking with this list :)  So far I'm still
> > not sure
> > how to identify all the files that need changing (either in advance
> > before
> > trouble surfaces, or after when it's not working) although I'm sure
> > someone
> > will jump in and tell me it's "experience". . . I want to do that with
> > scripts and I'm going to pursue that a bit further.  I'll tilt at the
> > windmills for a bit longer . . .
> >
> > Cheers & Thanks
> >
> > Alex
> > ====
> >
> >> --
> >> sg
>
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> Linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca
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