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Installing BSD Remotely Under Linux

Posted by michael on from the good-ways-to-make-a-trip-down-to-the-co-lo dept.

horos1 writes "hey all, I was wondering if this was possible: Right now, I'm running redhat 6.2 colocated at an ISP, and have had my box compromised twice because I was slow to apply security patches to the box. So I'm thinking that I'm going to switch to OpenBSD and not worry about the security aspect anymore (or at least less). Anyways, normally I'd get a CD and install it... however, the box in question is in another state so I need to do it remotely via console. So -- any helpful tips on how to go about doing this? I'd like to archive linux and replace it with OpenBSD, such that the next time the computer boots up, I'll be sitting at a OpenBSD prompt to log in. I have a very fast connection, just no ability to sit down at the console. I realize that its a rather risky proposition to do this remotely (ie: that the computer may not boot) but am willing to take the chance. Thanks much for any advice. horos" This sounds like something that should be labeled "only try this at home".

2 of 7 comments (clear)

  1. It's tough, but possible. by danpbrowning · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure about how you could go about installing it directly from Linux, but I would look more into remote-console type options. For example, VA Linux has a VACS projects (search for it) that lets you setup a "monitoring" box which has serial cables to all your systems in the colo. Then, when you need console access to a system, you just ssh into your monitoring box and do it from there.

    What type of motherboard/case is it? Newer intel cases (SRKA4, SPKA4, etc.) have serial-bios and stuff that you can use.
    Also you should check into the cheaper remote console thingies that have a bunch of serial ports on one side, and an ethernet to plug in on the other. You just ssh into the little box (or telnet in) and access the serial's that way. (It's just a specialized, cheaper version of the 'monitoring' box above).
    HTH. -dan

    --
    Daniel
  2. Been there, done that. by colonel · · Score: 3

    It's not as hard as it sounds, assuming you have the resources. I'll leave out the details and just give a brief overview.

    1.) Get a local box with similar hardware

    2.) Install 6.2 and oBSD in a dual-boot.

    3.) On the CoLo, clear off a spare partition the same size as the oBSD partition on the local box.

    4.) Config oBSD on the local box to use the same networking info as the CoLo box, and allow remote access.

    5.) On the local box, fill up the oBSD partition with dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/obsd/bigfile ; rm /mnt/obsd/bigfile (so it compresses better)

    6.) On the local box, umount the oBSD partition and dd if=/dev/hda4 | gzip - > oBSDPartition.img.gz

    7.) SCP/FTP the huge-ass file to the CoLo

    8.) dd thru gzip the file in to the blank partition. (hope you set up /etc/fstab in it right!)

    9.) Set up lilo to boot in to oBSD, reboot it, and pray.

    There are a whole lot of gotchas with this, but if you think it though for a day or so first, you might manage.