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Have trouble installing arch to linux/arubacloud vps
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Have trouble installing arch to linux/arubacloud vps

lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
edited September 2017 in Help

The script here, which is recommended in the wiki 'Installing Arch on an existing linux', worked great for me and was such a painless setup for one of my vpses a couple of months ago but now it fails the PGP verification checks.

I would have no idea how to fix that. Can anyone advise if it would be an easy task?

I have been trying for two days now to make any of the other scripts work or making a manual install work and not getting very far at all due to the differences of a vps/already running system to a 'normal' system.

I have tried manual install as per the wiki but got stuck where you come to partition the disks

The system looks like this

# lsblk
NAME           MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
fd0              2:0    1    4K  0 disk 
sda              8:0    0   20G  0 disk 
├─sda1           8:1    0  500M  0 part /boot
├─sda2           8:2    0  9.5G  0 part 
│ ├─vg-lv_root 253:0    0 17.4G  0 lvm  /
│ └─vg-lv_swap 253:1    0  2.1G  0 lvm  [SWAP]
└─sda3           8:3    0   10G  0 part 
  └─vg-lv_root 253:0    0 17.4G  0 lvm  /
sr0             11:0    1 1024M  0 rom 

and when I try and format any partition I get

[root@aru-1 /]# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mke2fs 1.43.6 (29-Aug-2017)
/dev/sda1 contains a ext4 file system
        last mounted on /boot on Tue Sep 26 18:15:51 2017
Proceed anyway? (y,N) y
/dev/sda1 is apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here!
[root@aru-1 /]# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mke2fs 1.43.6 (29-Aug-2017)
/dev/sda2 contains a LVM2_member file system
Proceed anyway? (y,N) y
/dev/sda2 is apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here!
[root@aru-1 /]# 

So how do I proceed?

Note that it is a fresh vps so no trouble about losing any data with experiments like this.

I need to do this for several so an automated way would be ideal but if I learn how to do it myself then I could make my own script. I know next to nothing about bash (pythoner here) except little bits but maybe I could cobble it together once I get used to what works.

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Comments

  • Boot from a rescue image, or blindly dd away the EFI/MBR and pray nothing crashes out before you're done.

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    I don't think aruba can run images can it? I didnt see option for mounting a any media on the cpanel.

    So it's the mbr that is blocking it? How is that? I thought it was just that mkfs finds things on the partitions when I try and format. I don't think it is looking at the mbr in those cases is it?

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    Oops. Sorry for the noobishness :P. I would have searched that myself but I am not familiar with the nomenclature of this issue.

    That's my excuse anyway :)

  • WSS said: Boot from a rescue image, or blindly dd away the EFI/MBR and pray nothing crashes out before you're done.

    last time I checked, it was available for their Pro plans only, so not for €1 one.

  • @bersy said:

    WSS said: Boot from a rescue image, or blindly dd away the EFI/MBR and pray nothing crashes out before you're done.

    last time I checked, it was available for their Pro plans only, so not for €1 one.

    I don't remember- maybe I tricked it somehow with PXE, but I know I managed to get Void onto it somehow. I kept my AC account for 1 month- It wasn't worth it.

  • @WSS

    Forget about arubas advice. Part of their system (in particular custom images) is rotten and not working and their support is either incompetent and clueless or utterly ignorant (probably both). I had a lengthy email exchange that is kind of an unhealthy mix of comedy and Kafka.

    Been there, done that.

    Thanked by 2ehab ucxo
  • Hmm you are saying the kb articles are bunk? so I am back to square one. Late now so I won't try till tomorrow anyhow.

  • You're going to have to remove your LVM signatures before you install non-LVM anyhow, so that's going to need to be done one of two ways. Offline, or while still running. The later is very difficult. Their "Install into SWAP" won't work with LVM, and can be difficult to get to work with GRUB.

  • A few months ago, I did the same. installing Arch in a 1€ Aruba server. Unfortunately you can't mount an ISO and boot from it. So my approach was to put a gparted-live iso in /boot and add it to grub. Then I was able to boot the gparted live CD and could remove the lvm partitions. Now my memory is getting a bit fuzzy... I think after that I increased the boot partition size to fit the arch install iso file and added it to grub. Finally I was able to boot from the Arch iso file and install it the usual way.

    Parts of my /boot/grub/grub.cfg:

    set imgdevpath="/dev/disk/by-uuid/404c2dfe-9e22-4336-9b86-5854869678fd"
    menuentry '[loopback]archlinux-2017.06.01-x86_64.iso' {
    set isofile='/boot/iso/archlinux-2017.06.01-x86_64.iso'
    loopback loop $isofile
    linux (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz archisodevice=/dev/loop0 img_dev=$imgdevpath img_loop=$isofile earlymodules=loop
    initrd (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img
    }

    I hope this helps. Also check https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multiboot_USB_drive#Using_GRUB_and_loopback_devices

  • Of course it can be done. After all, I even installed a BSD on an aruba VPS.

    However, whether a rather unexperienced user can do that is a quite different question. Even more so as arubas kb hints are worthless because they are based on an infrastructure that looks nice in theory but is rotten and partially not even available.

  • I've had issues with various different hardware using an ISO loopback mount. I've always found it easier to dd a custom iPXE image to the drive and chain.

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    This inexperienced user has managed to patch a custom kernel for my home computer (with alot of help of course) so I doubt it will be harder than that.

    So regarding that LVM bullshit it isn't needed? since you say I should wipe that off?

    @bsdguy said:
    Of course it can be done. After all, I even installed a BSD on an aruba VPS.

    However, whether a rather unexperienced user can do that is a quite different question. Even more so as arubas kb hints are worthless because they are based on an infrastructure that looks nice in theory but is rotten and partially not even available.

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    Well that was a quick exchange with chat:

    Me: Hi I would like to install archlinux on your servers and would like advise.

    Guido: Aruba doesn't give software assistance.

    Me: Ok.

  • Thanks, gives me something to work with.

    @ume said:
    A few months ago, I did the same. installing Arch in a 1€ Aruba server. Unfortunately you can't mount an ISO and boot from it. So my approach was to put a gparted-live iso in /boot and add it to grub. Then I was able to boot the gparted live CD and could remove the lvm partitions. Now my memory is getting a bit fuzzy... I think after that I increased the boot partition size to fit the arch install iso file and added it to grub. Finally I was able to boot from the Arch iso file and install it the usual way.

    Parts of my /boot/grub/grub.cfg:

    set imgdevpath="/dev/disk/by-uuid/404c2dfe-9e22-4336-9b86-5854869678fd"
    menuentry '[loopback]archlinux-2017.06.01-x86_64.iso' {
    set isofile='/boot/iso/archlinux-2017.06.01-x86_64.iso'
    loopback loop $isofile
    linux (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz archisodevice=/dev/loop0 img_dev=$imgdevpath img_loop=$isofile earlymodules=loop
    initrd (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img
    }

    I hope this helps. Also check https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multiboot_USB_drive#Using_GRUB_and_loopback_devices

  • So I did an rm -rf on boot then was putting the gparted stuff in there as per the instructions here.

    Of course I was gambling that it would work when I reboot but then it dawned on me just after I rebooted I would not be able to ssh into the OS. I only deleted the whole boot system because it was saying it was full when trying to unzip the gparted file but in hindsight that was because I had the live cd downloaded in there too.

    So rather than clear boot I should just add the menu item for gparted into the existing grub? but still this doesnt solve how I would ssh in? because gparted wont have ssh running will it even if it does boot successfully into it. So how to get around this issue?

  • You're basically fucked without a console with that setup. You can always reinstall the basic OS, install QEMU and use local NAT for the NIC and use /dev/sda|/dev/hda|/dev/lda for the HD- you'll be ripping the system out from under the existing OS, so make sure you get it right.

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    You mean I wouldnt be able to reroll the server to a stock OS if I messed it up? Too risky if so as I am bound to screw something up :P. Need a safety net.

    Isn't another option the dd approach you mentioned and then set up the bare bones arch in chroot and have ssh ready on it when it reboots?

  • WSSWSS Member
    edited September 2017

    Yep. Problem with DD is if you don't have console access, very few distributions (none) are setup to automatically connect you to the network and give you a login, unless they're already prerolled.

    chroot isn't going to work over a dd, because you just destroyed the existing HD setup. If you're lucky there will be compatible libs and it might work. This is more iffy than using QEMU which at least gives you a virtual machine on the HD you just destroyed.

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    Well there are several paritions so can I not dd a portion and make a new partition and put the arch setup there and chroot etc on the new partition. Or dd is for whole drive rather than partitions?

  • You're going to need to kill your LVMs, so you could always try to dd out the signature and reformat- but unless your swap is large, their suggestion won't work. Your swap is ALSO an LVM, and your local distribution possibly won't see it as a partition.

    Long story short: Just live with Debian or pay for a KVM from a real provider.

  • Oh I just looked and I can login via the rescue/web console no probs. So with this new occurrence what would be the best way to do things now?

  • Depends on if it is a full console. I seem to recall installing a different OS on my Aruba- but that was ages ago. Unless they changed things, I think so.

    Personally, I'd dd the netboot.xyz iso to the root of the drive, reboot it and install Arch from that- it'll be quite a bit easier.

  • lowendguy7lowendguy7 Member
    edited September 2017

    'Install arch from that' How do you mean? How do I get arch to boot? I still need to be able to boot into arch don't I.

    And what do you mean by netboot.xyz

    [root@aru-1 /]# find / -name *netboot*
    [root@aru-1 /]#
    

    You just mean the OS that is currently installed?

  • Google NetBoot.xyz, and you shall be enlightened.

  • Google NetBoot.xyz, and you shall be enlightened.

    Sorcery.

  • If ther is no netboot.xyz then how do I delete it

  • FREE TIBET!

  • @WSS said:

    Personally, I'd dd the netboot.xyz iso to the root of the drive, reboot it and install Arch from that- it'll be quite a bit easier.

    Can you give some pseudo command for that?

  • WSSWSS Member
    edited September 2017

    dd if=`wget -O- https://boot.netboot.xyz/ipxe/netboot.xyz.iso`; of=/dev/hda bs=1k;sync;sync;sync;reboot && pray

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