- install a base system on the new machine (with
debian-40r5a-etchnhalf-amd64-netinst.iso) [1]. yes, this is etch:
- the installer worked flawlessly to create a RAID1 over the two disks & to install grub for booting from / on RAID. very nice.
- just a minimal system, no users, ...
- copy stuff over from the old machine: (most of) /etc (including /etc/passwd & friends), /home, & a bit more.
- get the package list from the old machine, install them on the new machine keeping the old config.
- a few minor tweaks.
- change the ip addresses on both machines & switch their physical positions.
- my first dual-core machine
- my first amd64 system
- my first box with an etchnhalf kernel
- a box that is completely bored :)
from htop:
1 [| 0.3%] Tasks: 49 total, 1 running 2 [| 1.0%] Load average: 0.00 0.00 0.00 Mem[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||442/1004MB] Load: 0.00 Swp[ 0/1976MB] Uptime: 2 days, 12:01:18I keep being impressed by how simple linux is, & how good debian & especially the debian installer works. do I need to mention that the migration of the windows server (from nt 4.0 to windows 2003 on new hardware) is still not finished after 2 days of hard work?
to be honest: the windows box has more jobs than tux: domain controller, roaming profiles, file server, exchange, mssql, some library database, ... tux only runs exim4 + spamassassin + clamav + greylistd, squid, some scripts, & does a bit of iptables blocking & port forwarding.
but still ...
(& the old machine worked more or less fine with 96 MB RAM & a ~300 MHz CPU.) [0]
because they are linux & debian friendly. [1]
of course that can be avoided by just copying stuff over from the old machine, either via netcat & friends or by putting the old disks in the new machine. but in this case (1) the old box doesn't boot from CD (have I already mentioned it's an old box?), (2) the old one has SCSI & the new one SATA disks, (3) the old one was i386 & the new one (at least potentially) amd64.
