[svlug] new disk is installed - raid

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Alvin Oga (alvin at mail.Linux-Consulting.com):

> for others.. only the last few lines is important ..
> 	- svlug is going offline for exim/mailman config later tonight ( thur )

Huh?  Who says?  Why?

> the costs of the disk is not necessarily the issue ..
> 
> - if one is worried about raid disk crashes:
> 	- i usually build a 2nd system so that "everything" is redundant
> 	- i usually buy good disk drives from distributors with a reseller permit
> 
> 	- raid may or may not help you .. depending on the failure mode
> 	of the disk .. some motherboard craps out if /dev/hda is missing/dead
> 
> 	- "proper" testing raid is more time consuming .. just as much as
> 	building a entire new clone
> 
> - but since the current system is already installed ..
> 	- our choice is:
> 		- tar up the new system and save to the current operting disk
> 		- install the new drive
> 		- re-install with raid setup
> 		- untar the current new system onto the raid config
> 
> 	- or build a 2nd whole system ( my preferred choice )
> 	since it has to be done no matter what  ...


I can't help notice that you haven't answered my question.

I'm asking you to please re-do that system (and yes, I mean reinstall
it) with a second disk, for which I'm willing to pay, in "md"-drive
RAID1 mode.

The question was:  

If I donate a second hard drive, would you be willing to rebuild it
as a RAID1 system with the Linux "md" driver?  (Just let me know the
size and make/model, and I'll buy another.)


> i've already installed "testing" :-)

Did you add my customisation, to enable optional access to
"unstable"-branch packages?  If not, please do.

I could not tell whether you did, from your posting.

> i've always wondered ... if testing has linux-2.6.16 ...

Er, can't you tell?

As a quick check, yes.  For example, there is this precompiled
uniprocessor kernel package, among others:

Package: linux-image-2.6.16-2-686
Priority: optional
Section: base
Installed-Size: 45844
Maintainer: Debian Kernel Team <debian-kernel at lists.debian.org>
Architecture: i386
Source: linux-2.6.16
Version: 2.6.16-18
Provides: linux-image, linux-image-2.6
Depends: module-init-tools (>= 0.9.13), initramfs-tools (>= 0.53) | yaird (>= 0.0.12-8) | linux-initramfs-tool
Recommends: libc6-i686
Suggests: linux-doc-2.6.16 | linux-source-2.6.16, grub (>= 0.97-3) | lilo (>= 19.1)
Conflicts: grub (<= 0.95+cvs20040624-17)
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-2.6.16/linux-image-2.6.16-2-686_2.6.16-18_i386.deb
Size: 15716204
MD5sum: 55ba40e3a0062439e9403b1f2c84967d
SHA1: bfea064d1b7b2982162623d0936466659053a69f
SHA256: f9cab5f1fc87a60bcf08e05d19f80e30b4588c07ec429438122059b6840ca7d4
Description: Linux kernel 2.6.16 image on PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/P4 machines
 This package provides the binary image and pre-built loadable modules for
 Linux kernel 2.6.16 on Pentium Pro/Celeron/Pentium II/Pentium III/Pentium
 4 machines.

"Testing" also has 2.6.17 kernels. 


> and if "unstable" has linux-2.6.17.9 .. 

Debian's precompiled 2.6.17 packages (linux-image-2.6.17*) are based on
source package kernel-source-2.6.17, whose description is as follows:

Package: linux-source-2.6.17
Priority: optional
Section: devel
Installed-Size: 39892
Maintainer: Debian Kernel Team <debian-kernel at lists.debian.org>
Architecture: all
Source: linux-2.6
Version: 2.6.17-9
Provides: linux-source, linux-source-2.6
Depends: binutils, bzip2
Recommends: libc6-dev | libc-dev, gcc, make
Suggests: libncurses-dev | ncurses-dev, kernel-package, libqt3-mt-dev
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-2.6/linux-source-2.6.17_2.6.17-9_all.deb
Size: 40751012
MD5sum: d0c0ab8ef2dfe5213abe21782b1574b9
SHA1: 94cedf60207aba7d0975bad27ab872266bf21f7e
SHA256: 5f70779dad9fea1a56b73e86d72f2b6cac573071fa3335fe899db4f00cd073f0
Description: Linux kernel source for version 2.6.17 with Debian patches
 This package provides source code for the Linux kernel version 2.6.17.
 This source closely tracks official Linux kernel releases.  Debian's
 modifications to that source consist of security fixes, bug fixes, and
 features that have already been (or we believe will be) accepted by the
 upstream maintainers.
 .
 If you wish to use this package to create a custom Linux kernel, then it
 is suggested that you investigate the package kernel-package, which has
 been designed to ease the task of creating kernel image packages.


In other words, the Debian package maintainer takes Torvalds's release
and adds selective stabilising and security patches.

You had a Debian system in front of you, by the way.  So, why did you
have to ask _me_ that?  You had the information at your fingertips.



> i'd want the latest to always be installed  of certain apps ...
> 	"certain" apps as in kernel, apache, exim, libs, perl,
> 	and leave the other unimportant apps "out of date" or removed/hold
> 	since unstable might be in fact "unstable"

That would be really, really mind-bogglingly stupid, Alvin.  I _hope_ I
don't have to explain to you why -- especially since I recently got
through detailing that elsewhere, just the other day.



> 	<my silly thoughts>
> 	i'm always willng to risk broken code in the latest versions
> 	from the original sources/developers and deal with it acordingly

If you want to shoot _yourself_ in the foot, feel free.  But not on
other people's production servers.


[Linode:]

> that is an option, but it's been an ongoing issue ( "to do" ) for
> about a year ??

It is not just _an_ option, but also the one our elected officers
decided on.  

I have had access to that system since very late Monday night.  I
haven't had time to do more than a once-over examination of the virtual
machine's state, and test login.


> in the meantime .. the machine needed a home "now" which is why i 
> grabbed the current box to get it back online asap
> 	- and do the upgrades that we all be nagging the list about

Please for _God's_ sake, do not attempt to do apt-get operations
on the current SVLUG box.  Its packaging subsystem condition is
alarming.

> since that showed up here ... i'll add as in the reply to you,
> that if could help with the virt server stuff, i'd step up,
> except that i'm clueless in how to config xen/vmware/others

Um, you don't need to do any of that.

For purposes of administration, it's just a Linux server.
 
> also ... i'll install the new test website stuff too ..

Um, that would be a neat trick, since even I don't know what files to
grab from gemini.starshine.org's command line.  I've worked only from
within MoinMoin, thus far.

> i'll be getting ready to play the exim/mailman mind boggle later tonight
> assuming nobody objects in the list about volunteers and svlug at svlug.org
> bweing offline while the new exim/mailman is configured

Um, *I* object.  Don't do that.

If you need your machine to think it's "svlug.org", do so via /etc/hosts
or something.  We should avoid taking the current server offline until
necessary for cutover.