Well it sure did.  Thanks.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but, care to share how you got it sorted out?  I know there is a problem with rsyslog in ascii, but I have one install of jessie (devuan) that does have this problem.  Is it easier just to use a different logging program like syslog-ng or busybox-syslogd?

Fair enough, have you ever used gitso?  It is in the repos.  I have used it before and it is pretty fair.  A brief intro is here.  However, you will need to configure port forwarding (on your end) if behind a router.

Well yes, I do it for others, but really, it all depends on what you want to do.  Paid Consulting should not be discussed in a public forum, in my opinion.  However, if all you want to do is install a vps, especially vultr.com, then it is just as easy as installing it in a virtual machine (virtualbox, vmware, etc.).  After installation, then you simply configure it to do what you wish.  It really is the same as building a physical system in your presence.  If you don't try, then you will never be successful.

If you want assistance with installing a vps, then please ask your questions here.  There are others on here who know a lot more than I do about vps's.  Even configuring it is public knowledge, so go ahead and ask.  However, be careful with security as there is a fine line between general security practices and your particular security practices.  For example, general security questions are fine but you should not post the ip address or any keys to your vps.

Step one is to choose a vps provider that you wish to use.  Step two is to choose an operating system that you wish to use.  The OS can be Devuan or Debian wheezy (preferably).  Debian Jessie is okay but I have updated both and I think that it is easier to update debian wheezy to devuan jessie. 

To repeat from the previous post, if you are going to use vultr.com, then the easiest way to get the most out of your vps is to build and configure it locally, then use refracta-tools to make a copy of it, then upload it to your vultr account.  Once uploaded, you can then install it.  The link in the previous post has screenshots on how to do install from a "Custom ISO".

This might be why I have had (some) problems with (some) installs not automatically booting into the newly installed kernel.  From now on, I will make sure that this package is also installed.  Thanks fsr!

I have a couple of "nasty" hacks.  They are done on all my devuan installs.  So, I will share.

Before I start, one thing you may want to know.  I have a home network server operational 24/7.  It is only off during power outages, which is seldom.  The first of my hacks begin with already having successfully configured nfs to be shared on the server, and both hacks depend on the installation of and configuring autofs on the client computers.  Autofs is used on both hacks, to mount nfs network mounts and to mount the local partitions.  With autofs, the fstab file is not altered, but fstab may need to be altered to successfully test and troubleshoot the mount procedure.

Hack #1 - Recycle and Reuse Apt Cache, Use NFS network mount (with autofs)
I use this "nasty hack" to use, share, and recycle my downloaded apt cache across all my devuan installations.  I rename /var/cache/apt/archives to archives.local and then I create a symlink to the network mount location.
- Manually create the folder /mnt/nfs, and then /mnt/nfs/auto-server-data
- Install autofs, as root
   

apt-get install autofs

- Add the below to /etc/auto.master, adjusting for your paths

# nfs shares
/mnt/nfs/auto-server-data  /etc/auto.nfs --timeout=30 --ghost

 
- Create the file /etc/auto.nfs and add to it, adjusting to your needs

data -fstype=nfs,rw  192.168.1.100:/mnt/data

   
As root, enter the command

service autofs restart

These two entries combined will mount the remote location from 192.168.1.100:/mnt/data, and mount it locally at /mnt/nfs/auto-server-data/data.  The mount will timeout after 30 seconds (minutes?) and the "data" folder itself will disappear.  Don't worry, it will be re-created as needed, and upon a re-mount.  After it is successfully mounted, then the symlink to /var/cache/apt/archives can be created with, and adjust for your paths:

#  ln -s /mnt/nfs/auto-server-data/data/devuan/apt/archives /var/cache/apt/archives

   
For any permissions problem on the local system, I adjust the network folder to 0777.  Be sure to set apt to not delete the cache.  I do this from within synaptic.  This hack allows me to save bandwidth on the repository servers as I have several devuan installs in my network.

Hack #2 - Partition mounts, avoiding libsystemd0
I first used this to avoid the installation of libsystemd0, and I think it was wanting to be installed with gvfs, as this was used in the mounting of partitions within Thunar, if I recall correctly.  This hack helped me to avoid installing libsystemd0.  This is a nasty hack but is very simple and has never failed to work.
First configure autofs to mount local partitions. 
- Create mount point for partitions under /mnt (I use /mnt/sda, /mnt/sdb, etc.)
- Create the file /etc/auto.local.  Adjust to your needs for any and all partitions that you may wish to mount.  Each partition will mount under this folder name within /mnt/sda.  Add this to /etc/auto.local, and adjust for your local partitions

sda1 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda1
sda5 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda5
sda6 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda6
sda7 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda7
sda8 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda8
# current root partition in use
#sda9 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda9 
sda10 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda10

# not in use, nothing installed
#sda11 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda11
#sda12 -fstype=ext4  :/dev/sda12

NOTE:  The above looks "nasty" but really, I have this entry for all my installs and I simply comment out the partitions that are in use (and already mounted), or that I do not wish to access.  So for the entry above, I am currently booted into sda9, and do not wish to access sda11 and sda12 as there is nothing installed there.

- Add to /etc/auto.master this line

# local drives
/mnt/sda	/etc/auto.local --timeout=10 --ghost

Restart autofs, and this is it, finished.  However, I find it much simpler to create symlinks under the user directory for easy shortcut access.  For example, I access each partition within the ~/Partitions folder with a symlink to each partition on the drive.  Use the example command below to create a symlink and adjust for your partitions.  You can assign a descriptive name for the symlink to help you know which partition is which.

#  ln -s /mnt/sda/sda1 /home/USER/Partitions/sda1_Devuan
#  ln -s /mnt/sda/sda2 /home/USER/Partitions/sda2_Refracta

etc.

This will not mount partitions within the file manager like you would normally think it would.  The partitions will mount by clicking on the mount points under /mnt/sda or within the symlinks created just above in ~/Partitions.

Nasty?, a little but, but libsystemd0 is not installed and I can access my other partitions with a simple click.

These are my two "nasty hacks".  There are probably other ways of doing each, but this is what I came up with to help me accomplish what I wanted.

Edit: Eliminated some wordiness

For starters, replace it with what?

And next,

fsmithred-> I get the hint.  I might wait until you or someone else prepares a livecd.

I am in no hurry, but I have a spare partition just waiting for something to be installed on it, and ascii it will be.

I do not know about including this program in the "official" repository of devuan, but it can be very easily installed with the linux installer located here. 

There is also a 3rd party repository which holds a debian installer.  By adding this repository, it should update whenever you do a routine system update.

I have not tried this repository before as I use the linux installer.  It is very, very easy to use.

Well now, isn't this interesting.  I kind of left behind the systemd arguments when I did my first bootstrap install of devuan over two years ago.  Been using it ever since (or a derivative).  Seems that systemd is trying to creep even harder into the kernel.  Lets hope not.

Welcome to the forums myrddin, and I like your analogy about the auto manufacturer!

Is this what you are interested in?
mini.iso

The mini.iso is less than 30mb.

Thank you very much MiyoLinux!  I will make these changes and test them out before fully trusting them.

Yes, those updates were normal updates as I received them about the same time. 

I was thinking about this overnight and it may not matter as much as I thought because devuan uses the release name "jessie" in the apt sources.list file and not the words stable and unstable.  Based on the old debian way, this would produce no change when the new release went live in devuan.  Personally, I prefer it this way as a major update (dist-upgrade) should only be done after I have prepared for it, like backing up data.

But still, apt-get upgrade is safer than a dist-upgrade.  Thanks again.

Thank you Miyolinux! 

I installed that program and it just notified me of updates being available.  By the way, I have it on a Devuan install, not Miyolinux.  I figured that if it works on one, then it should work on the other.  So far no problems and it pulled in no additional dependencies.