Hosted VPS server migration from debian to devuan hosed

golinux · 2018-06-17 16:07:04

Some feedback from irc.

<Irrwahn> golinux: That's just install via some ISO image. That's not the same as an officially supported install image, but more like "bring your own OS". And it will only work for VMs, not dedicated machines, unless you rent a KVM + virtual drive console.
<Irrwahn> By this metric virtually any old hosting company in existence can be said to have an "Install Devuan" option.

and then . . .

<Irrwahn> He could probably do that himself. ISTR that basically any customer can deposit any ISO (that meets some criteria) at their store.

and finally:

<Irrwahn> Overall, the important takeaway is: When you run Devuan on a Hetzner machine, you do so at your own devise and own risk, no support.
<Irrwahn> And that's different from their "official" OS choices.

devuser · 2018-06-17 16:30:46

golinux wrote:

Some feedback from irc.
<Irrwahn> golinux: That's just install via some ISO image. That's not the same as an officially supported install image, but more like "bring your own OS". And it will only work for VMs, not dedicated machines, unless you rent a KVM + virtual drive console.
<Irrwahn> By this metric virtually any old hosting company in existence can be said to have an "Install Devuan" option.

That's partly true. Of course it won't work for dedicated machines as those don't have virtual CD-ROM drives. As for needing a KVM and anything virtual to install ISOs on the dedicated servers... Well, no. All my dedicated boxes at Hetzner are installed from ISOs and i haven't used any of this. I also tend to somewhat disagree about the any hoster offers this statement. I've seen enough companies that will not let you mount custom ISOs at all let alone have Devuan included in the list of available ISOs.

golinux wrote:

<Irrwahn> He could probably do that himself. ISTR that basically any customer can deposit any ISO (that meets some criteria) at their store.

Well, to be honest i don't know. I've never needed this (as i can install pretty much whatever i want using just rescue mode) but i am quite sure i can't simply upload something and have it automatically be add to the list on their website.

golinux wrote:

<Irrwahn> Overall, the important takeaway is: When you run Devuan on a Hetzner machine, you do so at your own devise and own risk, no support.
<Irrwahn> And that's different from their "official" OS choices.

No offense to the guy but that made me chuckle a bit. It's not like Hetzner offers any software support at all. Even if you have some kind of network problem they'll have you boot into rescue mode and if it isn't reproduceable there it's up to you to fix it no matter what you are running.

Edit: I'll have to agree that Hetzners images are more fail safe. I had a bad MTU on one of my installs which caused me quite bit of hairloss and i guess that wouldn't have happend with their images (even if the bad MTU was just a result of me not paying enough attention). It's not like they are going to help you if you managed to break it on a supported OS though. In fact the support didn't even ask what i was running.

Last edited by devuser (2018-06-17 16:52:49)

devuser · 2018-06-17 17:17:45

devuser wrote:

golinux wrote:
<Irrwahn> He could probably do that himself. ISTR that basically any customer can deposit any ISO (that meets some criteria) at their store.
Well, to be honest i don't know. I've never needed this (as i can install pretty much whatever i want using just rescue mode) but i am quite sure i can't simply upload something and have it automatically be add to the list on their website.

I've looked into this and found absolutely nothing. Even the KVM related wiki pages only talk about being able to mount a remote ISOs using CIFS and cloud documentation just seems to go on about selecting an ISO from the list. No mention of any upload option. I guess this doesn't exist after all but it it does some kind of pointer would be neat.

Edit: Thinking about this i'll just ask Hetzner if they can add Ascii. I need to get off the PC and make some jelly before my cherries go bad. No point in wasting time with all this grumpyness

Last edited by devuser (2018-06-17 17:29:31)

chomwitt · 2021-01-11 10:36:19

hetzner removed the devuan iso option.

little · 2021-01-12 00:59:29

I've migrated two different VPS to devuan. One Debian 9, one Debian 10. The latter was harder. But, it's possible.

I haven't written a guide yet, but here's a tip: Debian doesn't have /etc/inittab, but devuan needs it, so you'll have to copy one from another devuan install.

Another tip: if the NICs don't come up after a reboot, you must install eudev, then they will come up. You are going to need an emergency console for this. Some notes are here: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=3044&p=2

Best way to do this: Find a provider that offers custom ISO installation. It's the right way to go. Custom ISO is essential for VPS. Speak with your wallets w/Providers that offer custom iso. There's a bunch out there. Hopefully in a couple years, it will be standard across the board.

EDIT: I just spent the 20 minutes to look back through my notes, and migrated from buster to beowulf. Here's the guide.

apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
edit /etc/apt/sources.list and add devuan's repos
root@debian:~# apt-get update --allow-insecure-repositories
root@debian:~# apt-get install devuan-keyring --allow-unauthenticated
root@debian:~# apt-get update
apt-get install sysvinit #may not be required
reboot #may not be required
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade #says it will delete running kernel. allow it to (I think it's "no" here, read the warning carefully)
install the kernel again. note that you can't
install linux-image-amd64, you must install the current release.
e.g. apt-get install linux-image-4.19.0-13-amd64. Whatever is most current.
make sure boot has an initramfs and kernel.
What this does is remove the debian kernel, and install the devuan kernel
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get remove systemd libsoup2.4-1-  #this will ignore the dependency on libsoup, and allow removing systemd
it will error out. that's ok,
sudo apt-get install sysvinit-core
sudo apt-get install eudev #IMPORTANT. We must download this before rebooting. It will fail, but that is ok.
now, before you reboot make sure /etc/inittab has something in place.
It does for me, so devuan installed it this time.
now: reboot
in my vps i was locked out, because they have some strange ifup settings.
from emergency console: apt-get install eudev
after this, reboot once more to get eudev running.
the dhcp may timeout. just wait a moment.
now NICs are visible, and you should be in devuan. At least I was with my VPS.
Tested with Debian 10. 01/10/2021.

It's worth noting that my interfaces look something like the below from the provider. So it's not just DHCP.

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto enp
iface enp inet static
        address <WANIP>
        netmask 255.255.255.255
        broadcast +
        up ip -f inet route add 169.254.0.1 dev enp
auto enp:1
iface enp:1 inet static
        address <SOMELANIP>
        netmask 255.0.0.0
        broadcast +

Last edited by little (2021-01-12 01:50:43)

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#26 2018-06-17 16:07:04

Re: Hosted VPS server migration from debian to devuan hosed

#27 2018-06-17 16:30:46

Re: Hosted VPS server migration from debian to devuan hosed

#28 2018-06-17 17:17:45

Re: Hosted VPS server migration from debian to devuan hosed

#29 2021-01-11 10:36:19

Re: Hosted VPS server migration from debian to devuan hosed

#30 2021-01-12 00:59:29

Re: Hosted VPS server migration from debian to devuan hosed

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