CentOS - Oct 2009 - Help! i want to clone my Centos machine to another box..

Hello all,

i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone my
existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete failure..

can anyone please guide me in the right direction? 
all i want to do is to clone my entire server and all of it's directories to
a more powerful server so i start using it instead..
i dont want to get rid of the current server as i want both of them to run in
parallel with the same backed up services/data on each of them..


can anyone please help! im honestly desperate!! 


best,

Roland
 		 	   		  
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On 10/22/2009 04:06 AM RoLaNd RoLaNd wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone my
> existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
> i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete failure..
> 
> can anyone please guide me in the right direction?
> all i want to do is to clone my entire server and all of it's
> directories to a more powerful server so i start using it instead..
> i dont want to get rid of the current server as i want both of them to
> run in parallel with the same backed up services/data on each of them..
> 
> 
> can anyone please help! im honestly desperate!!
> 
> 
> best,
> 
> Roland
Since the destination machine is "more powerful", the hardware is
likely
different, so cloning per se isn't an option.  Instead, you should do a
fresh install of the same version on the new (destination) box, then
copy the data over from the weaker to the destination machine.

There are a variety of options for copying the data.  Since it sounds
like there's some pressure at the moment, the best way for you now is
going to be the method you're most familiar with.  Do you have good,
recent backups of the source system?  If so, you could restore that
backup to the destination machine.  Otherwise (if your two machines are
both on the same network), you could use tar or rsync or yet other
utilities.

Hello,

thanks for your prompt reply..
i was leaving that option as a last resort...
the problem is that this machine is a production machine 
so if i rsync, i need to turn off the services in order to copy files or else
ill have permission denied errors...

any other way?


i;ll start the proccess of creating a fresh instalation today though i dunno how
to do the followign:

1. backing up my mysql databases  is it enough to cp /var/lib/mysql and
/user/lib/mysql or i have to export them? and if thats the case how can i
export?
2. anyway of copying user permissions and passwords? or i have to create them
all over again ?




> Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:49:21 -0400
> From: gebser at mousecar.com
> To: centos at centos.org
> Subject: Re: [CentOS] Help! i want to clone my Centos machine to another
box..
> 
> 
> On 10/22/2009 04:06 AM RoLaNd RoLaNd wrote:
> > Hello all,
> > 
> > i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone
my
> > existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
> > i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete failure..
> > 
> > can anyone please guide me in the right direction?
> > all i want to do is to clone my entire server and all of it's
> > directories to a more powerful server so i start using it instead..
> > i dont want to get rid of the current server as i want both of them to
> > run in parallel with the same backed up services/data on each of
them..
> > 
> > 
> > can anyone please help! im honestly desperate!!
> > 
> > 
> > best,
> > 
> > Roland
> 
> Since the destination machine is "more powerful", the hardware is
likely
> different, so cloning per se isn't an option.  Instead, you should do a
> fresh install of the same version on the new (destination) box, then
> copy the data over from the weaker to the destination machine.
> 
> There are a variety of options for copying the data.  Since it sounds
> like there's some pressure at the moment, the best way for you now is
> going to be the method you're most familiar with.  Do you have good,
> recent backups of the source system?  If so, you could restore that
> backup to the destination machine.  Otherwise (if your two machines are
> both on the same network), you could use tar or rsync or yet other
> utilities.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> CentOS mailing list
> CentOS at centos.org
> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
 		 	   		  
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We use Norton Ghost all the time.  You sometimes have to jiggle
drivers after it comes up - I'll leave that as an exercise to the
reader :-)

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 4:06 AM, RoLaNd RoLaNd <r_o_l_a_n_d at
hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone my
> existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
> i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete failure..
>
> can anyone please guide me in the right direction?
> all i want to do is to clone my entire server and all of it's
directories to
> a more powerful server so i start using it instead..
> i dont want to get rid of the current server as i want both of them to run
> in parallel with the same backed up services/data on each of them..
>
>
> can anyone please help! im honestly desperate!!
>
>
> best,
>
> Roland
>
> ________________________________
> Windows Live Hotmail: Your friends can get your Facebook updates, right
from
> Hotmail?.
> _______________________________________________
> CentOS mailing list
> CentOS at centos.org
> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
>
>


-- 
?Don't eat anything you've ever seen advertised on TV?
         - Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food"

> 1. backing up my mysql databases? is it enough to cp /var/lib/mysql and
> /user/lib/mysql or i have to export them? and if thats the case how can i
> export?
For MySQL backups I use the mysqldump utility, which dumps the data as
pure SQL.
This may not be the best option if you have a huge amount of data though.

/usr/bin/mysqldump --lock-tables --add-locks --add-drop-table -u root
--databases my_database > my_database-091021.sql

RoLaNd RoLaNd wrote:
> 
> thanks for your prompt reply..
> i was leaving that option as a last resort...
> the problem is that this machine is a production machine
> so if i rsync, i need to turn off the services in order to copy files or 
> else ill have permission denied errors...
> 
> any other way?
It is rare for files to be locked on Linux when in use, so you probably
won't
get permission denied errors.  However, if files are changing while you copy 
them you will get a bad copy.  One approach is to do one rsync with the machine 
running normally, then repeat with most of the services stopped.  The 2nd pass 
will go very quickly since it only has to copy the changed files.
> i;ll start the proccess of creating a fresh instalation today though i 
> dunno how to do the followign:
> 
> 1. backing up my mysql databases  is it enough to cp /var/lib/mysql and 
> /user/lib/mysql or i have to export them? and if thats the case how can 
> i export?
If mysql isn't running and you are copying to the same type of machine
(32/64
bit) you can copy the files directly.  Otherwise, msqldump is the way to export 
(and what you should be using regularly for backups).
> 2. anyway of copying user permissions and passwords? or i have to create 
> them all over again ?
You'll have to work through the files in /etc by hand, since some relate to
the
hardware and some to the configured software.  If all the installed software is 
the same on the new system you can probably just copy /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, 
/etc/group, and /etc/gshadow but a safer approach is to keep the uid's below
500
from the new system and edit in the higher ones from the old.

I'd either copy the old /etc tree to some other location on the new system
so
you can diff and pick out the useful parts or change the old system's
name/IP so
you can access it until the new one is completely working.

I've always thought that linux distos badly needed a 're-install'
function to
adapt a clone/backup copy to new hardware. Most of the knowledge of what has to 
change is buried in anaconda - although you have a fair chance of making it work
if you boot a rescue CD and rebuild the initrd with the modules that are set up 
when you do an install on that machine.

--
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com

roland,
 
what i recently did was use this info and modified the backup-servers script
slightly
 
http://www.jms1.net/code/rsync-backup.shtml
 
it was really simple to move a live centos4 from one machine to another
after admin down services that would allow data to change on the final rsync
pass.
 
one machine was an older compaq DL380 and the new machine was a HP DL360
 
basically i did a centos 4 load on the new machine and paid careful
attention to what needs to be excluded as well as changed before and
afterwards
 
things like  /etc/modprobe.conf
 
then change ips and reboot.
 
the having two servers side by side thing is a different set of
circumstances and setup...
 
we just cloned one to the other and took the original machine offline.
 
if you have a lot of linux experience and cannot figure out the step by
step, post what you did to "try" and accomplish it and then we can
help more
later
 
please be specific in your postings
 
 - rh
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RoLaNd RoLaNd a ?crit :
> Hello all,
> 
> i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone my 
> existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
If I had to clone a machine, I would.

1) Use G4U (Ghost 4 Unix)

2) Boot PartedMagic on the target machine and perform and eventual disk 
resize.

3) Run Kudzu on the first bootup, then eventually configure odd bits by 
hand.

Cheers,

Niki

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 3:06 AM, RoLaNd RoLaNd <r_o_l_a_n_d at
hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone my
> existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
> i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete failure..
You used the CloneZilla Live CD?

CloneZilla Server and DRBL Server are entirely different and can be
difficult.  But CloneZilla _LiveCD_ is easy.


Tell us more about your RAID config.  It is not software raid is it?
Not sure if any cloning system can work to clone software raid unless
you have completely identical set of drives in both and then you would
not be doing disk level cloning, but file level cloning.
What kind of raid do you have?

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 01:34:01PM +0200, RoLaNd RoLaNd
wrote:
>    Hello,
> 
>    thanks for your prompt reply..
>    i was leaving that option as a last resort...
>    the problem is that this machine is a production machine
>    so if i rsync, i need to turn off the services in order to copy files or
>    else ill have permission denied errors...
> 
>    any other way?
> 
>    i;ll start the proccess of creating a fresh instalation today though i
>    dunno how to do the followign:
>    >
>    > On 10/22/2009 04:06 AM RoLaNd RoLaNd wrote:
>    > > Hello all,
>    > >
>    > > i've spent the last week trying to find something that
will clone my
>    > > existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
>    > > i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete
failure..
>    > >
...
>    >
>    > Since the destination machine is "more powerful", the
hardware is likely
>    > different, so cloning per se isn't an option. Instead, you
should do a
>    > fresh install of the same version on the new (destination) box,
then
>    > copy the data over from the weaker to the destination machine.
Compare and contrast the two machines for us.
It may be possible to just move the disks and reboot.

HOWEVER
Since this is a production environment that might
be reckless.

Make sure you have a "LiveCD" or "LiveUSBstick"
for the new machine so you can fix things.  

I would start with a fresh install and migrate
services and data, perhaps one service at a time.
Plan on multiple reinstalls and clone data and
config files with a script.

With the fresh install in place you can see a
lot that will help in the compare, contrast 
and planning process.

Install; clone data;test
Install; clone data;test
...
Install; clone data;test
Install; clone data;test
switch

> i've spent the last week trying to find something that will clone my
> existing Centos server to a more powerful box.
> i've used clonezilla though that resulted in a complete failure..
>
> can anyone please guide me in the right direction?
> all i want to do is to clone my entire server and all of it's
directories to
> a more powerful server so i start using it instead..
> i dont want to get rid of the current server as i want both of them to run
> in parallel with the same backed up services/data on each of them..
>
>
> can anyone please help! im honestly desperate!!
I did something like this in past.  I simply used a linux boot CD in
middle of night then used dd to copy the entire disk to new drive of
equal or greater size.  Then I placed the new disk in the new server
and booted up.  This may not be what you want though.

Matt