Topic: Hardware down, need Migrate to new machine !?

[alanwsl]

The server hardware-Motherboard was down, and there is no replacement.
So the only way is need move on to new machine. On the new PC (only plug with old HD) I have try to run "sme rescue" from CD, and do "chroot /mnt/sysimage", I can see my files still there. Just don't have any ways to get my data back.

I would like to try plug the old HD to a new machine to make it run, but seems doesn't work. After I boot up, and the screen show as below:

md: md1 stopped
madam: no devices found for /dev/md1
md: md2 stopped
madam: no devices found for /dev/md2
Making device-mapper control mode
scanning Logical volumes
        Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while
Activating logical volumes
        Volume group "main" not found
ERROR: /bin/lvm exited abnormally! (pid 443)
Creating root device
Mounting root filesystem
mount: error 6 mounting ext3
mount: error 2 mounting non
Switching to near root
switchroot: mount failed: 22
umount /initrd/dev failed: 2
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

[Screen hold up here, Need press reset button]

Now I have few questions,
1) Can I solve this problem directly as Old HD to new Machine?
2) Do I need setup another SME Server (with new HD) and plug with old HD to get back Old HD Data?
3) Any way to backup the data and configuration file to New SME Server?
4) Are there any others better solution for migrate to new hardware?

I don't know much Linux command, please have more details. Thank you!!

Thank's for any help in advance.
Alan

[idp_qbn]

To answer your questions(or attempt to):

1) Generally speaking, mounting the old HDD in the new server should work.
The system should boot. At this point you should log on at the new server and run "console" so you can configure the server - this picks up new N/W cards etc.

2) I think you can do this - search the forums (see below) and the Wiki about adding an extra hard disk. But be aware, this means you need to find all the data and transfer it across yourself, which is not a trivial task for a non-linux person.

3) If you could start a linux system (eg Knoppix) on another PC you could perhaps copy data from the old HDD onto a USB and use the Restore From USB option when building your new SME server. Once again, finding ALL of the data is not a trivial task for a non-linux person.

4) The best solution requires action BEFORE the failure, not after - BACKUP on to another system. I think you are stuck with (1), (2) or (3).


In the meantime, before you do anything, use the "SEARCH" button on the dark blue-grey bar just above where it says
"Contribs.org > Contribs.org Forums > SME Server 7.x > Post reply ( Re: Hardware down, need Migrate to new machine !? "
Here you can search all the SME forums for suggestions about how to tackle mounting old disks in new hardware or any other solution you want to attempt. There is lots of advice available- you are not the first person to have this happen.

Sorry I can't offer any better help but perhaps others in the forum can (or already have in the past).

Good luck
Ian

[cactus]

1) Generally speaking, mounting the old HDD in the new server should work.
The system should boot. At this point you should log on at the new server and run "console" so you can configure the server - this picks up new N/W cards etc.

Are you sure it is your motherboard that is defect and not your harddrive? Do you see the disk being detected in the boot process of the bios?
If your drive really is OK, you should indeed be able to move the drive to another compatible motherboard, but it might be you need to configure your BIOS properly. Is your drive a PATA (IDE) or SATA drive? Is your BIOS configured correctly for your server? Once boot up at the login prompt you can login as admin to get to the console automatically. You can then choose to reconfigure your server.

2) I think you can do this - search the forums (see below) and the Wiki about adding an extra hard disk. But be aware, this means you need to find all the data and transfer it across yourself, which is not a trivial task for a non-linux person.

You can find the minimum files and folders and a procedure here: http://wiki.contribs.org/Backup_server_config#Manually_transferring_configuration_information

3) If you could start a linux system (eg Knoppix) on another PC you could perhaps copy data from the old HDD onto a USB and use the Restore From USB option when building your new SME server. Once again, finding ALL of the data is not a trivial task for a non-linux person.

That wont work without some intervention as the backup expects files to be added to a .tgz file IIRC.

4) The best solution requires action BEFORE the failure, not after - BACKUP on to another system. I think you are stuck with (1), (2) or (3).

True, for variuos backup solutions and scripts see the Backup category in the wiki. Be sure to test backup as well as restore once in a while to make sure your complete backup and restore chain is working.

[janet]

alanwsl

Usually a drive from one system will work in another motherboard that is configured similarly ie RAID1 (not hardware RAID based on motherboard chips etc), same processor type Intel vs AMD.
Where there are processor differences, you may need to boot up to the install CD & do a upgrade install (rather than a clean install) to load required modules etc.
You should examine this further as it may be the easiest solution.
Test your hard drive(s) with a drive manufacturers (non data destructive) tests.
Download & boot up to the UBCD (google for it), and run appropriate tests.

Another approach is that you can build a new machine (even with one disk), ie install the new SME OS, then shutdown then attach the old drive, then follow this howto to restore the data & configuration from the old dive
http://wiki.contribs.org/UpgradeDisk
This assumes your new motherboard & BIOS supports the old drive type & connection.

[alanwsl]

Thanks for those reply. All of the answer are great!

I think UpgradeDisk will fit for me. Will try tomorrow. Hope everything go smooth.

And I need to more study on this forum^^

[jdavey]

Before attempting to modify the existing install on the existing disk - make an image of the disk first. Keep the original disk unmodified, and attempt the recovery options on a copy of the original. Just to be safe.

[alanwsl]

Yes, you are right jdavey!

I did the same way. If the data was gone, that's mean nothing. I have use Ghost2003 to do the clone, but the Grub seem doesn't work after copy. So I use Super Grub Disk to fix it.

Any good program can Clone perfectly!?

[jdavey]

I thought I had used Ghost 2003 to clone linux drives in the past, but I might not be remembering correctly. You could use dd, Clonezilla, Clone Maxx, Ping, PartImage, SystemRescueCD, or several others.

The one thing to keep in mind is that if you are running SME software RAID you need only to clone one disk. If you are using a Hardware RAID, then that's a different matter - although I've recovered SME6.0 running on a 3Ware RAID card.