Install from SSH
Contents
Intro
This article is intended to show users how to install Parabola remotely via an SSH connection. Consider this approach over the standard one in scenarios such the following:
Setting up Parabola on...
- HTPC without a proper monitor (i.e. an SDTV).
- A PC located in another city, state, country (friend's house, parent's house, etc.)
- A PC that you would rather setup remotely, for example from the comfort of one's own workstation with copy/paste abilities from the Parabola Wiki.
Boot from Media
Boot into a live Arch environment via the live CD/USB image and log in as root.
Setup the Live Environment to use SSH
One should be presented with the root prompt [root@libreiso ~]# at this point.
Firstly, setup the network on the target machine:
aif -p partial-configure-network
It will present you with a list of known interface; type in the interface you would like to use (eg: eth0 for wired Ethernet interface)
Secondly, sync the live environment to a mirror, install the openssh package, and start it:
pacman -Syy openssh rc.d start sshd
Finally, setup a root password which is needed for an ssh connection; the default arch password for root is empty.
passwd
Connect to the Target PC via SSH
Connect to the target machine via the following command:
$ ssh root@ip.address.of.target
From here one is presented with live environment's the welcome message and is able to administer the target machine as-if sitting at the physical keyboard.
ssh root@10.1.10.105 root@10.1.10.105's password: Last login: Thu Dec 23 08:33:02 2010 from 10.1.10.200 ************************************************************** * To begin installation, run /libre/setup * * You can find documentation at * * /usr/share/aif/docs/official_installation_guide_en * * * * i18n: Use the 'km' utility to change your keyboard layout * * and console font. * * * * If you are looking to install Parabola on something more * * exotic, such as your kerosene-powered cheese grater, * * please consult https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org. * * * ************************************************************** [root@libreiso ~]#
Notes
- If the target machine is behind a firewall/router, the default ssh port of 22 will obviously need to be forward to the target machine's LAN IP address. The use of port forwarding is not covered in this guide.
- One can edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the live environment prior to starting the daemon for example to run on a non-standard port if desired.
Next Steps
The sky is the limit. If the intent is to simply install Parabola from the live media, run /libre/setup. If the intent is to edit an existing GNU/Linux install that got broken, follow the Install from Existing GNU/Linux wiki article.
Want grub2 or the ability to use GPT hardrives?
- Manually partition the target HDD/SDD using the gptfdisk utility installed via pacman -S gptfdisk before starting the parabola installer and when presented with the option to install a boot loader in the installation framework, simply answer no and drop back to the live environment's root prompt.
- Installation of grub2 is trivial at this point. Simply chroot into the fresh Parabola install (default pre-mounted if coming out of the installer) then install and setup grub2:
cd /mnt rm console ; mknod -m 600 console c 5 1 rm null ; mknod -m 666 null c 1 3 rm zero ; mknod -m 666 zero c 1 5 mount -t proc none /mnt/proc mount --rbind /dev /mnt/dev mount --rbind /sys /mnt/sys chroot /mnt /bin/bash
Now inside the fresh Parabola chroot:
pacman -S grub2 grep -v rootfs /proc/mounts > /etc/mtab
Edit /etc/default/grub to your liking. Install grub and generate a grub.cfg
grub-install /dev/sdX --no-floppy grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
When ready to reboot into the new Parabola install, exit the chroot and unmount the partitions prior to a reboot of the system.
exit umount /mnt/boot # if mounted this or any other separate partitions umount /mnt/dev/shm umount /mnt/dev/pts umount /mnt/dev umount /mnt/sys umount /mnt/proc umount /mnt