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Replace Oracle Cloud Linux with Arch Linux remotely
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convert2arch_x64.sh
[09/23/2023]
Refs:
1. http://mirror.cs.pitt.edu/archlinux/iso/2023.09.01/archlinux-bootstrap-2023.09.01-x86_64.tar.gz
2. https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.18/releases/x86_64/alpine-virt-3.18.0-x86_64.iso
3. https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Replacing_non-Alpine_Linux_with_Alpine_remotely
4. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide#Configure_the_system
See also:
1. Convert to Debian https://gist.github.com/zengxinhui/ee0ad6b7c7f99e2ead6cd0d2bd6641fd
2. Convert to arch x64 https://gist.github.com/zengxinhui/f328fdce54f5039689ee3aa4e91fc805
3. Convert to arch arm https://gist.github.com/zengxinhui/01afb43b8d663a4232a42ee9858be45e
Requirement:
Console access.
# Prepare alpine linux, which can be configured to run from ram only.
# Alpine is leveraged to do the conversion.
# In any linux(ubuntu/debian/arch tested) become root first:
sudo su -
cd /tmp && wget https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.18/releases/x86_64/alpine-virt-3.18.0-x86_64.iso
dd if=alpine-virt-3.18.0-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sda && sync && reboot
# In Alpine with console:
# [Bring up networking]
ip li set eth0 up
udhcpc eth0
# [Setup SSH, answer RET, yes, RET]
setup-sshd
# [set temp password]
passwd
# [At this point it's easier to use SSH to copy & paste]
# [Per Ref #3. Move alpine to ram only]
mkdir /media/setup
cp -a /media/sda/* /media/setup
mkdir /lib/setup
cp -a /.modloop/* /lib/setup
/etc/init.d/modloop stop
umount /dev/sda
mv /media/setup/* /media/sda/
mv /lib/setup/* /.modloop/
# [Setup apk and bring in pacman]
setup-apkrepos
# [enable community]
vi /etc/apk/repositories
apk update
apk add dosfstools e2fsprogs cfdisk pacman arch-install-scripts
# [Disk partitioning & mounting]
# (use gpt table, set esp partition 15 size 256M), set root partition 1 size remaining)
# g, n, 15, RET, +256m, t, 1, n, RET, RET, RET, p, w
fdisk /dev/sda
ls /dev/sda*
# if sda1 or sda15 is missing, do "/etc/init.d/devfs restart"
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda15
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda15 /mnt/boot
# [1G ram is not enough to hold arch bootstrap. Use HDD for now.]
# [or technically you could just use the bootstrap tarball.]
mkdir /mnt/tmp
cd /mnt/tmp
wget http://mirror.cs.pitt.edu/archlinux/iso/2023.09.01/archlinux-bootstrap-2023.09.01-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xf archlinux-bootstrap-2023.09.01-x86_64.tar.gz
vi root.x86_64/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
arch-chroot root.x86_64/
pacman-key --init
pacman-key --populate archlinux
# [Any other way than to mount again?]
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
mount /dev/sda15 /mnt/boot
pacstrap /mnt base linux
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
umount /mnt/boot
umount /mnt
exit
cd /; arch-chroot /mnt
# follow https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide#Configure_the_system
# This is your arch root password. Choose carefully and remember it
passwd
pacman --noconfirm -S openssh grub efibootmgr vi
systemctl enable sshd
systemctl enable systemd-networkd
cat > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys << EOF
<your key here>
EOF
cat > /etc/systemd/network/en.network << EOF
[Match]
Name=en*
[Network]
DHCP=yes
DNSSEC=no
EOF
cat > /etc/systemd/network/eth.network << EOF
[Match]
Name=eth*
[Network]
DHCP=yes
DNSSEC=no
EOF
cat > /etc/resolv.conf << EOF
nameserver 1.1.1.1
nameserver 4.2.2.2
nameserver 8.8.8.8
EOF
# [EFI boot]
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB
vi /etc/default/grub
# Better console. Comparison below:
# GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 quiet"
# GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 console=ttyS0,115200"
# Or use perl/sed to replace
# perl -pi.bak -e "s/quiet/console=ttyS0,115200/" /etc/default/grub
# sed -i.bak -e "s/quiet/console=ttyS0,115200/" /etc/default/grub
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
exit
reboot
@simao
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simao commented Apr 20, 2022 •
edited

Hi,

Thanks for this. It helped a lot. I installed archlinux on an VM.Standard.A1.Flex instance, which uses aarch64, but it can have up to 4 core with 24 GB RAM included in the free tier.

For aarch64 these steps are actually simpler:

1. In Ubuntu
 cd /
 wget https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.13/releases/aarch64/alpine-virt-3.13.9-aarch64.iso
 dd if=alpine-virt-3.13.9-aarch64.iso of=/dev/sda
 sync
 reboot
2. In Alpine
# [Bring up networking]
vi /etc/network/interfaces, add:
 auto eth0
 iface eth0 inet dhcp
ifup eth0
# [Setup SSH]
setup-sshd
# add your ssh key to /root/.ssh/authorized keys, ssh as root
mkdir /media/setup
cp -a /media/sda/* /media/setup
mkdir /lib/setup
cp -a /.modloop/* /lib/setup
/etc/init.d/modloop stop
umount /dev/sda
mv /media/setup/* /media/sda/
mv /lib/setup/* /.modloop/
# [Setup apk and bring in pacman]
setup-apkrepos
vi /etc/apk/repositories, enable community
apk update
apk add dosfstools e2fsprogs cfdisk arch-install-scripts
# [Disk partitioning & mounting]
Create EFI partition, around 256 MB (/dev/sda1)
Rest of disk use ext4, (/dev/sda2)
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mkdir /mnt
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz
tar xf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C /mnt 
mkdir /mnt/boot/EFI
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/EFI
arch-chroot /mnt
pacman-key --init
pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm
pacman -Suy
# [EFI boot]
pacman -S grub efibootmgr
grub-install --efi-directory=/boot/EFI --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# follow https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide#Configure_the_system
# Add your ssh-keys root and/or alarm users
# Change root and alarm passwords
# Get out of chroot (Ctr-D/exit)
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
umount -R /mnt
reboot

@zengxinhui
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Author

Hi,

Thanks for this. It helped a lot. I installed archlinux on an VM.Standard.A1.Flex instance, which uses aarch64, but it can have up to 4 core with 24 GB RAM included in the free tier.

For aarch64 these steps are actually simpler:

1. In Ubuntu
 cd /
 wget https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.13/releases/aarch64/alpine-virt-3.13.9-aarch64.iso
 dd if=alpine-virt-3.13.9-aarch64.iso of=/dev/sda
 sync
 reboot
2. In Alpine
# [Bring up networking]
vi /etc/network/interfaces, add:
 auto eth0
 iface eth0 inet dhcp
ifup eth0
# [Setup SSH]
setup-sshd
# add your ssh key to /root/.ssh/authorized keys, ssh as root
mkdir /media/setup
cp -a /media/sda/* /media/setup
mkdir /lib/setup
cp -a /.modloop/* /lib/setup
/etc/init.d/modloop stop
umount /dev/sda
mv /media/setup/* /media/sda/
mv /lib/setup/* /.modloop/
# [Setup apk and bring in pacman]
setup-apkrepos
vi /etc/apk/repositories, enable community
apk update
apk add dosfstools e2fsprogs cfdisk arch-install-scripts
# [Disk partitioning & mounting]
Create EFI partition, around 256 MB (/dev/sda1)
Rest of disk use ext4, (/dev/sda2)
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mkdir /mnt
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz
tar xf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C /mnt 
mkdir /mnt/boot/EFI
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/EFI
arch-chroot /mnt
pacman-key --init
pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm
pacman -Suy
# [EFI boot]
pacman -S grub efibootmgr
grub-install --efi-directory=/boot/EFI --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# follow https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide#Configure_the_system
# Add your ssh-keys root and/or alarm users
# Change root and alarm passwords
# Get out of chroot (Ctr-D/exit)
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
umount /mnt
reboot

I covered ARM here: https://gist.github.com/zengxinhui/01afb43b8d663a4232a42ee9858be45e

@simao
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simao commented Apr 20, 2022

oh! ok. well it worked with a few modifications. thanks!

@amigthea
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somehow I always end up with this error on reboot

error: file /boot/grub/locale/C.gmo' not found`

it's something related to grub configuration and I don't know how to solve that, any help?

@PortNumber53
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@zengxinhui thanks for posting this!!

@Azertooth the issue seems to be because /etc/grub.d/10_linux doesn't detect linux images to boot. reference: https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-8691498.html?sid=6edb16db140eee71a21fcd0ef82388e9

Adding linux package before running grub-mkconfig seem to fix it:

pacman -S linux

you should see a file Image.gz

[root@localhost boot]# ls -la /boot
total 74280
drwxr-xr-x  6 root root     4096 Aug 13 09:08 .
drwxr-xr-x 17 root root     4096 Aug 13 08:46 ..
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root    16384 Jan  1  1970 EFI
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     4096 Aug 13 08:46 GNUSparseFile.0
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 40264192 Jun  2 01:33 Image
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 14339605 Jun  2 01:33 Image.gz
drwxr-xr-x 16 root root     4096 Aug 13 08:46 dtbs
drwxr-xr-x  6 root root     4096 Aug 13 09:08 grub
-rw-------  1 root root 15550453 Aug 13 09:07 initramfs-linux-fallback.img
-rw-------  1 root root  7412723 Aug 13 09:07 initramfs-linux.img

double check your /boot/grub/grub.cfg has an entry between
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

should look like:

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,gpt2'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-ieee1275='ieee1275//sas/disk@0\,1000000000000,gpt2' --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux Image ...'
        linux   /boot/Image root=/dev/sda2 rw  loglevel=3 quiet
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Arch Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e' {
        menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux Image' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-Image-advanced-0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e' {
                load_video
                set gfxpayload=keep
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_gpt
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,gpt2'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-ieee1275='ieee1275//sas/disk@0\,1000000000000,gpt2' --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 0259d95e-8535-4bcb-a81f-c5ec7ed6a50e
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux Image ...'
                linux   /boot/Image root=/dev/sda2 rw  loglevel=3 quiet
        }
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

@amigthea
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amigthea commented Sep 6, 2022

@PortNumber53 thank you for joining to help me. However, even with linux package installed I cannot see that file Image.gz in the /boot directory

[root@localhost /]# pacman -Q | grep linux
archlinux-keyring 20220831-1
linux 5.19.7.arch1-1
linux-api-headers 5.18.15-1
linux-firmware 20220815.8413c63-1
linux-firmware-whence 20220815.8413c63-1
util-linux 2.38.1-1
util-linux-libs 2.38.1-1

[root@localhost /]# ls -hal /boot/
total 53M
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4.0K Sep  6 15:55 .
drwxr-xr-x 17 root root 4.0K Sep  6 15:47 ..
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4.0K Jan  1  1970 EFI
drwxr-xr-x  6 root root 4.0K Sep  6 15:55 grub
-rw-------  1 root root  34M Sep  6 15:53 initramfs-linux-fallback.img
-rw-------  1 root root 8.8M Sep  6 15:52 initramfs-linux.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  11M Sep  6 15:52 vmlinuz-linux

this is the /etc/grub.d/10_linux part in /boot/grub/grub.cfg

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,gpt2'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda2 rw  loglevel=3 quiet
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /boot/initramfs-linux.img
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Arch Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c' {
        menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-advanced-1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c' {
                load_video
                set gfxpayload=keep
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_gpt
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,gpt2'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda2 rw  loglevel=3 quiet
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initramfs-linux.img
        }
        menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux (fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-fallback-1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c' {
                load_video
                set gfxpayload=keep
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_gpt
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,gpt2'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1905b216-9c1e-406b-928c-820d3c96358c
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda2 rw  loglevel=3 quiet
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
        }
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

@zengxinhui
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Author

@Azertooth sounds like you are in arch x64 already since pacman is working. Can you do a google search "grub c.gmo not found" and see if any of the result helps?

@amigthea
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amigthea commented Sep 7, 2022 •
edited

@Azertooth sounds like you are in arch x64 already since pacman is working. Can you do a google search "grub c.gmo not found" and see if any of the result helps?

pacman is working because that commands were sent in chroot. I managed to solve that error

edit: now when I reboot it fails without any output on the Cloud Shell Connection

@amigthea
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these are the main commands related to efi partition and grub

# mount efi partition
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

# grub install and config
pacman -S grub efibootmgr
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB --removable
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

I can't wrap my head around on what could be the problem

@amishmm
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amishmm commented Sep 13, 2022

@Azertooth Try these instructions - https://gist.github.com/amishmm/e2dc93e65cf79116f2ef2d542f05e61b

@amigthea
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@Azertooth Try these instructions - https://gist.github.com/amishmm/e2dc93e65cf79116f2ef2d542f05e61b

You just saved me from a week long troubleshooting, thank you so much!
This is what I was missing from my steps:

GRUB_TERMINAL_INPUT="console serial"
GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT="gfxterm serial"
GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="serial --unit=0 --speed=115200"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="${GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT/quiet/}"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="${GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT} console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200"

@jzvikart
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jzvikart commented Jan 2, 2023 •
edited

These instructions worked for me. However, if I change the memory/number of CPUs after installation, the machine does not boot any more. It gets stuck in EFI prompt. Any ideas what could be causing this?

@sinnpi
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sinnpi commented Jan 6, 2023

These instructions worked for me. However, if I change the memory/number of CPUs after installation, the machine does not boot any more. It gets stuck in EFI prompt. Any ideas what could be causing this?

If you still have that problem, check this out.

@dnslin
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dnslin commented Feb 13, 2023

Oddly enough, I use neboot. XYZ installs Arch directly, but systemboot fails after installing it in chroot according to the guide

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