fresh install over ssh

[Avi Greenbury]

Patrick Asselman wrote:
> So I found this guide to install Ubuntu via ssh:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/OverSSH
> 
> What I don't grasp is: at what point does the system know to boot
> the new system instead of the currently running system? I would
> expect an edit in /etc/fstab or some LILO or GRUB configuration
> editing, but all I see is stuff that is done in the new /mnt/ubuntu
> chroot environment, and then a reboot. Doesn't the reboot simply
> bring the old system back up, without touching the newly created
> chroot environment?

Yes; the assumption is that you've booted into an environment other
than the OS running on the server ("I assume that your provider
provides you with a rescue system from which you can boot and prepare
your system"); you then mount the root volume of your server (the
guide assumes you only have one volume) and work in a chroot there.

The grub reconfiguration is triggered by the installation of a new
kernel; whenever you install a new kernel it will be set to the
default in grub.

> Or does anyone have a better idea on how to get a 64 bit Ubuntu on
> the server from a remote location?

Do you have the 'rescue' environment that the above guide assumes?
Without that you're a bit stuck, short of getting a KVM on there and
booting from an installer CD.

If you do have a rescue environment but don't need any of the current
system I'd use debootstrap, if you do then that chroot's the best
means I can think of.

-- 
Avi