Moving HardDisk to New Hardware

Introduction

This HowTo describes a simple way to move your SMEServer system to another set of hardware by just moving the hard disk.

Sometimes this works without any intervention, but sometimes the boot fails with a "Kernel Panic". In this case you should follow these steps.

Backup First

Never do anything like this without a viable backup. If you have a Raid 1 system with 2 hard drives, then check you can boot from either of them, and then keep one safe in-case the procedure fails. If you have a USB hard Drive backup or some other form of backup, then I recommend you make sure it restores properly before you start.

What to Do

• Boot up the "old" system and run:

uname -r

this will give you the name of the current Kernel. It is needed below.

• Remove the hard Drive and load it into the new system
• Boot from an SMEServer ISO CD into rescue mode, by typing "sme rescue" at the initial prompt.
• Select to enter rescue mode in Read/Write mode
• Type in the following code:

cd /boot
mv initrd.YOUR_KERNEL_VERSION.img initrd.YOUR KERNEL VERSION.img.old
mkinitrd initrd.YOUR_KERNEL_VERSION.img YOUR_KERNEL_VERSION

• Then reboot and if it has worked, then the system will boot normally.
• If not, then you'll have to think again, or use the longer way as here.