Moving HardDisk to New Hardware

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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
initrd initrd.YOUR KERNEL VERSION.img YOUR KERNEL VERSION
  • Then reboot and if it has worked, then the system will boot normally