Here is a quick guide on how to install Debian from scratch via the rescue-pro.
1. Format the harddrive:
PHP Code:
cfdisk /dev/sd[x]
I normaly make 3 partitions
sda1 - 200 MB for boot, and make it bootable
sda3 - 2xMemory for Swap
sda2 - Rest for Root
2. Create FS
PHP Code:
mkswap /dev/sda3
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda2
3. Prepare environment and mount FS
PHP Code:
mkdir /a
mount /dev/sda2 /a
mkdir /a/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /a/boot
4. Install Debian
PHP Code:
debootstrap --arch amd64 lenny /a http://mir1.ovh.net/ftp.debian.org/debian/
This will install a 64bit Lenny
To install a 32bit use this
PHP Code:
debootstrap --arch i386 lenny /a http://mir1.ovh.net/ftp.debian.org/debian/
5. Configure Debian
PHP Code:
echo "127.0.0.1 localhost" > /a/etc/hosts
echo "hostname" > /a/etc/hostname
You obviously change it to your hostname
6. Create network config in /a/etc/network/interfaces
PHP Code:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address x.x.x.x
netmask 255.255.255.0
network x.x.x.0
broadcast x.x.x.255
gateway x.x.x.254
7. Create /a/etc/fstab
PHP Code:
/dev/sda2 / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda1 /boot ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda3 swap swap defaults 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs defaults 0 0
8. Modify /a/etc/apt/sources.list
PHP Code:
deb http://mir1.ovh.net/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free
9. Chroot into new debian and finalize configuration
PHP Code:
mount -obind /dev /a/dev/
chroot /a
mount none /proc -t proc
apt-get update
10. Install kernel, grub, ssh
PHP Code:
apt-get install linux-image-2.6-amd64 openssh-server module-init-tools grub
11. Configure grub
PHP Code:
mkdir /boot/grub
grub-install /dev/sda
update-grub
The boot entry in menu.lst should look like this:
PHP Code:
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.26-2-amd64
root(hd0,0)
kernel/vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-amd64 root=/dev/sda2 ro
initrd/initrd.img-2.6.26-2-amd64
12. Set root password, reboot
PHP Code:
passwd
exit
umount /a/dev
umount /a/proc
umount /a/boot
umount /a
reboot
Change to hdd boot in the Manager before you reboot the server.
If everything was ok, the server should come back online, and then you can ssh into it with user 'root' and the password you set.
Have fun playing around