[CentOS] Backup and reinstall a CentOS server

Tue Sep 2 11:17:08 UTC 2008
Jussi Hirvi <greenspot at greenspot.fi>

josh donovan <josh.dvan at yahoo.co.uk> escribio (2.9.2008 13:42)
> I've got a CentOS server that crashes due to a bad hard disk. I have got a
> spare disk and need to format and reinstall CentOS from the SERVER CD. Backup
> and reinstall is a major PITA because of some of the customisations that I've
> done e.g. the DNS Server is set to log queries (the default does not do this).
> Any tips on :-
> 
> - backing up and reinstalling (is a script available)?
> - is the SERVER CD still 4.4?
> - Any suggestions on BIND to log queries without SELINUX throwing a fuss?

This may not be directly useful to you.

As a general strategy, I have been thinking of making / and other important
partitions (if any) raid1 at system install - even when there is no second
disk. Someone just wrote that even the /boot partition can be raid1.

This way it will be easy later to clone the disk. Just bring in a blank
disk, format, add to the raid array and let it sync. :-) Then you would
still have to install grub, if the disk needs be bootable, but that's fast.

- Jussi

--
Jussi Hirvi  *  Green Spot
Topeliuksenkatu 15 C  *  00250 Helsinki  *  Finland
Tel. & fax +358 9 493 981  *  SMS +358 40 771 2098
jussi.hirvi at greenspot.fi  *  http://www.greenspot.fi