Nuitari posted <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, excerpted below, on Sat, 08 Oct 2005 18:47:20 -0400:
>> My system has developed serious problems related to the emul libs. The >> advice given as a reply to my bug has made the system impossible to >> upgrade using emerge. It is possible the problem dates back to the >> 2004.3->2005.0 upgrade, I don't know. >> >> Is there a way to build a "from scratch" 2005.1 system over the net >> without having to download and boot from a CD? Will it leave my user >> directories alone? The installation docs assume that you don't have a >> runnig gentoo system and start with a boot CD. > > I had to install a few Gentoo systems over the net from preexisting Red > Hat installations. As others have stated, there are likely other ways to do it (try emerge --emptytree first, if that doesn't work, try Tres's suggestion, untarring the stage tarball over your existing setup, then emerge --emptytree). However, Nuitari's general method, installing from an existing system into new partitions, while still being able to use the existing system while you are doing it, works fine. I used it myself, coming from Mandrake. There is, however, an official document to help, proven to work as it has been used by many, so you don't have to worry that Nuitari forgot a step or something. =8^) It's called the "Alternative Installation Guide", and is actually mentioned in the Gentoo Handbook, Part 1 (Installation), Chapter 1 (About), under "What are my Options". The direct link to the Alternatve Installation Guide is: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml . You'll want Chapter 6, Installing Gentoo from an existing Linux Distribution, direct link: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml#doc_chap6 Basically, that tells you how to use a chroot off of an existing installation, describing how this method differs from the normal installation method described in the handbook (thus, you still use the handbook for most of the installation). During the first part of the process, while you are still in the chroot, you can continue doing your normal stuff in other sessions outside the chroot, which allows you to take all the time you need getting the new installation up and running. You can actually stop working on the install and continue using your old system for a couple weeks, if you get busy and don't have time to work on it, because your old system continues to work as it did before you started the new install. As I said, it only details how this method differs from a normal install, so you'll want the regular handbook install section available as well. Here's the general amd64 handbook link: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman in http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html -- [email protected] mailing list
