How best to install minimal openSUSE 12.1 so that it can be cloned to other HDDs

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Hi,

I have several machines that I plan to install openSUSE 12.1. My initial attempt was to install the master onto one of the machines and then dd the partition set (sda1 “/boot”, sda2 “swap” and sda3 “/”) to a file for later dump to other drives.

The issue is that by default the OS looks for device ID which, I guess, is obtained by some concatenation of the HDD it sees. I tried changing “/etc/fstab” and “/boot/grub/menu.lst” to force from device id to “/dev/sda1”, etc… but it appears to still complain during boot to the target hdd.

Am I missing something or is this the wrong method. I don’t think I am the only one trying this but I haven’t found the right place to look yet…

Any help is appreciated; thanks.

Best,
Chris

#2

Use by label. Labels will get cloned, provided you clone the whole disk.

#3

On Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:56:03 +0000, zchrish wrote:

> I have several machines that I plan to install openSUSE 12.1. My initial
> attempt was to install the master onto one of the machines and then dd
> the partition set (sda1 “/boot”, sda2 “swap” and sda3 “/”) to a file for
> later dump to other drives.
>
> The issue is that by default the OS looks for device ID which, I guess,
> is obtained by some concatenation of the HDD it sees. I tried changing
> “/etc/fstab” and “/boot/grub/menu.lst” to force from device id to
> “/dev/sda1”, etc… but it appears to still complain during boot to the
> target hdd.

You need to change the setup to use devices rather than the options that
abstract the devices.

In the partitioning setup, go to the settings view and select “Device
Name” rather than “Device ID”.

That should make it so if you’ve installed to /dev/sda (for example), if
the image is restored to the first device and it’s picked up as /dev/sda,
the system should boot properly.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

#4

On 11/22/2011 04:56 AM, zchrish wrote:
> I have several machines that I plan to install openSUSE 12.1

others can tell you for sure, but i think you might also run into some
trouble if the “several machines” will need a different set of device
drivers because of varying hardware…

oh the other hand, i’ve heard of taking a hard drive out of one machine
and plugging it into another with a smile… so, i don’t know…

–
DD