Hi,

I've had a linode for a couple of years and I'm very pleased with it. It hosts websites and email for a bunch of users.

One minor problem I've had is that it's difficult to test out new configurations of the installation (e.g. upgrade of the distribution) without causing service outages for a while.

So, I want to get a second linode for this sandbox work. I would like it if you had some sort of low-cost way to do this. Is there one? E.g. with very low CPU, memory and IP allocation.

Otherwise, I'll add a new linode. In fact, I already started doing that, but couldn't see a way to link it to my existing account. So, the key question, how do I add a new linode and let you know I want it linked to my existing account and user name, etc?

Thanks,
-C

When I added my second linode there was no way to associate it with the first one, just had to copy the billing info etc.

At the present time you can not associate more than one linode with one account. You can always add a numeral (concha1) or duplicate the last letter (conchaa) to make remembering your accounts more manageable.

- Tom

OK. Thanks for the info about multiple accounts.

At the risk of bringing a technical discussion into the sales forum, I'll ask about the following:

Is it possible to run UML on a linode? E.g. for my sandboxing: if I added a second IP to my linode, could I run a UML linux on the linode, have it use the second IP, and do my sandbox work there?

Pointers to prior discussions about running UML on a linode would be appreciated.

-C

You can (just compile UML with a nesting level of 2), but I'm not so sure you'd want to due to the performance hit.

-Chris

I've been thinking of doing something like this down the road as well. Presently my Linode is running the same old Gentoo from when I first got the account. After awhile it became impossible to keep updating the software because emerge -uDvp world took too many system resources while it ran. I upgraded to a bigger Linode, but still have not updated anything.

I'm in no rush, but at some point in the future I would like to have two simultaneous nodes for a few days. I could port over my database and all my services to the new node , change my DNS records and then disable the old Linode. If there were a way to do this without having to pay double for an entire month, that would be awesome.

I just want to be able to switch OSes without having to pay lots of money or have downtime for my services. I'm also very happy with Linode and don't want to move elsewhere. I'm in no rush, but this is something I will definitely have to do in the long-term. I could theoretically do it using chroot and the two profiles I have setup at the present, but without the ability to test properly it almost guarantees downtime.

My question is similar. If I'm running Ubuntu 5 and want to move to Ubuntu 6, and have unused disk space on my linode, is there a way to set up the new OS, move the files from one to the other, and have the root login access the new OS?

Yes. The basic procedure is something like this:

1. Create a new distribution deployment (via https://www.linode.com/members/).
2. Add that disk image to your current configuration profile, and reboot.
3. Mount the new distro disk image and from a shell, chroot into it.
4. Add packages and configurations as required in the usual way and copy/move over data and configurations.
5. Add a new Linode configuration profile (via https://www.linode.com/members/) and make that default. Reboot.

That, roughly, is how I migrated my Linode from Gentoo->Debian earlier this year with the downtime of a couple of reboots.

But in your case (Ubuntu5.??->Ubuntu6.06), wouldn't changing /etc/apt/sources.list be a lot quicker and easier, e.g.:

http://advosys.ca/viewpoints/2006/10/up ... erver-610/

Regards.

Cliff

I am very familiar with this sort of procedure. However, it will not work for me. I can't risk extended downtime of my services. There is no way for me to test the services in the chroot to make sure they are working properly before I reboot. The downtime of a reboot is not so bad. The downtime of a reboot and then me spending time fixing any mistakes I may have made when configuring the new system is no good. How can I test to make sure the services on the new chrooted profile are working without booting it or interfering with the existing equivalent services outside of the chroot?

By configuring the services in the chrooted environment to either:

bind to non-default ports, or

bind to a second IP using standard ports. [You can ask for a 2nd IP via the LPM.]

The latter will take a little tweaking of your current configs (and perhaps some additional RAM for a month), but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I've a variant of such a setup on my machine here using linux-vserver -- works perfectly.


Cliff

Yeah, I've already got a second IP and I'm using it. Non-standard ports is painful, but probably the only way.

3rd IP then?