Remote amd64 install from x86. Possible?

[jesnow]

I don't think so.

Trying to migrate my work x86 computer remotely to amd64, but I only have x86 machines available (and a mac) to do the job from. I think without chrooting there's just no way to create a bootable partition. I'm trying to do all this from home (x86). I got the stage 3 tarball unpacked, got the main required files from /etc copied over and suitably modified, and hoovered the kernel (damn this is hard) using nested loopback mounts from the live dvd iso.

Could we please have a few standard kernels installable with just tar? Anyway, I got it done. The kernel should boot, it has everything it needs. I can use lilo from the old partition to make the MBR point at the new partition (and back at the old partition just in case). This in principle should be less error prone using /dev/disk/by-id/* in lilo. The old lilo.conf will work as-is in the new partition.

It helps that I have a fixed ip address at work. As long as I configured that correctly before rebooting, and sshd. I have a portage snapshot.

Anyway, I don't think it matters. It isn't going to work.

Some one of those steps you do during the normal install is going to stop me before it gets back to a working sshd that I can log into from home. The date and time? passwords (do passwd and shadow convey? Can you just copy them over?). I know I'm missing something. Is there a known minimum set of files from /etc to be copied over and configured to get back to that point? I've been googling remote installs, but this seems to be a strange case.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Jon.

[Ant P.]

Build a 64-bit kernel, boot the i686 distro using it, install amd64 stage3 in a chroot using the normal handbook. The hardest part is making that the live filesystem, but if you installed it to separate partitions/subvolumes/LVM slices it's no problem.