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#1 2012-02-28 13:09:11

jiewmeng
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Registered: 2012-02-09
Posts: 118

Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

Can I set Arch on a Virtual Box (convinent to have the wiki handy) then move it to my real PC? Will it work (virtual hardware vs real ones)? If so how do I proceed? On Ubuntu, theres RemasterSys which is for this purpose but has its faults. How do I achieve this anyways on Arch?

Last edited by jiewmeng (2012-02-28 13:09:50)


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#2 2012-02-28 13:17:16

Ashren
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From: Denmark
Registered: 2007-06-13
Posts: 1,229
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Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

I have succesfully transferred a physical system to virtual using mondorescue. You could give it a try - it is not terrible straightforward.

Clonezilla would probably be the best bet.

This also looks interesting in combination with dd:

[regj@t400box:~] > VBoxManage internalcommands converttoraw
Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 4.1.8_OSE
(C) 2005-2012 Oracle Corporation
All rights reserved.

Usage: VBoxManage internalcommands <command> [command arguments]

Commands:

  converttoraw [-format <fileformat>] <filename> <outputfile>
       Convert image to raw, writing to file.

WARNING: This is a development tool and shall only be used to analyse
         problems. It is completely unsupported and will change in
         incompatible ways without warning.

Syntax error: Mandatory filename parameter missing

Last edited by Ashren (2012-02-28 13:23:26)

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#3 2012-02-28 18:34:37

imatechguy
Arch Linux f@h Team Member
Registered: 2010-03-22
Posts: 66

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

If all you need from the wiki is the beginner guide it's available on the installation disk.

Documentation
The official install guide (which is a separate document from this unofficial beginner guide) is conveniently available right on the live system. To access it, change to tty2 (virtual console #2) with Alt+F2 and log in as root. Here you can use the less pager to page through the document:

# less /usr/share/aif/docs/official_installation_guide_en


Of course you can also order a Handbook (https://www.createspace.com/3482247) which I believe includes some blank pages at the end for notes you'd like to make.

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#4 2012-02-28 20:21:36

stronnag
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Registered: 2011-01-25
Posts: 60

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

Done it many times (including today ...).  Tar up the virtual disk within a VM or for real using something like qem-nbd to mount the image. Untar to  virgin file system(s) on the real target disk (--numeric-owner both ways helps sanity). Fix up /etc/{fstab,hosts} and any other configs (e.g. a hostname in dhcpcd.conf) that are affected. Boot from a live CD / install CD to fix up the boot loader and you're almost done. As the hardware will be vastly different, mkinitcpio to customise the kernel so it boots second time.

If it breaks, you get to keep both pieces, and learn a great deal fixing it up.

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#5 2012-03-10 15:20:07

jiewmeng
Member
Registered: 2012-02-09
Posts: 118

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

Ah I think I will have to backup my /boot partition too, but is that "portable"?


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#6 2012-03-10 16:11:23

DSpider
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From: Romania
Registered: 2009-08-23
Posts: 2,273

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

Sure. You will have to fix the MBR, tho. Maybe some entries in there too if Windows is on the first partition.

Honestly I think this method is more of a crutch, really. What, not prepared to work from a big black screen yet?


"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

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#7 2012-03-11 01:37:33

jiewmeng
Member
Registered: 2012-02-09
Posts: 118

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

@DSpider, if you mean install from scratch, idealy that might be good to start from a clean state, but I felt it might be good to have a setup that is ready to go customized with the apps I want. Maybe 1 way I could look at is have a bash script that does that? Some apps are not available in pacman nor AUR tho


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#8 2012-03-11 02:23:04

jiewmeng
Member
Registered: 2012-02-09
Posts: 118

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

OK I restored /boot & / partitions with clonezilla. Did

grub-install /dev/sda6 --boot-directory=/media/sda5

where sda6 is arch partition and sda5 is boot. However I get into a grub prompt instead. Whats wrong?

In ubuntu theres something like update-grub, do I need to do that?

UPDATE

What I did is https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#GRUB_Error_17

Problem now is GNOME does not start (I think a driver problem), and theres no network

Last edited by jiewmeng (2012-03-11 03:56:28)


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#9 2012-03-15 13:55:50

nomorewindows
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Registered: 2010-04-03
Posts: 3,362

Re: Prepare Arch on Virtual Box then move to Real PC

jiewmeng wrote:

OK I restored /boot & / partitions with clonezilla. Did

grub-install /dev/sda6 --boot-directory=/media/sda5

where sda6 is arch partition and sda5 is boot. However I get into a grub prompt instead. Whats wrong?

In ubuntu theres something like update-grub, do I need to do that?

UPDATE

What I did is https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#GRUB_Error_17

Problem now is GNOME does not start (I think a driver problem), and theres no network

When I've tried to convert from one file format to another it doesn't quite rework it. 
When I do grub-install I don't use boot-directory.
I just use grub-install /dev/sda, unless I have a FreeBSD loader, which then I use /dev/sdax.  Your menu.lst will pick up the kernels in /dev/sda5 with:
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda6 ro
initrd /initramfs-linux.img

You can type those lines above directly into the grub command-line and should be able to get it to boot.


I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
Look ma, no mouse.

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