x86_64 Install On i686 Hardware

goakley · 2013-02-21 19:01:16

Is it possible to 'pacstrap' and install a basic x86_64 system if using an i686 system?

I should probably explain. I am setting up a diskless system, and the nodes that will be booting this system are 64-bit machines. However, the machine that is hosting and serving the system (NFS4 + dnsmasq) is a 32-bit machine. Due to the configuration of the network I am behind, only the head machine can access the internet (actually the only machine that can leave the LAN the nodes are on). Therefore, I cannot install on one of the nodes and transfer the file system over to the server, because I would be unable to download the 'base' and 'base-devel' groups on a node. For all intents and purposes, there is no way to reconfigure the network to allow a node to access the internet. The simplest solution would be to just install the x86_64 system on the server, hence my question.

Otherwise, does anyone have any other suggestions for setting up this NFS filesystem?

chris_l · 2013-02-21 21:47:23

pacstrap enters a chroot. You can't chroot to a x86_64 installation from i686. But just to install a system, maybe is possible to use pacman with the -r option.

WonderWoofy · 2013-02-22 00:57:57

If I understand correctly, the 32-bit machine is simply hosting the files for the 64-bit diskless system, yeah? In my mind, I don't see why this wouldn't work. After all, the 32-bit system is not running the 64-bit filesystem, it is just holding the files...

Disclaimer: I am really really not entirely positive about this, but I am also really really curious if this works. Try it! The base install is pretty small...

goakley · 2013-02-22 02:20:06

Thanks for the help! I figured that pacman only downloads and unpacks the packages, not compile them locally on the machine, so there shouldn't be an issue. I looked into options for bootstrapping Arch, and found that `mkarchroot` has a flag for alternate 'pacman.conf' files. I copied an x86_64 config file and changed the architecture line to:

Architecture = x86_64

I was then able to run:

# mkarchroot -C pacman.alt.conf -f /srv/netfs base mkinitcpio-nfs-utils nfs-utils

This installed the base group just fine in x86_64 format (there were errors that don't seem to matter: execv failed (Exec format error) error: command failed to execute correctly). What I can do from here is boot Arch live on a node, mount the nfs I just created with `mkarchroot`, chroot into that system, and create the ramdisk. If this solution didn't quite work out, I'll post again letting everyone know.

boak · 2013-02-25 13:14:53

how did you go with this? I'm trying to get a similar result as my ethernet adapter doesn't work in the 64 bit installation environment but does in the 32 bit. There is an updated kernel module for my ethernet device, so I was hoping to install the 64bit version of arch from the 32 bit installer, download the updated driver package, boot into the newly installed OS and install the driver there.

i simply added the Architecture line to the installation live cd's pacman.conf and ran pacstrap. I got the same "execv failed" errors you did but it seems to have worked. however i dont know how i can generate the initramfs.

Do you have any advice?

Arch Linux

#1 2013-02-21 19:01:16

x86_64 Install On i686 Hardware

#2 2013-02-21 21:47:23

Re: x86_64 Install On i686 Hardware

#3 2013-02-22 00:57:57

Re: x86_64 Install On i686 Hardware

#4 2013-02-22 02:20:06

Re: x86_64 Install On i686 Hardware

#5 2013-02-25 13:14:53

Re: x86_64 Install On i686 Hardware

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