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Asked: 2012-03-13 10:46:13 +0800 CST

How to effectively move Ubuntu server from a VirtualBox to a dedicated server?

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I run Ubuntu Server 11.10 i386 with Virtualbox.

I want to create and move a complete backup to a dedicated computer. If possible downtime has to be cut to a minimum because the site is running right now. I cant move only the webpage because I have a lot of settings, databases and daemon that took a long time to setup.

What are my option to easily move my virtual server to another computer that will not run Virtualbox?

I have SSH and physical access to both server.

virtualbox server backup

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I'd do it this way (don't just follow it without adjusting it to your actual situation):

    1. Boot an Ubuntu Live CD on the new computer
    2. Format the hard disk as desired, mount partitions in a temporary location (say /mnt/disk1).

    3. From the virtualbox server, rsync stuff to the new one:

      rsync -avuz --progress --exclude=/proc/* --exclude=/sys/* --exclude=/run / new-server:/mnt/disk1

    4. Install grub on the new server:

      sudo grub-install /dev/sda

    5. Modify /etc/fstab to point to the right partitions/locations (if your root "/" is pointing to a UUID, you can point it to the new UUID for your new root partition or point it to /dev/sda1 or whatever you're using).

    6. At this point the new server should be able to boot and pretty much have the same configuration as the virtualbox. You can try unplugging it from the network and booting to ensure things are working.
    7. Once you know it's booting, boot the new server with the LiveCD again, and mount partitions to temporary location again.
    8. DOWNTIME HERE. Stop the services in your virtualbox (sorry, can't get around this, but I'll keep it as brief as possible). LEAVE SSH RUNNING.

    9. Rsync to get any files that changed since the last sync, this should take a couple of minutes at most:

      rsync -avuz --progress --exclude=/proc/* --exclude=/sys/* --exclude=/run --exclude=/etc/fstab / new-server:/mnt/disk1

    10. Reboot your server

    11. Don't forget to bring down the virtualbox at this point or problems will ensue :)
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