Install from SSH - ParabolaWiki

# Install from SSH

## Intro

This article is intended to show users how to install Parabola remotely via an SSH connection. Consider this approach over the standard one in scenarios such the following:

Setting up Parabola on...

- HTPC without a proper monitor (i.e. an SDTV).
- A PC located in another city, state, country (friend's house, parent's house, etc.)
- A PC that you would rather setup remotely, for example from the comfort of one's own workstation with copy/paste abilities from the Parabola Wiki.

Note: The first two steps require physical access to the machine. Obviously, if physically located elsewhere, this will need to be coordinated with another person!

## Boot from Media

Boot into a live Arch environment via the live CD/USB image and log in as root.

## Setup the Live Environment to use SSH

Note: The following commands should be executed as the root user. The # prompt has intentionally been omitted from the code lines to allow for a trivial copy/paste into the target box.

One should be presented with the root prompt [root@libreiso ~]# at this point.

Firstly, setup the network on the target machine:

     aif -p partial-configure-network

It will present you with a list of known interface; type in the interface you would like to use (eg: eth0 for wired Ethernet interface)

Secondly, sync the live environment to a mirror, install the openssh package, and start it:

    pacman -Syy openssh
    rc.d start sshd

Note: Depending on the age of the install media, pacman may complain that it should be upgraded first. Since the goal is to simply install the openssh package, it s recommended to deny this request and simply install the single package.

Finally, setup a root password which is needed for an ssh connection; the default arch password for root is empty.

    passwd

## Connect to the Target PC via SSH

Connect to the target machine via the following command:

    $ ssh root@ip.address.of.target

From here one is presented with live environment's the welcome message and is able to administer the target machine as-if sitting at the physical keyboard.

    ssh root@10.1.10.105
    root@10.1.10.105's password:
    Last login: Thu Dec 23 08:33:02 2010 from 10.1.10.200
    **************************************************************
    * To begin installation, run /libre/setup                    *
    * You can find documentation at                              *
    *  /usr/share/aif/docs/official_installation_guide_en        *
    *                                                            *
    * i18n: Use the 'km' utility to change your keyboard layout  *
    *       and console font.                                    *
    *                                                            *
    * If you are looking to install Parabola on something more   *
    * exotic, such as your kerosene-powered cheese grater,       *
    * please consult https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org.                  *
    *                                                            *
    **************************************************************
    [root@libreiso ~]#

### Notes

- If the target machine is behind a firewall/router, the default ssh port of 22 will obviously need to be forward to the target machine's LAN IP address. The use of port forwarding is not covered in this guide.
- One can edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the live environment prior to starting the daemon for example to run on a non-standard port if desired.

## Next Steps

The sky is the limit. If the intent is to simply install Parabola from the live media, run /libre/setup. If the intent is to edit an existing GNU/Linux install that got broken, follow the Install from Existing GNU/Linux wiki article.

Want grub2 or the ability to use GPT hardrives?

- Manually partition the target HDD/SDD using the gptfdisk utility installed via pacman -S gptfdisk before starting the parabola installer and when presented with the option to install a boot loader in the installation framework, simply answer no and drop back to the live environment's root prompt.
- Installation of grub2 is trivial at this point. Simply chroot into the fresh Parabola install (default pre-mounted if coming out of the installer) then install and setup grub2:

    cd /mnt
    rm console ; mknod -m 600 console c 5 1
    rm null ; mknod -m 666 null c 1 3
    rm zero ; mknod -m 666 zero c 1 5
    mount -t proc none /mnt/proc
    mount --rbind /dev /mnt/dev
    mount --rbind /sys /mnt/sys
    chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Now inside the fresh Parabola chroot:

    pacman -S grub2
    grep -v rootfs /proc/mounts > /etc/mtab

Edit /etc/default/grub to your liking. Install grub and generate a grub.cfg

    grub-install /dev/sdX --no-floppy
    grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Note: The above assumes that if the user intends to boot from a GPT disk, the user has fully read and understood the aforementioned wiki articles and has made a 1M partition ef02 for grub2.

When ready to reboot into the new Parabola install, exit the chroot and unmount the partitions prior to a reboot of the system.

    exit
    umount /mnt/boot   # if mounted this or any other separate partitions
    umount /mnt/dev/shm
    umount /mnt/dev/pts
    umount /mnt/dev
    umount /mnt/sys
    umount /mnt/proc
    umount /mnt

## Acknowledgement

This wiki article is based on ArchWiki. We may have removed non-FSDG bits from it.
Categories:

- Getting and installing
- Secure Shell