Rebuilding a mail server

Jerim · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 4

We are starting to have some issues with our one and only mail server (Small company, IT budget very tight). It seems to be some file system errors. I am tasked with investigating the procedure of rebuilding from scratch. We are looking for the fastest, most efficient way of installing Gentoo. I have installed Gentoo numerous times, and even though I follow the guide step-by-step, there always seems to be some odd ball problem or another. Also, there seems to be a lot of manual configuration involved. Since we can only take the mail server down after hours, we obviously want to try to avoid an all-nighter as much as we can.

So what is the best method for getting a new install of Gentoo up and running as quick as possible? I suspect there is no simple "one-click" setup, but is there anything close to that? If we switch out the hard drives, we could clone the hard drive, but if the file system is messed up on the old drive, it would just be messed up on the new one. If we just format the current drive and reinstall, we wouldn't have anything to clone from. We are using Postfix and ClamAV on the mail server. If there is a comprehensive way to get all three up and running that would be great. But if we can just get Gentoo up and running quickly, we could take it from there. Is a Stage 4 install the best way to go? What would you do if you had only 30 minutes to get Gentoo up and running from scratch?

jseymour · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject:

Probably the easiest way, but not the most practical is to build it on a similar machine, and then once installed and tested properly clone it to the server. I do not think there are any good shortcuts to the install process. Maybe some others more experienced have some tricks.

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slycordinator · Advocate Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 3065 Location: Korea

A stage4 won't help you right now one bit. By creating a stage4 I take my existing gentoo install essentially make a tarball from that, leaving out of it certain things like /dev/* and /proc/* because those are huge and generated automatically anyway so they'd be a waste of HD space.

Now if I already had a stage4, I'd definitely use it. Essentially, a stage4 is a backup.

But if you don't have a stage4, there's nothing you can do other than simply installing from scratch. Then take the time to make the backup if you want.

IQgryn · l33t Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Posts: 764 Location: WI, USA

If the system is still running, you could install via a chroot from the target machine onto (a )new hard drive(s). You'd have to be sure to nice the entire chroot process down during normal hours to avoid performance issues, but it should be possible. Creating a stage4 after you get it up and running would be a good idea, though.