I am trying to reinstall my os (freeBSD 8.2) but getting and unable to find device node for /dev/ad0s1b in /dev!
any ideas of how to solve that ?
does bsdlabel say that partition exists?
I am on the installation window (FreeBSD Disklable Editor) and at the top says Disk: ad0 Partition name: ad0s1 Freee: 0 blocks (0MB)
ok, what does it list for existing partitions?
I click on the Auto and creates them
but when i click W
I get the error there
could it be an error with how the VPS is configured?
During installation, you're supposed to press Q to finish that step.  You don't write the label at this point.
i initiali did the q
but since not work I am trying the w
What didn't work after you pressed Q to finsh the labelling step?
I selected a minimal setup and later I got that error
After what point did you get the error?  When it occurs matters.
i think I have to clenaupt the GEOM label
I got the error just after selecting the installationg media
acd0
I get the User Confirmation Requested with the Last Chance! ....
and I get the error there
Ok.  Then it occured when sysinstall tried to write the partition table and label to disk.
Is there anything on the disk you want to keep?
a freebsd with zfs
And you're installing over it?
yes
Have you backed up the old image?
I am moving from amd64 to i386
mm how, how to backup the image ? if i am right that is not supporte with arpnetworks
You'd need to rsync or tar+sftp anything you want to keep to another machine.
yes I have done that
but a 10 min setup is taking more because of this unexpected error
So then you have backed up everything you want to keep?
yes
Ok, then reboot, boot from the install ISO and drop into the FixIt shell.  Use dd to zero out the beginning of the disk, then reboot again and go through the normal install process.
is what i am tryiing but dd not working
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-February/054692.html
I am following that
i am getting a dd not found
Because the FixIt shell doesn't have a complete environment configured.
You need to invoke dd with the full path: /bin/dd
same not working
something wire going here
What's the complete command you're typing and what is the exact text of the error you're getting?
: /bin/dd
dd: not found
even the ls not working
ok, type the following:
also whtn trying to mount the CD for geting the live enviroment is not working
You booted from the live CD.
no, a instalation disk
disk1
can I get something from the net insidethe sysintall to fix it ?
dd might be in /mnt/bin or /mnt2/bin, I can never remember exactly where.
ok
mmmm the support team could restore the disk right ?
is the other alternative but the issue is the time right ?
Did /mnt/bin/dd or /mnt2/bin/dd work?
no
http://forum.nginx.org/read.php?23,28390,28391
seems that my installation diks on the emergency shell does not have the dd
don't use the emergency shell, use the fixit option on the main menu.
ok let me rebbot
mmm the loader protpm
?
i tried to enter the "bios" but no option there
I think you're going to do better just asking them to reload your VPS with the OS you want.
the first time everything ran perfect
maybe just a flush tho the disk could help
so i can proceed
the only problem is that I will have to wait a lot for that
You're having difficult repairing the VPS yourself, so that really just leaves having them reload it for you.
just the issue with the disk
could be nice to select from a pools of isos with to moutn
that way I could try some more altenatives instead of bothering the IT guys
Email them.  I don't work for ARPN.
I have already done that but as you probably know they take a lot of time to reply
up_the_irons: great :) let me know if you buy one/need a hand with config on it :)
anyone from ARPN here ?
up_the_irons
mmm some one awake :D
is just tha i need to reinstall the VPS but can found a way to flush/clean the disk since i keep geetting a Unable to find device node for /dev/ad0s1b in /dev!
nbari - http://wiki.freebsd.org/RootOnZFS/GPTZFSBoot/
I use that (repeatedly :)
the gpart erases the disk
the problem that I have only the Emergency Holographic Shell
no more
did you mount the DVD, or something else?
you have to mount the full DVD to get a fixit shell
unfortattelly just have the dis1 of the iso
yeah, that won't work
email support@ to have them put on the dvd
I will ask to mount the dvd
hope they wake up early :D
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org//pub/FreeBSD/releases/i386/ISO-IMAGES/8.2/FreeBSD-8.2-RELEASE-i386-dvd1.iso.xz
that one should work right ?
that's it
it has the install stuff, and the live filesystem for the fixit shell
later just a gpart destroy ad0 should make the work right ?
You won't need it
the gpart create wipes the disk
just follow these instructions - http://wiki.freebsd.org/RootOnZFS/GPTZFSBoot/
except the ifconfig line
is just that i am "downgrading" from zfs to UFZ
and you don' tneed to do step 7 at all
UFS
oh you're not using ZFS?
I thought you wanted that
must've misread
currently I have
and working fine
but i think is to much for 1GB ram and also for my small apps
randalschwartz: summary fo backlog: he worked fine for 1+ years and now has issues, and is blaming zfs, with no clues to go on other than unresponsive vps
s/fo/of/
odd
even tuned zfs for small memory?
I didn't see that, but I could have missed something, got tired of repeating the same advice, so I walked away
no blamming zfs
zfs worked perfec
is just that i pretend to use more the VPS and would like to get out the most of it (perfomance) and amd64/with zfs besides working perfect consumes more resources than i386 with UFS
but bessides that zfs worked excellent with jails etc no complains about it
ah. performance. I missed that. go go performance.
right no ZFS issues :)
ZFS works greate
anyone from support ?
nbari, something we can help you with?
if not, email support@ so there's a ticket. :)
I have done that so far but you know unfortunately is very slow
the problem is that I schedule the reinstallation 6 hours ago but never count with this error: Unable to find device node for /dev/ad0s1b in /dev!
and with the current iso on the CD  I can not fix nothing
yeah - you'll have to wait for that fixit shell dvd.
you *should* be able to wipe and partition the disk without the fixit shell
thre is no way via the web interface to chenge /chosee a diferent iso right ?
not yet
I have been trying to use just fdisk later the (w) but not working
wait - are you sure you have ad0*s* ?
with gpt, you get /dev/ad0p1 etc
did you format with gpt, or with some other layout?
yes
initialy i setup the VPS with teh mfs-zfs iso or something like that
the iso that allows to have ZFS on the root
or boot using zfs
but if I am right it uses gpt
the gpt vs not is not related to zfs vs not
so if you have a gpt disk, you won't have /dev/ad0s1
it'll be p1 p2 p3
not s1 s2 s3
but is used onthe installation procces, ir I remember the swap was using a gpt partition
3:20 here and this thins still down
what a day
remember may days when useing dialup connections
i started ad 8am but never count with this error
the problem is that in america people is starting to work right now
and now I have a problem because the services are down
is there a service or providers than can provide only VPN (virtual private networks) ?
I would presume there is
wait - why would you need that
or is there a way to buy/rent some IP's and and in cases like this move the ip o other machines
you need a VPN to get into *your* server, so it's *you* that's providing it. :)
no
is just that my apps needs VPN's to some providers
I'm confused.
this is totaly appart from the ARPN
how would you use a VPN in this case?
the use that I give to the VPS is to create VPN's for my applicaciontions
a VPN makes sense only within an organization
a third party VPN isn't making any sense to me
jajaja wait
in my case does a lot
randalschwartz: consider a remote vpn router that various dynamic ip locations vpn into, to route to each other.
the best example is like today happend to me, (the time passes and I can not change/fix nothing) the same issue hapens with the VPN's that i have
i can not change the PEER IP to offen
and if i want to change (change VPS provider) I will have to change the PEER IP of does VPN's
and that is what i want to avoid
because some times "eazy changes" take months
and most ofthe time because of burocracies
so that is why i end up better using a VPS (fixed IP's that in theory hope they will not change )
the ones I give to some external providerrs and make the link
and later i just route trafic to servers that the provider do not even know exists
oh - so you're looking more for a VLAN?
in this scneario maybe would be grate to make the VPN using a domain  but I have to stick with an IP
in short, loking for an IP that I could have lik a domain for years that never change and could use it in many locations (but in theory if I am right it is not possible)
you *could* have an ARP box do that
it could route the traffic behind it to your other machines
the ARP box currently doing (was doing few hours ago) that :)
and all the providers that need VPN have the IP of the ARP box
I'm still confused why you need a fixit shell if you just want to do a straight install
you need a fixit shell only if you want to do ZFS
because when I booted the VPS and select an standar installation, after chosing the labels I got this error: Unable to find device node for /dev/ad0s1b in /dev!
i rebooted but the current OS was lost
you probably need to go into the "format the disk" menu item then
you mean on the fdisk (custom options )
I think so
you could ask on #freebsd
they're pretty helpful there
all say the same stuff
i need to do dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ad0 bs=64k count=1
of do what you recomend
aftar that in theory I should be available to install the OS
why do you need to blast the disk clean to do a full install? can a freebsd install iso not install over any randomized data in a disk?
that is what i am trying to do but it is not working
wow
you should still be able to repartition your disk from the menus
I know that doesn't require a fixit shell
the problem is there is a gpt label present, and /stand/sysinstall does not support it
ahh
right
i have to do this: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-February/054692.html
you can't just go into the menus?
you can start with a naked disk and install just fine
so why can't you start with an unknown disk, and go through the first steps?
but every time i try to write to the disk (fdisk option W) it ids not working
the disk is recognized
nbari: do you still have the mfsbsd iso available, it has a destroygeom script
DaCa: unfortunately no
he has the install CD
not the DVD
that would have helped. :)
jus the disc 1 of FreeBSD not the DVD
so only the install menus.  not the fixit shell. (
right
and I suppose you can no longer  boot into the system itself either?
exactly
because after the first try of the installation fdisk did work but the mbr is 'corrupt' if I can say that
because otherwise, you could still clear it, it just needs to set a sysctl to enable overwriting the area
could somethiing mabe be donde from the boot menu ?
maybe loading a module that later can be used on the Emergency Holographic Shell ?
I doubt it
can some one help me wakeup up_the_irons :)
is frustrating can't do nothing
anyway at the end is experience
besides that fortunatelly the service as been working perfect
that compesate
when I have a critical system like this, and need to make a radical change, I typically practice in a VM first.
VMware or Parallels or VirtualBox is quite handy.
i agree but I honestly never thought that a this could happend
that's usually when it gets you. :)
right
I just wich that the support could be a litle faster,
I don't.  it'd cost me more then. :)
jajajaja  in 1 year this is my 2 ticket
the fist one was just to install the VPS and this one to reinstall it
but in both the response time was this slow
but for price of the VPS I the response of the support i think that the price is a litle high
in case where multiple support is needed maybe a payable system would be grate or offerint 1 free ticket per month and the other billable like many companies do
that would still require a full-time staff then, just to handle your occasionaly quick-turnaround request.
I'm happy ARP *doesn't* have a full-time staff.
RandalSchwartz: if you see up_the_irons can you please tell him to check the suppor emails
I've never seen up_the_irons personally :)
or online :D
jajaja
but I'm sure he's reading support@ as often as he does
another way of contact him ?
nudging him here won't make it faster.
i have already send the emails but almost 8 hours with out reply
Yes, and it might be as long as 24-48 hours.
that's the level of support here.
that is not aceptable
if you had gone with a place that offered 24x7 support, you'd be paying more.
so you chose to pay less, and this is how it is.
not really
honestly there are cheaper VPS with faster support
yisp.nl is an example
really?  Where do you get prices and features like APR for as cheap as ARP?
there
how really i do not know
"templates"
bue there are mor providers (i have vps with them)
is it using full virtualization?
can you install any DVD you want?
if not, that's not the same service as ARP
do you get a VNC console?
http://www.xensmart.co.uk/
also check does guys
VNC, multipel isos of choice
really instant setup
no need to wait hours
"any user found to be using their VPS for IRC, Bittorrents, Warez Linking or any other illegal activity will be terminated."
lol
they offer VNC and a pannel that allow to reinstall extreamly simple the os
and the prices are not bad
in america the only good provider that I have found is ARPN
doesn't look like xensmart supports ipv6 yet
but with $20+ you get a dedicated almos everywhere
... xensmart.co.uk has no AAAA record
mmm really do not know much about ipv6 honestlly I do not use it
so I really do not care about it, but as said does are just options
of simiiliar companies with a faster email support (not specting a 48 hours delay)
excusme but on IT that is not aceptable
it is if you're more careful
you brought this on yourself.
ARP is not suitable for people who do that. :)
I know but that is also like IT is :)
is like if you buy an insurance for your car , the deal is never to use it, but just in case
and if you need that kind of insurance, you won't be using ARPN.
nevermind you properly undestand, this is not an issue of using or not ussing a company at the ends is something related to the QOS  of ARPN
anyway i can spend all the time her complainig the but that will not solve my problem
nbari: So, you signed an agreement for 24-48 hour support response and now you're bitching.  I don't get it.
where is the agreements ?
good point i never so one
maybe are new
i was aware of the response time
when i signed up
if there is a VM host down, you don't wait 24-48 hours obviously.
I aggre that the support response can take even a week if you want but when the user has the tools to virtualy fix almos everything from their side
nbari: whether it is written clearly or just understood, arpnetworks is not staffed 24/7 which is a good bit of the reason why it is so cheap. we rely on 'best effort' not 'instant' support for our systems, and if we have mission critical stuffs, maintenance on those systems performed by us, is our responsibility to not do anything that we can't recover from given the iso image that is attached to the vm at the time we start the maintenance.
it is truly unfortunate that an iso image of freebsd cannot include a simple shell that could permit a dd over the disk for recovery.
single image floppies for installing openbsd provide this basic functionality.
toddf: no problem, at the end all the day one learns something
;-) (maybe up_the_irons can use the above in some way, if so, feel free, modified or otherwise)
do you work on aRPN ?
toddf - freebsd has a fixit shell *if* you ask for the right disk
I do not. I have been around a bit and provided suggestions now and then that seem to be worthy of implementation. that's by luck, not any other reason.
nbari failed to do that.
randalschwartz: thats the key. *if*. a basic shell is available on _all_ openbsd install media.
yeah, it's a little weird that there's still variants in freebsd
perhaps there wasn't space on the CD
the only difference between media of openbsd is the drivers in the kernel and some of the utilities in the filesystem, adjusted according to space constraints. thats it.
a 650mb iso has no room for a shell? hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
there *is* the emergency holographic shell
what's missing is a dd
so let's not get all nutty here.
650mb iso has no room for ksh + dd. ha. haha. hahahaha.
statically linked dd on openbsd is 93k. anyway.
a dd on the FreeBSD issos that could be uesd on the emergency shell could be help me alot
by the way some one here using proxmox as the main server for hosting FreeBSD ?
nbari - had you requested the DVD instead of the CD, you would have had all that and more
so the problem is primarily PEBCAK
yes RandalSchwartz 8 hours ago i did that :D
no - originally
and had you rehearsed this critical upgrade, you'd also have sorted that out ahead of time too.  strike 2.
first I ask for a clean up of the v disk and almos later the full DVD  later you also sugest me that
how about fetching a dd binary over ftp/http from within your emergency shell?
I have tried to setup the net but since i can not create the slices I can not write to the disk
you should be able to write to the ramdisk you are living in
but how to setup the network ?
if from the shell i just have the cd/pwd commands
how does sysinstall set up the network, the commands must be there somewhere
ls? or 'echo *' for poor man's 'ls'
really do not know
There is no shell built-in for networking, that I know of. In any shell.
but time passes and this thing still down
guys someone from LA or a friend of up_the_irons please tellhimg to check the tickets
root
oops... wrong window :)
my offsize zfs-stream-recieving  remote box is finally up and running
now backing up the first server
offsite, not off size :)
;-)
this is part of the BCP I came up with for Neil
I recall.
the first full backup is the most risky
can't restart it if it fails :(
can't ?
what kindof flaky backup system can't restart a failed initial backup?
nope.  zfs send ... | ssh remote "zfs recv ..."
I suppose I could create a file and then rsync the file then unpack it
not sure I have enough room on sender though
unless zfs send compresses you might get some mileage out of 'ssh -C -o batchmode=yes -o serveraliveinterval=3600 -o serveralivecountmax=23 -o tcpkeepalive=no'
I've experimentally found those options useful when doing some ssh based backups of my own
interesting
RandalSchwartz: did you have a look at the zxfer script? (in ports), it supports a zfs send and an rsync mode
Hmm.  not yet.
fascinating!  It does everything I did and a lot more
what a nice waste of time on my part. :)
consider it a pre-peek prep for you to confirm their ideas are as good as yours. ;-)
guyst sorry to disturb but any aprox time/hour that up_the_irons uses to be online ?
nbari: he typically is around late evening reliably. sometimes during the day. obviously not yet today. ;-)
and today :S
interpretation may vary according to timezones :)
DaCa: 'late evening' = us timezones. I'm in US/Central, he's in US/Pacific .. the meaning of 'late evening' is close enough.
perhaps I should have said 'late evening his time'
12 hours later no answer
nice :D
for been my first support ticket on issue is agreate experience
nbari: perfect storm and all that.
8pm here
nbari: we don't have a 24/7 support staff, if you need that, go to slicehost or linode and pay three times as much for your vps
i think th
finally thanks you
we give you all the tools to diagnose and solve problems yourself; the only thing you should be contacting support for is ISO changes, billing, or cancelation
right this is a iso change no more
no complains about nothing else
has I say the service has ben grate the only issue is that unfortunately a bad mistake on my ISO make that I could erase the disk
nbari: ok, i already changed the iso for you yesterday; you need it changed again?
the porblem is that I can not erase the disk
up_the_irons: he has a freebsd iso that cannot dd to wipe the disk to do a fresh install. needs the dvd for that. I laugh at you freebsd for not putting dd on the iso. hahaha.
lol
toddf: no dd on the iso?  LOL
in few words is just like toddf say
the "install" cd is very limited
or even requiring dd to do a fresh install. haha.
nbari: let me find your sup req and i'll take care of it
the "dvd" is what you want mounted all the time
even though you might never use most of the precompiled packages. :)
I just need to do a dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ad0 bs=64k count=1 in thero to fix the disk
if anyone ever asks for a FreeBSD "cd", please challenge them. :)
randalschwartz: somehow I suspect with the future (no date specified yet) iso selection potential in the control panel for vps's, the freebsd iso's will not be listed. problem solved. ;-)
random query for those running OpenBSD (or any other os that accepts a serial break to drop to ddb> or the like) .. have you tried (and succeeded) to hit it via the serial console provided via arp? just a random survey. I know it doesn't work for me. would be nice to know if it is something I'm doing wrong(tm) or if its a limitation of the kvm/conserver/ssh setup. (and no I don't _expect_ anything to be fixed, just idly curious about details..)
toddf: yes, I have done that, ^El0 iirc
^Ecl0
and still works, just tested
you know you have to allow it in sysctl?
0$ sysctl ddb.console
ddb.console=1
toddf: i've successfully accessed ddb> over serial console when OpenBSD has (rarely) crashed ;)
woah, it starts to work.
accessing it is one thing, forcing it is another.
whoa, toddf just got schooled
so .. when testing ariane's vmmap_sys diff, it also somehow disabled ddb.console=1 .. interesting.
heh, it was already set that way
0$ ls -l /etc/sysctl.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  2915 May 10 16:32 /etc/sysctl.conf
0$ grep ddb.console /etc/sysctl.conf
#ddb.console=1                  # 1=Permit entry of ddb from the console
ddb.console=1                   # 1=Permit entry of ddb from the console
I even tried 'boot -d' 'ddb> w db_console 1' and it still wouldn't let me break in.
seriously, till the bug is found, if any openbsd guys gets an itch to test vmmap_sys on their vps at ARP, don't. it pegs cpu on the host system for that kvm instance and runs like its 1mhz if that after interrupts are enabled, I'll do some further testing in short bursts, but unless you're a developer of OpenBSD .. ignore requests for testing that diff for now. ;-)
toddf: what is the vmmap_sys feature supposed to do?
its a rewrite of some bits and a faster implementation of vm mapping stuff as far as I can comprehend, it is at iteration 26 after the 'paste in xxxterm from pwsafe -p = ddb>' bug I found got fixed .. and should get committed in roughly 10 days, so clock is ticking for me to find the kvm interaction bug ;-)
(otherwise people who track -current on ARP VPS's will be slogging the host systems and wondering why their vps's are slow)
unless it gets into snaps ahead of the commit, which is possible.
toddf: oh i c
(and I have a vested interest in openbsd working well under kvm with a vps at arp *grin*)
:)
thanks all for the help; VPS up and running
that was fast :)
nbari: out of curiosity, what services do you offer to your clients?
up_the_irons: he's been sweating bullets for 12h, I bet he typed a zillion miles an hour once it was setup ;-)
i have ther 2 VPN's (the ones I am configuring)
hahahha
nbari: nice
i use the VPS like a gateway
cool
but I need a fix IP to make the link with the providers that is why I chose a VPS so i can change my other servers that process all this stuff with out worries about changing the IP and making new VPN's every time
the main application is a sms gatway (send/receive)
ah cool
i had a colo customer once that had a 1U box, but he installed 4 USB modems (Sprint, T-Mobile, Cingular, and AT&T) and was able to SMS from the box ;)
do you also offer colo ?
usb data dongles? wow, didn't know you could do that.
toddf: yup, some were usb, and others were pci express
i do the same but instead of the modems the VPN's are for the carriers
nbari: yeah, i do colo for 1/4 cab and up
nbari: you can VPN to a carrier?  wow, how do you do that? :)
the client has the contracts I just have the IT (ipsec)
oh ok
well, one again thanks for the help and sorry for the confusion, hope FreeBSD on a feauture can support DD
i have now finishing configuring the VPS
no problem
wow... I wish I had known about zxfer before I wasted 4 hours writing my own
this thing is amazing :)
nice
toddf: from earlier ...
15:37 <@toddf> usb data dongles? wow, didn't know you could do that.
i sent theo a diff a long time ago for a small usb gsm modem. modem costs $25. sending sms through it is an AT command
he committed it too, fwiw. i can /msg you the url for the thingy if you'd like