This article is more than 1 year old

Chap scripts remote Linux takeover for sysadmins

Use this for good, not for evil. But not if you care about your penguins

Linux sysadmins with a sense of adventure: Tokyo-based developer Hector Martin has put together a set of scripts to replace an in-use Linux system over SSH.

Over at GitHub, Martin's Takeover.sh is the kind of no-safety-net we imagine El Reg's readers will love.

Takeover.sh is: “A script to completely take over a running Linux system remotely, allowing you to log into an in-memory rescue environment, unmount the original root filesystem, and do anything you want, all without rebooting. Replace one distro with another without touching a physical console.”

However, because it's still experimental, Martin warns: “Do not use this script on any system you care about. Do not use this script on any system you expect to be up. Do not run this script unless you can afford to get physical access to fix a botched takeover. If anything goes wrong, your system will most likely panic.”

And at this stage, don't expect support: “If you can't figure out what to do exactly without handholding, this script is not for you.”

For all that, The Reg notes there are good reasons for wanting this capability.

After all, there's lots of headless uses of Linux, for which a sysadmin needs to work on remotely or trudge over with screen and keyboard.

And yes, everything Martin offers could be done manually. But who doesn't love a script to make their day that little bit more lazy? ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like