Daily Cup of Tech

We are pretty much entirely a Windows shop where we work. And, of course, most of our tools are Windows based. But, when we wanted to get data from our dead servers, we turned to trusty Linux for a hand.

Specifically, what we wanted to do was get data off the dead server without having to make any changes to the server hard drives. This meant that we could not reinstall or change any of the original configurations.

So, the logical choice was to use a bootable CD as it is the quickest solution to the problem. I was ready to fire up either a customized version of BartPE or Ultimate Boot CD for Windows but my summer student, Jeff, thought that a Linux distribution was a good option.

Since Jeff was going to be performing the procedure, I decided that I would let him use what he was most comfortable with. So, Jeff ran to the local computer store, picked up a large USB drive, and prepared to migrate some data.

Jeff decided that he would use KNOPPIX and this was no surprise to me or anyone else who is familiar with this distribution. From their website:

KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD, consisting of a representative collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it (over 8GB on the DVD “Maxi” edition).

This is really an amazing CD and one that every tech should have in their toolbox. Unfortunately, every OS has its limitations and one of the limitations that Jeff discovered is that KNOPPIX couldn’t read the USB drive. So, on to plan B.

Jeff next went to an Ubuntu LiveCD. Most people are familiar with the desktop version of this popular Linux distribution but many people are surprised to learn that the installation CD is also a LiveCD. So, you can boot from it and do almost everything that you could do from a fully installed version.

This allowed Jeff to get on the dead server, access the data on the drives, and migrate it off to the USB device so that it could be used later.

Similar Posts:

• USB Drive Linux Systems
• Build A Bootable USB Media Player
• DIY Custom Ubuntu LiveCD
• Freebie 9 of 24 in 24: UNetbootin
• Server Failure Lesson #4: A Server Isn’t Dead Until It’s Dead

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5 Responses to “Server Failure Lesson #2: Linux is Your Friend”

1. Matt D Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 7:19 am

   Some cases where there isn’t a raid configuration we use a IDE/SATA to USB adapter. but for servers with raid configurations we like to use Linux Live CDs. They do come in handy!

2. University Update - Linux - Server Failure Lesson #2: Linux is Your Friend Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 8:59 am

   […] Link to Article linux Server Failure Lesson #2: Linux is Your Friend » Posted at Daily Cup of […]

3. Alice Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 10:02 am

   I’ve used Puppy Linux for the same purpose on several occasions. The basic distro is small enough that it runs totally in RAM on most machines thus freeing up you CD/DVD drive to use for data backup if you don’t have a USB drive handy. Worth a look.

4. Ryan Neufeld Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

   KNOPPIX FTW

   I have used Knoppix on several occasions my self for fixing problems with Windows XP. The only issue is that NTFS write support is very weak.

   But if you ever need to resize an NTFS partition it’s dead easy if you have knoppix:

   1) Defrag your nfts first** This is important because it may fail if you don’t.
   2) Boot to knoppix
   3) Fire up QTParted. (Kmenu -> system-> QTParted)
   4) Select your drive
   5) Right click on the partition you want to resize and click “Resize”

   The rest is fairly straight forward.

   Caveats:

   If it fails for some reason, reboot into windows and defrag your partition and try again. Defragging will ensure that all your data are arranged close together and will faciliate the resizing.

   Once your change is complete you *must* reboot into windows before making any more changes. Windows will want to run a chkdisk on the partition(s) you changed before allowing you to login, let it or you may find that windows reports the wrong partition size in My Computer (or anywhere you can see it).

   If after enlarging an NTFS partition to take up the whole drive Windows does not show the full capacity of the drive, go back to QTParted and reduce the size of the partition by 4 or 8 Megabytes (4MB or 8MB). Reboot and allow Windows to chdisk again.

   –Ryan

5. Kugrian Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 5:06 pm

   Thanks for that heads up on Knoppix live disc, Tim. That and an USB boot are in my Emergency Kit. Will have a test tomorrow, but will stick in my Ubuntu one as well for now

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