debian-to-devuan

This is a script for migrating from a Debian bullseye/buster system to Devuan chimaera/beowulf.

It has two stages:

1. replace the init system to be sysvinit and reboot

2. upgrade to the standard chimaera/beowulf distribution and reboot

Quick How To

Copy the script to /root, and then run as root in one of four ways:

1. # ./script.sh 1

2. # DIST=beowulf ./script.sh 1

3. # DE=desktop ./script.sh 1

4. # DIST=beowulf DE=desktop ./script.sh 1

Note: use the systemd-rescue option (or C-A-F2 where applicable) so as to start the migration from within a separate virtual terminal.

Description

The script performs the 2-stage migration with minimal operator intervention.

1. The first stage prepares the system for using sysvinit rather than systemd, and this stage ends in requesting a manual reboot with the system primed (via /etc/rc.local) to enter the second stage automatically at next boot.

2. The second stage performs all requested installations for the target chimaera/beowulf system and the stage ends with another request of manual reboot. The second stage also includes an explicit sshd as a possible "resuce entry" option if it runs into trouble.

The script will migrate the system to chimaera unless DIST=beowulf is used in which case it will migrate to beowulf.

The script may uninstall the desktop environment used in Debian and then not install a desktop environment unless DE=desktop is set in which case it will install xfce4 (using task-xfce-desktop). The script also handles xfce, mate, cinnamon, or +kde instead of desktop.

Important: this script only handles systems with Ethernet cable networking.