DigitalOcean deprecated Arch Linux a while back because it was relatively difficult to support due to the rolling updates. I wrote this script to bring it back! This script downloads a bootstrap Arch Linux image, updates it to the latest version, then overwrites the host operating system with it. Unlike Debian 7.x, Debian 8.x on DigitalOcean boots traditionally (through the MBR and Grub), so no dirty kexec magic is needed.
This script may cause your VPS to become unbootable. I only recommend running this script on newly created droplets with no important data.- Create a new Debian 8.x droplet (either 32-bit or 64-bit is fine).
- In the droplet, run the following as root:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gh2o/digitalocean-debian-to-arch/debian8/install.sh && bash install.sh - Follow the instructions when prompted.
- Sit back and relax! The system will automatically reboot once complete, and you should have a fully updated Arch Linux system in within minutes.
This script supports several flags, all of which are optional.
--archlinux_mirror
The Arch Linux mirror from which the bootstrap image and packages should be downloaded. Defaults to the DigitalOcean mirror at http://mirrors.digitalocean.com/archlinux.--kernel_package
The kernel package to install. Defaults to the vanillalinuxpackage. Other options includelinux-ltsfor long term support andlinux-grsecfor a kernel with grsecurity/PaX patches.--target_architecture
The architecture of the new Arch Linux installation. Defaults to the architecture of the original Debian image as provided byuname -m. A 64-bit Debian image may convert to eitherx86_64ori686. A 32-bit Debian image may only convert toi686.--target_disklabel
The type of partition table to use. Defaults togpt(GUID partition table as used by EFI). The alternative isdos(traditional MBR).--target_filesystem
The filesystem on which the Arch Linux installation should be installed. Defaults toext4. The alternative isbtrfs.
- A sparse disk image is created with the same size of the droplet's disk.
- Three partitions are made and formatted.
- DORoot: A "dummy" partition to keep DigitalOcean happy. When snapshots are restored, new passwords are written here.
- BIOSBoot: The virtual machine BIOS cannot boot from GPT partitions directly, so a small partition is placed here for bootloader code.
- ArchRoot: The main root filesystem for Arch Linux.
- The Arch Linux bootstrap image is downloaded and unpacked onto ArchRoot.
pacman -Syuis called inside the image to pull in all the base packages along with OpenSSH.- The root password and SSH host keys are copied into the image.
- A special script called
5121 digitalocean-synchronizeis installed into the image. This script is run at every startup to autodetect the network settings from the metadata service. It also detects if the droplet was just restored, and if so, it resets the root password and regenerates the host SSH keys. - The image is now ready. The script then generates a "blockplan". It is essentially a list of instructions to image the virtual disk with the sparse disk image without requiring any extra space.
- A minimal root filesystem is generated on RAM so that the disk can be unmounted.
- The script calls
systemctl switch-rootto enter the minimal root filesystem. - The disk is unmounted.
- The blockplan is executed.
- The bootloader (Grub) is installed.
- Reboot!
- Done!