I have a dedicated Linux server hosted by 1&1 Internet, which runs the plokta.com website and my email and stuff. But it comes with Redhat Linux 7.2, which is no longer supported, and in any case I really hate Redhat's package management. So I want to put Debian Linux on it instead, but I don't have any physical access to the machine, so I can only do it via an ssh connection. This makes reinstalling Linux difficult, at best.
Fortunately, some kind soul has had the same problem and produced a script called debtakeover to migrate a running server to Debian. So I'm about to try it out, having backed up everything critical. 1&1 do give you a facility to boot an emergency system off a network drive if you screw up your config, so I should be able to put everything back the way it was if I screw it up too badly. But wish me luck...
www.plokta.com will be down for a while, and I won't be able to receive any email.
