This article describes how you can update an existing precreated Debian or Ubuntu template. The procedure is pretty easy.
Contents
Creating/configuring a temporary VE
First, you need to create a VE based on the template you want to update. Here is an example:
[HN]# vzctl create 555 --ostemplate debian-4.0-i386-minimal
Next, you want to specify an IP address and a nameserver:
[HN]# vzctl set 555 --ipadd x.x.x.x --nameserver y.y.y.y --save
You can get the value of nameserver from your /etc/resolv.conf. Your VE should have an Internet access, so you either supply a public IP, or see using NAT for VE with private IPs for information about how to use private IP and NAT.
Finally, check that Internet is working from inside a VE:
[HN]# vzctl exec 555 ping -n 3 www.ru
Update
Enter the VE:
[HN]# vzctl enter 555
Update metadata and install updates:
[VE]# apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
Cleanup:
[VE]# apt-get clean [VE]# > /etc/resolv.conf
Clean unused log files, .bash_history etc, then exit from a VE:
[VE] # exit
Stop a VE, remove its IP:
[HN]# vzctl stop 555 [HN]# vzctl set 555 --ipdel all --save
Packing a new template cache
Now, rename the existing template cache:
[HN]# mv /vz/template/cache/debian-4.0-i386-minimal.tar.gz{,-old}
Now create a new tarball:
[HN]# cd /vz/private/555 [HN]# tar czf /vz/template/cache/debian-4.0-i386-minimal.tar.gz .
Clean up:
[HN]# vzctl destroy 555 [HN]# rm -f /etc/vz/conf/555.conf.destroyed
Test new template cache
First, compare the sizes of the old and the new template caches:
[HN]# ls -lh /vz/template/cache/debian-4.0-i386-minimal* -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 55M 2007-11-13 18:11 /vz/template/cache/debian-4.0-i386-minimal.tar.gz -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 53M 2007-08-31 02:46 /vz/template/cache/debian-4.0-i386-minimal.tar.gz-old
The sizes should not differ much.
Try to create and start VE made from your new template:
[HN]# vzctl create 222 --ostemplate debian-4.0-i386-minimal [HN]# vzctl set 222 --ipadd 10.0.0.222 --save [HN]# vzctl start 222 [HN]# vzctl enter 222
Now execute a few basic commands to check VE is fine. Examples are: ps axf, dpkg -l, etc.
Finally, clean up the testing VE:
[HN]# vzctl stop 222 [HN]# vzctl destroy 222 [HN]# rm -f /etc/vz/conf/222.conf.destroyed