Hi,
On Tue, May 20, 2025 at 06:20:33PM -0400, Steve Matzura wrote:
> After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back online.
> I connected it to power and network, then booted it. Interestingly, it
> appeared on my network not at the address it had when it went into storage,
> but one given it by my local DHCP server
Are you saying that when it went into storage it was not using DHCP but
static networking yet when you booted it later it had changed to DHCP?
That would seem odd to me. If it was also DHCP before then it's not so
odd.
On the other hand if a machine with DHCP doesn't get a lease it often
falls back to link-local IPv4 addresses.
> I cannot log in from the console.
Reboot, select rescue mode from the Grub menu and log in that way. See
"Rescue shell" from here:
https://wiki.debian.org/InitramfsDebug
If that seems too complex, boot with a Debian 11 or Debian 11 install
media and select rescue mode instead. It will mount the existing
filesystems and dump you toa shell prompt.
> repair Debian 11 or or replace with Debian 12
If I was going to continue using the machine I'd probably get the data
off and then reinstall with a Debian 13 pre-release. It went into
hard freeze days ago and shouldn't see much change before the actual
release of Debian 13. If that seems too bold to you then install Debian
12.
Leaving it as Debian 11 means it will be running oldoldstable in just a
couple of months. Since you're making some effort now, it doesn't seem
worth making work for yourself again so soon.
> how do i reclaim those all-important configuration files from Asterisk
> and other applications? Can I try mounting the boot drive in WSL on
> another machine, or possibly inspect it with a running Debian system
> booted from the installation medium?
It doesn't sound so broken that booting to the rescue shell wouldn't
allow you to fix it. If not then yeah, rescue mode from some Debian
install media.
Thanks,
Andy
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