This afternoon was The Time to get That Which Is Destined to Become The New Home Server off the dining table and into...
... Dare I mention it? ...
... The datacenter space under the table next to my desk.
Tentacles! (OK, so eldritch tangles of cable bundles.)
Killer dust bunnies!
The process involved putting in a new KVM switch. Not the right one for the job, because the right one nowadays would be USB/HDMI; firstly, the soon-to-be-retired server doesn't have an HDMI port on it, though I suppose I could use a DVI-to-HDMI dongle; secondly, while the monitor currently on my desk does have an HDMI port, I have not had good results using it - apparently hardly anything that speaks HDMI plays nice with a 1680x1050 monitor.
So... gotta get in among the years of dust, and around behind the desk, and remove the two existing KVM switches: a 4-port PS2/VGA and a 2-port USB/DVI/audio (of late only connected to the workstation). That gets rid of a lot of the tentacles. Then hook up the new KVM switch (4-port, USB/VGA), plus a direct DVI connection from workstation to monitor. Then power up the old server: all seems well, except that the fireproof external USB drive isn't showing up. Huh. It looks like everything's plugged in. Guess I'll sort that out later. Then the new server: having sat idle and disconnected since September, it needs a bunch of software updates. Fine. Also, the screen resolution comes up at 640x480, but that's easily reset.
Finally, the workstation. Seems to wake up OK, except... er... KDM isn't presenting me with a sign-on screen. Hello? Various sorts of restarts don't solve the problem. Switching to GDM works. Hm. Maybe it's something to do with having both DVI and VGA cables connected? Is KDM putting up the login prompt on the other screen (which is the same monitor)? I dunno, but at some point I'll probably want to try again with KDM and only the DVI cable connected. Since the workstation normally runs continuously, login oddities aren't that much of an issue.
Yet to be done... oh, so much! Synchronize the user filesystems on the new server with those on the old. Switch the clients (workstation, Linux machine in lab, Windows machine in lab) to use the new one. Migrate the routing/firewall rules to the new box. Switch the DSL connection to the new one. Retire the old one. Somewhere in there, migrate the backup scripts to the new box, and connect the fireproof drive to it.
I think I have most of tomorrow, most of Christmas, and most of Boxing Day to finish up stuff that involves disruptions to connectivity. Should be able to get it done in that time.
Anyway, all three office machines are now sharing the USB keyboard & mouse on my desk, which is kind of nice compared to the hodgepodge I had before (the installation dating back to the days when everything was PS/2, but having acquired sundry kludges along the way as PS/2 support slowly faded away).
Looks like January brings more work. Like, for clients. Paying stuff. Be nice to have everything stable by then. (Oh, and there's some stuff for a client that I should also be getting done in the coming week, but getting the clutter off the table was sort of a necessary step.)
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