Isaac Whatever

I mess with Gentoo a lot. I usually install from the Minimal Installation CD - so I have a few of them lying around.

When I screw up a kernel compile or bork the system in one of a thousand other ways, it's helpful to be able to use the Gentoo Minimal Installation CD as a rescue CD, but it takes a few steps.

1. Mount the partitions:

# mount /dev/ /mnt/gentoo
# mount /dev/ /mnt/gentoo/boot


2. Copy over DNS information - might not really be required

# cp -L /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/gentoo/etc/resolv.conf


3. Mount /proc and /dev

# mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev


4. Enter the Environment

# chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
# env-update
# source /etc/profile


5. Change prompt (not required)

# export PS1="(chroot) $PS1"


All of this comes directly from the Gentoo Handbook, which any Gentoo user is probably already familiar with.

Plus, using a Live CD would probably be even easier. There are a number of great ones for nearly any use, including my favorite, BackTrak.

Labels: boot, chroot, gentoo, linux, live cd, rescue, tip, tips, trick, tricks