Remote computer with booting problems

A place for discussion of topics that are not specific to ZoneMinder. This could include Linux, Video4Linux, CCTV cameras or any other topic.
Post Reply
gola10
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:16 pm
Location: Panama

Remote computer with booting problems

Post by gola10 »

I has a computer running zoneminder in a place that is in a far away location. This computer is connected to Internet. Sometimes i can not access it due to booting problems, database corruption and others. So, i have to travel a few hundred miles to service it.
If the hard drive does not boot, i boot from cdrom and chroot to the ZM to try to fix it.
This computer reboots thru cron twice a day. What if i always boot from cd and after a few minutes, automatically chroot to the hard disk and run zoneminder?
This way i would have time to ssh to the cdrom boot and take control to try to fix if not all, at least a few problems i can not fix now if i do not go there.
Any idea on how to deal with this problem?
User avatar
Lee Sharp
Posts: 1069
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:18 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Post by Lee Sharp »

Install a good UPS to keep it from hanging, rebooting, and corrupting the database. I have systems up for months without a reboot.
User avatar
robi
Posts: 477
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:48 am

Re: Remote computer with booting problems

Post by robi »

gola10 wrote:This computer reboots thru cron twice a day.
Why? This is not Windows. The machine doesn't need to be rebooted.
v1.25.0 + Ubuntu Linux 12.04 Server
gola10
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:16 pm
Location: Panama

Post by gola10 »

You are right, Linux does not need to be rebooted frequently as winblows.
The reason is that i have two setting, day and night. I have set my cameras for day time "record" "640x480" "color" and during night "Mocord" "320x240" "B&W".
With a script i do a Mysqldump of files "Monitors" and Zones. for day and night setting.
With cron i load day settings in the morning and night settings at 8:30 PM. After that, i reboot. I have done that without reboots and it works but in this particular site that is far away, i thought that rebooting was safer.
ktheking
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:53 am

Post by ktheking »

You need to write safer shutdownscript with checking mechanisms (do process checks before doiing full shutdown).
Also work with hardwaretools enabling to do proper remote control (even before OS) => network KVM switch !

example : http://www.freedom9.com/products/product.php?p=9

Warning : Those don't come cheap. But it is always cheaper then you hitting a tree on the way driving to the server.And very handy when you're in the testing phase and don't feel spending most of your time in the car.

Also lik Lee told you ,get a good UPS. What you can do even more is to connect the UPS with USB to your system and let it do automatic stuff : shutdown ,send SMS ,etc ... : see my post over here : http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewto ... highlight=
Post Reply