Takeover.sh – Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH without reboot
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderPretty cool, although I'm pretty sure I would never use something like this. What has saved my skin on a number of occasions is the ability to boot remote servers into rescue mode and chroot into the broken system. That way you can use package managers, all your diagnostic tools, and everything else the boot image doesn't provide. Basically you just mount the different partitions and then chroot just swaps /proc /sys /dev of the rescue image with the real…
> This script does not have any provisions for exiting out of the new environment back into something sane. You will have to reboot when you're done. If you get anything wrong, your machine won't boot. Tough luck. So then "without rebooting" in the title is inaccurate, no? I haven't studied TFA carefully. But reinstalling running Linux systems via SSH is pretty routine, no? Using debian-installer with network-console, I mean. I occasionally reinstall remote servers with LUKS via SSH. I…
Seems easy, use pivot root.
This is a nice tool. What is the purpose of it? I know what it does, but why might one use this?
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 932
- Total comments
- 156
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-02-10 | Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH, without rebooting | jasonrm | 4 | 0 |
| 2017-02-11 | Takeover.sh – Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH without rebootFirst breakout · Best thread | tambourine_man | 515 | 75 |
| 2018-12-22 | Takeover.sh: Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH without rebooting | striking | 6 | 1 |
| 2019-03-11 | Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH (2017)Latest 20+ point return | 1nvalid | 399 | 79 |
| 2021-03-10 | Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH (2017)Hall induction | ddtaylor | 6 | 0 |
| 2021-08-21 | takeover.sh | tosh | 2 | 1 |