Debian

After a failed flashing attempt(don’t attempt to tftp flash u-boot.kwb from within U-Boot!) I needed to use JTAG combined with the included JTAG adapter.  To do this, make sure that the UART cable is unplugged, and the JTAG cable is plugged in(unplug/replug the USB adapter just to be safe). First grab the guruplug-installer package, then grab a known-good copy of U-Boot.

$ cd Downloads/
$ tar zxvf Guruplug-installer.tar.gz
$ cd guruplug-installer
$ sudo ./runme.sh ../uboot.guruplug.bin
(lots of scrolling text)

At this point U-Boot is restored, and all that’s needed is to upload a new kernel(and maybe rootfs). Your old kernel won’t work with this new version of U-Boot, so make sure that you have a kernel compiled and ready to use. If you don’t feel like patching(and manually fixing the failed patches) I’ve provided a 2.6.34 kernel for you, complete with modules. To upload the new kernel you’re going to need to attach your GuruPlug to your network with it’s top-facing ethernet interface(near eSATA port).

First off, you’re going to have to install the munin package. You’ll also need to have a web server installed, I prefer apache:

# For Gentoo,
emerge munin apache
# For CentOS/Fedora
yum install munin apache
# For Debian
aptitude install munin apache

Gentoo and CentOS both install the HTTP root in /var/www/localhost/htdocs/munin. After setup, the graphs will be available at http://localhost/munin

Debian requires a bit more attention. Debian munin installs the HTTP root in /var/www/munin. so after the setup, a vhost will have to be created to access it. To do this(on Gentoo) I created an apache vhost file, /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/08_munin.conf. On Debian, the file is the same but the path is different, /etc/apache2/sites-available/08munin

Munin showed the most promise and compatibility with many of the services we run at the OSL, such as memcached and varnish. I liked how the plugin system is set up independently on each host, and that each plugin can be managed, configured, and consolidated through symlinks.

For the benefit of the uninitiated the setup on each node goes something like this:

#For gentoo
emerge munin
#For Fedora/CentOS
yum install munin-node
#For Debian/Ubuntu
apt-get install munin-node

Each client is a “node”, and runs the daemon ‘munin-node’. It’s configuration file exists at /etc/munin/munin-node.conf. This file merely tells the daemon which user to run as, which interface/port to listen to, where to log, and which munin masters are allowed to poll statistics.