Installing Ubuntu on Debian

How to install an Ubuntu vserver guest on Debian.

Prepare debootstrap

You will need the debootstrap script for your desired Ubuntu release (eg dapper, feisty).

Download the debootstrap deb for Ubuntu's latest release from here. (eg, as of April 2007, download the debootstrap deb for feisty). You want the debootstrap from the latest release, even if you want to install a previous release Ubuntu vserver guest. Extract the Ubuntu scripts from the deb and place them in /usr/lib/debootstrap/scripts/.

For example, do something like:

$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_0.3.3.2ubuntu3_all.deb
$ dpkg --extract debootstrap_0.3.3.2ubuntu3_all.deb debootstrap-feisty
$ sudo cp debootstrap-feisty/usr/lib/debootstrap/scripts/{warty,warty.buildd,hoary,hoary.buildd,breezy,dapper,edgy,edgy.fakechroot,feisty,feisty.fakechroot} /usr/lib/debootstrap/scripts/

Build

Build with guest architecture the same as host

# vserver feisty-guest build -m debootstrap --hostname feisty-guest --interface dummy0=eth0:10.0.0.123/8 --rootdir /var/lib/vservers -- -d feisty -m http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

Build 32-bit guest on 64-bit host

# vserver feisty-guest-32 build -m debootstrap --hostname feisty-guest-32 --interface dummy0=eth0:10.0.0.123/8 --rootdir /var/lib/vservers -- -d feisty -m http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ -- --arch i386

Verify 32-bitness of guest:

host:# file /var/lib/vservers/feisty-guest-32/bin/ls
/var/lib/vservers/feisty-guest-32/bin/ls: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), for GNU/Linux 2.6.0, dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.0, stripped

See also

• Frequently_Asked_Questions#I_run_a_Debian_host_and_want_to_build_an_Ubuntu_guest._Howto.3F
• Installing 32-bit Fedora on 64-bit Debian