Running clone of Linode server locally

I wish to run a clone of my UML on my local machine so test changes before making them live. I have created and downloaded a Debian 3.0r1 (Small) Disk Image as a start but have had trouble booting it. The tail end of mu UML's outpu from funning './linux ubda=debsml.img root=/dev/ubda' is:

INIT: Entering runlevel: 2

Starting system log daemon: syslogd.

Starting kernel log daemon: klogd.

Starting internet superserver: inetd.

Starting OpenBSD Secure Shell server: sshd.

Starting periodic command scheduler: cron.

INIT: Id "0" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes

INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel

I figure I haven't gotten the settings for the getty terminal set correctly but haven't been successful in fixing this. Has any one had success in doing this?