On Sun, Sep 03, 2000 at 12:41:42PM +1100 or so it is rumoured hereabouts,
Malcolm Tredinnick thought:
> On Sat, Sep 02, 2000 at 06:22:54PM -0700, Allen Heinecke wrote:
> > I am considering installing a new HD in my computer as the old one is
> > running out of space... however the "partition" / location that is running
> > out of space is root...
> >
> > what is the best way to migrate all of the root files, including the
> > bootup files to this new HD?
>
> There are two situations you may be in here. I'll give some hints to
> both and then others can flame me.
>
> (A) You are wanting to completely replace the old HD with new one (the
> more difficult solution).
>
> Hook up the new HD to your machine and use something like fdisk or
> disk druid to partition it as you like. Then mount each partition
> under an appropriate directory. For example, suppose the new disk
> will have partitions called '/', '/tmp' and '/usr' (as partitions 1,
> 2 and 3), I would make directories under /mnt called 'root', 'tmp',
> 'usr' and then use the commands..
>
> mount -t ext2 /dev/hdd1 /mnt/root
> mount -t ext2 /dev/hdd2 /mnt/tmp
> mount -t ext2 /dev/hdd3 /mnt/user
>
> Then copy everything from your current HD to the new home on the new
> HD. Note that you will not need to copy the contents of /proc (they
> are not real files).
>
> Adjust /mnt/root/etc/fstab to mount the new partitions in the right
> spots (bearing in mind, that after you swap the new for the old, it
> will be /dev/hdc, so you would mount /dev/hdc1 under /tmp in the
> above example).
>
I'm presuming when you refer to /dev/hdd and /dev/hdc you really mean
/dev/hdb and /dev/hda which would be the more likely arrangement in a 2
disk system and /dev/hda is definitely need if LILO is to be the boot
manager. (Yes, I know one could have the two disks on seperate
controllers etc and am simplifying here)
> I _think_ you probably need to rerun LILO so that the kernel copy
> that is on the new drive understands where it lives. There may well
> be a way to do this at this point in the plan, but I can't work out
> how to get LILO to write the result to /dev/hdd's MBR in a way that
> will work when you reboot it as /dev/hdc. Somebody else may be able
> to solve this (please?). Instead, I propose a different plan in the
> next paragraph.
>
Yeah, no bother...
A few things to do though...
LILO, by default uses /etc/lilo.conf for its configuration. Let's have a
look at a typical /etc/lilo.conf
########## lilo.conf #########
boot=/dev/hda #This is where lilo will write to
map=/boot/map #I don't know what the map is for :-)
install=/boot/boot.b #Similarly
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.14-5.0 #This is the kernel to boot
label=linux
read-only
root=/dev/hda7 #This is the root partition
######## end ################
Now, since you have the new disk installed as /dev/hdd at present and have
its various partitions mounted under /mnt/<blah> You need to modify
lilo.conf to reflect these changes. This is a once off modification so it
would be worth copying lilo.conf to lilo.conf.hdd and changing that
instead. Here's the modified lilo.conf.hdd:
########## lilo.conf.hdd #########
boot=/dev/hdd #This will be the primary MBR when the
#disk is installed as the primary
map=/mnt/root/boot/map #I don't know what the map is for :-)
install=/mnt/root/boot/boot.b #But you need to add the /mnt/root bit
#anyhow
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
image=/mnt/root/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.14-5.0 #This is the kernel to boot
label=linux
read-only
root=/dev/hda7 #This is the root partition to be mounted
#on boot, don't change this
######## end ################
Now, do a:
/mnt/root/sbin/lilo -C /mnt/root/etc/lilo.conf.hdd
to install.
This info is derived from the Hard-Disk-Upgrade-(mini-?)HOWTO
############ now you can skip this bit ###########
> Shutdown the machine, put the new HD in place of the old one and
> reboot using a boot floppy (if you don't have one of these, or can't
> create one, ask again on this list and I, or somebody else, will try
> to help). Run /sbin/lilo on the new HD and it should correctly alter
> the bootup information.
##################################################
>
> ** Caveat Emptor: What I have described is completely untested!!
> However, it looks like it will work. Whatever you do, don't do anything
> destructive to the old HD until you are sure the swapover worked.
> Alternatively, go with plan B (below)...
>
> (B) You want to add in the second HD to the system, but will keep the
> first on installed as well (much easier!).
>
> Partition the new HD as you like and make each partition a "major"
> part of the directory structure, like /usr/local or /tmp or /usr or
> whatever. For the time being, mount these new partitions under
> appropriate directories under /mnt (e.g. /mnt/usr/local) using the
> mount commands I gave above.
>
> Copy everything from the current /usr directory over to what will be
> the new /usr directory (just an example). So in this example, you do
> something like
>
> cp -r /usr/ /mnt/usr
This should read:
cp -dpR /usr/ /mnt/usr
to ensure permissions and attributes get copied also. Otherwise, you find
that root owns everything which is a bit embarassing when you move /home !
>
> Do this for all the directories you want to move across.
>
> **NOTE: You should leave your kernel image (probably in /boot, so
> leave all of /boot), /etc, /bin and /sbin on the first harddrive,
> otherwise you will have trouble booting!
>
> Now alter /etc/fstab to mount the new partitions under their new
> directory names. So, for example, if the partition mounted as
> /mnt/usr in the above case is /dev/hdd3, you would add a line to
> /etc/fstab like
>
> /dev/hdd3 /usr ext2 defaults 1 2
>
> You can now reboot and verify that the new partition was mounted
> under the right spot.
>
> To reclaim your disk space, remove the above line from fstab,
> reboot again (this puts the old /usr directory back) and then
> remove all the contents of /usr (which frees up space on the
> first HD). Finally, add the fstab line back and reboot again.
> What could be easier?
>
> OK .. both these methods look pretty involved on the screen, but I have
> used the second one successfully. For extra safety, you may wish to wait
> a couple of days and see how many people call me an idiot on this list
> (or just point out blatant errors I've made).
>
> I hope I've been clear enough without being too verbose, if you need
> more information, just holler. :)
You *have* to be verbose to treat this subject properly!
>
> Cheers,
> Malcolm
Cheers yourself..
>
> --
> Malcolm Tredinnick email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> CommSecure Pty Ltd
--
Conor Daly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Domestic Sysadmin :-)
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