[Novalug] Upgrading with LVM
Charles R. Head
CharlesRHead@Netscape.Net
Mon Aug 18 20:04:59 EDT 2014
*Ted,*
I hope I'm not missing something simple, but here's my take on your
situation. I used to use Ubuntu (before Unity) and now I use Linux
Mint. With both of them, there is a step in the installation process
where you can tell the installer that you'd like to set up the
partitions yourself. I make that choice. When the partition editor
opens within the installer, I've always seen the partitions I've been
using up to that point (I use /root, /home & swap). I just tell the
partition editor to use the old /root partition as the new /root
partition and to reformat that partition. I also choose to use the old
/swap partition as the new /swap partition. For /home, I do the same
thing (use it as the new /home) -- with one big exception. I make sure
that reformat is *_NOT_* selected. Then I finish the install.
By using this process, your new OS gets installed in /root and in the
process of installing it makes connections to your old (and now new)
/home partition. No need to copy /home stuff around or manually connect
stuff.
I'm sure this same process will work for at least a few other distros
I've tried out at one time or another.
*
**Charlie Head*
*************************************************************
On 8/18/2014 6:06 PM, Theodore Ruegsegger via Novalug wrote:
> I've been reading and rereading LVM documentation and it all seems to
> be about much more complex problems than mine; perhaps someone can
> supply the missing clue.
>
> My objective:
>
> Whenever I upgrade my machines to a new release, I try to leave my
> /home partition untouched and just install the new version fresh. Once
> everything's upgraded, I'll replace the newly-created, empty /home
> directory with a mount point for my old /home partition. Without LVM,
> this means I have to estimate how much space to allocate to / for the
> OS and installed software in the foreseeable future. Typically I guess
> just a bit too little and have to wipe the whole disk, repartition,
> install, then restore /home from backup.
>
> I could just make one big / partition, but then I can't overwrite it
> without blowing away /home.
>
> Where I am now:
>
> I used the Kubuntu installer and selected the LVM option for the disk.
> Now I want to upgrade to the next release.
>
> What's Confusing me:
>
> With LVM, I won't run out of space in / but it's beginning to look
> like the Kubuntu installer's idea of using LVM is equivalent to making
> one big / partition, except that it's one big / logical volume. Is
> that indeed what I've done? If so, am I again going to have to blow it
> all away and then restore /home from backup?
>
> Or has LVM spared me this pain in some clever way that I'm not seeing?
> Is there perhaps a way to split off a separate volume for /home from
> the existing one for / and then tell the installer to lay off that
> /home volume?
>
> Ted
> **********************************************************************
> The Novalug mailing list is hosted by firemountain.net.
>
> To unsubscribe or change delivery options:
> http://www.firemountain.net/mailman/listinfo/novalug
---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com
More information about the Novalug
mailing list