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Mika Pesu n00b
Joined: 09 Jul 2002 Posts: 15
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:05 pm Post subject: 2 gentoo installation |
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how can i install 2 gentoo linux in 1 computer without losing any data?
i have already installed gentoo 1.2 and i want to have "test bed" for other's like gentoo 1.3b.
-how can i share configure files between these two systems?
-if i have to re-partion my hard disks how can i do that so i don't lose any data? |
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alec Apprentice
Joined: 19 Apr 2002 Posts: 270 Location: Here
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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Sure, you can have multiple gentoo's. Just have two partitions (i'm no partitioning expert, still use PartitionMagic or the Mandrake install disc).
If your /boot is a seperate partition, then things are easy. Just copy your new kernels there (if you have a new one - you can probably use the same one for both, just create two grub entries pointing to it with different roots).
Sharing config files is relatively painless - just copy them. You'll probably need to edit some of them, though, especailly for optimizations. |
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Naan Yaar Bodhisattva
Joined: 27 Jun 2002 Posts: 1549
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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If you have users (you really should ), having /home as a separate partition will help you share user data between the two configurations. I use this to try out even other distributions without too much fuss. As alec suggests, copying config files may be the best option (don't have /etc as a separate partition!). I would be careful in doing this since you may be using different compiler options between the two gcc versions, etc.
For resizing partitions, a non-commercial option is GNU "parted". I have not used this recently, so I am not sure how well it works. |
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Mika Pesu n00b
Joined: 09 Jul 2002 Posts: 15
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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i have two partitions
/boot,/stuff and /root
so if i "cut down" the size of root and make another partition for 1.3b,
how can i share the programs so they won't take diskspace so much,i
dont have much free space left.
user home dirs dont contain any stuff(only config files), i have own partition for programs (/stuff). |
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xming Guru
Joined: 02 Jul 2002 Posts: 441
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:47 pm Post subject: 2 x gentoo |
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you have diffenrent choises
- dual boot: using seperate patitions
- bochs
- vmware
- user mode linux
- chroot
xming |
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AlterEgo Veteran
Joined: 25 Apr 2002 Posts: 1619
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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WARNING: be very conservative about sharing kernels and/or settings between GCC 3.1 and GCC 2.95.3 stuff. It can cause huge troubles. |
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Guest
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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You may also want to consider getting a spare hard drive. A 40GB one will cost you about $75 at newegg (if you are in the US). |
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Mika Pesu n00b
Joined: 09 Jul 2002 Posts: 15
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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thanks for all the answers, i decided to buy new hard drive.
when the disk arrives i make it primary and i have to transfer all the stuff to it, is it simply cp -R * or is there a tool to transfer existing gentoo installation to new drive? |
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Naan Yaar Bodhisattva
Joined: 27 Jun 2002 Posts: 1549
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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I use "cp -ax" to make a copy of one filesystem to another. The "a" part is for "archive" - it preserves file permissions, owner, etc; it is equivalent to "-dpR". The "x" part makes sure you don't span file systems when doing recursive copies.
If you want to be ultra-safe, use the gentoo boot CD to boot. Then mount the old and new partitions at suitable mount points to do the copy. You can remove the old partition(s) once you are convinced that the new one works. This way, you have quiescent partitions when doing the copy.
Mika Pesu wrote: | thanks for all the answers, i decided to buy new hard drive.
when the disk arrives i make it primary and i have to transfer all the stuff to it, is it simply cp -R * or is there a tool to transfer existing gentoo installation to new drive? |
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xming Guru
Joined: 02 Jul 2002 Posts: 441
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 7:45 pm Post subject: tar |
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always use tar, cp -aRp is not reliable
cd <dest>
tar cf - /src/path | tar xvf -
be carefull if your dest is included in the /src/path then you hace to exlude it (man tar)
xming |
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Naan Yaar Bodhisattva
Joined: 27 Jun 2002 Posts: 1549
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2002 7:51 pm Post subject: Re: tar |
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Hmmm... never had problems with cp -ax. However, if you do use tar, do use:
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tar cplf - /src/path | (cd <dest>; tar xvplf -)
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The "l" option will prevent tar from spanning file systems and "p" preserves permissions.
xming wrote: | always use tar, cp -aRp is not reliable
cd <dest>
tar cf - /src/path | tar xvf -
be carefull if your dest is included in the /src/path then you hace to exlude it (man tar)
xming |
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3x9 n00b
Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Posts: 34 Location: Canada
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2002 9:03 pm Post subject: new hard drive |
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If you wish to save time, avoid problems, why setup the new drive as primary ?
Linux does not care where it is installed, primary , extended (logical), drives - 1- to as many as controllers support. Even the boot Mgr. can be placed in other than old
1024 cyl limit, w/the newer BIOS's
Boot loader does not have to go in MBR, often, that is bad choice anyway, Esp. when
WinNt or XP involved.
If unsure about how to boot, use floppy until you decide later on what the end
layout should be. As root, in directory /usr/src put floppy in, do not mount , run
"make bzdisk" command to make a bootable floppy.
No lilo or grub to worry about, boots straight into that version.
Another hard drive is wise move. |
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stardis n00b
Joined: 09 Jul 2002 Posts: 18
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strawbeard n00b
Joined: 05 Oct 2002 Posts: 11 Location: Basel (region), Switzerland
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2002 11:08 pm Post subject: cp -dpR complete root - target reiserfs damaged |
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Naan Yaar wrote: | Hmmm... never had problems with cp -ax. |
Well I had with reiserfs. Running under LiveCD (1.4) I duplicated my original root fs (I use 3 partitions: root, boot, swap):
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mount -t reiserfs /dev/hda8 /mnt/g1
mkfs.reiserfs /dev/hda9
mount -t reiserfs /dev/hda9 /mnt/g2
cp -dpR /mnt/g1/* /mnt/g2
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AFAICT the missing -x shouldn't matter here, since g1 and g2 were both a reiserfs with nothing else mounted onto them. Both took no part in the actively running system (LiveCD); they were only involved in the copy process.
Later I started g2 as a clone of g1 and it worked very well. I used it to enlarge g1 with parted+libreiserfs (both from portage). Operation was so fast, tbat I became supicious and ran reiserfsck over the enlarged partition - reiserfs was damaged (non-fixable). That would be a new topic, back to the copying process...
I was glad, I had my clone g2. Under LiveCD I re-made g1 from g2 using again the cp command. I ran reiserfsck over g1 and got a bitmap error - it was fixable. I lost no data, only a few thousand blocks of free space. But I was back in business again
Would cpfs.reiserfs do this better? (man page tells very little). Since I know very little about reiserfs, I specified no parameters on mkfs.reiserfs. Partition size is now 4.5GB and g2 starts well beyond 50GB on the hard disk - would I need parameters on mkfs.reiserfs?
I'm only glad, I don't have to repeat this experience for some time. |
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