[CentOS] Disk Partition questions

Wed Jan 4 20:48:33 UTC 2006
Jay Leafey <jay.leafey at mindless.com>

Robert Moskowitz wrote:
> I selected the defaults in partitioning my drive and df -h shows:
> 
> <snip>
> 
> / (root) partition of 6Gb recommended.
> /boot partition of 75Mb (that seems to be met)
> /swap partition of x2 installed memory
> /var partition of at least 10Gb (well that is based on a 100 users and 
> 100mb and that is enough for me)
 >
> <snip>
 >
> So what do I do? 
> 
> leave things alone
> Use a partition manager (whcih?) to adjust and create partitions
> Reinstall and select manual partitioning
> 

First off, you are already using LVM, indicated by the presence of 'mapper' in the 'Filesystem' column of df.  Conditionally, if 
this is for "kicking the tires" on Scalix, I would leave it alone and install Scalix on the system as-is.

If you're installing Scalix for a production system,  I would probably recommend that you reduce the size of the single logical 
volume for root and create separate logical volumes for /usr, /var, /tmp, /home, etc.  The sizing would depend on  just what the 
system would be doing.  Having one big honking partition is simpler, true, but backing it up can be a pain.  I usually size the 
partitions initially to "reasonable" numbers and use lvresize and ext2online/resize2fs to extend them as needed.  There are some 
questions in my mind about logical volumes spread over multiple extents, but this hasn't been an issue for me yet.

It should be POSSIBLE to do this without a reload on your system.  I have done it in the past by booting the distribution disk in 
rescue mode and playing games with resize2fs and lvresize.  It's not "simple", mostly because you have to keep track of the bits and 
pieces you are moving.  (Have I moved /home yet?)  The devil lives in the detals!

My $.02, YMMV.
-- 
Jay Leafey - Memphis, TN
jay.leafey at mindless.com
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