To migrate complete filesystems (even the softlinks and conserving the permissions asigned to users) I use this procedure: 1.- Connect the new disk to the machine I have the filesystem to clone 2.- Run with a LiveCD to avoid open files and to preserve the integrity of everything OK. 3.- Create /tmp/original and /tmp/destination directories as mountpoints 4.- Mount both filesystems in the created mountpoints (before that the new filesystem must be created in new disk, you know, format disk partition, create filesystem and mount) 5.- Change directory to /tmp/original 6.- tar cf - . | (cd /tmp/destination && tar xvfp -) I have always used this procedure to clone it. The only problem making this process is that if the original filesystem was bootable filesystem you have to recreate the 0 sector with grub (The problem when you boot with a Live CD is that if you make "grub-install /dev/hda", /dev is mounted outside the filesystem, it does not correspond with your hda, so you have to make a trick I will describe below these lines). To do this, I boot the machine with an Ubuntu LiveCD (I have only got it working with this Live distro) to make the partition bootable. The steps I follow to do this are next: 1.-) Boot Ubuntu LiveCD 2.-) mount the filesystem to be bootable in /tmp/pp (previously created) 3.-) mount --bind /dev /tmp/pp/dev (this will remount /dev filesystem inside the filesystem we have just cloned) 4.-) chroot /tmp/pp (yeah now the filesystem is yours) 5.-) grub-install /dev/hda 6.-) umount everything and reboot... everything will work like a charm. I have been trobules with the disks of my home server and this is what I've done. Hope it helps everybody Scott Silva wrote: > chrism at imntv.com spake the following on > 10/7/2006 5:10 AM: > >> Lamar Owen wrote: >> >>> On Friday 06 October 2006 22:42, Joseph Cheng wrote: >>> >>> >>>> Thx for all the suggestions ppl. I think for simplicity I will either >>>> go with the knoppix & dd solution or I also found ghost 4 unix >>>> http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/ >>>> >>>> >>> I have used the dd solution a number of times, and it works quite well. >>> There are, however, a couple of suggestions I would make: >>> 1.) Use the CentOS rescue mode (boot CD number 1, type 'linux rescue' >>> at the boot prompt) and tell it not to mount your drives. No need to >>> download Yet Another Linux Distribution to do the work. Or use the >>> CentOS LiveCD. >>> 2.) While the dd is running, you can check on its progress. Switch to >>> another virtual console (you are by default on VC 1; hit ALT-F2 to go >>> to VC 2) and send the dd process a SIGUSR1 (run a ps ax and make a >>> note of the dd process's PID; then kill -USR1 $PID); then switch back >>> to VC 1 and you'll see where dd is in your copy. >>> >>> You can then run fdisk or parted and grow the partition; then you can >>> resize the filesystem (I'm fairly certain the rescue mode includes the >>> resizing program; not sure about the LiveCD, but I would think it >>> does). The native CentOS tools to do this are, in my experience, far >>> superior in quality to the various third party solutions (including >>> Symantec Ghost) availabe to do this sort of thing. They are a little >>> harder to use, though they seem to work better. >>> >>> >> Interesting. I wonder if you used this method to copy the image from >> one disk to an identical disk hda-->hdb if you could then unplug hda and >> have the system boot from the "copy" without any other intervention. >> Kind of like a poor man's RAID1 except you only get back to where you >> were at the instant the snapshot was taken. I've never tried this since >> RAID cards are so cheap, but I guess I'm wondering out loud if that >> would work. Anyone tried it? >> >> Cheers, >> > If the system was able to boot from the second drive in any other > circumstance, maybe. More likely to work with SCSI than IDE, because scsi is > numbered by their detection, and IDE is numbered by its cable and port > position. But with IDE, you could unplug the first drive and plug the second > drive into the same position as the first (primary master ...). It should boot. > As for raid cards being cheap, software raid works as fast or faster than most > "cheap" raid cards. I mean the less than $200 US priced cards. > > -- Lorenzo Martínez Rodríguez Consultor de seguridad informática