Lew Wolfgang composed on 2018-04-11 07:51 (UTC-0700):
Another failure mode would be attempting to clone an in use (mounted) partition, also same whether MBR or GPT, with files open and who knows what else that would result in filesystem inconsistency when attempting to put it into use.
Another reason to use LVM. You can 'clone' a 'partition' with an active file system on it, not a problem. In LVM terminology this is called a 'snapshot'. You create a logical volume - aka partition - that is a snapshot of an existing one. where possible, LVM snapshots try to use the efficient Copy-on-write mechanism and pointers, so not, the LV isn't copied in the same sense that DD might. In that case you might want to look to use 'rsync' or simply 'cp'. It really depends on what the purpose of the copy is. If this is a copy for a disk-to-disk-to-tape backup then the LVM mechanism is just fime. If it is a copy to another spindle that is going to be removed, ten a COW model won't work. As I say, Context is Everything and without the context of the reason for the copy what is good, better/best according to whatever parameters that might be evaluated, cannot be asserted. -- A: Yes. > Q: Are you sure? >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. >>> Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org