[opensuse] fstab/partition Problem
I have just installed 12.1 on my 64bit AMD CPU Linux computer. The machine has been in service for quite some time and has had previous openSUSE distributions starting with 10.x. Consequently there are numb of partitions that show up in the Yast/Partitioner/Available Storage (a screen shot is attached) that are not in /etc/fstab. This is very bothersome as I have information and programs that I can't access. Through trial and error, a very dangerous thing for me to do as I am neither a hardware nor an OS person - only a user, I have written a script to mount the partitions. Running the script as su in my user persona I can mount the partitions. If I reopen Yast/Partitioner after running the script the mount points are there. My question is what do I do at this point that isn't going to corrupt the system? Up to this point I have been aborting the Partitioner. I will be very appreciative of guidence at this point, Thanks in advance. -- Stephen P. Molnar, Ph.D. Life is a fuzzy set Foundation for Chemistry Stochastic and multivariate http://www.FoundationForChemistry.com (614)312-7528 (c) Skype: smolnar1
Stephen P. Molnar said the following on 12/14/2011 11:01 AM:
I have just installed 12.1 on my 64bit AMD CPU Linux computer. The machine has been in service for quite some time and has had previous openSUSE distributions starting with 10.x. Consequently there are numb of partitions that show up in the Yast/Partitioner/Available Storage (a screen shot is attached) that are not in /etc/fstab. This is very bothersome as I have information and programs that I can't access.
Through trial and error, a very dangerous thing for me to do as I am neither a hardware nor an OS person - only a user, I have written a script to mount the partitions. Running the script as su in my user persona I can mount the partitions.
If I reopen Yast/Partitioner after running the script the mount points are there.
My question is what do I do at this point that isn't going to corrupt the system? Up to this point I have been aborting the Partitioner.
It will corrupt things if you tell it to. Do you recall what you did in the progression of upgrades from 10.x to the present? I do. The installer recognised existing partitions and file system. You tell it what you think they should be called and where you think the should be mounted and NOT TO REFORMAT THEM and it will build a new fstab according to WHAT YOU TELL IT. That is why I have a separate /home and few other partitions that hold things like development work, the source and data for my wikis and other services that run under Apache (/srv) and things like that. There are also things like /local and /opt and some parts of /usr/share where I've installed global stuff like icon sets. You might also want to preserve wherever your (incoming) mailboxes are if, like me, you use the INBOX as a LBW. So if you have NOT factored those out to separate partitions then telling the installer to reformat "/" is going to ZAP a lot, and not telling it to reformat "/' might have untoward consequences. Now do you people understand why I use LVM and have lots and lots of partitions? Its not just resiliency about backups, its resiliency in the face of upgrades. And yes it was my own stupid fault when stuff I valued got zapped because I was not doing this. I learnt from unfortunate experience. Why don't you learn from my experience? -- The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents. -- Nathaniel Borenstein -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 15/12/11 03:35, Anton Aylward wrote:
Stephen P. Molnar said the following on 12/14/2011 11:01 AM:
I have just installed 12.1 on my 64bit AMD CPU Linux computer. The machine has been in service for quite some time and has had previous openSUSE distributions starting with 10.x. Consequently there are numb of partitions that show up in the Yast/Partitioner/Available Storage (a screen shot is attached) that are not in /etc/fstab. This is very bothersome as I have information and programs that I can't access.
Through trial and error, a very dangerous thing for me to do as I am neither a hardware nor an OS person - only a user, I have written a script to mount the partitions. Running the script as su in my user persona I can mount the partitions.
If I reopen Yast/Partitioner after running the script the mount points are there.
My question is what do I do at this point that isn't going to corrupt the system? Up to this point I have been aborting the Partitioner. It will corrupt things if you tell it to.
Do you recall what you did in the progression of upgrades from 10.x to the present?
I do. The installer recognised existing partitions and file system. You tell it what you think they should be called and where you think the should be mounted and NOT TO REFORMAT THEM and it will build a new fstab according to WHAT YOU TELL IT.
The way I read the OP there are 2 things he is 'asking' about: what to do when INSTALLING the operating system, and what to do now that he has it installed. You have answered his first query, namely, use the EDIT option to give a mount points to the partitions he talks about. However, it is his second query which needs attention. Now that the system has been installed whatever partitions (above) he has have now to do be added MANUALLY to fstab. He now mounts the partitions using a script; he now needs to use the info already available in fstab for the other partitions and add the new partitions to fstab using the same info; reboot and the partitions will be mounted (without the script) and they will also now appear in YaST Partitioner as being mounted. BC [pruned] -- Diapers and politicians should be changed often; both for the same reason. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Basil Chupin said the following on 12/14/2011 06:57 PM:
However, it is his second query which needs attention. Now that the system has been installed whatever partitions (above) he has have now to do be added MANUALLY to fstab. He now mounts the partitions using a script; he now needs to use the info already available in fstab for the other partitions and add the new partitions to fstab using the same info; reboot and the partitions will be mounted (without the script) and they will also now appear in YaST Partitioner as being mounted.
The fields and format of the /etc/fstab are documented in the man page. If he has some of the partitions taken care 0f (why not all) during the install, as I described, why not use those as a pattern? Isn't there also an option in YAST for this? I hardly know; so long as it isn't XML I tend to edit config files by hand. -- The computing field is always in need of new clichés. Alan Perlis -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 15/12/11 11:14, Anton Aylward wrote:
Basil Chupin said the following on 12/14/2011 06:57 PM:
However, it is his second query which needs attention. Now that the system has been installed whatever partitions (above) he has have now to do be added MANUALLY to fstab. He now mounts the partitions using a script; he now needs to use the info already available in fstab for the other partitions and add the new partitions to fstab using the same info; reboot and the partitions will be mounted (without the script) and they will also now appear in YaST Partitioner as being mounted. The fields and format of the /etc/fstab are documented in the man page.
If he has some of the partitions taken care 0f (why not all) during the install, as I described, why not use those as a pattern?
Isn't there also an option in YAST for this?
I am not sure - but I don't think so. One can use the partitioner but I don't know if it will then redo fstab if one makes alterations to the partitions.
I hardly know; so long as it isn't XML I tend to edit config files by hand.
I feel happier when I can see what I am doing and if what I enter in the config file is wrong I can always restore the backup :-) . BC -- So, if a man cannot spot a problem in the making he cannot really be a wise leader. But very few men have this gift. Niccolo Machiavelli -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 2011-12-27 06:52, Basil Chupin wrote:
If he has some of the partitions taken care 0f (why not all) during the install, as I described, why not use those as a pattern?
Isn't there also an option in YAST for this?
I am not sure - but I don't think so. One can use the partitioner but I don't know if it will then redo fstab if one makes alterations to the partitions.
Yes, it does, as far as I remember. But there is a small danger of making a mistake and altering a partition or formatting one. - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 11.4 x86_64 "Celadon" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.16 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAk752EcACgkQtTMYHG2NR9W0eACgk6Kwxs5s2XRyZoDZshYbVhMB mSYAniZPrYombqWAg4KWi9EPEHPDAhKD =KAdl -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Carlos E. R. said the following on 12/27/2011 09:37 AM:
On 2011-12-27 06:52, Basil Chupin wrote:
If he has some of the partitions taken care 0f (why not all) during the install, as I described, why not use those as a pattern?
Isn't there also an option in YAST for this?
I am not sure - but I don't think so. One can use the partitioner but I don't know if it will then redo fstab if one makes alterations to the partitions.
Yes, it does, as far as I remember. But there is a small danger of making a mistake and altering a partition or formatting one.
$ cat > dev/sd0 I think if we sum all the ways you can mess up the disk, each with a low probability, then we might approach a certainty. The miracle is that it doesn't happen more often. -- "Let us not go over the old ground, let us rather prepare for what is to come" -- Marcus Tullius Cicero -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Wednesday, 2011-12-14 at 11:01 -0500, Stephen P. Molnar wrote:
Through trial and error, a very dangerous thing for me to do as I am neither a hardware nor an OS person - only a user, I have written a script to mount the partitions. Running the script as su in my user persona I can mount the partitions.
Then you already have the information needed to write the appropiate lines in /etc/fstab. Use what is there as a guide, and the output of the command "mount". - -- Cheers, Carlos E. R. (from 11.4 x86_64 "Celadon" at Telcontar) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.16 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAk7pKzoACgkQtTMYHG2NR9VRawCgkB40voOTVxDVlxIBz25nZM/k Iz8AnAw4BF6QrSeZkdRbjmkP5TvTir5b =O4Sy -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
participants (4)
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Anton Aylward -
Basil Chupin -
Carlos E. R. -
Stephen P. Molnar