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Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 16:12:06 +0200
From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
To: Warren Block <wblock@wonkity.com>
Subject: Re: Reinstall without reformat
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Cc: Kenta Suzumoto <kentas@hush.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
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On Mon, 14 Oct 2013 07:51:15 -0600 (MDT), Warren Block wrote:
> It is possible to mount filesystems manually from the shell and have 
> bsdinstall continue with the install without formatting them.  It's been 
> a while since I tried that, and I don't recall the exact details. 
> bsdinstall(8) suggests it may be as easy as just having the existing 
> filesystems mounted at /mnt.  Still, not something to try without a 
> backup.

So if I understand everything correctly, the "decision logic"
is -- when partitions do already exist -- as follows:

a) existing partitions not mounted:
   run newfs
   mount partitions
   copy files

b) existing partitions mounted:
   do not run newfs
   copy files

The installer itself doesn't seem to give a hint about
this logic, even though the manual _might_ suggest it.
I haven't examined the source code to fully verify this
logic, even though it would be a reasonable approach.


-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...