Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Sat, 5 Sep 2015 06:09:35 +0200
From:      Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
To:        "Ronald F. Guilmette" <rfg@tristatelogic.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Partitioning for a new system -- Third level mount point?
Message-ID:  <20150905060935.edfe52b9.freebsd@edvax.de>
In-Reply-To: <83718.1441425623@server1.tristatelogic.com>
References:  <20150905031925.fd21458a.freebsd@edvax.de> <83718.1441425623@server1.tristatelogic.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Fri, 04 Sep 2015 21:00:23 -0700, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
> 
> In message <20150905031925.fd21458a.freebsd@edvax.de>, you wrote:
> 
> >On Fri, 04 Sep 2015 17:34:36 -0700, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
> >> I'm setiing up a new system to run FreeBSD 10.2, and in the process
> >> of doing a ``manual'' initial partitioning of the main drive for
> >> this new system, I attempted to create a partition for which I
> >> specified a mount point of:
> >> 
> >> 	/var/ftp/private
> >>..
> >> Anyway, I was shocked to see... after doing the create step... that
> >> this new partition is listed in the partitions list as having a mount
> >> point of just:
> >> 
> >> 	/var/ftp
> >> 
> >> which is definitely not what I wanted.
> >
> >Maybe this happened because the desired mountpoint /var/ftp/private
> >didn't exist yet, so /var/ftp was being used?
> 
> AHHHHHHH!  Yes.  Perhaps that is the explanation.
> 
> However please note that the directory /var/ftp did not exist yet at the
> time that I was setiing up my partitions, and yet the partitioning tool
> graciously and automagically inferred (correctly) that I wanted to have
> that created for me... since I clearly planned to use it as a mount point.
> (And since I elected... because of the problem in using /var/ftp/private...
> to make /var/ftp a partition instead, I _can_ say with some certainty
> that the install-time manual partitioning tool did in fact cause that
> (/var/ftp) to be created... or at any rate, something did.

Another guess: The directory /var/ftp is part of the installation
process, whereas /var/ftp/private is not. Maybe the installer did
rely on what would be created when the directory structure is going
to be initialized?

Just a guess, I'm not entirely sure. I didn't see /var/ftp in the
corresponding /etc/mtree/BSD.var.dist, but I think I remember that
ye olde installer (sysinstall) did create that directory when you
selected "FTP" as a service; this process would also create the
sub directories etc/, incoming/, and pub/ in /var/ftp and apply
the required permissions.



> So anyway, I do believe that I will file a PR on this.  I think that the
> partitioning tool should be gracious in all cases, and should create
> directories, as necessary (and however many levels are necessary) in
> order to accomodate the user's stated preferences with respect to mount
> points of partitions that are being created.

That's correct, but it should _notify_ the user about anything
nonstandard. A custom directory that would not be created by
the installation would be such a thing not to do silently.



> >However, if you create /var/ftp/private and then edit the entry
> >in /etc/fstab for that partition, things should work as inteded.
> 
> Too tedious.
> 
> (As I get older, and closer to death, I am more inclined to use GUIs
> rather than command line tools.  It's not that I'm lazy.  It's that
> I'm in a hurry.)

Especially that's why you should use the command line - it's
commonly a much faster (and more direct) approach for such
kind of tasks. Create a directory, edit a file - both things
are usually faster done with good CLI or text mode tools
(mkdir, and your favourite text editor).

	# mkdir /v[tab]f[tab]private[enter]
	# vi /etc/fstab
	  /ftp[enter]
	  [i]
		... do the editing ...
	  [esc]
	  :wq[enter]

I would hesitate to descrive the pictures and the movements
to perform the same task. :-)





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



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20150905060935.edfe52b9.freebsd>