From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Mar 6 18:42:48 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 567B416A405 for ; Tue, 6 Mar 2007 18:42:48 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jerrymc@gizmo.acns.msu.edu) Received: from gizmo.acns.msu.edu (gizmo.acns.msu.edu [35.8.1.43]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1A3BB13C4AA for ; Tue, 6 Mar 2007 18:42:47 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jerrymc@gizmo.acns.msu.edu) Received: from gizmo.acns.msu.edu (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by gizmo.acns.msu.edu (8.13.6/8.13.6) with ESMTP id l26IdpT4010109; Tue, 6 Mar 2007 13:39:51 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from jerrymc@gizmo.acns.msu.edu) Received: (from jerrymc@localhost) by gizmo.acns.msu.edu (8.13.6/8.13.6/Submit) id l26IdpGH010108; Tue, 6 Mar 2007 13:39:51 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from jerrymc) Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 13:39:51 -0500 From: Jerry McAllister To: Kevin Kinsey Message-ID: <20070306183951.GA9940@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> References: <69af686f0703060819r557fea9cj22cd8c560f17e9a4@mail.gmail.com> <45EDABC0.2060306@daleco.biz> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <45EDABC0.2060306@daleco.biz> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.2i Cc: Joshua Kordani , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: using sysinstall upgrade as a repair solution X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:42:48 -0000 On Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 11:58:24AM -0600, Kevin Kinsey wrote: > Disclaimer: IANAE. > > Joshua Kordani wrote: > >Hello all! > > .... > > > So i figure I might as well reinstall the OS, as > >that is why i made separate partitions for user data and system files (so > >i think, > >this is my first unix based system built by me) to apparently facilitate os > >reinstallation. > > It's traditional in BSD unix to have separate partitions; the logic is > lost to me (being shrouded in the mists of time), but it's proved sane > here a few times. For example, when one partition gets full, there's > still some room to move stuff and salvage things without a reinstall ;-) The long ago origins of making things in many partitions was when disks were much much smaller. So were backup media. It was common to have each piece on a separate disk. Then disks got big enough to put more than one part on and so on. Now, there are a couple of good reasons to still divide a disk in to partitions. One is mentioned, sort of, above. You want to isolate areas that may grow unexpectedly from critical disk space. So, /var which contains logs and database stuff and spools gets its own partition to keep it from over-filling root. /tmp and user home directory space are also such disk areas whose growth might not be predictable. Another reason is for convenience with backups. You may want to reduce the size of partitions that are being backed up, either to fit media or to be more convenient. If only stuff in the partition with users' home directories changes, then you only have to make regular backups of that. The other parts you only backup when you make a new install or whatever. Some things like /tmp you don't bother to ever back up. It also can be less to have to restore if one partition goes belly up, though that is less true nowdays when the users' space (not necessarily /usr - that is an old convention. Now it is common to use /home for users' home directories, since /usr really contains installed software) may be by far the largest space on a system, depending on how the system is used. Another reason to break things up is to have to load the least amount possible when there are problems. You have to have / to boot in to single user mode to work on things. But you don't have to have the rest of the stuff. The smaller you make root the less likely some disk problem will show up in the root partition, making it more likely you can get at least some of the system up to work on the problem. The fourth reason to have separate partitions is to make it easier to isolate things. You may want to make a certain amount of space available for users to write in, but want to keep them out of other space. There are various ways to do it. Having things grouped conveniently in some defined area makes it a little easier. > > >So here is my understanding of how a reinsall is supposed > >to go, with the aim of preserving my user stuff. > >I set the system up with a 150 meg partition (more than reccomended in the > >handbook at the time, and still to my knowledge) on which I put a, a b swap > >part, 256 meg d /tmp, 256 meg e /var, and 200odd gig f /usr. the system > >was > >oringinally intended to be an anonymous ftp repository for me and my > >friends, but due to school req's i had to change it to the sftp > >backengine(?) of sshd, and it was in /usr/share/public that i put pretty > >much everything. when my friends added tons of crap I eventually added > >another 160 gig drive, put a swap part on that too for kicks, and moved the > >/home dir to it too. as of last week i only have 10 gigs remaining on that > >drive, and oddly enough i am at 106% capcity for the 250 gig drive > >according > >to df, go figure. > > Not hard to figure. The disk is full, including the space reserved for > accidental overflow. Take some stuff off --- log files, disk hogging > sound or video files, etc. > > Incidentally, 150MB doesn't seem very large for a root partition IMHO. > I've not read the handbook recently, but I generally use a gig for /. If you divide out /var and /usr and /tmp and /home, then 150 MB is plenty for root. I am currently using about 120 MB on this machine which is due a good cleanup. Use du(1) to track down where disk is being used unexpectedly. CD to a directory and do du -sk * and look at the list. Go in to whichever directory that shows up in the list as surprisingly large and do another du, etc, etc until you isolate where the junk is. rm the stuff and find out how it is getting there and close that hole off. You can use other flags such as -h or -m on the du command. I like the -k because it makes a consistent display down the list that makes it easy to visually scan and see differences in those cases where I don't care so much about the actual size as about seeing those that stick out. Note, by the way, that upgrading can use up a chunk of space on a temporary basis. ////jerry > .... > recommend the standard procedure instead of the sysinstall binary > upgrade; however, that could be just a user pref, I guess. > > KDK > -- > Envy, n: > Wishing you'd been born with an unfair advantage, > instead of having to try and acquire one. > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"