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Date:      Mon, 13 Jan 2014 19:57:43 -0600
From:      Mark Felder <feld@FreeBSD.org>
To:        Marcel Moolenaar <marcel@xcllnt.net>
Cc:        freebsd-geom@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: "deep" gpart backup?
Message-ID:  <FC3C2BBA-9268-421D-8F28-B9E034A7010B@FreeBSD.org>
In-Reply-To: <F0F3FBB0-348F-4F20-AE06-449A9A7B7E5E@xcllnt.net>
References:  <1023566295.20140105015301@serebryakov.spb.ru> <1389461267.16576.69479689.0A3D893A@webmail.messagingengine.com> <F0F3FBB0-348F-4F20-AE06-449A9A7B7E5E@xcllnt.net>

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On Jan 13, 2014, at 18:33, Marcel Moolenaar <marcel@xcllnt.net> wrote:

>=20
> On Jan 11, 2014, at 9:27 AM, Mark Felder <feld@FreeBSD.org> wrote:
>=20
>> On Sat, Jan 4, 2014, at 15:53, Lev Serebryakov wrote:
>>> Hello, Freebsd-geom.
>>>=20
>>> Is here any way to make "deep" "gpart backup | gpart restore"? Now, =
when
>>> I
>>> have disk with MBR, with two slices, each of which has BSD label, I =
need
>>> three calls of backup / restore commands with proper arguments. It =
looks
>>> just stupid :)
>>>=20
>>=20
>> If gpart can see and manipulate all of these elements it really =
should
>> be able to backup and restore them all atomically.
>=20
> This statement is close to being ridiculous. Being able to
> operate on all components is absolutely not a sufficient
> condition for doing atomic operations across a multitude
> of them. Atomicity is a very particular requirement.
>=20

You're right. Throwing out that word without thinking carefully was not =
smart. After considering the bit of knowledge I have about how geom =
operates it wouldn't be able to go a layer deeper without tasting first =
unless we somehow teach gpart how to prepare transactions and write the =
labels all at once, then re-taste the device. Probably more difficult =
than it's worth. I imagine a batch transaction that rolls back to the =
previous state could be achieved. Though we all know the attempt would =
taint any existing data, but if you're attempting this you should have =
already said your farewells to the data anyway :-)

> Note also that gpart (in its most vague definition) cannot
> actually manipulate on *all* elements at the same time.
> Nested partitioning schemes are not seen by the gpart
> invocation that works on the outer-most container. Only
> when running gpart on a partition will it (=3D gpart) be
> able to work on the nested partitions. As such, no single
> gpart invocation sees all levels of nesting.
>=20

Aha, one step ahead of me :-)

> gpart is an inherently low-level utility and what you want
> is intended (i.e. by design) to be handled at an application
> layer above gpart.
>=20

It's pretty low level, but it does seem to be missing some features I =
would expect in such a low level utility such as the ability to create =
partitions with custom IDs. Being limited to the handful defined in the =
gpart man page has caused me problems a few times. See: =
http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partitions/partition_types-1.html which are =
almost all included in the Linux fdisk utility.

Annnnd now something at the end of the gpart man page just caught my =
eye:

AUTHORS
     Marcel Moolenaar <marcel@FreeBSD.org>


I'll see my way out :-)


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