CentOS - Sep 2008 - Multiple Linux instances on the same box - dual/triple/etc boot ?

Hi List;

I have a new dev server. As an independent consultant I want to  
maximize it's use. Some of my clients use RedHat/CentOS 64 bit, others  
Redhat/CentOS 32bit, some are even using Fedora and Debian.

Here's my thought:

I'd like to install each OS/version into it's own space on the disk.   
I'm thinking all I have to do is install one OS (say CentOS 64bit) and  
partition say 20% of the disk. Then once the install is done, boot  
into the latest fedora disk and do the same, etc.

Is this correct ?

Later I want to add a disk array and allocate a RAID mount point that  
can be mounted by any of the installed Linux'es when it's active.

Is this do-able ? Easily ?


Thanks in advance...

kevin kempter wrote:
> Hi List;
> 
> I have a new dev server. As an independent consultant I want to maximize 
> it's use. Some of my clients use RedHat/CentOS 64 bit, others 
> Redhat/CentOS 32bit, some are even using Fedora and Debian.
> 
> Here's my thought:
> 
> I'd like to install each OS/version into it's own space on the
disk.
> I'm thinking all I have to do is install one OS (say CentOS 64bit) and 
> partition say 20% of the disk. Then once the install is done, boot into 
> the latest fedora disk and do the same, etc.
> 
> Is this correct ?
> 
> Later I want to add a disk array and allocate a RAID mount point that 
> can be mounted by any of the installed Linux'es when it's active.
> 
> Is this do-able ? Easily ?
Yes you can do that, but if you have plenty of RAM you might find it 
nicer to install the OS you'll run most on the base hardware, then 
install the free vmware server and install all the others as vmware 
guests so you can run one or more without having to reboot or shut down 
the base system.  The guest images normally live in ordinary files on 
the host so they are easy to manage and they can nfs-mount a common 
share from the host or other system fo access to common space.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com

On Fri, 2008-09-19 at 13:52 -0600, kevin kempter wrote:
> I'd like to install each OS/version into it's own space on the
disk.
> I'm thinking all I have to do is install one OS (say CentOS 64bit) and
> partition say 20% of the disk. Then once the install is done, boot  
> into the latest fedora disk and do the same, etc.
> 
> Is this correct ?
Yes, but you should probably use a shared /boot, which means 3 things:

1) Make /boot larger. 350MB should do.

2) ONLY format /boot during the FIRST installation. Each install will
throw its kernel in there, so formatting it after would be bad.

3) Change the menu entry name during each install, and don't forget to
change the name of the entry added each time you install/update a
kernel.

-- 
Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams <ivazqueznet at gmail.com>

PLEASE don't CC me; I'm already subscribed
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On Fri, Sep 19, 2008, Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams wrote:
>On Fri, 2008-09-19 at 13:52 -0600, kevin kempter wrote:
>> I'd like to install each OS/version into it's own space on the
disk.
>> I'm thinking all I have to do is install one OS (say CentOS 64bit)
and
>> partition say 20% of the disk. Then once the install is done, boot  
>> into the latest fedora disk and do the same, etc.
>> 
>> Is this correct ?
>
>Yes, but you should probably use a shared /boot, which means 3 things:
I used to do this, but quit when systems became able to boot from
places on the disk > 1024.

The problem with a shared /boot is that it is very easy for poor
installation/update procedures to do wierd things to render the
system unbootable.

I much prefer using the free VMware server for development and
testing different OS versions.  It's far more difficult to screw
the pooch using virtual machines, and one can always make snapshots
before upgrades or major changes making it easy to undo the
changes and try again.  I find this invaluable when testing major
software installations.

Bill
-- 
INTERNET:   bill at celestial.com  Bill Campbell; Celestial Software LLC
URL: http://www.celestial.com/  PO Box 820; 6641 E. Mercer Way
Voice:          (206) 236-1676  Mercer Island, WA 98040-0820
Fax:            (206) 232-9186

Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
    Will Rogers