CentOS - Jun 2015 - newbie question on installation over existing Linux

On 06/07/2015 04:52 PM, g wrote:
> 
> 
> On 06/07/2015 05:29 PM, Kay Schenk wrote:
>> On 06/07/2015 03:25 PM, Gregory P. Ennis wrote:
> <<<>>>
> 
>>> Yes it does replace your home directory.  When I do a fresh
>>> install, I back up my home directory on a usb drive and then copy
>>> it back after the install.  I think you can also 'muck'
with the
>>> partitioning, but I have always taken a more conservative route.
>>>
>>> Good Luck!!!
>>>
>>> Greg
>>
>> Thanks for the quick response! I don't like it but thank you! :)
> .
> then you should give some thought to creating a partition for /home.
> 
> such gives you ability to mount the partition as /home and not have
> to worry about losing, backing up /home.
> 
> that is, you should keep /home backed up, but with it as it's own
> partition, you do not have to restore /home into a new install.
> 
> like that better? :-)
> 
> 
Maybe some more information about my setup would help.

My situation is I have 7 separate Linux  partitions and a swap area. One
of the partitions is /home, so it's already in its own partition.
I want to keep the partitions for CentOS exactly as I have them in terms
of size, etc. In the past, even when I've done a "clean" Linux
install,
the existing system partitions were cleared and repopulated, and the
existing /home was not touched in any way.

So, I'm not sure how to interpret what you said. Can I get the same
results from a CentOS install using some combination of options?

-- 
--------------------------------------------
MzK

"We can all sleep easy at night knowing that
 somewhere at any given time,
 the Foo Fighters are out there fighting Foo."
                          -- David Letterman

On 06/08/2015 12:25 PM, Kay Schenk wrote:
> My situation is I have 7 separate Linux  partitions and a swap area. One
> of the partitions is /home, so it's already in its own partition.
> I want to keep the partitions for CentOS exactly as I have them in terms
> of size, etc. In the past, even when I've done a "clean"
Linux install,
> the existing system partitions were cleared and repopulated, and the
> existing /home was not touched in any way.
> 
> So, I'm not sure how to interpret what you said. Can I get the same
> results from a CentOS install using some combination of options?
Yes, since you already have a partition explicitly for /home you just
need to specify custom partitioning before you begin the install,
re-select all your partitions back to the same mount point (you will see
them, they just need to be selected and have the mount point specified)
and make sure that /home (and any other partitions you explicitly don't
want wiped) are not selected for formatting.  The installer will take
care of the rest.

Make sure you are backed up just in case you muck things up, but it
shouldn't be an issue.


Peter

On 06/07/2015 07:25 PM, Kay Schenk wrote:
<<>>
> So, I'm not sure how to interpret what you said. Can I get the same
> results from a CentOS install using some combination of options?
because your are playing with multi flavors,
 [i bet you like going to baskin-robbins for ice cream ;-) ]
a solution for you would be what i did some years back and i was
playing with diff flavors, my "/home" partition was mounted in
new install as /home2 and i let installation setup a /home in /.

after install and booting it, as root i moved the newly created
"user" home to the /home2 directory, renamed it to the
'user-flavor',
then linked that back into the install /home and renamed it to
"username" and changed ownership to "user"

which then gave me:

/home/username --> /home2/user-flavor

so that in /home2 i had:

  /home2/geo-fc3
        /geo-fc4
        /geo-mandrake
        /geo-flavor-x
        /geo-flavor-y

i hope you can see how i did this. i am of terse thinking and
do not always go into detail enough.


-- 

peace out.

If Bill Gates got a dime for every time Windows crashes...
 ...oh, wait. He does. THAT explains it!


in a world with out fences, who needs gates.

CentOS GNU/Linux 6.6

tc,hago.

g
.

On 06/07/2015 10:11 PM, Peter wrote:
> On 06/08/2015 12:25 PM, Kay Schenk wrote:
>> My situation is I have 7 separate Linux  partitions and a swap area.
One
>> of the partitions is /home, so it's already in its own partition.
>> I want to keep the partitions for CentOS exactly as I have them in
terms
>> of size, etc. In the past, even when I've done a "clean"
Linux install,
>> the existing system partitions were cleared and repopulated, and the
>> existing /home was not touched in any way.
>>
>> So, I'm not sure how to interpret what you said. Can I get the same
>> results from a CentOS install using some combination of options?
> 
> Yes, since you already have a partition explicitly for /home you just
> need to specify custom partitioning before you begin the install,
> re-select all your partitions back to the same mount point (you will see
> them, they just need to be selected and have the mount point specified)
> and make sure that /home (and any other partitions you explicitly don't
> want wiped) are not selected for formatting.  The installer will take
> care of the rest.
> 
> Make sure you are backed up just in case you muck things up, but it
> shouldn't be an issue.
> 
> 
> Peter
YAY! I think this is exactly what I did at one time. OK, I'll back up
JUST in case, but I am hoping this solution plays out well. :)


-- 
--------------------------------------------
MzK

"We can all sleep easy at night knowing that
 somewhere at any given time,
 the Foo Fighters are out there fighting Foo."
                          -- David Letterman

On 06/07/2015 11:05 PM, g wrote:
> 
> 
> On 06/07/2015 07:25 PM, Kay Schenk wrote:
> <<>>
> 
>> So, I'm not sure how to interpret what you said. Can I get the same
>> results from a CentOS install using some combination of options?
> 
> because your are playing with multi flavors,
>  [i bet you like going to baskin-robbins for ice cream ;-) ]
> a solution for you would be what i did some years back and i was
> playing with diff flavors, my "/home" partition was mounted in
> new install as /home2 and i let installation setup a /home in /.
> 
> after install and booting it, as root i moved the newly created
> "user" home to the /home2 directory, renamed it to the
'user-flavor',
> then linked that back into the install /home and renamed it to
> "username" and changed ownership to "user"
> 
> which then gave me:
> 
> /home/username --> /home2/user-flavor
> 
> so that in /home2 i had:
> 
>   /home2/geo-fc3
>         /geo-fc4
>         /geo-mandrake
>         /geo-flavor-x
>         /geo-flavor-y
> 
> i hope you can see how i did this. i am of terse thinking and
> do not always go into detail enough.
> 
> 
Another creative approach and one I'd thought of also!
But...not my first choice.

-- 
--------------------------------------------
MzK

"We can all sleep easy at night knowing that
 somewhere at any given time,
 the Foo Fighters are out there fighting Foo."
                          -- David Letterman