Re: installation directory

[Bob McClure Jr <robertmcclure earthlink net>]

On Thu, Jan 02, 2003 at 02:32:05PM -0600, Greg Julius wrote:
> Bob,
> 
> Could you expand on what you mean by having /usr/local a separate partition 
> for your locally made software?  Do you mean having two partitions, one of 
> which is mounted that contains 'non-experimental' code and another that has 
> the 'in-process' code?

Well, yeah, sorta.

> I didn't catch the reasoning why a separate 
> partition solves some problem.
> 
> Still trying to figure out the ways and whys of Linux.

Let me elucidate.  Here is my /etc/fstab (note: I don't use labels,
but I probably could) with some comments:

# My currently active partition has RH 8.0 on it.
/dev/hda1       /                       ext2    defaults        1 1
/dev/hda7       /home                   ext2    defaults        1 2
/dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom              iso9660 noauto,owner,ro 0 0
# This is just for odds and ends.  I used to have some software that
# installed on /opt.
/dev/hda8       /opt                    ext2    defaults        1 2
# This is the partition that contained my RH 7.3 installation.
/dev/hda2       /rh73                   ext2    defaults        1 2
# I put expendable junk in here.
/dev/hda9       /u                      ext2    defaults        1 2
# This contains all my locally-generated software.
/dev/hda6       /usr/local              ext2    defaults        1 2
/dev/hda5       swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
/dev/fd0        /mnt/floppy             ext2    noauto,owner    0 0
# The remainder snipped as irrelevant.

I have two bootable partitions, hda1 and hda2.  Before I make an
upgrade to a new RH version, I copy the currently active bootable
partition to the other one.  Then I modify /etc/fstab, /etc/lilo.conf
(both of them), and the mount points on the duplicate partition to
suit.  Then I run lilo and boot to the duplicate to assure that it
works.  Then I upgrade the duplicate.  I detail how I do that in

http://www.cumbytel.com/~bobcatos/upgrading.html

Follow the link in the second paragraph.

That leaves me a fallback position if (1) the upgrade fails (it has
happened, leaving it inoperable), or (2) I can't get the configuration
working right.

The latter was the case with 8.0, because the new sendmail uses two
.cf files, not just one, and it took me some time to figure out how to
make it work.  During that time, I was back using the RH 7.3
installation.

Now (at last :-) to the point.  Both bootable partitions mount the
/usr/local partition.  I don't have a duplicated /usr/local in both
places.

Not long ago, being careless, my firewall got cracked.  I had to clean
house on one partition and re-install.  My /usr/local partition was
untouched.  I've now installed AIDE (a tripwire work-alike), BTW.

> -g
> P.S. Lots of good information on this list.  Thanks to you and others.

Just sharing the knowledge.

Cheers,
-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
robertmcclure earthlink net  http://www.cumbytel.com/~bobcatos/
Linux: because I want to get there today.  Without rebooting.