install fedora on RedHat
Rick Stevens
ricks at nerd.com
Wed Jul 16 21:25:38 UTC 2008
imran shafiq wrote:
> Dear Rick
> As per your instruction following output is display.
Ok. Let me clean it up and I'll add some comments
> # fdisk -l
> Disk /dev/hdc: 20.0 GB, 20020396544 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2434 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
>
> Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
> /dev/hdc1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc2 706 2434 13888192+ 0f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
> /dev/hdc3 14 144 1052257+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
> /dev/hdc4 145 208 514080 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc5 706 1488 6289416 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc6 1489 1619 1052226 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc7 1620 1750 1052226 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc8 1751 1881 1052226 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc9 1882 1945 514048+ 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc10 1946 2009 514048+ 83 Linux
That's an odd layout. There's 498 cylinders not used in primary
partitions (209 through 705) and 425 cylinders not used at the end of
the extended partition (2010 through 2434).
Background: On PC disks you can only have four (4) primary partitions,
numbered 1 through 4 (in your case hdc1, hdc2, hdc3 and hdc4). ONE of
those primary partitions can be an "extended" partition (and your hdc2
is that extended partition).
All partitions numbered 5 or higher (in your case, hdc5 and up) actually
exist INSIDE that extended partition. If that's hard to visualize,
here's a rough chart:
Cylinder: |1 13|14 144|145 208|209 705|706 2009|2010 2434|
|------|--------|--------|--------|---------+---------|
Pri Part: | hdc1 | hdc3 | hdc4 | unused | hdc2 |
|------|--------|--------|--------|---------+---------|
Part Num: | hdc1 | hdc3 | hdc4 | unused | hdc5-10 | unused |
|------|--------|--------|--------|---------+---------|
Now, just why it's set up like that, I don't know. This must've been
a manual partitioning job, as I can't imagine any autopartition system
that'd ignore 20% of your drive's raw capacity when setting up the
primary partitions and 25% of your extended partition when setting up
the partitions inside that. All told, almost 45% of your disk is
unavailable for use. Like I said, it's odd.
> # mount
> /dev/hdc8 on / type ext3 (rw)
> proc on /proc type proc (rw)
> sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
> devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
> /dev/hdc1 on /boot type ext3 (rw)
> tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
> /dev/hdc4 on /home type ext3 (rw)
> /dev/hdc7 on /opt type ext3 (rw)
> /dev/hdc9 on /tmp type ext3 (rw)
> /dev/hdc5 on /usr type ext3 (rw)
> /dev/hdc6 on /usr/local type ext3 (rw)
> /dev/hdc10 on /var type ext3 (rw)
> none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
> sunrpc on /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw)
>
> # df -h
> Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
> /dev/hdc8 996M 303M 642M 33% /
> /dev/hdc1 99M 9.8M 84M 11% /boot
> tmpfs 188M 0 188M 0% /dev/shm
> /dev/hdc4 487M 74M 388M 16% /home
> /dev/hdc7 996M 316M 629M 34% /opt
> /dev/hdc9 487M 11M 451M 3% /tmp
> /dev/hdc5 5.9G 2.7G 2.9G 49% /usr
> /dev/hdc6 996M 34M 911M 4% /usr/local
> /dev/hdc10 487M 73M 389M 16% /var
Well, there's free space on the drive, but it's all in the wrong spots.
Now, for the $64,000 question...can you put Fedora on the drive? The
answer is "yes", but you have to do some fancy maneuvering and it's not
trivial. Here it is in a nutshell:
Essentially, using fdisk you'd create a new swap partition using the
unused part of the extended partition (it'd be called hdc11) and give
it the partition type of "f". You'd do a "mkswap /dev/hdc11" to make it
into a swap partition and you'd "swapoff /dev/hdc3" and "swapon
/dev/hdc11" to make it active. That makes /dev/hdc3 (your current swap
partition) unused.
Next, with fdisk, you'd change hdc3's partition type to 83 (Linux) and
format it with the ext3 filesystem (this will become your new /home
partition).
Next, you would mount /dev/hda3 somewhere (say, "/mnt/newhome") and copy
ALL of the content from /home to /mnt/newhome. For example, as root:
cp -a /home /mnt/newhome
Next, you'd unmount /home and /mnt/newhome. You'd relabel /dev/hdc4
with some unused name and relabel hdc3 with "/home":
e2label /dev/hdc4 /scratch
e2label /dev/hdc3 /home
You'd then mount hdc4 as /home:
mount /dev/hdc4 /home
At this point, also check /etc/fstab. If it uses "LABEL=/home" you're
fine. If it uses "/dev/hdc4", change it to "/dev/hdc3".
Ok, now you have hdc3 as your new "/home" filesystem. /dev/hdc4 is now
unused and it has a bunch of unallocated space immediately following it.
Using fdisk, you'd destroy hdc4 and recreate it, starting at cylinder
145 and ending on cylinder 705. Set it's file type to 83 (Linux).
Now you have a Linux partition, /dev/hdc4, starting on cylinder 145 and
ending on cylinder 705. This will become the "/" filesystem for your
Fedora installation. Both Fedora and RHEL can share the /boot
partition (/dev/hdc1), but when you install Fedora, make SURE you use
a single partition and make sure it installs on /dev/hdc4. You'll
probably need to edit the /boot/grub/grub.conf file after the install
and make SURE that the Fedora kernel lines have "root=/dev/hdc4" in them
(the ones for RHEL will have "root=/dev/hda8" in them).
Like I said, it's not trivial and if you make ONE error, you'll lose a
lot of stuff. Depending where the error occurs it may not be
recoverable.
That's it. If you're confident, then have at it. Two things though:
1. Make DAMNED SURE you have an adequate backup of the system in case
something goes wrong.
2. Do all the repartitioning, copies and stuff like that in single user
mode (run level 1 or "S"). Do NOT attempt to do this stuff when the
system is running normally (run levels 2 through 5). You WILL have
issues in that case.
This stuff is not for the faint of heart. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
> --- On Fri, 11/7/08, Rick Stevens <ricks at nerd.com> wrote:
> From: Rick Stevens <ricks at nerd.com>
> Subject: Re: install fedora on RedHat
> To: jibreel_amin at yahoo.com, "Getting started with Red Hat Linux" <redhat-install-list at redhat.com>
> Date: Friday, 11 July, 2008, 10:07 PM
>
> imran shafiq wrote:
>> Hi
>> 1) I want Fedora to run With RH5.
>
> Fine. Fedora and RH5 don't have the same binaries and such, so other
> than sharing /boot and the swap, you really need enough free disk space
> (e.g. a partition) to install Fedora into. If you used LVM, you may be
> able to shrink your existing RH5 installation to free up space for the
> Fedora partition.
>
> Post the output of "fdisk -l" and the output of both
> "mount" and "df -h"
> so we can see just what your system has going on.
>
>> 2) I want to have the option to boot into Fedora or the RH5 in GRUB
>
> Fine. Entries in
> /boot/grub/grub.conf can handle that. The Fedora
> entries will need to specify the new partition as the "root="
> parameter
> to the kernel line.
>
>> 3) I have a 1024MB swap in RH5 can I used it in Fedora? or It need another
> 1024MB swap
>
> Swap is swap. Yes, it can be used in both.
>
>> 4) I have a 100MB boot in RH5 can I used it in Fedora? or It need another
> 100MB boot
>
> If there's enough room in /boot to handle the Fedora kernels and initrd
> images along with the RH5 kernels and initrds, yes, it can be used.
>
>> Imran Shafiq Khan
>>
>> --- On Thu, 10/7/08, Karl Pearson <karlp at ourldsfamily.com> wrote:
>> From: Karl Pearson <karlp at ourldsfamily.com>
>> Subject: Re: install fedora on RedHat
>> To: redhat-install-list at redhat.com
>> Date: Thursday, 10 July, 2008, 9:31 PM
>>
>> On Thu, July 10, 2008 12:44 am, imran shafiq wrote:
>>> Hi Bob
>>>
> Thanks for reply. I have following partitions of RH5:
>>> 100 MB boot
>>> 1024 MB swap
>>> 8 GB root
>>> 3 GB opt
>>> Did I need another set of above partitions for Fedora.
>>> or I can use same boot and swap partitions for Fedora also.
>> Are you going to replace RH5 or do you want Fedora to run With RH5?
>>
>> Do you want to have the option to boot into one or the other, or do you
> want
>> them to run simultaneously with one running in a window on the other?
>>
>> Are you leaving RH5 or wishing to upgrade to Fedora to get some of the
> newer
>> functions available in Fedora that have yet to be released into RH?
>>
>> Just a couple clarifying questions so we can better help.
>>
>> Karl
>>> Imran Shafiq Khan
>>>
>>> --- On Wed, 9/7/08, Bob McClure Jr <bob at bobcatos.com> wrote:
>>> From:
> Bob McClure Jr <bob at bobcatos.com>
>>> Subject: Re: install fedora on RedHat
>>> To: redhat-install-list at redhat.com
>>> Date: Wednesday, 9 July, 2008, 1:11 AM
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 08, 2008 at 11:58:17AM -0700, imran shafiq wrote:
>>>> Hi All
>>>> How to install a fedora on a machine having Redhat AS 5 with out
>>>> disturbing the Redhat AS 5.
>>> Depends on your disk layout and how much spare space you have. If you
>>> have sufficient unallocated room, set up a separate partition for the
>>> Fedora system. If you have to have a separate /boot partition below
>>> cylinder 1024, you may be able to share your existing one with RHAS 5.
>>> The simplest solution, if you have room in the box, is to install
>>> another hard disk, and install Fedora to that.
>>>
>>> After the install, you can modify your grub.conf to
> boot either
>>> system.
>>>
>>>> Imran Shafiq Khan
>>> Cheers,
>>> --
>>> Bob McClure, Jr. Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
>>> bob at bobcatos.com http://www.bobcatos.com
>>> "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the
> spring
>>> of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that
>>> cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV)
>>>
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- Rick Stevens, Systems Engineer rps2 at nerd.com -
- Hosting Consulting, Inc. -
- -
- C program run. C program crash. C programmer quit. -
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