Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

seumenezes · 2014-03-20 17:06:51

Hello, fellow Archers!

My situation is as follows:

I have a new Thinkpad X230 which came with windows 7 installed. I had another Arch machine before, and I am pretty comfortable with Arch's setup process (including chroot and fstab editing), having used it for the last 2 years without major hassle.

The challenge this time, however, is that I bought an mSATA SSD drive which will arrive at mail some 25 days from now. It will be used as an extra disk, and I intend to use it as the boot disk (host the base install). How can I install Arch on my current HDD, leaving one partition for base install, another for home folder, other two for /tmp and /var, and a last tiny one for swap, knowing that I will migrate to the new SSD in a few days? Can I move the install from the HDD partition to the SSD, and not waste the space that will remain at that old HDD partition? Can I use it elsewhere, perhaps to enlarge my /home partition?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Inxsible · 2014-03-20 17:22:09

Keep it simple. Wait 25 days (or until the SSD arrives) before installing.

Spider.007 · 2014-03-20 17:24:39

Yes, moving your installation from one disk to another should be easy. After receiving your ssd; when you connect it you can boot from the rescue/install stick and use dd to copy a hdd-partition to the ssd. You could also use cp/mv/ / rsync; but you would need to re-run grub-install afterwards

bstaletic · 2014-03-20 17:26:57

I wanted to suggest waiting, but also wanted to see ather opinions, because I'm not that much of an expert.
You myght encounter prolems if you try to migrate without reinstalling os, and that's why it would be best to wait for the SSD to arrive. Ofcourse this doesn't mean you will encounter problems.

Last edited by bstaletic (2014-03-20 17:28:26)

seumenezes · 2014-03-20 17:34:13

Inxsible wrote:

Keep it simple. Wait 25 days (or until the SSD arrives) before installing.

That is the strongest option so far. But I am eager to install Arch, as this is my only machine by now. Using windows is painfully awkward, cumbersome, sluggish and sometimes plain wrong. I will try the hardest to wait, but still would like to see if anyone comes up with a clever solution (I am sure there are plenty of clever and seasoned users here with nice suggestions as well).

Thanks for now!

alphaniner · 2014-03-20 17:39:52

Use LVM. And unless your mSATA drive is tiny, consider putting more on it than / (eg. the 'base install'). I have a separate /var and /home, and my / is only using 2.5G. Also, /tmp is a tmpfs these days, so unless you really need a persistent /tmp there's no need for a dedicated volume.

Worst case scenario, an unideal setup will just mean more work when you migrate, it shouldn't make it impossible to migrate.

seumenezes · 2014-03-20 17:42:29

alphaniner wrote:

Use LVM. And unless your mSATA drive is tiny, consider putting more on it than / (eg. the 'base install'). I have a separate /var and /home, and my / is only using 2.5G. Also, /tmp is a tmpfs these days, so unless you really need a persistent /tmp there's no need for a dedicated volume.
Worst case scenario, an unideal setup will just mean more work when you migrate, it shouldn't make it impossible to migrate.

That should be nice. But let me make things clearer: migration itself is not my major issue; I have done that before. What is unclear to me is whether I can use the space that will be free on the HDD after I migrate. Can I merge it with another partition (/home, for instance)?

Spider.007 · 2014-03-20 17:51:45

That depends, it will be relatively easy if the free space comes directly after the volume you want to extend. You would only need to recreate the partition with the new ending; and then resize your filesystem

alphaniner · 2014-03-20 17:58:52

If your main concern is reclaiming space, I would say to make sure the volumes you intend to move will free up a contiguous area of free space that is adjacent to the volume you intend to expand. Without any idea of your provisioning scheme (MBR, GPT, LVM, BTRFS, etc.) it's hard to be more precise than that.

seumenezes · 2014-03-20 18:14:42

alphaniner wrote:

If your main concern is reclaiming space, I would say to make sure the volumes you intend to move will free up a contiguous area of free space that is adjacent to the volume you intend to expand. Without any idea of your provisioning scheme (MBR, GPT, LVM, BTRFS, etc.) it's hard to be more precise than that.

Precise or not, I think you have hit the right spot. The idea of putting the partitions in strategical adjacent places seems to be enough for my purpose. Thanks for the simple and straightforward suggestion!

Arch Linux

#1 2014-03-20 17:06:51

Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#2 2014-03-20 17:22:09

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#3 2014-03-20 17:24:39

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#4 2014-03-20 17:26:57

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#5 2014-03-20 17:34:13

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#6 2014-03-20 17:39:52

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#7 2014-03-20 17:42:29

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#8 2014-03-20 17:51:45

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#9 2014-03-20 17:58:52

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

#10 2014-03-20 18:14:42

Re: Smart provisory partition scheme suggestion (will migrate to SSD soon)

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