[solved]Different Systems on one disk

daniel712 · 2016-01-21 19:15:44

Hi Arch Experts,

i installed arch from scratch on my new skylake 6600k machine with M.2 NVME SSD.
Runs great.
Following question where i could not find a guide for:

I divided the SSD in 5 Partitions (EFI+4 System Partitions). I have now my first production system on the 2nd Part.
I want to install 3 more systems on the remaining partitions for testing.

How do i manage different boot images in the EFI Partiton?

When i install the second system, it will overwrite the vmlinuz-linux from the first install correct?
Can i change the name of the vmlinuz-linux image in the preset file somehow?

Thanks for help and sorry for my poor knowledge,

Daniel.

Last edited by daniel712 (2016-07-06 09:38:29)

nomorewindows · 2016-01-21 19:41:39

Arch systems or other different systems?
Probably just need to look at your EFI bootloaders' page to see what you need to do.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-01-21 19:45:32

You can use multiple ESPs but you will have to use `efibootmgr` to make custom NVRAM entries for each system pointing to the correct ESP.

See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/EF … bootmgr.29

EDIT: Correction, you *may* be able to use multiple ESPs. Some UEFI firmware implementations are rubbish so it may not work at all.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2016-01-21 19:46:46)

daniel712 · 2016-01-21 20:02:52

Ok.

I have my EFI Partition seperate and mount it into /boot.
So can i mount this partition in each of the other systems and use only the one EFI Partition with different startup entries? (i use systemd boot)

The main question is: how do i modify the linux preset to arrange for different "vmlinuz-linux" naming. so the different installs will not owerwrite each other vmlinuz... file...

I will hav at least one more Arch system or two and on the last partition i want to try various distros for testing...

nomorewindows · 2016-01-21 20:37:31

The different distributions may have different names for their kernels, and may not pose a problem, but should still have it's own directory to make life easier.
Just take a look at the preset files and it should be obvious. You'd have to set each one (if multiple Arch installs, something maybe different for other distros).
You should only need one ESP.

progandy · 2016-01-21 20:53:46

The main question is: how do i modify the linux preset to arrange for different "vmlinuz-linux" naming. so the different installs will not owerwrite each other vmlinuz... file...

Choose one system you use to modify your bootloader and mount ESP to /boot.
For the other systems, mount it to e.g. /esp and then bind mount a subdirectory to /boot.

daniel712 · 2016-06-01 07:43:09

Cool! i use the bind mounts...

How do i manage the HOME DIRs for different systems?

Do you use one HOME DIR for all the different systems or each one a seperate HOME DIR and use shared Folders for Information needed on different systems...

If i use the same HOME DIR for different systems, the config data for all the programs and the DE get mixed up, correct?

Thanks for help,

Daniel

ewaller · 2016-06-01 15:05:59

daniel712 wrote:

...How do i manage the HOME DIRs for different systems?
Do you use one HOME DIR for all the different systems or each one a seperate HOME DIR and use shared Folders for Information needed on different systems...
If i use the same HOME DIR for different systems, the config data for all the programs and the DE get mixed up, correct?...

You understand the issue. Yes, use separate home directories. Nothing to say you cannot put mount points in those directories and mount other things on them, like a Music, Photo, or Document directory that can be shared between systems. It is just that you will want to keep things in $HOME such as configurations, history, state, etc... independent.

Arch Linux

#1 2016-01-21 19:15:44

[solved]Different Systems on one disk

#2 2016-01-21 19:41:39

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

#3 2016-01-21 19:45:32

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

#4 2016-01-21 20:02:52

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

#5 2016-01-21 20:37:31

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

#6 2016-01-21 20:53:46

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

#7 2016-06-01 07:43:09

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

#8 2016-06-01 15:05:59

Re: [solved]Different Systems on one disk

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