temps on /dev/shm

p2501 · 2009-07-25 10:53:49

I'd like to know if there are any temp directories besides /tmp and /var/tmp I can/could/should mount to a tmpfs and how I would go on about doing this. For starters I don't even know how big it's got to be and if I have to do this via fstab or some kind of bind.

Thanks for your input.

arkham · 2009-07-25 11:13:36

To mount /tmp in RAM and assign to it a maximum slot of 250 Megabytes add to your /etc/fstab:

none /tmp tmpfs size=250m,mode=1777 0 0

Other than /tmp and /var/tmp I'd also consider firefox profile's folder

p2501 · 2009-07-25 15:54:09

Thank you for your input! Is there a reason why you propose 250M? On gentoo I had the problem with big compiles that /var/tmp quickly ran out of space (at least with OOo), I don't want that again. So if I realize that I might need more space on a given compile, taken that arch uses /var/tmp for the build process, could I just assign more RAM to it (on reboot and, of course, after the process ran out of space lol)?

Besides, why the profiles folder, does that promote fragmentation, too? What happens to my FF settings and plugins and such?

I'm asking all this for two reasons, one being speed, the other less fragmentation. At first I thought I'll just give each a partition, as I always did on my installs. But when I read that I could just point it all to shm it was more appealing. I'm not saying that I'll immidiately fiddle with my own compiles, since it's been a while that my hdd has met the penguin, I need to reeducate myself. Arch will be my new home, since the-compile-everything-no-matter-if-it-even-needs-more-rice motto was just too much for my taste. Extra speed where it's needed makes more sense to me. End of rant, hehe.

Last edited by p2501 (2009-07-25 15:55:05)

briest · 2009-07-25 15:57:32

Mounting /var/tmp as tmpfs may cause problems; FHS requires /var/tmp to be preserved between reboots.

arkham · 2009-07-25 16:21:08

Right, in /etc/rc.sysinit only /tmp/* is deleted:

stat_busy "Removing Leftover Files"
/bin/rm -f /etc/nologin &>/dev/null
/bin/rm -f /etc/shutdownpid &>/dev/null
/bin/rm -f /var/lock/* &>/dev/null
/bin/rm -rf /tmp/* /tmp/.* &>/dev/null
/bin/rm -f /forcefsck &>/dev/null

Last edited by arkham (2009-07-25 16:22:12)

p2501 · 2009-07-25 22:16:13

Oookay, then only /tmp will mounted as tmpfs. A partition of what size would you advise for /var then (where does arch store temps from a compile)?

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-25 10:53:49

temps on /dev/shm

#2 2009-07-25 11:13:36

Re: temps on /dev/shm

#3 2009-07-25 15:54:09

Re: temps on /dev/shm

#4 2009-07-25 15:57:32

Re: temps on /dev/shm

#5 2009-07-25 16:21:08

Re: temps on /dev/shm

#6 2009-07-25 22:16:13

Re: temps on /dev/shm

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