[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On 05/09/13 19:24, bad apple wrote: > On 05/09/13 18:59, Neil Winchurst wrote: >> A little while ago I bought a new laptop. It was my first time with >> uefi and I had a few problems because it came with secure boot enabled >> and Win 8 (trial version only) installed. I had to call the help line >> to get that sorted. With all that going on I forgot to set up a >> separate partition for home. >> >> Now I am wondering if there is a way to change the partitioning so >> that I can have home separate while keeping the data intact. I have >> done some research. Plenty of advice about using gparted when >> installing a new distro but I cannot find anything about moving home >> intact to its own separate partition. Perhaps it can't be done? >> >> The idea is that, when I move to a newer version of my distro, I can >> just install the root files but keep my home files untouched. Is that >> feasible please? >> >> Or am I being over optimistic? If so I will remember to get it right >> next time! >> >> Thanks >> >> Neil >> > Hey, this is the helpline isn't it? > > You can definitely do this post-install, whether or not it's a good idea > I'll leave as a discussion for others. I'm also not touching the "is it > good practice to have a separate home partition" issue either, as you > seem to have decided what you want to do and who am I to argue. > > So, here we go: > > 0: Backup everything you care about > 1: Boot a live distro (ideally gparted*) > 2: Repartition your / partition down to whatever you like > 3: Create new partition for /home in the empty space > 4: Before rebooting, mount your old / partition and your new /home rw on > your live system > 5: Edit the mounted /etc/fstab** file from your mounted hard drive to > reflect change > 6: Move the entire /home from your old / to your new /home > 7: Unmount all drives, reboot > > * gparted from http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php > ** editing fstab can vary hugely between systems - broadly speaking on > linux you can simply add a line like: > > /dev/sda4 /home ext4 defaults 0 2 > > You *will* need to edit this according to your specifications first > though: don't blindly put /dev/sda4 when your partition ID will probably > be different, and don't use ext4 as the fs type if it's incorrect, > obviously. Personally I would edit the options from default to at least > "errors=remount-ro,user_xattr" and don't forget to add "discard" if > you're using a SSD. The "/home" and "0 2" parts will be correct for you > though. > > On *buntu-style systems, you shouldn't really refer to partitions by > their old /dev/sdX notation anyway: run "sudo blkid" and it will spit > out UUIDs for you to use instead, like so: > > ghost@failbot:~$ sudo blkid > [sudo] password for ghost: > /dev/sda1: UUID="8bc2d3fe-351a-45ff-868d-8a152bbd0b72" TYPE="ext4" > /dev/sda5: UUID="e5736c02-8cc2-4cc6-8362-c58a372abade" TYPE="swap" > /dev/sdb1: LABEL="System Reserved" UUID="2E90891E9088EE21" TYPE="ntfs" > <snip> > > Replace your fstab edit above with the correct "UUID=xxxxxxxx..." stanza > in place of /dev/sdaX. Your finished fstab line should end up looking > something more like: > > UUID=70e0caf1-4331-4580-8539-7f7fb6062e83 /home ext4 > errors=remount-ro,user_xattr 0 2 > > There is actually plenty of help online for this sort of operation if > you google, especially on the Ubuntu forums. It is actually possible to > do all of this as root, without even rebooting, but I don't recommend > that unless you're *extremely* confident. > > As ever, ask more if you need pointers. > > Regards > Are you ok for me to put these instructions as a blog post on the lug website, looking for stuff to add to the blog that is useful / interesting Can credit as BadApple if you want http://dcglug.drogon.net/ Paul -- -- http://www.zleap.net http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-sutton/36/595/911 Software freedom day event - 21st September 2013 - http://exeter.lug.org.uk/ I am committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable groups and expect any school or establishment I am involved with to share this commitment. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq