Frode Petersen wrote: > Mikkel L. Ellertson skrev: >> Frode Petersen wrote: >>> 1) >>> I didn't change the kernel or the (memory?) image file, and I suspect >>> that might be one reason. Are there hardcoded references to partitions >>> in these files, so that the reference in grub.conf is used only to find >>> the kernel, and not tell the kernel where to find and mount the other >>> partitions? Has the kernel an 'image' of the disk system on which it is >>> compiled? >>> >> The /boot/initrd-<version>.img file has information on the LVG >> configuration, so if that is changing, you need to build a new >> initrd file. man mkinitrd for more information. > > Is that info related to names of partitions only, or to location on the > disk also? I suspect the first, which would mean that I could use the > tool you mention further down to move things around, ending up with an > identical partitioning scheme even if I 'slide' the partitions over a > bit on the physical disk. Or am I wrong? > I never looked into it deep enough to see if the physical location was stored in the initrd file, but I do not think it is. From what I have read, I suspect that it would find the lvm volume even if the partition number changed. This is what give peope problems when they take a drive from another system, and add it to a working system. If the volume group names are the same, the wrong one sometimes gets used. >> >> As a side note, you can use cp to copy a disk partition, but it is >> not usually a good idea. This is especially true for a partition >> mounted r/w. (I prefer using dd over cp when doing that type of >> copy. Things like "dd if=/dev/fd0 of=floppy.img" can be handy.) > > Is it safe to have both if and of point to a partition, or should I go > with the intermediate image file? > It is safe to if point to one partition, and of point to another one. But the partitions should be the same size, because you are doing a bit by bit copy, including the file system formatting. You are coping the free space on the drive along with the data. So it is not that good of a way to copy a hard drive unless you need an exact copy for forensics or something along those lines. >> If you want the learning experence, get the System Rescue CD. It can >> handle LVM, but unless you copy /etc/lvm/lvm.conf to something like >> a USB drive or floppy, you will have to use the lvm tools to >> generate the information. I see I forgot something - you also need the contents of the /etc/lvm/archive or /etc/lvm/backup directory. This has the working and back description of the lvm setup for you machine. > > Thanks for the warning and the tip. I have fetched it and will try it out. > > Thank you for the help with this. I had thought it was a lost cause, but > I'll see what is to be learned from all this. > > Frode > Have fun. I have learned a lot about Linux doing things like that. I have played with the SystemRescue CD on working systems so that when I need to do it for real, it should be fairly easy. (As long as I can remember what I did.) Mikkel -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!
