Add a new partition, maybe?

[docnascar]

So I have my new PC and I did the basic install on the entire hard drive with three partitions.
/
swap
/home

I think I want to add a new partition to copy any files over just in case there is a PCLINUX update that requires a complete re-install or if I accidentally bork my system and need to do a complete re-install. I'm assuming that after I add a partition and if I do a re-install, I can use the custom settings to redo /, swap, /home and my /mydata partition (just for names sake) will be untouched.

Currently I don't really use an independent partition, I just have a single folder that I dump everything into. But if I do a full install I have to back the folder up externally. I believe if I had a partition, I would not need to do that.

The Question.
What is the easiest and most effective program to use? And how do I use it? I've never re-partitioned a drive and I'm a little afraid to wipe everything out. (yes, I will likely back up my stuff before I do this anyway [if I do this and don't chicken out  ])

Is it generally safe to repartition or is it risky?





**should this be in the hard drive section? feel free to move

[Bald Brick]

The only partitioner that has really trashed a partition for me was the one that came with Windows Vista.

But does that mean that repartitioning will never cause data loss? A power cut while you are doing it could have unwanted results - and if a lot of data has to be moved, the repartitioning will take a long time. That said, the greatest risk is your clicking something that shouldn't be clicked.

If you want to do the partitioning from a GUI, both  GParted and the KDE Partition Manager would be very good choices.

[µT6]

/home is doing the function of that don't touch and save for another install

if you want another partition for backup purposes, i would have it, but on another hard disk, you already have enough partitions to handle there

have another partition on the hard disk just makes things complicated and less secure, is the same as put all your eggs in one basket

when you plan to reinstall everything, just don't delete /home, leave it unformatted and remember to make backups if that partition is accidentally formatted during the new install

format the wrong partition is so easy...    

"Is it generally safe to repartition or is it risky?"

in general, if you don't have much experience, is easy to destroy everything        

[Phil]

I backup / with clonezilla from time to time, so if something goes wrong I can recover.

I back up my home partition with rsync automatically. For me /home is just config files.

All my data is stored in its own partition and backed up. Link on the desktop to my data files.

If you mess with partitioning you may well have a disaster. So back up and go ahead, gparted on any live disk gets my vote.

[docnascar]

/home is doing the function of that don't touch and save for another install

if you want another partition for backup purposes, i would have it, but on another hard disk, you already have enough partitions to handle there

have another partition on the hard disk just makes things complicated and less secure, is the same as put all your eggs in one basket

when you plan to reinstall everything, just don't delete /home, leave it unformatted and remember to make backups if that partition is accidentally formatted during the new install

format the wrong partition is so easy...    

"Is it generally safe to repartition or is it risky?"

in general, if you don't have much experience, is easy to destroy everything      

I "somewhat" remember we had one kde update where the existing /home could not be ported over and folks had major problems trying to get it to work. I can't remember if it was an upgrade away from "Big Daddy" or a later Kernel/KDE update. I just wonder if that could happen again and if using a separate partition would eliminate that.

I typically always backup my stuff so no major worries. A separate partition just has me thinking if its worthwhile. I have a 1TB drive, with very little personal stuff, so plenty of room to split things up if I decide to.


This is a Good conversation, it has me thinking about things.

[µT6]

"I "somewhat" remember we had one kde update where the existing /home could not be ported over and folks had major problems trying to get it to work"

/home is a partition that can store configs for kde, gnome, lxde and many other des

also can store your personal files

a situation like that only requires you to delete the conflicting config folders/files, the update itself doesn't mandatory force you to kill the partition but as it did with a recent update, create a backup folder storing those configs and create a temporary one empty, as most of us did, copied what was required form those configs or created new ones and kept with the same install

anyway, you should keep your important personal files stored in at least two places

[Bald Brick]

/home is doing the function of that don't touch and save for another install

if you want another partition for backup purposes, i would have it, but on another hard disk, you already have enough partitions to handle there

have another partition on the hard disk just makes things complicated and less secure, is the same as put all your eggs in one basket

when you plan to reinstall everything, just don't delete /home, leave it unformatted and remember to make backups if that partition is accidentally formatted during the new install

format the wrong partition is so easy...    

"Is it generally safe to repartition or is it risky?"

in general, if you don't have much experience, is easy to destroy everything      

I "somewhat" remember we had one kde update where the existing /home could not be ported over and folks had major problems trying to get it to work. I can't remember if it was an upgrade away from "Big Daddy" or a later Kernel/KDE update. I just wonder if that could happen again and if using a separate partition would eliminate that.

No, it wouldn't. Keeping /home on a separate partition means that you can retain your settings and (by default) your personal data if you reinstall. But if an upgrade is so large that substantial parts of the configuration files in your home directory also have to be upgraded, then you can't do much more than restore the rest from a backup.

As µT6 pointed out your home directory will contain local configuration files for all your desktop environments and for lots of programs, and not only that, by default it will also contain all your personal data. At a normal reinstall you can retain all that, but if the /home partition has to be reformatted you have to restore whatever can be restored from somewhere else.

I typically always backup my stuff so no major worries. A separate partition just has me thinking if its worthwhile. I have a 1TB drive, with very little personal stuff, so plenty of room to split things up if I decide to.

If you get more personal stuff you could consider Phil's suggestion. A separate data partition can often make more sense that a separate /home partition.

This is a Good conversation, it has me thinking about things.

[docnascar]

No, it wouldn't. Keeping /home on a separate partition means that you can retain your settings and (by default) your personal data if you reinstall.

I said that wrong. I didn't mean have /home on the new partition just put my files I care about on the partition in folders. /home would stay where it is. I wouldn't care if /home got changed during an upgrade if my personal files were on just the partition.

But if an upgrade is so large that substantial parts of the configuration files in your home directory also have to be upgraded, then you can't do much more than restore the rest from a backup.

That makes sense how the /home can get "broke"  or needs to be redone.

[Bald Brick]

No, it wouldn't. Keeping /home on a separate partition means that you can retain your settings and (by default) your personal data if you reinstall.

I said that wrong. I didn't mean have /home on the new partition just put my files I care about on the partition in folders. /home would stay where it is. I wouldn't care if /home got changed during an upgrade if my personal files were on just the partition.

Ah, you are actually contemplating Phil's solution: a separate data partition. You could then mount it directly under /home/<yourname>, or you could mount it wherever you want and create symbolic links to mountpoints under your home folder (possibly replacing the default Document, Movies, Music and Pictures directories). That would indeed make it easier to restore your setup.

The question is how big that data partition should be - considering that you have "very little personal stuff".

[GreggB]

As a newcomer to Linux, I went trough a few iterations, but came to the conclusion that the home directory belonged on the system partition. I have two 30GB system partitions (that I flip between as I apply updates), a swap and a large data partition. (and a couple more system partitions I use for experimentation). My data partition is mounted as /home/gregg/data and I have pointed the KDE Documents, Pictures, etc. folders to it. (Desktop stays on home). I should point out that the second system partition is a fall-back, not a backup. I still backup to an external drive.

As for partitioning software - I've been using a commercial product (BootIt BM) for many years. It handles the boot menu, partitioning, copying, resizing and backups. And while I'm a fan of FOSS, there are just some things you have to pay for

Gregg.