Bug#355662: Installation report
On Tue, Mar 07, 2006 at 10:56:26AM -0500, Adrian Irving-Beer wrote:
> That appears to be what cfdisk does, yes; any logical partitions
> created in the current session will be in order based on position on
> the disk. Neither seems unreasonable, and it was simply the
> difference that confused me. So no real problem here.
>
> Yeah, I missed that option, I guess. Even in my subsequent meddling
> with the expert install. Guess being an "expert" means you make
> assumptions and don't read things carefully. Sorry. ;)
>
> My thoughts exactly.
>
> Also, subsequent readings of the LVM docs indicated I should also
> create a single physical LVM volume per physical disk (for simplicity,
> striping, etc.), unlike my inclination to divide it into chunks -- a
> throwback to standard partitioning, I suppose, where having a 247-gig
> partition was a recipe for inflexibility (unless you bought an even
> bigger disk to move stuff onto).
But LVM gives you that flexibility by giving you a flexible partitioning
system within the one large partition (or partitions since it can span
multiple devices in one volume group). The ability to add to logical
volumes without worrying about where they start and end makes it much
more flexible than partitions ever were.
> So, my follow-up install:
>
> Same system and image. Used 'expert'. I liked all the prompts, and
> the defaults were usually fine. Liked how it confirmed the CD
> identity. Very much liked the SSH-based installer, and that it asked
> me to confirm the SSH host key.
>
> It'd be nice if the SSH installer terminated connections more kindly
> at the end, because it dropped in the middle of the screen and left my
> terminal reversed and without a cursor. Not a big deal.
Hmm, I have never used the ssh option myself.
> It did try to load the 'floppy' driver three times, once as part of
> the CD detection process and twice by prompt later. All failed due to
> lack of a floppy drive. Also not a big deal.
Yeah I know. Not sure what can be done about that.
> When it came time to set up the volume group, it misreported my
> 247.1-gig partition as a 43.82-gig partition, and used the
> /dev/ide/... notation. (I'm guessing this is a udev-style thing I'm
> just going to have to get used to, eh?) I had to double check the
> partition table to make sure it wasn't wiping the wrong one (even
> though the bus, disk, and partition all matched up).
The sarge installer uses devfs. Newer installers use udev and hence a
different device naming system.
> Deleting it and recreating the volume group (wanted a different name)
> reported 230.09 GB, which I guess is GiB? All the LVM stuff seems to
> be in GiB, while the partitioner seems to be GB.
Ehm, yeah probably in GiB.
> Back in the partition manager after the LVM setup, the fact that each
> volume occupied two lines (and were all numbered #1) made things a bit
> cramped and easier to lose track of things. A *very* minor wishlist
> item would be to condense the information to one line, if possible,
> perhaps as a numbered list under the LVM volume group heading.
>
> Still worked, though, and was a fairly painless process. I liked that
> I could finally set up the noexec, etc. properties at install time.
>
> Final partition table:
>
> Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
> /dev/hdc1 * 1 122 979933+ 83 Linux
> /dev/hdc2 123 30401 243216067+ 5 Extended
> /dev/hdc5 123 365 1951866 82 Linux swap / Solaris
> /dev/hdc6 366 30401 241264138+ 8e Linux LVM
Personally I like swap inside LVM. That allows me to resize it later
too if I decide to. Don't even need an extended partition if all you
have is / and LVM partitions.
My setup tends to be:
/dev/md0 (sda1/sdb1) 20GB / ext3
/dev/md1 (sda2/sdb2) manyGB LVM
Then swap and /home and such all in LVM. I tend to keep /usr on /
though hence the size. I also run /tmp as tmpfs so I don't bother with
a partition for that either.
> lvs:
> LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Copy%
> home wisq_root -wi-ao 200.00G
> tmp wisq_root -wi-ao 1.00G
> usr wisq_root -wi-ao 5.00G
> usr_local wisq_root -wi-ao 3.00G
> var wisq_root -wi-ao 10.00G
> var_exec wisq_root -wi-ao 1.00G
> var_tmp wisq_root -wi-ao 1.00G
Looks fairly reasonble. I think /usr is too small given that is where
all debian packages install to, unless you don't intend to install a
lot. I might also think of a larger /var unless you aren't planning to
run databases, proxys, etc.
> Thanks for another great install. :)
Len Sorensen
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