On Sb, 11 sep 21, 18:55:56, Felix Natter wrote: > hello fellow Debian users, > > I have an SSD for the root filesystem, and two HDDs using RAID1 for > /storage running Debian10. Now I need a plan B in case the upgrade > fails. > > So I made an experiment with a VM and rougly the same setup (disk-wise), > and found out that when reinstalling Debian11, the d-i does recognize > the RAID1 (/storage) and can reuse it while keeping the data. Careful here! You can tell d-i to not format an existing partition, but if you want to use it as the root partition the new system will probably be installed in the same file structure as your other data. Is this what you're considering? Provided you have sufficient space on the RAID you should rather create a dedicated partition for the backup install, even if you need to shrink another partition (or several). The installer should be able to do that as well, though backing up your data is recommended[1]. On the other hand, as plan B in case of upgrade failures you can also use the rescue mode of the Debian Installer or, if you need a full system, install Debian to a USB stick. The speed might not be great[2], but it should be sufficient to get you out of trouble. If you go this route make sure the stick still boots and works as expected even if you disconnect all other storage from the system. [1] Just in case it's not obvious, the RAID won't help in case the resizing goes wrong (it shouldn't, but...). [2] The speed will depend on the particular stick (look for one with consistent good write speed) and ports (USB 3 or better if possible, but USB 2 will also work). Avoid Desktop Environments if possible, or at least choose a light one like LXDE. Kind regards, Andrei -- http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser
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