Can a Linux OS be copied or moved from one partition to another ?
Hi,
I would like to move a couple of working Linuxes, namely Mandriva and OpenSUSE to partitions other than the the ones that they reside on now. Mandriva and SUSE have all parts (/home,/var ,etc...) of the OS within the partitions in which they are now installed except that the swap is on another partion of another disk for speed. 1. I would like to know if I can move or copy the OS to an existing partition on a different hard drive without destroying the OS. Also, how to do it, if it can be done... 2. The disks are partitioned on this computer. My purpose is to move all of the /mnt partitions for the Linuxes to one disk and all of the /home to another disk and shared swap to a third disk so that I can open up the last disk just for storage as a FAT32 for Windows and Linuxes. Once I have moved the Mandriva, Suse and possible other Linuxes, I will want to make several smaller partitions out of three larger ones that I have now. - a. Can I delete partitions AFTER the last partition on a disk that has an OS on it without wrecking the OS's on the first partitions of the disk ? For example, let's say I have Mandriva and Suse on hda1 and hda2, and hda3, 4, 5, 6 are vacant ext3 partitions. I would like to make 9 smaller ext3 partitons out these larger ones. I am concerned about whether that will have an effect on the OS's on the first two partitions. I don't think that this will mess up SUSE and Mandriva. Do you know ? Thanks, B. |
Hi brjoon1021
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Good luck |
The answer is yes but probably not the way you have in mind.
General steps are, say you have a Linux in sda7 and want to move it to sdc2 Boot up a Linux not related to the one you want to migrate, in terminal Code:
mke2fs /dev/sdc2 (1) boot loader reference from sda7 to sdc2 (2) /etc/fstab same alteration (3) Restore the boot loader (only if you boot by chainloading) All Linux should use a common swap. /mnt cannot be shared. Sharing a /home between Linux may upset the desktop setting. Yes you can move Linux around. I do it all the time. |
BTW the mtab file is automatically updated by the mount command, one should never need to manually edit this file.
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When I read your post, I finally realized why that is. :D |
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