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03-28-2003, 02:11 AM
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#1
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 58
Rep:
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Newbie question....
Hello All,
I had created four partitions on my PC while installing the linux on a secondry HDD.
/other
/music
/movie
/games
The size of the secondry HDD is 40 GB. Now I want to reformat my secondry HDD and mount it again as /backup using ext3 filesystem without creating any trouble for my system.
Also it has enteries in /etc/fstab.
How do I safely do it. Please help.
Thank you,
Tinaa..

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03-28-2003, 09:21 AM
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#2
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Moderator
Registered: Aug 2002
Posts: 26,531
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So are you running a dual boot with windows on the primary HDD? Here is a couple of options.
First back up any data from the existing partitions you want to save.
Remove out any references in your fstab files for the mentioned partitions.
If so and you have access to Partition Magic you can use it to delete and resize the partition you want for your /backup. Reboot to linux to reformat the new partition to ext2 and then convert to ext3 (tune2fs -j /dev/hdx). Then create a mount point and create a line in the fstab.
The second method using linux. If you have a CD distro like Mandrake or Redhat that has a rescue mode on the install CD use that to boot up the PC. You can use parted to delete and resize similar to Partition Magic. Reformat like above.
If not then you will need a boot floppy with fdisk or cfdisk or parted.
I suggest reformating the new partition.
As long as you are carefull this is fairly safe. Of course backup anything important.
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03-28-2003, 02:00 PM
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#3
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Member
Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Debian Galaxy
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 711
Rep:
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Don't have to cough up money for PM if you don't want to or can't.
I just used cfdisk to create the same partition structure I did with PM. Just boot any modern distro. Pick expert/advanced. You'll have a choice of fdisk or cfdisk. cfdisk is a simplified text version of PM. I love to learn. What do you know?
boot cd1
cfdisk /dev/hdb
delete all parts
create one full part
[write][quit]
mkfs -t ext3 /dev/hdb1
mount /dev/hdb1 /backup
pop open a can of coke/pepis and enjoy
fdisk-created Windows parts must be formatted by Windows. At least 98 wouldn't recognize it.
format c:
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03-28-2003, 02:14 PM
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#4
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 58
Original Poster
Rep:
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Sorry I'll me More clear to you.
I have a WebHosting server with Redhat 7.3 . The HDD is 40 GB. and i have mounted partions as /usr /var /home /oldvar /oldusr /oldhome. I want to Remove the /oldxxx stuff and Recreate a /backup partion.
The server is a WebHosting server and I can't take a chance to make Trials on it.
Any Help Would be Appreciated.
Regards,
Tinaa
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03-28-2003, 03:46 PM
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#5
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 6,042
Rep: 
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1) Backup the files in
/other
/music
/movie
/games
2) Use either fdisk in DOS or LINUX and make a primary partition.
3) Format the drive and label it /backup. You can also label it as /root/backup so users can not access it.
4) Insert boot disk or knoppix and change your fstab file to suit your filesystem. Then reboot
5) Test to make sure you can access the partition.
6) To make a backup you can either use a script that is run every 5 minutes or a software RAID to mirror your web space.
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03-29-2003, 03:19 PM
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#6
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 58
Original Poster
Rep:
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Hello,
Can u post me the link to download cfdisk for RH 7.3 or 7.2 as i didn't found it anywhere. I suppose its not default with the OS.
or if someone can send me rpm or the util !!! Will be Appreciated.
Regards,
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03-29-2003, 03:31 PM
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#7
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 58
Original Poster
Rep:
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Hello,
I forgot to search on this forum and i got the cfdisk link.
Thanks Forum.
Regards,
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03-29-2003, 03:54 PM
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#8
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 58
Original Poster
Rep:
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Hello,
Sorry i found the link but i have the upgraded version of util-linux.
I downloaded the latest version of util-linuc which may contian cfdisk but while upgrading it says.
"libcrypt needed by util-linux"
and many others.
Help Needed Again
Regards,
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03-29-2003, 05:06 PM
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#9
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Member
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 263
Rep:
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Tinaa,
As you got Red Hat already installed, and the partitions you want to resize are linux-partitions with only old-backup-stuff on it. There must be a far simpeler way to do this then sugested above.
I don't use RH but Mandrake, mandrake has a ControlCenter where you can resize, wipe, join partitions in a super easy way. Surely RH must have the same posebilleties.
I suggest starting another thread, with a CLEAR-explaining title, mentioning RH and re-partitioning backuppartitions, ( people often only scan the titles, and "newbiequestion" does not say much about what you're after ) You might just get a very easy answer to your question.
Bruno
Last edited by onurb; 03-29-2003 at 05:08 PM.
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