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I am new to the installation of Linux, and wish to install 3 different distro's on the same hard disk.
I have installed Centos 7 successfully as follows :
The /boot is /dev/sda2
/dev/sda1 is listed as unknown so i assume it is the Master Boot Record with Grub installed. I do obtain the option to boot to the various kernels after updating the OS.
/dev/sda3 is a Linux LVM with the various partitions i required.
When i installed the CentOS 7 the installer stated an error about the bootable partition - which was effectively /boot, so i moved this to /dev/sda2.
What i am not sure about is that if i want to install 2 other Linux OS's will i run out of /dev/sdaX assignments ?.
I read somewhere that there are 4 maximum that can be used a /boot (SDA1, SDA2, SDA3, SDA4), so does this mean i can only install one other OS ?.
/dev/sda1 is listed as unknown so i assume it is the Master Boot Record with Grub installed.
No, more likely a Windows partition - NTFS.
Quote:
When i installed the CentOS 7 the installer stated an error about the bootable partition - which was effectively /boot, so i moved this to /dev/sda2.
"an error" tells us nothing - post exact message(s) in future. Do you mean you moved the boot flag to /dev/sda2?.
Quote:
What i am not sure about is that if i want to install 2 other Linux OS's will i run out of /dev/sdaX assignments ?.
I read somewhere that there are 4 maximum that can be used a /boot (SDA1, SDA2, SDA3, SDA4), so does this mean i can only install one other OS ?.
Linux is (much) more flexible than Windows, and can use logical partitions - even for /boot. Some (Linux) installers won't do this easily (RHEL and CentOS come to mind), you have to use the "Advanced" partitioning option at install.
From a terminal in Centos, run this command and post all the output
Ugh - edit that and change the [quote] tags to [code]. That way the layout is maintained - use [code] for all output.
Create an extended partition using all that free space, then you can allocate multiple logicals within it as needed - the extended is merely a container. It gets you around the MS-DOS limit of 4 primary partitions. See wikipedia for an explanation.
No need to move anything around. Looks like no filesystem in /dev/sda1 - basically unused.
The boot flag is ignored by grub, so just leave it there.
So just install what you want - BTW F22 is now out; install that rather than F21.
What distro's are you trying to install?
Some distro's such as debian can be installed without installing grub to the mbr, which would be a good thing because whatever grub you end up with would have to be able to access n lvm partition such as ubuntu's, or I believe you would have to create a new initrd image with support for lvm.
I was installing rpm based distro's - Fedora, Centos, possibly Scientific Linux. I purchase Linux Format regularly so will use their DVD's with distros to try. I essentially want two builds at least to experiment on, in different ways - so the separate installs are required. Thanks.
Yes you can experiment, but if it all goes wrong after installingthe other distro's don't remove them just remember where ubuntu's grub was installed & boot up the ubuntu dvd/usb, in rescue mode & reinstall grub. You'll find ubuntu easier to manage grub & it will find & add the other OS's to it's grub.
I had XP, XP 64, and Windows 7 installed on my workstation for testing. I installed three hard drives. I installed the oldest first. I created a separate boot sector and separate C: drives as primary. This way the three OS could not write or see the other OS partitions and corrupt them. I kept separate hard drives for space for applications for each. So I can't see why Linux can't do it. Use Grub it is common to move flavors.
Thanks for the advice. I will use Fedora grub2 - but i have already installed CentOS 7 - so will installing fedora as the second OS overwrite the existing Grub with the new version ?.
I know Scientific Linux is the same as CentOS ., but i thought it was more of a beta than CentOS ?, offered some changes that were not in the official CentOS distribution.
I could install a debian based OS - as i have no experience of that.
If you accept the default for the bootloader installation with Fedora, it should ovewrite the Grub installation from CentOS although I believe CentOS beginning with 7.0 now uses Grub2. You don't indicate which release you have, the 6.5 version I tried still used Grub Legacy.
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