I am using xubuntu and have a separate /home directory plus a 'data' directory which is much larger than /home and on the same drive. The 'data' partition is formatted NTFS to allow Windows 10 access.

I believe a default install of a .deb file installs to your /home folder.

I want to install a Steam .deb package (from the Steam web site), which is a minimum of 21GB to the 'data' directory and am unsure how to achieve this.

'Googling' makes me even more unsure! Can anyone assist?

The .deb file will install to the / directory if you have not made separate partitions for the /lib and /bin directories where most of the files should be installed depending on where the installer wants to put them they do not install to the /home. The chances of it working on NTFS partition once extracted using the ar command to do it are slim, the permissions of the files will be all messed up and the directories on that partition will need to included in the path for it to even have hope in hell of it working. In short the idea is not a good one and the .deb should be installed to the / directory as intended.

Also I'm not sure linux executables will work from an NTFS partition. They lack the permissions abilities that linux filesystems have.

Thank you for that quick response.

This is the first time I have installed such a large .deb file and have come unstuck because I usually make a / partition of 35GB so this takes up most of it.

Is it possible to enlarge the /home partition, taking space from the data partition which comes after it on the SSD?

Edit: I think that question is more suitable for a separate thread.

I think the Steam app will create a .steam directory in your home, so you can make a steam folder in your larger partition, then create a link from that to ~/.steam that the installer will use.

Maybe a new thread, but let's not get rigid here. The trick is to back up first. You don't have to back up /home (although I view a usb backup disk as necessary) but you do need to back up data. Then you can delete /data, enlarge home, and recreate /data in reduced space. If anything goes wrong, you'll need /data and every partition onwards to the end of the disk from your backup. You really should have a full system backup because Murphy's Law dictates disks fail in proportion to the amount of irreplaceable stuff they are storing.

That looks like I could do that. Can you confirm:

1. Make a directory /.steam in the data partition.
2. Create a symlink /.steam in /home directory
3. Install the steam .deb in the normal way?

I have made symlinks in the past so should be able to do that.

However, I am concerned from reading above posts about NTFS permissions etc.

As this is a new fresh install, I have no problem in deleting the data directory which contains little.

This is my current layout:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cp4w79y26o...ayout.png?dl=0

You will see that I have a separate /home directory, so, to enlarge / directory I would have to move /home and I have never done that so have no idea how.

Edit. I had already made another thread specific to the moving problem and have an answer - shrinking /home to the right, expanding / and then expanding /home into the temporary free free data space. If it works remake data directory.

You can do this with GParted. Either delete the data partition and move home to the right and then move / to the right.

Or you can simply move the data partition to the right to decrease it's size and then move home and / to the right. In GParted use the Partition tab and select the Move/Resize option.

Thankyou all. I now have my answer.