On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 10:32:00 +0200, Assaf Urieli wrote: > In fact, I'm not even quite sure that I understand the whole concept of > mounting... > When I type: > # mount -t ext3 /dev/hda3 /mnt/gentoo > Does the /mnt/gentoo directory already exist somewhere? If it didn't, I > imagine this statement would throw an error. But where can it exist if > it isn't yet associated with any partition (i.e. /dev/hda3)?
It must exist, and it exists as a normal directory within /mnt. > # mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot > Where am I making this directory? I would assume this statement creates > the directory on /dev/hda3. But then, in the next statement, I'm > associating it with /dev/hda4! You are creating it in whatever filesystem contains /mnt/gentoo. At this point, it is simply an empty directory in that filesystem. Only when you mount it does it have any content. Actually, a mount point can have content of its own, which becomes invisible when another filesystem is mounted on it. For example, in Gentoo /mnt/cdrom normally contains a single file called .keep, which you no longer see when you mount a CD, you see the contents of that disc instead. When you unmount the CD, the underlying directory becomes visible again and you can see .keep. > Now that I've got an unused /dev/hda4 partition, what should I mount on > it? I can't mount /usr onto it cause /usr already exists on the root > partition & is full of stuff. Can I just invent any old name for > mounting (like say, /home), and then use it for storing data? Yes, and you could also mount /usr on it. mkdir /mnt/tmp mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/tmp rsync -a /usr/ /mnt/tmp/ umount /mnt/tmp mount /dev/hda4 /usr mount --bind / /mnt/tmp rm -fr /mnt/tmp/usr/* umount /mnt/tmp -- Neil Bothwick Due to inflation, all clouds will now be lined with zinc.
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