Separating the OS from the data - tough to do?
Hi, -- Problem: Separating OS from underlying data. Which parts of the BSD OS are not part of the initial, never modified OS? Or, which pieces of the OS change due to useage. -- Goal: To have a slightly modified BSD OS structure where the OS can be upgraded, yet the variable data remains the untouched (DNS, websites, mail etc), on another partition or disk, allowing an OS upgrade that can be as plug play as possible. -- THEORY -- See reference below for BSD file system details. At first glance it looks like I can just move and soft link a few directories, /etc, /usr/local, /usr/home (websites) and /var. However if one upgrades the OS, is it possible to have all the installed apps separate? For example, I have Apache, MySQL and PHP installed. By moving/linking /usr/local to another partition or disk, is it possible that these apps will run properly once the OS is upgraded and the soft link re-setablished? Will /var still function properly? Will MySQL re-write the DB files somewhere else next time it is optimized or repaired? All thoughts, ideas and input gratefully received. Hopefully this discussion will be of use to a few more people that just me :) --- For reference -- From: Filesystem Hierarchy Standard Version 2.2 final Filesystem Hierarchy Standard Group the standard unix FS, moveable? directories marked with a # bin Essential command binaries # boot Static files of the boot loader # dev Device files etc Host-specific system configuration # lib Essential shared libraries and kernel modules # mnt Mount point for mounting a filesystem temporarily # opt Add-on application software packages # sbin Essential system binaries # tmp Temporary files # usr Secondary hierarchy usr/local * var Variable data Note: The /usr/local hierarchy is for use by the system administrator when installing software locally. It needs to be safe from being overwritten when the system software is updated. It may be used for programs and data that are shareable amongst a group of hosts, but not found in /usr. Need a copy? Email me for the PDF Steve To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
Re: Separating the OS from the data - tough to do?
Steve Warwick wrote: Hi, Hi Steve! -- Problem: Separating OS from underlying data. Which parts of the BSD OS are not part of the initial, never modified OS? Or, which pieces of the OS change due to useage. -- Goal: To have a slightly modified BSD OS structure where the OS can be upgraded, yet the variable data remains the untouched (DNS, websites, mail etc), on another partition or disk, allowing an OS upgrade that can be as plug play as possible. -- THEORY -- See reference below for BSD file system details. At first glance it looks like I can just move and soft link a few directories, /etc, /usr/local, /usr/home (websites) and /var. However if one upgrades the OS, is it possible to have all the installed apps separate? For example, I have Apache, MySQL and PHP installed. By moving/ linking /usr/local to another partition or disk, is it possible that these apps will run properly once the OS is upgraded and the soft link re-setablished? Will /var still function properly? Will MySQL re-write the DB files somewhere else next time it is optimized or repaired? All thoughts, ideas and input gratefully received. Hopefully this discussion will be of use to a few more people that just me :) [...snip...] Not a direct answer to your question, as I assume you want to reformat the disk for every new installation, but... The easiest way to upgrade the OS is by using cvsup. Then you'll get the changes of the source files, and after you've cvsup'ed you just compile the sources and install them. It's as easy as this... cvsup sources make buildworld make buildkernel KERNCONF=KERNEL mergemaster -p make installkernel reboot make installworld mergemaster reboot(?) (If I remember the steps correct) No need to reformat the disk, no need to recreate symbolic links and all is updated. It's all in the handbook! :-) Best regards, Paul To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
Re: Separating the OS from the data - tough to do?
-- Problem: Separating OS from underlying data. Which parts of the BSD OS are not part of the initial, never modified OS? Or, which pieces of the OS change due to useage. -- Goal: To have a slightly modified BSD OS structure where the OS can be upgraded, yet the variable data remains the untouched (DNS, websites, mail etc), on another partition or disk, allowing an OS upgrade that can be as plug play as possible. -- THEORY -- At first glance it looks like I can just move and soft link a few directories, /etc, /usr/local, /usr/home (websites) and /var. However if one upgrades the OS, is it possible to have all the installed apps separate? For example, I have Apache, MySQL and PHP installed. By moving/linking /usr/local to another partition or disk, is it possible that these apps will run properly once the OS is upgraded and the soft link re-setablished? Will /var still function properly? Will MySQL re-write the DB files somewhere else next time it is optimized or repaired? All thoughts, ideas and input gratefully received. Hopefully this discussion will be of use to a few more people that just me :) What I've done which has worked for me so far is to create /usr/local and /local as separate partitions. FreeBSD doesn't use /usr/local by default, so everything that's in there is stuff I built from ports (vim, netpbm, etc...), but aren't *critical* in the sense that Apache is critical on my webserver. I then create: /local/home /local/www/apache_1.2.27 /local/www/apache (symlink to above) /local/www/sites /local/www/sites/site_one /local/www/sites/site_two /local/tmp /local/db/ local/db/mysql... ... Then everything I build (apache, php, mysql, etc.) I put into /local. This does require changing ld_config in /etc/rc.conf to look for libraries and includes in the right places, but that's no big deal. And all application specific logging (ie. apache) goes in /local/ not in /var. This way I can backup /local and /usr/local (or just /usr/local/etc if I remember what ports I've installed) and I'm done. The other nice thing about the above setup is you can install a new version of apache, configure it to run on say port 81, and test it out using your existing sites. Once you're happy, tweak the config, repoint the symlink and you're done. And it's nice because if you decide you don't want apache anymore just rm -rf /local/www/apache* and it's *all* gone. No guessing where things are. just my 2 cents. -philip To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
