Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
Right, Derrick. Good advice. But, if you do mix up users, or if the distro starts the UID numbering sequence differently (as in RH vs Mandrake, 500 vs 501), you can 'handedit' the /etc/passwd file. Terry Smith Cape Cod USA On Sat, 2002-11-16 at 13:01, Derek Jennings wrote: On Sat, 16 Nov 2002 14:47:42 + John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Anne Wilson wrote: When installing v.9.0 I considered sharing the existing /home directory, which I was told is possible. However, I then realised that I would be likely to cause version conflicts in the various dot file/directories unless I registered as a different user. Then I considered what I would have to do about the existing other users - problems. The other users never log on directly, but need access from their windows machines over samba, partly for filesharing and partly for backup of their work. Possible solution - clean install with new /home, mount old home as /oldhome, copy their data only onto the new setup. a) Will I be able to mount the old home in this way, or will 9.0 insist that I already have a /home? They will not be on the same hdd, if that makes any difference (don't see why it would). b) Any other comments? Anything I need to think more about? Anne I don't think there is anything to worry about in regard to a shared /home partition. You will of course have the same user profile for both OS's, that is all. I choose not to have one /home partition. I don't think it's possible to share the same /home directory, persumeably in one or other Mandrake OS. Each OS has it's own /home directory, and you may set them up hower you desire. Generally speaking it's not fifficult to copy setup files from one /home directory to another, which aids the user configuration process. John -- John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] There is no need to create new home directiries so long as you take one simple precaution when you install 9.0 Simply add your users in *exactly* the same order as you did when you installed 8.2 This will ensure that each user has the same UID number (User Identification Number) as in the old installation. And the ownerships of all the files in the existing home directories will be OK. Add the users in a different order and crazy things will happen like files in userA's home will only be readable by userB There is no need to worry about the 'dotfiles' in the homes. KDE will for example automatically upgrade a kde2.2 ~/kde directory to kde3 format the first time you log in. You will not lose any config data. derek Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
On Sunday 17 Nov 2002 5:11 pm, Terry Smith wrote: Right, Derrick. Good advice. But, if you do mix up users, or if the distro starts the UID numbering sequence differently (as in RH vs Mandrake, 500 vs 501), you can 'handedit' the /etc/passwd file. How? Anne Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
Anne, Here's a snippet from my RH 8.0 /etc/passwd file: ... pvm:x:24:24::/usr/share/pvm3:/bin/bash radvd:x:75:75:radvd user:/:/bin/false terry:x:501:501:Terry Smith:/home/terry:/bin/bash . The last line is associated with user 'terry' and includes the user name:whether the user employs the x server:the user id (UID):the group id:the user's full name:the user's home directory:the user's preferred shell. If I had problems across two distributions, for example, I would check the other distro's /etc/passwd file. Suppose it has a user 'terry' with UID = 500. I would open that /etc/passwd file in an editor and change the 500 to 501. The new distribution should now have the correct permissions (that is, the same as the old distro in this case) set for user 'terry'. Terry Smith Cape Cod USA On Sun, 2002-11-17 at 12:33, Anne Wilson wrote: On Sunday 17 Nov 2002 5:11 pm, Terry Smith wrote: Right, Derrick. Good advice. But, if you do mix up users, or if the distro starts the UID numbering sequence differently (as in RH vs Mandrake, 500 vs 501), you can 'handedit' the /etc/passwd file. How? Anne Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
Thanks, Terry. That's worth filing for reference :-) Anne On Sunday 17 Nov 2002 6:34 pm, Terry Smith wrote: Anne, Here's a snippet from my RH 8.0 /etc/passwd file: ... pvm:x:24:24::/usr/share/pvm3:/bin/bash radvd:x:75:75:radvd user:/:/bin/false terry:x:501:501:Terry Smith:/home/terry:/bin/bash . The last line is associated with user 'terry' and includes the user name:whether the user employs the x server:the user id (UID):the group id:the user's full name:the user's home directory:the user's preferred shell. If I had problems across two distributions, for example, I would check the other distro's /etc/passwd file. Suppose it has a user 'terry' with UID = 500. I would open that /etc/passwd file in an editor and change the 500 to 501. The new distribution should now have the correct permissions (that is, the same as the old distro in this case) set for user 'terry'. Terry Smith Cape Cod USA On Sun, 2002-11-17 at 12:33, Anne Wilson wrote: On Sunday 17 Nov 2002 5:11 pm, Terry Smith wrote: Right, Derrick. Good advice. But, if you do mix up users, or if the distro starts the UID numbering sequence differently (as in RH vs Mandrake, 500 vs 501), you can 'handedit' the /etc/passwd file. How? Anne Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
[newbie] Planning ahead - next step
When installing v.9.0 I considered sharing the existing /home directory, which I was told is possible. However, I then realised that I would be likely to cause version conflicts in the various dot file/directories unless I registered as a different user. Then I considered what I would have to do about the existing other users - problems. The other users never log on directly, but need access from their windows machines over samba, partly for filesharing and partly for backup of their work. Possible solution - clean install with new /home, mount old home as /oldhome, copy their data only onto the new setup. a) Will I be able to mount the old home in this way, or will 9.0 insist that I already have a /home? They will not be on the same hdd, if that makes any difference (don't see why it would). b) Any other comments? Anything I need to think more about? Anne Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
Anne Wilson wrote: When installing v.9.0 I considered sharing the existing /home directory, which I was told is possible. However, I then realised that I would be likely to cause version conflicts in the various dot file/directories unless I registered as a different user. Then I considered what I would have to do about the existing other users - problems. The other users never log on directly, but need access from their windows machines over samba, partly for filesharing and partly for backup of their work. Possible solution - clean install with new /home, mount old home as /oldhome, copy their data only onto the new setup. a) Will I be able to mount the old home in this way, or will 9.0 insist that I already have a /home? They will not be on the same hdd, if that makes any difference (don't see why it would). b) Any other comments? Anything I need to think more about? Anne I don't think there is anything to worry about in regard to a shared /home partition. You will of course have the same user profile for both OS's, that is all. I choose not to have one /home partition. I don't think it's possible to share the same /home directory, persumeably in one or other Mandrake OS. Each OS has it's own /home directory, and you may set them up hower you desire. Generally speaking it's not fifficult to copy setup files from one /home directory to another, which aids the user configuration process. John -- John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
On Sat, 16 Nov 2002 14:47:42 + John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Anne Wilson wrote: When installing v.9.0 I considered sharing the existing /home directory, which I was told is possible. However, I then realised that I would be likely to cause version conflicts in the various dot file/directories unless I registered as a different user. Then I considered what I would have to do about the existing other users - problems. The other users never log on directly, but need access from their windows machines over samba, partly for filesharing and partly for backup of their work. Possible solution - clean install with new /home, mount old home as /oldhome, copy their data only onto the new setup. a) Will I be able to mount the old home in this way, or will 9.0 insist that I already have a /home? They will not be on the same hdd, if that makes any difference (don't see why it would). b) Any other comments? Anything I need to think more about? Anne I don't think there is anything to worry about in regard to a shared /home partition. You will of course have the same user profile for both OS's, that is all. I choose not to have one /home partition. I don't think it's possible to share the same /home directory, persumeably in one or other Mandrake OS. Each OS has it's own /home directory, and you may set them up hower you desire. Generally speaking it's not fifficult to copy setup files from one /home directory to another, which aids the user configuration process. John -- John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] There is no need to create new home directiries so long as you take one simple precaution when you install 9.0 Simply add your users in *exactly* the same order as you did when you installed 8.2 This will ensure that each user has the same UID number (User Identification Number) as in the old installation. And the ownerships of all the files in the existing home directories will be OK. Add the users in a different order and crazy things will happen like files in userA's home will only be readable by userB There is no need to worry about the 'dotfiles' in the homes. KDE will for example automatically upgrade a kde2.2 ~/kde directory to kde3 format the first time you log in. You will not lose any config data. derek Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
On Sat, 2002-11-16 at 21:43, Anne Wilson wrote: When installing v.9.0 I considered sharing the existing /home directory, which I was told is possible. However, I then realised that I would be likely to cause version conflicts in the various dot file/directories unless I registered as a different user. Then I considered what I would have to do about the existing other users - problems. The other users never log on directly, but need access from their windows machines over samba, partly for filesharing and partly for backup of their work. Possible solution - clean install with new /home, mount old home as /oldhome, copy their data only onto the new setup. If you recreated the users in the new installation, and mounted their old /home dirs just to copy the data into the new /home dirs - the only foreseeable problem I can envision is permissions. Changing the permissions per each /home/XXuser recursively and having them map via SAMBA to these /home dirs wouldn't appear to be a problem - but I could be wrong. a) Will I be able to mount the old home in this way, or will 9.0 insist that I already have a /home? They will not be on the same hdd, if that makes any difference (don't see why it would). If you mount the old /home elsewhere and rename it, *nix shouldn't complain - it's already mounting a /home directory, so no matter what the structure, mounting as a different name wouldn't really matter. b) Any other comments? Anything I need to think more about? Nice to see sysadmins thinking about their users... Anne Stephen -- Sun Nov 17 05:20:00 EST 2002 |____ | | / \ /| |'-. | | .\__/ || | | | | _ / `._ \|_|_.-' | | | / \__.`=._) (_ |kuhn media australia | |/ ._/ || |http://kma.0catch.com | |'. `\ | | |stephen kuhn | ;/ / | | |email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | smk ) /_/| |.---.| |mobile: 0410-728-389 | ' `-`' |linux user:267497 I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind. -- Kahlil Gibran Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Planning ahead - next step
On Saturday 16 Nov 2002 6:01 pm, you wrote: On Sat, 16 Nov 2002 14:47:42 + John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Anne Wilson wrote: When installing v.9.0 I considered sharing the existing /home directory, which I was told is possible. However, I then realised that I would be likely to cause version conflicts in the various dot file/directories unless I registered as a different user. Then I considered what I would have to do about the existing other users - problems. The other users never log on directly, but need access from their windows machines over samba, partly for filesharing and partly for backup of their work. Possible solution - clean install with new /home, mount old home as /oldhome, copy their data only onto the new setup. a) Will I be able to mount the old home in this way, or will 9.0 insist that I already have a /home? They will not be on the same hdd, if that makes any difference (don't see why it would). b) Any other comments? Anything I need to think more about? Anne I don't think there is anything to worry about in regard to a shared /home partition. You will of course have the same user profile for both OS's, that is all. I choose not to have one /home partition. I don't think it's possible to share the same /home directory, persumeably in one or other Mandrake OS. Each OS has it's own /home directory, and you may set them up hower you desire. Generally speaking it's not fifficult to copy setup files from one /home directory to another, which aids the user configuration process. John -- John Richard Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] There is no need to create new home directiries so long as you take one simple precaution when you install 9.0 Simply add your users in *exactly* the same order as you did when you installed 8.2 Problem is, something weird happened when I re-installed. I found that I was user 501, and the next user I added was 500. I suppose I could remove him and add him again to get a higher number, as I imagine that I will probably be added as 500. What do you think? This will ensure that each user has the same UID number (User Identification Number) as in the old installation. And the ownerships of all the files in the existing home directories will be OK. When I copied the user files back I had to change the owner of all their files - fortunately not too many yet. Add the users in a different order and crazy things will happen like files in userA's home will only be readable by userB There is no need to worry about the 'dotfiles' in the homes. KDE will for example automatically upgrade a kde2.2 ~/kde directory to kde3 format the first time you log in. You will not lose any config data. But what will happen when I log in to 8.2 again? Anne Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
