Re: [gentoo-user] Migrating a system

[Dan Farrell <dan@spore.ath.cx>]

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:45:23 -0400
Randy Barlow <randy@electronsweatshop.com> wrote:

> So I was an idiot when I set up my system and didn't use LVM.  Now
> that I'm out of disk space on one of my drives and kicking myself, I
> want to do it without doing a reinstall.  If I use tar -cvjpf 
> oldSystemThatShouldStillWorkWhenUnTarred.tar.bz2 /, then setup LVM,
> then tar all that junk back to the new system via tar -xvpf 
> oldSystemThatShouldStillWorkWhenUnTarred.tar.bz2 with / as my working 
> directory, should that do the trick (with, of course, another go at 
> grub-install)?  Is the -p flag to tar enough to store ALL the
> necessary file system information?  I just want to make sure I'm not
> forgetting anything...
> 
> P.S.  And I'll have to build LVM support into the kernel too...
> 
> R

You could always just move a few very large or very critical pieces of
the filesystem (like /home) over to a new drive.  Then you'd have lots
of extra space and you'd have a backup disk to use in case your primary
went down.  You could also back up the primary stuff on an unmounted
backup partition on the second drive, effectively providing an
almost-hot backup.  

BTW, I highly recommend not compressing the archive
>...tar.bz2 
because it will take a really long time.  Just tar it and leave it at
that.  It might be a few hundred megs bigger, but it'll get done before
december.  
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