Re: Linux and Windows for noobies

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• In reply to: box-o-linux: "Linux and Windows for noobies"
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To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 21:08:48 -0800

On November 11, 2003 07:17 pm, box-o-linux wrote:
> hi all,
>
> I hope this isn't too "noobie" for this list -- if it is, please kindly
> direct to me to a proper beginners forum.
>
> I have 2 PCs and a router. I'd like to setup RedHat 9 with an 80 gig
> hdd as my file server for my windows XP box and PHP/MySQL. The Web
> Server/DB part I get but its the file sharing/partitioning/file system
> part I'm confused with.
>
> I'm assuming Samba is going to play a big role in this but am uncertain
> as to how I should proceed.
>
> Can anyone recommend a configuration/partitioning of my Linux box? I'm
> not sure if I'm going to need to share files between OS's, but I'd like
> to accommodate that if possible.
>
> Thanks in advance!

Partitioning is always the one of the most difficult decions when planning an
install. It really depends on how you'll distribute data etc.
If you just want to get up and running, you can let the install set the
partitions up for you, but select "review" so you can adjust (add remove
resize etc) if desired before the actual formating happens. The server
install creates a few different file systems while the workstation only
creates boot, swap and /. The problem with the ws install is that with
services running, you want to isolate your logs from the root fs, so at least
a /var should be created on any server.

Partitions you may want to setup:
/boot -files for grub to boot the kernel
/swap equal to 2xRAM (questionable on high ram boxes(?))
/var - logs, mail, html files (doc root, cgi etc) & mysql db's (at least
postgrsql is in /var/lib)
/var/www or /www -for a very large web area (or same for mysql)
/home -user files or create a separate fs for shared data (/data).
/usr or /usr/local -if you plan to add lots of apps not part of dist
/tmp -so users can't fill root (another reason for quotas)
/ -includes: / /etc /lib /initrd /bin ....
/data -if alot of shared data
/apps -handy on a dev box

However, with 80 gigs you can set up a conservative install and break smaller
fs's out later if required.
One possible simple setup:
/boot (100mb default but could be much smaller)
/swap 1 gb?
/var 10 gb should be lots
/home 10 gb
/tmp 500 mb
/ 2 gb
unused -about 55 gb ...so maybe add a /data

Anyway, there is no single right way to layout the partions, but especially
being new to this, you are probably best to let the install use about 1/2 the
space to autopartition as a server, then you can see how differnt area grow.
Moving a file system later on would be a good excersice as well.

Unless there is existing partitions, all the file systems will default to
formating as ext3 (except swap). There is no readon to change them.

To setup SMB (windows file & print) you will want to use the samba rpm
package. There are two things you can do. You can also install a utility
called swat (should be in the iso) which is web based and makes configuration
a breeze. HOWEVER, if you use it, be warned that if you did not backup your
/etc/samba/smb.conf file, you will lose all the excellent comments in that
file when it is overwritten by swat. Like the apache config tool, swat may
come back to bite you.
I suggest you set up samba the long way, read the man pages, edit the config,
create the password file and all that. As I recall there is a detailed readme
or doc set with the samba package.

Hope that some of this is helpful.

-- 
Pete Nesbitt, rhce
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• Previous message: Dali Islam: "MYSQL Control Center"
• In reply to: box-o-linux: "Linux and Windows for noobies"
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