Re: Converting ext2/ext3 fs to ReiserFS or XFS Journaling File Systems

From: Christopher Browne (cbbrowne_at_acm.org)
Date: 05/28/04 

Date: 28 May 2004 18:52:47 GMT

Quoth "Ruby Tuesdays" <NoSpamPlease_rubytuzdaiz@yahoo.com>:
> Will the the tools convert the current filesystems live or it will happen
> just after reboot?

It would take _WAY_ more work to create a "filesystem convertor" than
it did to implement the filesystems themselves, because this would
require that the conversion implementor be _really intimate_ with the
internal details of all of the filesystems.

The coder would have to come up with a strategy for concurrently
allocating and de-allocating space that would allow the two
filesystems to co-exist at the same time on the same filesystem.
Getting it to work would be a pretty incredible task. Getting it to
be reliable would be a step beyond that!

It's _way_ simpler to depend on the backup procedure instead.

> In linux installation(e.g Redhat Fedora1), the default filesystems
> is ext2/ext3. Is it possible to create e.g ReiserFS/XFS in the
> firstplace during the installation process or do I have to install
> the Linux with ext2/ext3, then convert to other Journaling
> Filesystems after I'm done with the installation?

If you have a kernel available at install time that has support for
the other filesystems, then it sure ought to be possible.

If not, then make sure you have an extra partition around so that
after the system is 'live,' you can go, filesystem by filesystem, and
copy each onto the spare partition, as a "staging area" for the data.
The "problem cases" would be with / and /usr/lib, as unmounting vital
libraries is a troublesome matter.

The way to do this successfully would be to get one of the
"boot-off-floppy" or "boot-off-CD" distributions, and be running your
system off of floppy/CD so that you don't care if some of the
filesystems on the hard drive might be temporarily unavailable. 

-- 
(format nil "~S@~S" "cbbrowne" "cbbrowne.com")
http://cbbrowne.com/info/internet.html
"The Linux  philosophy is laugh in  the face of  danger.  Oops.  Wrong
One.  'Do it yourself.'  That's it."  -- Linus Torvalds

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