Follow-up: Red Hat / Fedora dual boot

[Zhao Peng]

Ben,

The content of /etc/redhat-release file shows:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 4 (Nahant Update 2)

Thank you.
Zhao

Ben Scott wrote:
> [CC'ing the list with the OP's permission.  Please include the list in
> any replies.]
>
> On 1/2/06, Zhao Peng <greenmt at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>>  Thank you for still paying attention to my partition problem.
>>     
>
>   Sure thing.  Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.  :)
>
>   
>>  1  What release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are you running?
>>  It's Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (2.6.9-22.EL)
>>     
>
>   I'm most interested in the release of the whole distribution.  RHEL
> 2.1, 3, 4...?  If you're not sure, you should be able to find out by
> taking a look at the /etc/redhat-release file.
>
>   2.6.9-22.EL is the kernel version.  I suppose kernel 2.6 implies
> RHEL 4, but I'd like to be sure.
>
>   Once I know what distribution and release you have, I can look up
> what tools it ships with, and what features it enables, that we might
> have to worry about.
>
>   
>>  2 What are your partitions used for?
>>
>>  "df" output:
>>
>>  Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
>>  /dev/hda5              5036284   1130792   3649660  24% /
>>  /dev/hda1               101086      8508     87359   9% /boot
>>  none                    241772         0    241772   0% /dev/shm
>>  /dev/hda7              6192896     42204   5961952   1% /home
>>  /dev/hda2              5036316   3299548   1480936  70% /usr
>>  /dev/hda3              5036316    105340   4675144   3% /var
>>     
>
>   Okay, it looks like you're in good shape.  Particular things I note
> from the above:
>
> - You're using plain partitions (not LVM or RAID or whatever)
> - You have a separate boot partition (hda1)
> - You have a big home partition (hda7), with plenty of space free, at
> the end of the disk
>
>   The easiest way to tackle a dual-boot would then be:
>
> - Shrink your home partition down to make room
> - Install the new system in an additional partition (hda8)
> - Share the same swap partition (hda6) for both installs
> - Share the same boot partition (hda1) for both installs
> - Possibly share the home partition (but one thing at a time)
>
>   First, before proceeding, the obligatory warning: *BACK UP
> EVERYTHING*.  If you don't have proper backups, you're gonna loose
> data.  Maybe not for this adventure, but eventually.   Even if you
> decide not to try this, you should still back up everything.  It's the
> one rule that applies regardless of hardware or OS.  You have been
> warned.
>
>   The kernel boot files (vmlinuz and initrd) have unique names across
> Red Hat distributions, so you have use the same boot partition for
> both distros.  This actually works out in your favor.  Each can
> install it's own kernel files in the boot partition, update the grub
> config file, and generally be happy.  GRUB will let you choose between
> installs at boot.  I'm pretty sure the Red Hat installer, anaconda,
> will handle it all for you.
>
>   The swap partition isn't used between boots, so you can use the same
> one for both installs.
>
>   The exact commands you'll need to use to resize your home partition
> will depend on the release of RHEL, as well as the file system type. 
> I expect you have an EXT3 filesystem, but again, best to be sure.  Use
> the "mount" command to see what is currently mounted.  You should see
> a line that looks something like this:
>
> /dev/hda7 on /home type ext3 (rw)
>
>   Just report the type -- in the above, "ext3".
>
>   Once we've got the details established, we should be well on our way.
>
>   
>>  "swapon -s" output:
>>  Nothing showed in terminal.
>>     
>
>   Odd.  "swapon -s" should show you the status (currently active) swap
> spaces.  From your "df" output, it's a pretty good bet that hda6 is
> your swap partition, and you reported the same in a previous post.  I
> would expect it to be there.  Well, it's probabbly not worth worrying
> about.
>
>   Cheers!
>
> -- Ben
>
>