Softraid convert disk to raid 5 install#

We will, as before, be using hda's MBR (Master Boot Record is the firstĥ12 bytes on a disk and is what the BIOS reads first in determining how and now we want root (/) to mount on md0.as before, /boot and MBR are still on hda,.Should show /dev/md0 mounted on /mnt/md0.įor step 5 reboot, we will tell Lilo that Partition and that your partition is correct. This verifies that you have the correct partition signatures on the If you are running the command a second time itĤ.4 Edit /etc/fstab so that you mount your new RAID partition on boot up. You don't need the -u switch it just tells cp not to copy the filesĪgain if they exist. Please refer to the Copying data section to verify you copied the data correctly. Will overwritten later by the md0 version of /etc/fstab by the sync in step 6.Ĥ.3 Copy your Debian system to RAID device. NB: THIS IS A BRANCH IN OUR SYSTEM CONFIGURATION (eg temporary!), but it On md0 unaltered and only are editing hda's /etc/fstab. Note thatīy editing hda's /etc/fstab after the copy, instead of before, we leave the copy We do this with an entry in hda's /etc/fstab and a reboot. Make sure that the new RAID device is still setup right and can be mountedĬorrectly. Go with what you trust.Ĭopy your Debian system from hda to /dev/md0 ('missing' + 'hdc'). You can use reiserfs or ext3 for this, both work, I use reiserfs for larger devices. If this gives errors then you need to zero the super block, see useful mdadm commands. Mdadm -create /dev/md0 -level=1 -raid-disks=2 missing /dev/hdc1

We will be adding /dev/hda1 back into the /dev/md0 The RAID partition we are creating, /dev/hdc1 is the initial partition. That has two members and one of the members does not exist yet. (To verify that everything is working ok.) Select Type, then hit enter, then type 'fd' (this means RAID type partition).You will need to manually create the partitions, making them the same size with cfdisk.ģ.2 Create correct partition type signatures on new partition. It will detect the new partition as 0 size or a strange size. NOTE: On some disks you cannot copy over the partitions correctly using this method copy existing partitions to new disk with sfdisk. By defaultĬfdisk will select the first disk in the system. Warning: ALWAYS give the partition when editing with cfdisk. Setup RAID 1 and declare disk-one of your RAID to be 'missing' and disk-two of your RAID to be 'hdc'.

Softraid convert disk to raid 5 install#

RAID device, unless you use a RAID savvy initrd, you need RAID compiled into Kernel, not added as a module.) 2.3 Install 'mdadm': That will prevent you fromīooting from your RAID device, unless you use initrd. (IF YOU SEE ANY RAID LISTED IN /etc/modules, then you probably have Use lsmod to list currently loaded modules, this will show raid modules loaded. etc/modules will not list RAID if Kernel has RAID compiled in instead of loaded as modules. (This will show you if raid is compiled into kernel, or detected as a module from initrd.) So the kernel has to support it or you have to load the modules in initrd. This is the most important item to verify before going any farther. YOU MUST VERIFY you have raid support via /proc/mdstat.

Md4 : active raid5 hdh4 hdg4 hdf4 hde4ģ56958720 blocks level 5, 64k chunk, algorithm 2 (You should see the RAID 'personalities' your Kernel supports.) For step by step Kernel compile andĬreating custom Kernels with Debian's kernel-package system » Into the Kernel, not added as a module, for you to boot from the RAIDĭevice (unless you use a RAID savvy initrd kernel or boot from a Read the grub directions, and comment on them.Ģ.1 Compile and install a RAID savvy Kernel. We now have grub and lilo directions, grub directions are still in beta form. I use 'mdadm' because it is easier than 'raidtools' or 'raidtools2'. I assume you will mess up a step so wherever possible, we include verification. Whenever you change your partitions, you need to reboot! (If you know what you are You can do this operation completely remotely.You do not need a rescue disk or to boot off anything except the hard drive.Now we can reboot to the RAID device ( step 5) and declare hda part of the RAID and it automatically syncs with hdc to complete our RAID 1 device ( step 6). We add another disk as Secondary Master, hdc, set it up for RAID ( step 3), and copy Debian to it ( step 4). We need RAID support in our Kernel ( step 2). We begin with Debian installed on the Primary Master drive, hda ( step 1).