how to implement my unused /var partition in FC4?

"Robert Nichols" <SEE_SIGNATURE.RemoveThis@localhost.localdomain.invalid> schreef in
bericht news:db344r$reg$1@omega-3a.right.here...
> In article <1121229461.015523.273450.RemoveThis@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> andrew <seawolf.RemoveThis@scssi.org> wrote:
> :Hello, all
> :
> :when I was installing my FC4 recently, i had allocated a separate
> :(500MB) partition for /var, but somehow missed telling the installer
> :this, and ended up with a /var subdirectory of /(root)
> :
> :short of doing a reinstall (which would be very time-costly for me),
> :how can I fix this?
> :
> :Should the follow strategy work?
> :
> :I tried the following once, but did not persist after it failed:
> :
> :1) boot with linux rescue
> :2) mount my /dev/sda5 (the unused, intended /var) on a temporary
> : mount point ( /sysimage/blah )
> :
> :3) cp -Rp /sysimage/var /sysimage/blah
> :
> :4) add the following to my /etc/fstab :
> :/dev/sda5 /var ext3 defaults 1 2
> :
> :When I rebooted, the system hang
> :I had to go into linux rescue and delete the above fstab line, to get
> :back to "normal"
>
> I suspect that the problem is with your "cp" command and that the
> contents of your old /var directory now exist in /var/var when your
> new partition is mounted. Try this:
>
> cp -a /sysimage/var/* /sysimage/blah
>
> Note the use of "-a", which will preserve symbolic links, something
> your original options did not do.
>
> --
> Bob Nichols AT comcast.net I am "rnichols42"

Andrew,


In the rescue mode, I would do a chroot to your boot disk.

After that copy the /var content to /blah by

cp -avR /var/* /blah


Regards,


Jan Gerrit

Hello, Robert, Jan et al

thanks for the tips

I emerged my lost /dev/sda5 (intended /var) partition and
the system is working... well, sort of. It seems i need to
fix my Logical Volume Management (LVM) - (didn't know the
beast existed until today).

I attempted another rescue-mode fix (details below) and rebooted.
The boot stalled for a loooong time (i thought indefinitely)
but then proceeded, with errors, until system was up.
Here are the boot errors (i am retyping so, may not be exact,
character for character):

Setting up Logical Volume Management: /var/lock: mkdir failed:
Read-only filesystem
No Volume groups found [ OK ]

[

<skip>

Starting system logger # a 30-second wait, then switches to
# non-gui console and hangs for about 5 to 7 minutes

Then boots with more errors while starting various services, having
to do with write permissions (as far as i can remember - i couldn't
find anything in the logs about it, perhaps, because the log entries
were not made, due to the problem at hand, or because i don't
know where to look)

Any tips about fixing my LVM appreciated (i'm assuming that's
all that's left to fix)

When the system finally comes up, it seems to be fully operational,
and is writing to the (newly aligned) /var directory and partition

Below is what i did in rescue mode.

TIA
Andrew

my rescue mode procedure:

First, for the record, in my initiall post i mistakenly said
"/sysimage/blah", but the actual path of the moint point was
"/mnt/sysimage/blah". Same with "/mnt/sysimage/var", etc...

Second, here is what it did and didn't:

I did not chroot /mnt/sysimage, because that precludes me from creating
a volatile, temporary moint point - /mnt/sysimage/blah (just excess
caution to minimize creating permanent stuff during the fix)

Thus, in my linux rescue mode, i did:

mkdir /mnt/sysimage/blah
mount -t ext3 /dev/sda5 /mnt/sysimage/blah
cp -apR /mnt/sysimage/var/* /mnt/sysimage/blah/
# the "-p" is to preserve permissions and timestamps

cd /mnt/sysimage
mv ./var ./tvar # rename the existing var directory to get it
# out of the way, but restorable

mkdir ./var # create the new designated mount point for /dev/sda5

Then i added my fstab entry ( /dev/sda5 /var etc. etc. )

powered down. Rebooted, with errors (see above

After some research and poking around, i am no longer sure my problem
is LVM.

Sitting at a normal, working machine just now, watching it boot, I saw
the "Setting up Logical Volume Management: /var/lock: mkdir failed:
.... " message. The boot was normal and quick. So perhaps the latter
error message is not a clue to solve my problem.

However, i just discovered what /may/ be a clue: when I run dmesg, i
get many lines of the following:

audit(1121403329.184:12727): avc: denied { search } for pid=2249
comm="cups-c onfig-dae" name=/ dev=sda5 ino=2
scontext=system_u:system_r:cupsd_config_t tcont
ext=system_u:object_r:file_t tclass=dir

with the numbers in the parentheses incrementing with each new line.

(note the part about sda5 (that is my "restored" partition))

(dmesg doesn't seem to be printing the normal messages it is supposed
to.)

any help greatly appreciated.

TIA

Andrew

In article <1121403926.335199.28760.TakeThisOut@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
andrew <seawolf.TakeThisOut@scssi.org> wrote:
:After some research and poking around, i am no longer sure my problem
:is LVM.
:
:Sitting at a normal, working machine just now, watching it boot, I saw
:the "Setting up Logical Volume Management: /var/lock: mkdir failed:
:... " message. The boot was normal and quick. So perhaps the latter
:error message is not a clue to solve my problem.
:
:However, i just discovered what /may/ be a clue: when I run dmesg, i
:get many lines of the following:
:
:audit(1121403329.184:12727): avc: denied { search } for pid=2249
:comm="cups-c onfig-dae" name=/ dev=sda5 ino=2
:scontext=system_u:system_r:cupsd_config_t tcont
:ext=system_u:object_r:file_t tclass=dir
:
:with the numbers in the parentheses incrementing with each new line.
:
:(note the part about sda5 (that is my "restored" partition))
:
:(dmesg doesn't seem to be printing the normal messages it is supposed
:to.)

Unless your /etc/selinux/config contains a line "SELINUX=enforcing"
those audit messages are harmless. To fix them you probably just need
to restore the security contexts in your new /var partition by running
"restorecon -R /var". Sorry, I didn't think about that in my original
reply. I disabled SELinux a while back after reaching the conclusion
that it was way more trouble than it was worth in my situation.

--
Bob Nichols AT comcast.net I am "rnichols42"

Success! "restorecon -R /var" did the trick.
thanks a million
andrew