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Subject: -12- How do I extend an existing filesystem onto a new disk?
Date: 28 Apr 2000 11:58:53 PDT
Back up the existing filesystem (just in case) then run 'mklv' and
'growfs'. 'mklv' and 'growfs' are nondestructive, so you don't need
to restore the backup unless you screw up. Don't use 'mkfs', which
does destroy existing data.
Under modern IRIX versions (w/ the XFS filesystem) lv (the original
logical volume manager) has been replaced with xlv. The requisite
subsystems are _not_ installed by default. If you wish to use logical
volumes, you must install eoe.sw.xlv, and if you wish to use mirroring
(RAID 1), you must also install eoe.sw.xlvplex. This option requires a
license be purchased from sgi.
To simply grow the filesystem to another disk, you must first create a
concatenated logical volume. This will change the volume headers of the
target disks and let the system know that they should be treated as one
volume. You can then use an 'xfs_growfs' to expand the filesystem on to
the new disk. see the manpages for xlv_make(1), xlv_mgr(1), and
xfs_growfs(1) for more details.
Please not that it is NOT POSSIBLE to have a successfully striped or
concatenated root filesystem. The only available logical volume
configuration for the root filesystem is a mirror (RAID1). Any
attempt to use another logical volume configuration will most
likely work until the next system reboot. Since the Logal volume
management software funtions on the OS level, it is unavailable
during the inital phases of the boot process. Syncing of the
mirrored filesystem will occur after the system comes up.
Up: SGI admin Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Next: -13- How do I know if I need more memory and/or swap space?
Previous: -11- How do I remount the /proc filesystem after accidentally unmounting it?