Fresh install Kubuntu 13.10: how best to partition the HD for optimal, smooth Kontakt & Akonadi
Bas G. Roufs in English
basroufs at gmail.com
Mon Nov 4 23:26:12 UTC 2013
Hello Everybody.
Thanks for all the interesting input in this thread so far - now. Now, I put
together the essentials - with a view to:
* clarifying some questions I still have;
* getting feedback about the way I am considering now to go ahead.
I also take into account this article recommended by you, Basil:
http://www.linuxidentity.com/us/down/articles/LSK_multi_distro_install_US.pdf
- the article 'Installing Multiple Distributions....' ,from Sanket Totewar.
Finally, I summarise the way I am considering now to partition the hard disks
of the 2 laptops where I want to fresh-install Kubuntu 13.10 and 3 other
systems.
If everything will work OK, I will work out some essentials from this thread
in a tutorial, to be published at the Kubuntu WIKI as well as at one of my own
websites.
In about one or two days from now, I want to start installing Kubuntu 13.10 at
both laptops. In this message, I work out the way I am considering to do so.
That's why, I would appreciate getting still a bit of feedback from this
forum.
Via the present effort, I hope to fulfill 4 needs for both laptops:
* smoothly working Kubuntu 13.10 as well as 2 -3 other secondary Linux
systems;
* enough space at the main system partition for Windows 7, hosted by Kubuntu
13.10 via a VirtualBox environment;
* a moderate CPU usage, also when Kontact and Akonadi are functioning;
* a data partition that can be approached from 4 different distro's at one HD;
However it may be - below I work out a few details. And also after today, I
will keep you updated here on my experience.
BACKUP BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE
==================================
Sanket writes in the beginning of his article:
> (..).there is a very rare chance of losing data while playing with
> partitions. So, it is a good idea to back up all
> important data before advancing any further (...)
Basil Chupin writes in one of his contributions:
> The very first thing that you do is to do a backup of your
> /home/<your-user-name> to whatever destination is of your choice. Probably
> a USB stick may not be big enough so it would be worthwhile to burn it to a
> CD or a DVD. Your choice of destination medium.
Already about 2 years, such an approach is part of my basic routine praxis. I
am using 2 external HD's where I constantly backup all my data: one of 750 GB,
another one of 2 TB. Additionally, I also constantly backup some essential
data online:
* e-mails and address book via - for the time being still- Google;
* Firefox bookmarks and passwords via 'Sync'.
WHAT EXACTLY TO DO IN WHICH STAGE
================================
In one of my previous mails, I have asked what exactly needs to be done during
or after installation of the first system - in my case Kubuntu 13.10. Basil has
answered this question as follows:
> The very first thing that you do is to do a backup of your
> /home/<your-user-name> to whatever destination is of your choice. ....
> You do all the partitioning at the start and while you are installing the
> system software[$].
More details about partitioning and installing system software, you can find
below, in the paragraph 'Root, Home, System(s) and Data'.
With respect to what needs to be done after installing the first system, Basil
writes:
>
> After the system is up and running and you have everything working then it
> could be the time to start doing the symlinking.
He works out the last phrase as follows:
> In other words, there is nothing different to what you would normally do
> when installing the system except that once its up and running you create
> the directory Alpha (whatever) in 'Data' partition and symlink the
> folders/files from your /home to Alpha.
1 SMALL 1 GB PARTITION IN THE BEGINNING
=====================================
You, Basil, say:
> What I forgot to add is to create another, small, only 1GB big, partition at
> the beginning and format it in ext4. You probably won't need it right now
> but at least you will have it available for use should you require it.
Is that little partition meant for the boot loader?
In other words: ....
> sda1 1GB ext4 btldr <==Do NOT MOUNT[@]
.... is this the partition you are aiming at?
RAM & SWAP
===========
Myriam Schweingruber writes
> How much RAM do you have? 2 GB for Swap seems not that much, the rule
> is to have the double of the RAM up until 8 GB. I currently have 8 GB
> of RAM and an equal amount of Swap space which runs quite smoothly.
Georgi Kourtev writes:
> ....2G of swap. I also noticed that my swap is almost never used.
> Don't know why. I have 4G RAM. This is Dell inspiron 1520.
Basil Chupin writes:
> * Create a SWAP partition of 4GB (probably totally unnecessary but you do
> have a lot of disc space to play around with);
Henri Linux comments:
> I recommend SWAP = RAM capacity because if you gonna put the pc in
> hibernation you don't' gonna get problems.
However it may be, I have 4 GB RAM, at both machines. So, I create 4 GB of
SWAP at each of them.
ROOT , HOME, SYSTEM(S) AND DATA
==============================
Bruce Marshall writes:
> I normally use a 20GB partition for root with a separate /home partition.
>
> And I normally use 1/2 of the 20gb which is pretty much all used for the
> system, no user data.
Georgi Kourtev writes:
> I have 30G for the root that is about half empty. The rest of my 250 G disk
> is /home, .......
Basil's advise on this subject matter is for me -so far- the best way
indication for the way I want to go on now:
> [$] After you have read the URL I gave you above, and after taking into
> account what I wrote previously, you will end up when you partition your
> HDD with these partitions:
>
> (dev - size - file system - name to give in partitioner)
>
> sda1 1GB ext4 btldr <==Do NOT MOUNT[@]
>
> sda2 4GB swap
>
> sda3 30GB ext4 / <==INSTALL system here
> sda4 Extended
>
> sda5 30GB ext4 <==Do NOT mount - for next system
>
> sda6 100GB ext4 Data <==MOUNT as Data[#]
>
> sda7 balance ext4 Spare <==MOUNT as Spare[#]
> [@] You mount this partition manually when, and if, you need it to create a
> new grub2 menu - read the pdf above.
>
> [#] By mounting them in the partitioner setup these will appear in
> /etc/fstab and be auto mounted on bootup.
For the time being, I will start with Kubuntu 13.10 along with KDE 4.11.2 as
main system, in the primary partition 'sda3' and reserve 3 other ext4
partitions for 'secondary' systems. When that system will be up and running, I
will create the symlinks from /home to /data. After doing so, I will soon
install two secondary systems and create the same symlinks from their
respective /home directories to /data. I choose for 2 systems that both also
function along with KDE 4.11.2:
* Kubuntu 12.04 (with backports);
* openSUSE 13.01.
At a third partition, I will test in a later stage a 'release candidate' of
Kubuntu 14.04.
Taking into account all the advises and my own decisions so far, I am
considering now to partition the HD at both laptops as follows:
(dev - size - file system - name to give in partitioner <=== other remarks)
'PRIMARY' PARTITIONS: sda1-sda2-sda3.
================================
sda1- 1 GB - ext 4 - bootloader <==== no mount now, if necessary later[1]
sda2 - 4 GB - swap - swap <==== at both laptops, RAM is also 4 GB.
sda3 - 50 GB - ext 4 - / <==== Main system: Kubuntu 13.10 & KDE 4.11.2,
hosting Windows 7 in a VirtualBox environment;
Question: does a /home partition need to be manually set here? Or will /home
simply show up here after finishing the installation process?
'EXTENDED' PARTITIONS: sda4 and beyond.
===================================
sda4 <==== first 'extended' partition
Question: will 'sda4' contain anything else except the beginning of the
'extended' partition?
sda5 - 30 GB - ext 4 <==== 2nd system: Kubuntu 12.04 LTS & KDE 4.11.2. [2]
sda6 - 30 GB - ext 4 <==== 3rd system: OpenSuse 13.1 & KDE 4.11.2 [3]
sda7 - 30 GB - ext 4 <==== 4th system: Kubuntu 14.04 RC & KDE 4.11.2 [4]
sda8 - 100 GB - ext 4 - Data - <==== to be mounted as 'Data'[5]
sda9 - 5 GB (Asus 1001 HA) or 255 GB (HP Pavilion DM 1) - ext 4 - Reserve -
<==== to be mounted as 'Reserve'[5]
[1] sda1 can be mounted manually later, in case a 2nd bootloader is necessary.
Question: how can I PREVENT that partition from being mounted during the
installation process of Kubuntu 13.10.?
[2] NO mount during installation of first system. Kubuntu 12.04 will be a kind
of system fall back option, in case something will go wrong with Kubuntu
13.10. Planning: mid or 2nd half of November. Questions:
* how can I PREVENT that partition from being mounted during the installation
process of Kubuntu 13.10.?
* do I need to mount that partition when installing there Kubuntu 12.04?
[3] NO mount during installation of first system. OpenSuse 13.1 will be a kind
of system fall back option, in case something will go wrong with Kubuntu
13.10. Also a comparison between Opensuse and Kubuntu may be useful for the
further development of Kubuntu. Planning: late November, early December.
Question: do I need to mount that partition when installing there OpenSuse?
[4] NO mount during installation of first system. By installing and
experimentally using from time to time Kubuntu 14.04 RC, I want to contribute
to the development of Kubuntu. Planning: some moment in January or February.
Question: do I need to mount that partition when installing there the new
Release Candidate?
[5] With respect to the DATA and 'Spare' (Reserve) partitions, Basil writes:
> [#] By mounting them in the partitioner setup these will appear in
> /etc/fstab and be auto mounted on bootup.
Question: what exactly is the 'partitioner setup' in this context?
MORE ABOUT THE CREATION OF 'SYMLINKS'
=====================================
> Now, re creating symlinks.
>
> To make so much easier for your self, install mc (Midnight Commander). mc
> has the ability to create sysmlinks for you: you simply type in where the
> symlink is to go and the name of file/folder you want the symlink to apply
> to. When you have installed mc click on the "box" (uppermost left) FILE
> and in the drop-down menu you will see Symlink - use this to create
> symlinks. (Of course there is a cli command which creates symlinks but it
> is a heck of a lot easier in mc as you can see both the source and the
> destination of the symslink (because mc has a split 'screen').
This is all clear.
> Which directories/folders to symlink? Anything which you consider as
> something which is not to be wiped out when you install a new version of
> the system. (BTW, using this symlink idea you can have several systems
> access the same data - eg, as I said I have 7 systems installed and 6 of
> them use the same data in the partition which I called Data [but a bit more
> on this below]). To be more precise, you would want to symlink /Documents,
> /Downloads, /.mozilla, /.thunderbird and anything else you want to keep
> without being disturbed or overwritten when a new version is installed.
>
> But do NOT keep any configuration files (eg /.kde4, /.thumbnails, etc - that
> is anything which may be considered as baggage which may stuff your
> installation of the new system.
It is crystal clear to me that I need to 'symlink' folders like /documents,
/desktop, /pictures and /templates. However, I am not quite sure about the
user-specific files from - in my case- Kontact and Firefox.
Let's start with Kontact - notably Kmail. I work with so-called 'disconnected
IMAP' along with Gmail. Is it possible to instruct Kmail to store the mails
somewhere in /Data/Alpha? If so, how exactly?
Is it possible to store or to 'export somehow' the so-called 'identities' I
use to send e-mail? Is it possible to store the regular 'identities' somewhere
in /Data/Alpha?
Where can I find the files from KAddressbook? Is it possible to instruct
KAddressbook to store it's user files somewhere in /Data/Alpha? By the way:
the addressbook I am using is being created by the agent 'Google contacts'.
> (There is a "catch" when creating symlinks: you need to delete the folder
> called Downloads before you can create the symlink otherwise the process
> will abort and tell you that such a directory/folder already exists. Here
> the thing to remember is to copy, or move, Downloads to Alpha then delete
> Downloads in /home and then create the symlink.
Clear.
> IF this sounds complicated
> it isn't - it's just a bit messy trying to write it all down :-) . When it
> comes the time just ask and the "mystery" will be explained :-) .
If I can get answers to the questions in this message, it will be perfectly OK
for me :-).
OK - this is enough for now :-). Thanks - sleep well or have a nice day.
Respectfully Yours,
Bas G. Roufs.
--
Bas G. Roufs MA
Utrecht, NL, European Union.
E-mail: BasRoufs at gmail.com
M./ SMS: +31 6 446 835 10; T. +31 30 785 20 40.
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