moving data from home directory to home partition

[Ioannis Vranos]

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 9:59 PM, Default User <hunguponcontent at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I run Ubuntu 11.10, home user, single user setup, no lvm, nothing exotic.
> For simplicity I have just 2 partitions:
>
> /  (bootable, ext4)
> linux-swap
>
> So all of my data (except system and application-generated configuration
> files, etc.) is in the /home directory of /.  I have heard a number of users
> recommend a separate home partition, that it makes things easier when
> updating or upgrading.
>
> So could I just:
> 1) use the Ubuntu install routine from a "live" media to create a new,
> separate home partition
> 2) use the Ubuntu install routine from a "live" media to mark the new
> partition as "home"
> 3) reboot
> 4) move the data from /home to the new home partition
> 5) reboot again

Well, if I had to do that migration, I would:

Backup all my files I do not want to lose in case of failure, and then:

install and use gparted package, resize the root partition to leave
some empty space on hard disk, then create a new partition, create a
new ext4 filesystem on the new partition, edit /etc/fstab to have the
new partition mounted at /home directory on next boot, then I would
run

shutdown now

to enter single-user runlevel (you are the root user in that runlevel)
- or alternatively boot by choosing the option "Ubuntu, with Linux
3.0.0-15-generic (recovery mode)"  and there choose the equivalent
options - or alternatively use a Live Ubuntu CD/DVD and become a
*root*

(no other user must be logged in, since you are going to move the
entire /home directory contents)

then mount the new partition in a temporary directory, move the
contents of /home directory to the temporary directory, unmount the
temporary directory, then reboot, and if nothing went wrong, you are
ready to go.


However, I think that there is no reason to do that for home user
installations, a separate home directory makes sense usually in a
server (usually without X.Org installed), with many users that you do
not trust environment.

In any case, I think it is better to leave it at least your next clean
installation of Ubuntu.

However, for home users I think it is not needed to have separate
/home partition. But you may wish to experiment, which is OK too.


> Would that work?  Or should I just wait until 12.04 and do a fresh install
> with a separate home partition then?

Then it is better, if you need to do it.



-- 
Ioannis Vranos

http://cppsoftware.binhoster.com