shrinking root partition and using free space to create a block device


 
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Operating Systems Linux shrinking root partition and using free space to create a block device
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Old 02-03-2009
shrinking root partition and using free space to create a block device

We are intending to protect a set of user specified files using LVM mirroring where the protected space on which the user files are stored is mirrored on an LV on a different disk. Our problem is that for a user with a custom layout has installed linux with 2 partitons for swap and / and there is no other space available on the primary disk where we can store the files to be protected tht is mirrored across other disk, so we intend to allocate some space on the primary disk that can be used as a LV that is mirrored across an LV on different disk.
What can be done in this situation?
For now we thought of the following:
1> Shrinking the root partition to get some unallocated space that can be used to create a PV.
problems :
a. How do u do it? Can gparted be used online without the live CD?
b. How much can the root be compressed without the OS failure?
2> Can the root partition be converted into a LV?
3> There is free space on the root partition. Now can we use this free space to create a block device that can be converted into PV that would contain my protected files mirrored across other LV on a different disk. If so how can we do it?
Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks a lot.
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idisk(1M)																 idisk(1M)

NAME
idisk - create partitions for disks on an Integrity system SYNOPSIS
partition_description_file}] device DESCRIPTION
creates operating system partitions for disks on an Integrity system. It reads in the partition information from a data file that may be specified in the command string or redirected from stdin. By default, operates in read-only mode and displays the partition information that is currently on the disk. To write new partition infor- mation on the disk the user must specify the option. Options recognizes the following options: Print the primary EFI partition header and partition tables. Print the alternate EFI partition header and partition tables. Print the legacy partition table that resides in the master boot record. writes partition information for the first four partition in the partition table in used by legacy DOS and Win- dows. This information is used as a backup in the event all the EFI information is corrupted. Print the first usable and last usable block numbers that are available to create partitions. First usable is the first block a partition can start on. Last usable is the last block that can be contained in a partition. These numbers are relative to the whole disk and do not take into account any partitions that may exist. They represent the total disk space that can be partitioned. Use the option to only print the values without headings. Work silently. No user prompts or warnings. For use in shell scripts. Validate EFI partition information. Does the same checks the driver does verifying that both the primary and alternate EFI partition headers and tables are correct. Returns two if either is bad and zero if both are correct. Restore the EFI partition headers and tables. This option checks both the primary header and tables and the alternate header and tables. If one is found bad it is restored from the other good ver- sion. One of either the primary or alternate header and tables must be good for this option to succeed. The option must be specified for information to be written to the disk. Remove all EFI partition headers and tables from the disk. This option also destroys the information contained in the MBR (master boot record). The option must be specified for information to be written to the disk. The partition_description_file contains the number of partitions to be created and the type and requested size of each partition. The filename may be specified here or redirected from stdin when the dash is used. Enable write mode. By default operates in read-only mode. To create and write partition information to the disk you must specify the option. Partition Description File The first entry in the partition description file is the number of partitions to create. The maximum number of partitions allowed is 12. This is followed by a line containing the type and size for each of the partitions. Recognized partition types are: and At least one EFI partition is required to create a valid partition table. Size may be specified in megabytes or as a percentage of the whole disk. Internally, creates the partitions whose size is specified in MB first then creates those whose size was specified as a percentage. Those partitions specified as a percent are assigned space from what is available after the MB partitions are created. If the size of a parti- tion is specified as 100% then all space remaining is assigned to that partition. An example partition description file is shown below: The first entry specifies the number of partitions to create. The second specifies an EFI partition of 100 megabytes. The last entry specifies a HPUX partition consisting of all the remaining space on the disk after the EFI partition has been created. When creating partitions, the device file name must be that of the whole disk. Legacy device files must not have any partition number bits set in the minor number. For legacy disk devices, the last eight bits of the minor number represent the option bits. For Integrity system disks, the last four option bits are used to indicate the partition number. Since there are only four bits for parti- tion number, only one to fifteen partitions are supported. For example, a device node with a minor number of 0x008001 would indicate a disk at target eight, partition number one. A minor number of 0x00500F would indicate a disk at target 5 partition fifteen. A minor num- ber with no partition bits set would indicate the whole disk (for example, 0x008000 would be the same disk as above but represent the whole disk and not a partition). Persistent device special files do not use or contain minor number information. A detailed description on persistent device special files can be found in intro(7). Note: For partitions created by device special files must be created for each legacy hardware path to the disk and for the LUN hardware path using or (see intro(7) for details on legacy and agile modes). If legacy mode is disabled (see the descrip- tion of the option in rmsf(1M)), device special files must only be created for the LUN hardware path. Note has been ported to Windows NT 4.0 and 2000. RETURN VALUE
Exit values are: Successful completion. Error condition occurred. EXAMPLES
Create the partitions specified in the above description file, printing only the primary partition information: Create the partitions specified in the above description file, printing only the primary partition information using a persistent device special file (see intro(7)): Create the partitions specified in the above description file, printing all available information (default), redirecting input from stdin: Only read the disk, printing all tables (default) on the disk: Get the first and last usable block for partitioning on the disk: Destroy all partition information on the disk: Restore partition information from either a good primary or alternate header or table to the header or table that is bad: AUTHOR
was developed by HP. SEE ALSO
insf(1M), mksf(1M), efi(4), intro(7). Integrity Systems Only idisk(1M)