New boot drive for FC_

[jbk at mail2.gis.net (jbk)]

Matthew Gillen wrote:
> jbk wrote:
>   
>> jbk wrote:
>>     
>>> I don't want to lose all the customizations but want to experiment
>>> with the new 64 bit arch. Have others done this? I typically do not
>>> create a seperate "home" partition and was not going to do so this
>>> time unless there is an advantage to sharing across architectures. I
>>> will have to duplicate samba across the two architectures so that file
>>> sharing on the network can remain active.
>>>       
>
> I realize this is a little late, since you seem to have already figured out
> what you need, but for what it's worth:
> Should home be it's own partition?  Well, depends if you keep anything
> there.  I find that under most circumstances it's far easier to keep home on
> a separate partition, thereby making it trivial to share across
> installations.  It also provides a safe place to store other things.  For
> saving customizations, I usually (as root) tar up /etc (for config files)
> and /var (for mail, databases, and various other run-time generated stuff),
> and store the tar files on my separate home partition.  That way you save
> every possible config file that you might have customized.
>
> Even if you use new-fangled GUI tools to re-create most of your
> configuration, there's nothing like having the old actual file for reference
> when things aren't working like they used to.
>
> As far as dangerous upgrades of Test releases, you may want to try this:
> http://www.brandonhutchinson.com/Upgrading_Red_Hat_Linux_with_yum.html
>
> I recently used that method to upgrade an FC5-test2 install to FC5-test3 via
> yum (ie without downloading iso images or running an installer).
>
> --
> Matt
>
>   
Thanks for the reply.
I didn't make a separate home partition because I was afraid that the 
64bit upgrade would overwrite and be incompatible with the old 32 bit 
customizations, especially thunderbird and firefox. Also, I would have 
to deal with any issues immediately, and I do not have enough hair to spare.
Instead I opted for a separate install partition. This way I can copy 
and paste to test compatibility. This is working so far. I just got ssh 
working by coping the 32bit etc/ssh to the 64bit etc/ssh. Your advice to 
tar etc and var, and keep a copy on the home or in my case data 
partition is well taken. I do do tape backups but that is cumbersome to 
access for cut and paste.

till next
    Jim