Why isn't the /home directory on my hard drive?Forum: HD Install Topic: Why isn't the /home directory on my hard drive? started by: jhsu Posted by jhsu on May 26 2007,00:52
Here are my partitions:Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ hda1 Boot Primary Linux ext2 57.58 hda3 Primary Linux ext2 19847.61 hda2 Primary Linux swap 509.97 I've noticed that the /home directory is a shortcut to ramdisk. This is the directory for root and all subordinate users. How do I get the /home directory to be on hda3? I'm used to saving things to the /home drive, but it's currently part of RAM rather than the hard drive. Posted by mikshaw on May 26 2007,01:46
Use the boot option home=hda3This will create the directory /mnt/hda3/home/dsl if it doesn't already exist. Your home directory will still appear to be in /ramdisk/home/dsl, but that's just a symlink to /mnt/hda3/home/dsl The home directory for root is /root, which you will need to backup if you want to keep those files persistent. Or you can create a root directory on /mnt/hda3 and symlink it to /root in the /opt/bootlocal.sh script. Posted by jhsu on May 26 2007,03:27
OK, you say to use the boot option "home=hda3". But how do I implement this step? Under the frugal hard drive installation, I don't get the splash screen that allows me to enter cheat codes by pressing F2. I believe that I'm supposed to add the text "home=hda3" to a particular file, but which file is it, and in what directory is this file? Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on May 26 2007,03:33
It depends on your bootloader. Did you check the wiki for details?
Posted by jhsu on May 26 2007,03:58
I'm using the grub bootloader, but I couldn't find the instructions on that in the Wiki. Posted by jhsu on May 26 2007,04:33
OK, I rebooted DSL with the live CD, pressed F2 at the splash screen, and entered the cheat code "dsl home=hda3". Now the home/dsl directory has appeared under /mnt/hda3.I'm not sure what to do next. In Linux systems in general, what exactly does the "/home" directory mean? In my brief experience as a Linux user, this is the first time I've ever used a frugal install and have always used the more conventional installation in the past (in which the distribution used one drive instead of two). Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on May 26 2007,06:21
If you're using grub, why are you trying it with the livecd bootloader? See wiki page on cheatcodes. i.e. you'll probably want to edit /cdrom/boot/grub/menu.lstAfter you set it, it should be automatic... no need to do anything else. See the (Linux) FHS (Filesystem Hierarchy Standard) for more info. If you're more familiar with windows then this would be similar to the "Documents and Settings" folder with the exception of /root . Posted by jhsu on May 26 2007,14:30
< If you're using grub, why are you trying it with the livecd bootloader? See wiki page on cheatcodes. i.e. you'll probably want to edit /cdrom/boot/grub/menu.lst After you set it, it should be automatic... no need to do anything else. > Wouldn't the change be wiped out every time I upgrade my DSL frugal installation? Posted by mikshaw on May 26 2007,14:46
My opinion of the home directory: $HOME (a.k.a. ~/, a.k.a /home/username) is one of the most useful features of a Linux system. Being a true mutli-user operating system, Linux must provide a way for each user to create a unique environment, and the home directory does this. Nearly every user application looks first in this directory for configuration files which may customize the behavior of that application. Those apps include Bash, which is the default shell, and xinit, which starts the X environment. Both of these applications will read certain files in /home/dsl when they start. The commands in those files can control everything from the look of your bash prompt, to any/all of your environment variables, to which programs are started automatically when you login or start x. Anything that can be done manually from a terminal can be automated by adding commands to startup scripts in $HOME |