Repartitioning Contiguous Space in Linux

As a follow up to the same under Solaris, I thought I'd detail
repartitioning in-use, contiguous space in Linux. To recap the
situational setup, a filesystem (FS) has run out of space and the data
contained on it couldn't be removed or compressed to free up space.

Repartitioning Contiguous Space in Solaris

Recently, a system owner aked me for help because they had run out of space on one of their filesystems (FS). As a result, this was causing problems with the application they had running. Unfortunately, this FS was being used for database files so we couldn't just remove or

Configuring AutoFS in FreeBSD

As a follow up to AutoFS in Linux, this post details simple usage of
AutoFS under FreeBSD, as controlled by 'amd'.  The purpose of AutoFS is
to mount volumes as they are needed and unmount them when they are not
in use.  The same setup I used in the Linux write up is presented here,

Configuring AutoFS in Linux

This post details simple usage of AutoFS under Linux.  The purpose of
AutoFS is to mount volumes as they are needed and unmount them when
they are not in use.  This is useful for sharing out home directories,
documentation, or applications to clients from a NAS cluster as well

Remounting Part of an FS Elsewhere

The following details loopback file system (FS) mounts. These allow one to effectively mount a portion of an FS elsewhere, providing access to the underlying sub-tree(s) via alternate pathnames wherein a symlink may not be appropriate. Our host details are:

Enabling Local FS Quotas in Linux

Quotas allow you to limit the amount of space a user or group can use
and / or the number of files a user or group can create on a filesystem
(FS).  The following shows how to set up these quotas and the expected
user experience.  Our host details for this are:

Finding Open Files in Linux

Finding open files in Linux is quite similar to finding them in FreeBSD
and Solaris.  Here, we'll specifically identify open files on a particular
filesystem (FS) within a Linux environment.  Our host details this
time are:

Finding Open Files in FreeBSD

Following up the same in Solaris, here's how to identify open files on
a particular filesystem (FS) in a FreeBSD environment.  Our host details
for this are:

Finding Open Files in Solaris

During a recent discussion, another sysadmin asked that I write him a
tool to identify any open files on a particular file system (FS) in a
Solaris environment.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I provided him
with the steps outlined here.  Our host details are:

Breaking and Syncing an MD Root Mirror

Here's one of those times where I thought, "I wonder", as in I wonder if
I can break an MD root mirror and sanely recreate it.  You can do so with
other software RAID solutions so why not here?  Well, you can.  There is
nothing short about this procedure, taking 80+ commands to accomplish.

Creating an MD Root Mirror in Linux

For whatever reason, you originally set up your Linux host without a root
disk mirror and now you want it mirrored.  One could say "just re-install,"
but surely there is another way, and there is.  The solution isn't quick
or simple, though it isn't impossible.  Our host details are:

Recreate a Linux EXT3 FS

We've looked at Solaris and FreeBSD, now it's time to look at recreating
a Linux EXT3 filesystem.  Similar to the previous two, if you customized
the options to 'mke2fs / mkfs', 'mke2fs -n' is not the answer since it
will only produce data about generic FS creation.  Our host details this

Recreate a FreeBSD UFS FS

As a follow up to recreating a Solaris UFS FS, the following details
FreeBSD.  Just as with Solaris, when trying to determine how a filesystem
was created, 'newfs -N /dev/da2s1a' is not the answer, as it only produces
information relevant to a default FS creation.  Our host details for this

Recreate a Solaris UFS FS

Have you ever wondered what options were used to create a UFS filesystem
(FS) on a Solaris host?  Normally when you ask that question, it
seems someone will refer you to passing '-N' to 'newfs'.  Unfortunately,
this response will only provide you with default parameters to build a

Disk Cloning in Linux

A while back, I wrote up how to clone a disk in Solaris and in FreeBSD,
yet somehow managed to overlook writing up how to do so in Linux.
This write up is to rectify just that, how to clone a disk, in this case,
the root disk, in Linux.  The following are our setup details:

Mounting ISO Images

So you've created a fresh ISO image and now you want to use it, verify
its contents, etc.  Whatever your purpose, it is fairly trivial to
mount the image file and access it.  The following are our host details:

Replacing VxVM with SVM for the rootdisk

The purpose of this post is to illustrate how to replace Veritas Volume
Manager (VxVM) with Sun Volume Manager (SVM) for control of the root disk
while leaving application volumes under VxVM control.  I had originally
tested this against Solaris 9 sparc running VxVM 4.0, though have updated

Overlaid Mount Problem

In UNIX environments, it's not uncommon to see various file systems (FS)
mounted, be it local storage, fiber attached from a SAN, network based
like NFS, etc.  These mounts may be exist for any number of reasons,
such as application data, user home directories, additional log space,

Removing / Recovering an Open File (Linux)

Following up on "Removing / Recovering an Open File (Solaris)," the aim
here is to do the same with Linux.  The setup is the same, wherein a
'tail' is run in another terminal to hold open a file descriptor to a
file, while said file is accidentally removed.  Though the following

Removing / Recovering an Open File (Solaris)

While working with filesystems, one will inevitably have to deal with a
file that is quickly growing and becoming unmanageable.  Unfortunately,
this situation normally becomes evident because the space of a volume
has been nearly exhausted.  If retention is necessary, you could set up