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  1. #1

    Linux reinstall with mdadm RAID

    I'm pretty much a novice with Linux. I can usually find what I need on my own, but I want to try something that could potentially wipe about 5TB of data, so I'd like some more advanced input before I try.

    I have a file server at home that I initially set up with Ubuntu 10.04 Server LTS. It has 5 HDDs using mdadm for RAID. I have three partitions: one for swap, one for OS, and a large one for data. Recently I upgraded to 12.04, and a couple days ago I went to 14.04. Along the road, I've cluttered the system trying stuff out, like kubuntu-desktop. I'd like to clean that up, and ideally I'd like to just do a clean install. I don't know anyone with 5TB free that I can backup my data to, so I'll only try that if I can do it without losing any data on that third partition.

    So the question is, can I run through a clean install and reuse my swap and OS partitions and just mount that third partition with all data intact (no initialization, format, etc)? I'd even be open to another distro if there's one that has an easy way of doing that.

  2. #2
    Relic Shield
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    Gilgamesh

    Should be able to no problem, I've done this a ton of times with my server. Just make sure to pay close attention to the options during install and don't format your data partition, just mount it.

    I've done this specifically with ubuntu, usually installing the new version instead of upgrading.

  3. #3

    I'm pretty sure you can do this, like chiyio said, pay attention when using fdisk or w/e you are using for partitioning/wiping.

  4. #4
    Relic Shield
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    Gilgamesh

    If you really want to make sure you don't fuck up, do this in a virtual machine first so you know exactly what you want to do and understand the options.

  5. #5

    Thanks for the confirmation, that's what I needed to hear. Good tip on the VM, I'll try that out first before I risk my data.

  6. #6

    Update:
    I started the install on my server yesterday, and it's finally running now. The partitions were simple to figure out during the install, but then it kept failing on grub-install. I tried multiple configurations, including creating a partition just for bootgrub, to no avail. Eventually I just completed the install without grub and booted to a live CD to fix it. I made the mistake of blindly installing grub to /dev/sda, which turned out to be my thumb drive, so I had to have that plugged in to boot. But using this thread, I was able to finally get grub installed to the right drive. It came down to using parted to set up a bootgrub section on my first drive. The solution was in the post by flabdablet, for anyone with similar grub issues looking for a fix.

    Just some minor things left to do, like set up email alerts on mdadm, and I'm done.

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