changing partitions

[houms]

I am new to proxmox. Let me start off by saying that I think this is one of the most "under the radar" open source projects I have come across. I think this product is outstanding and look forward to helping it grow.

My question is about the partitioning of hard drives. I have two 160GB disks and during the install proxmox takes up one entire disk. My question(s) are;

Can you manually setup the partitions during install?

I read some posts and it seems like this is not available currently, but I am not certain. As the post I read was referencing v.90 and I am running v 1.0.

So can it be done under v 1.0?

If so, how?
If not, does anyone know if this is going to be included in future releases? and if so, how long do you think it will be?

My second question is can I partition the drives post install? Because the root partition is currently 36GB, which is way bigger than I would like it. Not sure if proxmox needs this much space but if not i would certainly perfer to move as much of that over to the data partition.

If so, does anyone know whats a safe size to use for the root partition?
If not, is this planned to be included in futrue releases? if so, how long do you think it will be?

Thank you in advance for your assistance. I look forward to being an active member of this community.

 

[dietmar]

My question is about the partitioning of hard drives. I have two 160GB disks and during the install proxmox takes up one entire disk. My question(s) are;

Can you manually setup the partitions during install?
If so, how?

you can pass 2 parameters at the install cd boot prompt:

# linux maxroot=20 swapsize=4

create 20GB root and 4GB swap

My second question is can I partition the drives post install? Because the root partition is currently 36GB, which is way bigger than I would like it. Not sure if proxmox needs this much space but if not i would certainly perfer to move as much of that over to the data partition.

36GB is not much IMHO. Especially when you start using vzdump.

Note: current disk prices are about € 0,3/GB.

- Dietmar

 

[houms]

Dietmar,
first let me start off by thanking you for your quick reply. It is greatly appreciated.
So that would give me a 20G root and 4G swap right? whats the smallest you can safely make root?

When you say 36GB is not much, especially when you start using vzdump...can you clarify? As I understand it, vzdump is to create snapshots right? can you specify, where to save these snapshots ,or are they automatically stored on root? I ask this because my intention was as follows;
2 disks 160 GB
disk 1 = 20GB root 4GB swap and 130 GB data
disk 2 = used for backups/snapshots, mounted as /mnt/backup
Is this viable? If not is 36GB too small then? I mean it was automatically setup by proxmox so I don't know whats appropriate.

Assuming I install a third disk which is also 160GB. how would I add that to the data partition?

Again thank you in advance for your assistance. Thank you dietmar for letting me pick your brain.

 

[dietmar]

Dietmar,
first let me start off by thanking you for your quick reply. It is greatly appreciated.
So that would give me a 20G root and 4G swap right? whats the smallest you can safely make root?

I would not make ist smaller than 20GB, but its up to you (the base system requires about 1GB)

When you say 36GB is not much, especially when you start using vzdump...can you clarify? As I understand it, vzdump is to create snapshots right? can you specify, where to save these snapshots ,or are they automatically stored on root?

vzdump has serveral modes (snapshot/suspend/stop) - some of them store temporary files on root. but it depends how you run vzdump.

I ask this because my intention was as follows;
2 disks 160 GB
disk 1 = 20GB root 4GB swap and 130 GB data
disk 2 = used for backups/snapshots, mounted as /mnt/backup
Is this viable? If not is 36GB too small then? I mean it was automatically setup by proxmox so I don't know whats appropriate.

you can do that, although the suggested was is to use a hardware raid controller and make a raid.

Assuming I install a third disk which is also 160GB. how would I add that to the data partition?

serveral data stores are on the roadmap, but not supported jet.

- Dietmar

 

[darude]

Assuming I install a third disk which is also 160GB. how would I add that to the data partition?

proxmox is using a default LVM2.
so if you want to add an additional drive, can you do that in the default linux way by adding it as physical volume, by increasing the volume group and by increasing the logical volume for the data files.

there is a big "but", maybe the devs did some special config to their installation and its not as easy as I thought.

here is a handy guide how to use lvm(2)
http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_lvm

good luck, Benjamin.

 

[dietmar]

there is a big "but", maybe the devs did some special config to their installation and its not as easy as I thought.

no, there is nothing special, you can do it that way. It is just a bit difficult because you have to resize the filesystem.

- Dietmar

 

[darude]

thanks for your reply,
i'll try that for myself later.

bye, benjamin

 

[thefool808]

no, there is nothing special, you can do it that way. It is just a bit difficult because you have to resize the filesystem.

- Dietmar

Which means you have to have the filesystem unmounted - and therefore if you are doing the root partition, you'll have to boot to alternate media such as the debian install cd in rescue mode (not sure if proxmox has rescue mode).

Anyways, I've never had trouble increasing the size of ext3 partitions.

 

[houms]

Thanks Dietmar again, And thank you all for your responses. Sounds like I need to get a larger disk to install proxmox on.

Do you know when the multiple data partitions is expected to be introduced?
I am not familiar with the different modes of vzdump or when to use which. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
I basically want to have 3 or 4 "containers" which will all be web servers, and want to be able to backup them up on some sort of regular schedule on a seperate disk so that if the main disk dies I can still recover my data.

Is vzdump the same as the backup option on the proxmox web interface?

I currently do not have a hardware raid, what is the best alternative?

If I want to resize the root partition at this point down to 20Gb from the default 36 GB, do i have to reinstall or is there another way? if I do have to reinstall, can I do so without losing the current containers?


So can I expand the root partition using say, a sidux live cd and then adding the new disk and expanding the root partition using the new disk? Can anyone confirm if this works?

Thanks all for the great responses. Will look into lvm2 a bit further. Though I'm familiar with it, I do not recall the commands and switches from memory.

 

[dietmar]

Thanks Dietmar again, And thank you all for your responses. Sounds like I need to get a larger disk to install proxmox on.

Do you know when the multiple data partitions is expected to be introduced?

next year 2. quarter

I am not familiar with the different modes of vzdump or when to use which. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

vzdump has a manual page with a short description (man vzdump)

I basically want to have 3 or 4 "containers" which will all be web servers, and want to be able to backup them up on some sort of regular schedule on a seperate disk so that if the main disk dies I can still recover my data.

Then vzdump in snapshot mode works perfectly for you (needs no space on root)

Is vzdump the same as the backup option on the proxmox web interface?

Yes, The web interface just writes a crontab for you (/etc/cron.d/vzdump)

I currently do not have a hardware raid, what is the best alternative?

There is no real alternative to hardware raid (maybe a iSCSI/FC HBA connected to an external storage)

If I want to resize the root partition at this point down to 20Gb from the default 36 GB, do i have to reinstall or is there another way? if I do have to reinstall, can I do so without losing the current containers?

reinstall is easier.

So can I expand the root partition using say, a sidux live cd and then adding the new disk and expanding the root partition using the new disk? Can anyone confirm if this works?

never tried a sidux live cd.

- Dietmar

 

[houms]

Thanks again for your reply. Appreciate your time.
vzdump in snapshot mode, does that require downtime? if not, then since it does not write files to root, is it then safe to make the root partition smaller than 20GB or is it still recommended to stick with no lower than 20GB?

When you say reinstall is easier, is there a good way to save the current containers? I mean can I do a vzdump/backup to the other disk and then reinstall proxmox and then restore them from backup? or do I have to create a new container again?


In reference to the sidux live cd, I was just asking if it is possible with any version of linux live/rescue cds. I mean I hear the theoretical, but has anyone actually resized the root partition on an existing proxmox install successfully that can confirm this?


Thanks a lot for all your responses Dietmar, it really is good to have someone help in answering your questions no matter how silly they may be. I have to say that for all the virtualization products out there, It is a real shame that Proxmox VE is not getting the attention it certainly deserves. For me, It is just the closest thing to the perfect solution I have seen. And it is open-source. I have nothing but respect and admiration for you guys.
PVE is so great that I am going to purchase another system with a processor that supports VMX so I can use KVM. I am really excited over KVM and what it could mean to virtualization. Unfortunately my current AMD x2 64 +4200 is a socket 939 which is the generation right before VMX technology was introduced.

 

[dietmar]

Thanks again for your reply. Appreciate your time.
vzdump in snapshot mode, does that require downtime?

no downtime.

if not, then since it does not write files to root, is it then safe to make the root partition smaller than 20GB or is it still recommended to stick with no lower than 20GB?

You can make it as small as you want. But you may run into the risk that the root partition gets too small. Current HD cost are about 0.3€/GB, so its up to you if you want to wast your time doing shrink/exand operations.

When you say reinstall is easier, is there a good way to save the current containers? I mean can I do a vzdump/backup to the other disk and then reinstall proxmox and then restore them from backup?

yes

- Dietmar