[mythtv-users] Virtualisation .. can it do this? (HP ProLiant MicroServer N40L)

[Andrew Stadt]

On 25/09/2012 9:38 AM, Michael T. Dean wrote:
> http://partimage.org/Main_Page
>
> No VM required.
>
> When it's time to upgrade, use partimage to create an image of the 
> partition(s) you want to "back up".  Then, put the file you've created 
> somewhere safe.  If you need to, you can then restore the partition 
> without worry.
>
> Or, an alternative approach--which is getting even easier these days 
> as hard drives grow to be almost too large for a "normal" system 
> drive--is to just create a few 20-30GB partitions for your root 
> partitions for multiple installs/versions, then install your Mythbuntu 
> on one of them and leave the other(s) blank.  Then, when time for an 
> upgrade, install a new Mythbuntu to a different partition***, and boot 
> into that system.  If you're not happy, boot back into the old 
> partition to record that important show during prime time and to relax 
> and watch some TV, then boot back to the new partition to work on it 
> some more when you get some free time.  This gives you the same 
> ability to easily switch back and forth between the two installs that 
> you get with a VM.  The only thing you don't get is the ability to run 
> both at the same time.
>
> I actually use a combination of these approaches so that I have an 
> image file safely tucked away on another system just in case I do 
> something stupid and pick the wrong partition for my new install or 
> whatever.
>
> Mike
>
> *** Be careful, though, to ensure that you use an install approach 
> that does not repartition/steal all the other partitions on the 
> drive.  You can probably get help on how to do this from 
> Mythbuntu/Ubuntu users.
I'll 2nd Mike's suggestion.  Use a similar technique for my system(s), 
this allows to maintain an active backup of my working backend, my 
net-booted frontends, and the database, all on another machine.  When I 
upgrade, I make another image of the system partitions, and do the 
upgrade.  If I don't like what I see you either (a) copy the images 
back, or (b) just change a few entries in grub/fstab and you're back to 
what you started with.  All with none of the headaches of trying to run 
myth in a vm.

Incidentally I do occasionally play with vm's on my master backend, but 
myth resides in the host os.  Tried visualizing it once, gave up... 
could get 1/2 the hardware working right, or the other 1/2 but not all 
at the same time.

Cheers,

Andrew.