[mythtv-users] Virtualisation .. can it do this? (HP ProLiant MicroServer N40L)
Andrew Stadt
acstadt at stadt.ca
Sat Sep 29 13:00:30 UTC 2012
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.
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