Converting File Systems

If the existing file system is ext2, converting it to ext3 can be done using the tune2fs command. For example, if you want to convert the existing ext2 partition /dev/hda1 to ext3, issue the following command:

tune2fs j /dev/hda1

Converting to a file system type other than ext3 is more time-consuming. For example, to convert /usr, which is on /dev/hdb2, to ReiserFS, do the following:

1.Choose an empty partition that is larger than /dev/hdb2say, /dev/hdb3as a temporary partition.

2.Format the temporary partition:

mkreiserfs /dev/hdb3

3.Create a temporary directory:

mkdir /mnt/tempfs

4.Copy the contents of /usr to a temporary directory:

cp preserver=all R /usr/mnt/tempfs

5.Unmount /usr:

umount /usr

6.Unmount /mnt/tempfs:

umount /mnt/tempfs

7.Mount /usr on /dev/hdb3:

mount /dev/hdb3 /usr

8.Reformat the old /usr partition:

mkreiserfs /dev/hdb2 mount /dev/hdb2 /mnt/tempfs

9.Copy the contents of /usr back to its original partition:

cp preserve=all R /usr /mnt/tempfs

10.Unmount /usr:

umount /usr

11.Unmount /mnt/tempfs:

umount /mnt/tempfs

12.Remount /usr on its original partition:

mount /dev/hdb2 /usr

Repeat this process for other directories you want to convert.

The final step for preinstallation planning for optimization is configuring RAID.