Nobody said you had to. Intel-based linux loaders allow you to select a kernel configuration at boot time, so you can keep multiple versions available. zipl doesn't let you do this (yet), so you need a kludge to make two kernels available.
My point was just that having a separate /boot doesn't buy you much. The space saving is minimal. If you're running two kernel versions they should be just that: Two separate versions, with different image names, and different module directories. Even if you're testing a new config of the same kernel version, this can be done with the VERSION and EXTRAVERSION variables in the kernel makefile (as long as you load the IBM OCO modules with insmod -f, and the timer option matches). > -----Original Message----- > From: Post, Mark K [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 1:03 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [LINUX-390] R/O Linux guest? > > > /lib is, and must be, part of the root file system (unless > you're willing to > play the games that I am not). I'm not going to replace my > entire root file > system just to upgrade a kernel. So, no problem. > > Mark Post > > -----Original Message----- > From: Hall, Ken (ECSS) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 12:58 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: R/O Linux guest? > > > What about /lib (and particularly /lib/modules)? You can't > just switch > kernels without having the corresponding modules available. > > Not to mention /var, and all of the RPM database stuff. > > Splitting off /boot seems to be mainly a relic from the days > when Linux > wouldn't boot if the root filesystem was bigger than 500mb. > (or whatever) on > Intel boxen. I haven't seen a good reason to do it > for a long time. If it's too big, it's a waste of space, and > if it's too > small, you can't keep the multiple kernels you want there. > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Post, Mark K [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 12:13 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: [LINUX-390] R/O Linux guest? > > > > > > Having /boot separate allows you to decide which volume you > > want to IPL > > from. It also allows you to have multiple IPL volumes > > available. I also > > have a /boot1, /boot2.4, etc. /root is root's home directory > > and it forces > > me to be careful with how much junk I put there. If it were > > part of /, then > > I could conceivably fill it up by being careless. > > > > In my particular case, /usr, /opt, are shared read-only with > > other systems. > > > > I'm not sure what you mean by a kernel upgrade forcing me to replace > > multiple minidisks. Most of the stuff that would need to be > > upgraded along > > with the kernel typically lives in /usr. > > > > Mark Post > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Chet Norris [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 7:24 AM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: R/O Linux guest? > > > > > > Per the below (03/12/02) response, what devices are Read-Only and > > shared? It seems to me that only /usr and /usr/src could > be. Then why > > separate /root and /boot? I know you had a good reason, and > I'm in the > > process of re-mapping my file structures. Also, doesn't a kernel > > upgrade force you to roll out multiple minidisk replacements? > > Too bad we can't map it the same as USS with a separate /etc > > per image. > > > > From Archives Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 18:38:59 -0800 > > Mark Post wrote: > > >/boot, /var and /tmp do _not_ have to be on the root file system. > > >Mine aren't. Unless you play some games, /bin, /dev, /etc, /lib, > > >and /sbin have to be part of the root file system. Anything else > > >can be easily put on a different one. > > >~ > df > > >Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on > > >/dev/dasdb1 52284 35868 13720 72% / > > >/dev/dasdc1 1062992 388560 620436 39% /tmp > > >/dev/dasdd1 1417324 1337424 7904 99% /usr > > >/dev/dasde1 111572 50520 55296 48% /var > > >/dev/dasdf1 104596 73036 26164 74% /opt > > >/dev/dasdg1 10432 1756 8140 18% /boot > > >/dev/dasdh1 52284 4936 44652 10% /root > > >/dev/dasdi1 24384 12912 10216 56% /home > > >/dev/dasdj1 921228 773876 100556 89% /usr/src > > > > Mark Post > > > > > >
