Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Fri, November 18, 2011 1:33 am, Mark Knecht wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:13:09 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: Do you have separately partitioned drives with those partitions arranged into single-partition arrays, or do you have one RAID device that is then partitioned? If the latter, you should certainly work with the md device. I prefer to avoid all this confusion by creating a large, single partition array that I use an an LVM physical volume. Separately partitioned drives arranged into RAID arrays. So you have three partitions arranged into a single RAID5 partition, say /dev/md1? In that case, the size of /dev/md1 should already be correct and you only need to resize the filesystem and you should ignore my witterings about fdisk that filed to take into account your use of RAID. resize2fs /dev/md1 should be all you need, you shouldn't even need to unmount the filesystem. I have 3 partitions which were previously RAID-1. I've already failed one drive so at this moment it's a 2-drive RAID-1. I'm attempting to get those two remaining 2 partitions converted to RAID-5 the command suggested on the RAID list for doing that isn't working for me. Once the 250GB RAID-1 is converted to RAID-5 i have to add a new drive back in to become a 3-drive RAID-5. The drive I add will be the drive I just failed. c2stable ~ # mdadm --grow /dev/md6 --level=5 mdadm: /dev/md6: could not set level to raid5 c2stable ~ # c2stable ~ # mdadm -D /dev/md6 /dev/md6: Version : 1.1 Creation Time : Thu Apr 15 10:45:35 2010 Raid Level : raid1 Array Size : 247416933 (235.96 GiB 253.35 GB) Used Dev Size : 247416933 (235.96 GiB 253.35 GB) Raid Devices : 2 Total Devices : 2 Persistence : Superblock is persistent Update Time : Thu Nov 17 13:27:20 2011 State : clean Active Devices : 2 Working Devices : 2 Failed Devices : 0 Spare Devices : 0 Name : c2stable:6 (local to host c2stable) UUID : 249c7331:a8203540:c8f3b020:fb30a66b Events : 1039 Number Major Minor RaidDevice State 0 860 active sync /dev/sda6 1 8 221 active sync /dev/sdb6 c2stable ~ # I have never had to change a RAID-1 to RAID-5, but I would do it as follows: 1) Fail 2 drives from the RAID-1 2) Remove those 2 drives from the RAID-1 3) Create a new RAID-5 (with failed disk) using the 2 removed drives 4) Copy the data over from the RAID-1 to the RAID-5 5) Remove the RAID-1 6) Add the third drive to the RAID-5 and let it rebuild. I don't know the commands for the above from memory, but I'm sure some of this is in the man-page. -- Joost
[gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
Hi, I've got a 3-disk 250GB RAID-1 that I use for short term, on the machine backups. It's normally not mounted unless I'm doing a quick save. Unfortunately it's a bit too small these days so I'm therefore going to convert it to a 3-disk RAID-5 which will double it's size. I'm pretty sure I've got the command set right to do the RAID-1 to RAID-5 conversion, but once it's done I believe the file system itself will still be 250GB so I'll need to resize the file system. In the past I've done this with gparted, which seems to work fine, but this time I was considering doing it at the command line. Does anyone know of a good web site that goes through how to do that? I've browsed around and found different pages that talk about it but my reading looks like they all have minor differences which leaves me a bit worried. Note that the status of the backup is currently good but if I happen to lose the data on that partition it won't likely be a big problem. I'm just trying to get to the end of the process without losing it if possible. Thanks, Mark
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:01:46 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: I'm pretty sure I've got the command set right to do the RAID-1 to RAID-5 conversion, but once it's done I believe the file system itself will still be 250GB so I'll need to resize the file system. In the past I've done this with gparted, which seems to work fine, but this time I was considering doing it at the command line. Does anyone know of a good web site that goes through how to do that? I've browsed around and found different pages that talk about it but my reading looks like they all have minor differences which leaves me a bit worried. Using cfdisk or fdisk, delete the partition and recreate it, USING THE SAME START BLOCK at a larger size. Then resize2fs /dev/sdwhatever will resize the filesystem to fill the partition. -- Neil Bothwick I just took an IQ test. The results were negative. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Moving partitionless (hypothetical) (Was: Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line? )
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 12:25 PM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:01:46 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: I'm pretty sure I've got the command set right to do the RAID-1 to RAID-5 conversion, but once it's done I believe the file system itself will still be 250GB so I'll need to resize the file system. In the past I've done this with gparted, which seems to work fine, but this time I was considering doing it at the command line. Does anyone know of a good web site that goes through how to do that? I've browsed around and found different pages that talk about it but my reading looks like they all have minor differences which leaves me a bit worried. Using cfdisk or fdisk, delete the partition and recreate it, USING THE SAME START BLOCK at a larger size. Then resize2fs /dev/sdwhatever will resize the filesystem to fill the partition. Silly question, but is there really a need for a partition in a scenario like that? He could conceivably move the data to the beginning of the block device, and then run resize2fs. Less silly question: What would an effective means of moving the data on-disk like that be? Something like: dd if=/dev/md0 of=/dev/md0 skip=$count_of_blocks_to_get_to_fs_start would do it, I think, since you wouldn't be overwriting any block unless it was useless or already moved. Better not interrupt it unless you can recalculate the skip and seek parameters, though. That'd default to moving data 512 bytes at a time, though, which would be slow and painful. You could do something like dd if=/dev/md0 of=/dev/md0 skip=$fs_start count=$boundary_pos dd if=/dev/md0 of=/dev/md0 bs=4M skip=$resume_read_pos seek=$resume_write_pos where: fs_start = # the block number to where the filesystem begins boundary_pos = # how many increments of 512 bytes it would take to get to a nice round number like 4M resume_read_pos = # how many increments of 4MB it would take to get back to where we left off reading resume_write_pos = # how many increments of 4MB it would take to get back to where we left off writing I don't know what the exact values for these would be, though. -- :wq
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 9:25 AM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:01:46 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: I'm pretty sure I've got the command set right to do the RAID-1 to RAID-5 conversion, but once it's done I believe the file system itself will still be 250GB so I'll need to resize the file system. In the past I've done this with gparted, which seems to work fine, but this time I was considering doing it at the command line. Does anyone know of a good web site that goes through how to do that? I've browsed around and found different pages that talk about it but my reading looks like they all have minor differences which leaves me a bit worried. Using cfdisk or fdisk, delete the partition and recreate it, USING THE SAME START BLOCK at a larger size. Then resize2fs /dev/sdwhatever will resize the filesystem to fill the partition. -- Neil Bothwick Really? Delete the partition? Sounds scary! (But actually makes sense. The data is still there.) I'm not sure how this works in the case of a RAID though. Here's the current partition table for sda where sda6, sdb6 sdc6 are part of the RAID-1:: c2stable ~ # fdisk -l /dev/sda Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x8b45be24 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 63 112454 56196 83 Linux /dev/sda2 112455 8514449 4200997+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/sda3 8594775 11346709452436160 fd Linux raid autodetect /dev/sda4 113467095 976768064 4316504855 Extended /dev/sda5 113467158 21833941452436128+ fd Linux raid autodetect /dev/sda6 481933935 976768064 247417065 83 Linux /dev/sda7 218339478 481933871 131797197 fd Linux raid autodetect Partition table entries are not in disk order c2stable ~ # It's not that I want to change the partition size of the 3 pieces of the RAID-1, it's that after I convert the RAID-1 to RAID-5 I want it to be 500GB. I asked some questions on the Linux RAID list and putting together info from a couple of people here's how I'm thinking I proceed with the conversion: 1) First, fail one disk and clean it up for later: umount /dev/md6 mdadm --stop /dev/md6 mdadm /dev/md6 --fail /dev/sdc6 --remove /dev/sdc6 mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdc6 At this point the RAID-1 is still 3-drives but one is marked 'failed'. The failed drive is at this point like a new drive as it has no superblock. (I think...) 2) Now I convert the 3-drive RAID1 to a 2-drive RAID-1: mdadm --grow /dev/md6 --raid-devices=2 3) Create a 2-drive RAID-5: mdadm has an 'instantaneous' conversion of RAID-1 to RAID-5 for the 2-drive case because parity of a single drive is just the data itself. /dev/sdb6 is now 'parity' instead of 'data'. mdadm /dev/md6 --grow --level=5 4) Add a 3rd drive to the RAID-5: mdadm /dev/md6 --add /dev/sdc6 mdadm /dev/md6 --grow --raid-devices=3 At this point I was told: Now, resize your filesystem to use the additional space. So, if at this point the end-block of sda6 isn't 976768064 but, let's say, 7 because mdadm set it to something new, then using your suggestion I guess I'd set it back to 976768064? I'm not comfortable however that if I do that that whatever is out there beyond 7 is really formatted as ext3 and 'empty' as I don't know what the mdadm conversion has done to it. Thanks, Mark
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 9:25 AM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:01:46 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: I'm pretty sure I've got the command set right to do the RAID-1 to RAID-5 conversion, but once it's done I believe the file system itself will still be 250GB so I'll need to resize the file system. In the past I've done this with gparted, which seems to work fine, but this time I was considering doing it at the command line. Does anyone know of a good web site that goes through how to do that? I've browsed around and found different pages that talk about it but my reading looks like they all have minor differences which leaves me a bit worried. Using cfdisk or fdisk, delete the partition and recreate it, USING THE SAME START BLOCK at a larger size. Then resize2fs /dev/sdwhatever will resize the filesystem to fill the partition. -- Neil Bothwick Really? Delete the partition? Sounds scary! (But actually makes sense. The data is still there.) I'm not sure how this works in the case of a RAID though. Here's the current partition table for sda where sda6, sdb6 sdc6 are part of the RAID-1:: c2stable ~ # fdisk -l /dev/sda Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x8b45be24 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 63 112454 56196 83 Linux /dev/sda2 112455 8514449 4200997+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/sda3 8594775 113467094 52436160 fd Linux raid autodetect /dev/sda4 113467095 976768064 431650485 5 Extended /dev/sda5 113467158 218339414 52436128+ fd Linux raid autodetect /dev/sda6 481933935 976768064 247417065 83 Linux /dev/sda7 218339478 481933871 131797197 fd Linux raid autodetect Partition table entries are not in disk order c2stable ~ # It's not that I want to change the partition size of the 3 pieces of the RAID-1, it's that after I convert the RAID-1 to RAID-5 I want it to be 500GB. I asked some questions on the Linux RAID list and putting together info from a couple of people here's how I'm thinking I proceed with the conversion: 1) First, fail one disk and clean it up for later: umount /dev/md6 mdadm --stop /dev/md6 mdadm /dev/md6 --fail /dev/sdc6 --remove /dev/sdc6 mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdc6 At this point the RAID-1 is still 3-drives but one is marked 'failed'. The failed drive is at this point like a new drive as it has no superblock. (I think...) 2) Now I convert the 3-drive RAID1 to a 2-drive RAID-1: mdadm --grow /dev/md6 --raid-devices=2 3) Create a 2-drive RAID-5: mdadm has an 'instantaneous' conversion of RAID-1 to RAID-5 for the 2-drive case because parity of a single drive is just the data itself. /dev/sdb6 is now 'parity' instead of 'data'. mdadm /dev/md6 --grow --level=5 4) Add a 3rd drive to the RAID-5: mdadm /dev/md6 --add /dev/sdc6 mdadm /dev/md6 --grow --raid-devices=3 At this point I was told: Now, resize your filesystem to use the additional space. So, if at this point the end-block of sda6 isn't 976768064 but, let's say, 7 because mdadm set it to something new, then using your suggestion I guess I'd set it back to 976768064? I'm not comfortable however that if I do that that whatever is out there beyond 7 is really formatted as ext3 and 'empty' as I don't know what the mdadm conversion has done to it. Your resize would be applied not to /dev/sd?, but to /dev/md?. You don't need to worry about what that means on /dev/sd*; the filesystem you want to poke is on /dev/md*. file -s /dev/sd* /dev/md* -- :wq
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 10:43 AM, Michael Mol mike...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: SNIP At this point I was told: Now, resize your filesystem to use the additional space. So, if at this point the end-block of sda6 isn't 976768064 but, let's say, 7 because mdadm set it to something new, then using your suggestion I guess I'd set it back to 976768064? I'm not comfortable however that if I do that that whatever is out there beyond 7 is really formatted as ext3 and 'empty' as I don't know what the mdadm conversion has done to it. Your resize would be applied not to /dev/sd?, but to /dev/md?. You don't need to worry about what that means on /dev/sd*; the filesystem you want to poke is on /dev/md*. file -s /dev/sd* /dev/md* -- :wq Yes, resize would be done to /dev/md?. I agree. However I don't believe that I'd use Neil's suggestion of fdisk block numbers on /dev/md, right? That doesn't make sense to me and I don't beleieve Neil was suggesting anything like that. I'm thinking that possibly the mdadm way to change the _size_ of a RAID is to once again use the grow option: quote -G, --grow Change the size or shape of an active array. quote I've not yet found any instructions that I trust to do it though, and being that the instructions above came from, among others, Neil Brown who manages mdadm I'm hesitant to go in my own direction. I'm just looking before I leap. And fortunately, if I decided to just blow away all three disks and start from scratch I have very little at risk that way, and very little risk as I will do backups of the RAID-1 onto an external USB drive before I start this process anyway. - Mark
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:59 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 10:43 AM, Michael Mol mike...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: SNIP At this point I was told: Now, resize your filesystem to use the additional space. So, if at this point the end-block of sda6 isn't 976768064 but, let's say, 7 because mdadm set it to something new, then using your suggestion I guess I'd set it back to 976768064? I'm not comfortable however that if I do that that whatever is out there beyond 7 is really formatted as ext3 and 'empty' as I don't know what the mdadm conversion has done to it. Your resize would be applied not to /dev/sd?, but to /dev/md?. You don't need to worry about what that means on /dev/sd*; the filesystem you want to poke is on /dev/md*. file -s /dev/sd* /dev/md* -- :wq Yes, resize would be done to /dev/md?. I agree. However I don't believe that I'd use Neil's suggestion of fdisk block numbers on /dev/md, right? That doesn't make sense to me and I don't beleieve Neil was suggesting anything like that. I'm thinking that possibly the mdadm way to change the _size_ of a RAID is to once again use the grow option: quote -G, --grow Change the size or shape of an active array. quote I've not yet found any instructions that I trust to do it though, and being that the instructions above came from, among others, Neil Brown who manages mdadm I'm hesitant to go in my own direction. I'm just looking before I leap. And fortunately, if I decided to just blow away all three disks and start from scratch I have very little at risk that way, and very little risk as I will do backups of the RAID-1 onto an external USB drive before I start this process anyway. Ok, I thought you had it clear how you were going to resize the raid, and needed help resizing the filesystem that already existed on top of the RAID. I interpreted Mark's instructions as operating under that impression, too. Are you saying you don't already have a partition table sitting on top of /dev/md? ? -- :wq
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 11:13 AM, Michael Mol mike...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:59 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: SNIP Ok, I thought you had it clear how you were going to resize the raid, and needed help resizing the filesystem that already existed on top of the RAID. I interpreted Mark's instructions as operating under that impression, too. Are you saying you don't already have a partition table sitting on top of /dev/md? ? OK, I'm getting a little confused because I am Mark. Maybe you meant Neil above? Anyway, yes, my question in the title is still the question. If, as I understand reading between the lines, that the mdadm conversion from RAID-1 to RAID-5 leaves me with a 250GB RAID-5 then how do I make it a 500GB RAID-5? My assumption right now is that mdadm won't change the partition sizing so what I need to do is just resize the filesystem and (I think) what I want are the right commands to run with something like resize2fs, where you check, then resize, then check again: e2fsck -f /dev/md6 resize2fs /dev/md6 e2fsck -f /dev/md6 However one site I found said to convert it to ext2 first - removing the journal - and then adding the journal back in later. - Mark
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:59:06 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: Yes, resize would be done to /dev/md?. I agree. However I don't believe that I'd use Neil's suggestion of fdisk block numbers on /dev/md, right? That doesn't make sense to me and I don't beleieve Neil was suggesting anything like that. Yes I was. /dev/md? is still a block device, and its blocks correspond to physical blocks on the component drives. -- Neil Bothwick There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants; and the other is getting it. - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 2:44 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 11:13 AM, Michael Mol mike...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:59 PM, Mark Knecht markkne...@gmail.com wrote: SNIP Ok, I thought you had it clear how you were going to resize the raid, and needed help resizing the filesystem that already existed on top of the RAID. I interpreted Mark's instructions as operating under that impression, too. Are you saying you don't already have a partition table sitting on top of /dev/md? ? OK, I'm getting a little confused because I am Mark. Maybe you meant Neil above? Ok, yeah, I'm totally confused myself. I'm going to split my concentration fewer ways for a bit and not try to write emails while a test suite runs. :) -- :wq
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 11:47 AM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:59:06 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: Yes, resize would be done to /dev/md?. I agree. However I don't believe that I'd use Neil's suggestion of fdisk block numbers on /dev/md, right? That doesn't make sense to me and I don't beleieve Neil was suggesting anything like that. Yes I was. /dev/md? is still a block device, and its blocks correspond to physical blocks on the component drives. -- Neil Bothwick OK, so returning to your original response, you suggest increasing the size of each physical partition and then resizing each of the physical partitions independently? (/dev/sdwhatever instead of /dev/md6 directly?) Is there a reason or personal experience you have to not to resize the RAID-5 directly? I completely trust you as to date I cannot remember anything you suggested I do that wasn't a good way to do it but doing /dev/sdwhatever seems problematic if it had been an 8-drive RAID-1 becoming a RAID-5, etc. - Mark quote Using cfdisk or fdisk, delete the partition and recreate it, USING THE SAME START BLOCK at a larger size. Then resize2fs /dev/sdwhatever will resize the filesystem to fill the partition. /quote
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:34:14 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: OK, so returning to your original response, you suggest increasing the size of each physical partition and then resizing each of the physical partitions independently? (/dev/sdwhatever instead of /dev/md6 directly?) Is there a reason or personal experience you have to not to resize the RAID-5 directly? Do you have separately partitioned drives with those partitions arranged into single-partition arrays, or do you have one RAID device that is then partitioned? If the latter, you should certainly work with the md device. I prefer to avoid all this confusion by creating a large, single partition array that I use an an LVM physical volume. -- Neil Bothwick You know how dumb the average person is? Well, statistically, half of them are even dumber than that - Lewton, P.I. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 3:59 PM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:34:14 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: OK, so returning to your original response, you suggest increasing the size of each physical partition and then resizing each of the physical partitions independently? (/dev/sdwhatever instead of /dev/md6 directly?) Is there a reason or personal experience you have to not to resize the RAID-5 directly? Do you have separately partitioned drives with those partitions arranged into single-partition arrays, or do you have one RAID device that is then partitioned? If the latter, you should certainly work with the md device. I prefer to avoid all this confusion by creating a large, single partition array that I use an an LVM physical volume. Separately partitioned drives arranged into RAID arrays. I don't do LVM. Every time I look at the instructions for setting it up I fall asleep. Also, I have varying needs in terms of space, speed redundancy, so I'm not clear that a single RAID of any type with LVM on top would have met my needs. - Mark
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:13:09 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: Do you have separately partitioned drives with those partitions arranged into single-partition arrays, or do you have one RAID device that is then partitioned? If the latter, you should certainly work with the md device. I prefer to avoid all this confusion by creating a large, single partition array that I use an an LVM physical volume. Separately partitioned drives arranged into RAID arrays. So you have three partitions arranged into a single RAID5 partition, say /dev/md1? In that case, the size of /dev/md1 should already be correct and you only need to resize the filesystem and you should ignore my witterings about fdisk that filed to take into account your use of RAID. resize2fs /dev/md1 should be all you need, you shouldn't even need to unmount the filesystem. -- Neil Bothwick Top Oxymorons Number 12: Plastic glasses signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Process to resize ext3 file system at the command line?
On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Neil Bothwick n...@digimed.co.uk wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:13:09 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: Do you have separately partitioned drives with those partitions arranged into single-partition arrays, or do you have one RAID device that is then partitioned? If the latter, you should certainly work with the md device. I prefer to avoid all this confusion by creating a large, single partition array that I use an an LVM physical volume. Separately partitioned drives arranged into RAID arrays. So you have three partitions arranged into a single RAID5 partition, say /dev/md1? In that case, the size of /dev/md1 should already be correct and you only need to resize the filesystem and you should ignore my witterings about fdisk that filed to take into account your use of RAID. resize2fs /dev/md1 should be all you need, you shouldn't even need to unmount the filesystem. I have 3 partitions which were previously RAID-1. I've already failed one drive so at this moment it's a 2-drive RAID-1. I'm attempting to get those two remaining 2 partitions converted to RAID-5 the command suggested on the RAID list for doing that isn't working for me. Once the 250GB RAID-1 is converted to RAID-5 i have to add a new drive back in to become a 3-drive RAID-5. The drive I add will be the drive I just failed. c2stable ~ # mdadm --grow /dev/md6 --level=5 mdadm: /dev/md6: could not set level to raid5 c2stable ~ # c2stable ~ # mdadm -D /dev/md6 /dev/md6: Version : 1.1 Creation Time : Thu Apr 15 10:45:35 2010 Raid Level : raid1 Array Size : 247416933 (235.96 GiB 253.35 GB) Used Dev Size : 247416933 (235.96 GiB 253.35 GB) Raid Devices : 2 Total Devices : 2 Persistence : Superblock is persistent Update Time : Thu Nov 17 13:27:20 2011 State : clean Active Devices : 2 Working Devices : 2 Failed Devices : 0 Spare Devices : 0 Name : c2stable:6 (local to host c2stable) UUID : 249c7331:a8203540:c8f3b020:fb30a66b Events : 1039 Number Major Minor RaidDevice State 0 860 active sync /dev/sda6 1 8 221 active sync /dev/sdb6 c2stable ~ #
