[geeks] Linux software RAID question

[Josh Neal]

On Thu, Jun 24, 2004 at 10:05:29PM -0500, Bill Bradford wrote:
> (Specifically, RHEL3 / CentOS3.1)
> 
> I'd originally planned on installing this system with mirrored 80G drives
> (software RAID).  However, the vendor accidentally shipped with a single
> drive.  They're correcting the problem, but the additional drive won't
> be here till Saturday or Monday.
> 
> Is it possible to change a RHEL install to software RAID (mirrored /boot,
> /, etc) *after* install?  I have to get this machine in service this
> weekend whether it has dual drives or not.
> 
> I've just never touched software RAID on Linux before.

It's been a while since I used Linux software raid, but I seem to recall that it required partitions of type 'Linux software RAID'. As a result, you couldn't covert an existing partition to software raid without destroying it. (Unlike, say, Solaris' DiskSuite.)

You should be able to create the RAID 1 device during installation with only a single member disk, then edit /etc/raidtab post-installation to add the new disk. (You may also have to run mkraid; relevant manual pages will clarify.)

-josh 

-- 
Josh Neal
"I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer."
	-- Homer Simpson