Sharing common /home directory partition
Edward Diener No Spam
between different Linux distributions ? I am assuming that the Linux distros I
install all support the filetype of the /home directory partition.
I would like to develop code for Linux and having separate /home directories for
each Linux OS is something I would like to avoid. Of course I will have separate
subdirectories under my /home directory for a Linux OS specific files.
Robert Hull
Spam <eldiener_n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory
> partition between different Linux distributions ?
IMNSHO the biggest Gotcha to avoid is having different user numbers
on the different systems. So if eldiener_no_spam_here is user 1003
on one distribution, make sure that it is also user 1003 on the
other(s) - if not, your permissions will be shot to pieces.
--
Robert
This information provided free of charge for those willing to accept
it. Others who wish to be spoon-fed may acquire my services at the
discounted rate of 135 GB Pounds per hour or part thereof.
Unruh
>Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory partition
>between different Linux distributions ? I am assuming that the Linux distros I
>install all support the filetype of the /home directory partition.
To first approximation, no problems whatsoever. If you use ext3 partitions
all linux distros can read write etc that.
To second approximation, if the distros use very different versions of KDE,
then the contents of the KDE directories could clash with each other, so
that changes you made to your desktop in one distro would clash with what
you wanted for the other. I think, but do not know, that you can tell KDE
to use different startup directories. But if the KDE versions are similar
on all the distros, then there should not be a problem here either.
d
No problems. To summarize you'll just have to implement some services
to support what you are trying to accomplish. First sharing out the
/home directory. This is done by exporting the directory from one
machine and mounting it to other remote machines. For example, I have
machines LNX1(with RedHat 9) and LNX2(Fedora Core 4). LNX1 is my NFS
server. So in the machines /etc/exports file is a line that reads:
/net2/home 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0(rw)
This enables LNX2 to mount the directory as /home. Thereby all the
home directories under /home are accessable to LNX02. The easiest way
to accomplish this is with the autofs service and using the /etc/auto.*
files.
Second, you will want to use NIS (ypbind, ypserv) services to enable
authentication for all the machines in your LAN. Again, LNX1 servers
as my NIS server. The user accounts are created on this machine. LNX2
is the NIS client will any user loggin on to LNX2 will retrieve its
authentication information and home directory from LNX1. The UID/GID
will be the same from either machine.
Plenty of infomation on the web to get you going. I've used the
following.
http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/linux-adv/nis.htm
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NFS-HOWTO/server.html
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NFS-HOWTO/client.html
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NIS-HOWTO/ypserv.html
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NIS-HOWTO/settingup_client.html
Edward Diener No Spam
> In alt.os.linux, on Friday 09 September 2005 17:56, Edward Diener No
> Spam <eldiener_n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
>>Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory
>>partition between different Linux distributions ?
>
>
> IMNSHO the biggest Gotcha to avoid is having different user numbers
> on the different systems. So if eldiener_no_spam_here is user 1003
> on one distribution, make sure that it is also user 1003 on the
> other(s) - if not, your permissions will be shot to pieces.
Thanks ! I am glad you pointed this out to me.
Edward Diener No Spam
> Edward Diener No Spam <eldiener_n...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>
>>Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory partition
>>between different Linux distributions ? I am assuming that the Linux distros I
>>install all support the filetype of the /home directory partition.
>
>
> To first approximation, no problems whatsoever. If you use ext3 partitions
> all linux distros can read write etc that.
> To second approximation, if the distros use very different versions of KDE,
> then the contents of the KDE directories could clash with each other, so
> that changes you made to your desktop in one distro would clash with what
> you wanted for the other. I think, but do not know, that you can tell KDE
> to use different startup directories. But if the KDE versions are similar
> on all the distros, then there should not be a problem here either.
This appears to apply to any product, common among different Linux distros,
which store product specific features off of the /home directory. So
theoretically if I install a product of a different version on one Linux distro
than another I could be messing up the former distro by having product specific
files for the product overwrite those of the former distro. This appears to mean
that I must be aware of any /home directory files stored by any product I
install. Is there a well-defined way to determine if products install files off
of the user's /home directory ? As a relative Linux newbie I recall that most
installations store files in other standard places rather than off of the user's
/home directory, but I do not recall any way to previously determine this.
Edward Diener No Spam
> Edward Diener No Spam wrote:
>
>>Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory partition
>>between different Linux distributions ? I am assuming that the Linux distros I
>>install all support the filetype of the /home directory partition.
>>
>>I would like to develop code for Linux and having separate /home directories for
>>each Linux OS is something I would like to avoid. Of course I will have separate
>>subdirectories under my /home directory for a Linux OS specific files.
>
>
> No problems. To summarize you'll just have to implement some services
Thanks for your explanations but actually the /home directory will hold my files
from different Linux distros on the same machine in which I will be
multi-booting at different times to each distro. In this situation I will simply
be mounting the same partition, which holds my /home directory files, as /home
in different distros.
noi
wrote:
I agree with the others that there shouldn't be major problems if your
/home is in a different partition on a filesystem usable by your different
distros.
The problem is when you start the different distros the hidden
and non-hidden configuration files will differ sometimes greatly.
For example:
.gnome, .gnome2* or .kde will be different between SuSE ad Fedora.
Tmpwatch in Fedora is not in SuSE.
Some libraries and utilities in FC are in different folders than SuSe and
some (locate) are not installed making it difficult for cron jobs and
scripts.
These I know because I kept my /home and /mnt/dos but replaced FC4
with SuSE 9.3. The /home and /mnt/dos were intact (do not format) but I
had those issues.
I suggest rename the separate partition /home to /realhome. Install
however many distros you need then link the /realhome partition to each
/home folder in each distro. Then configuration files and scripts can be
unique to each distro but /realhome shares non-unique files,
Unruh
If they are user specific files, they will be in the home directory. If
they are computer specific files they will be in /etc/ or /usr/share.
Ie, it should be obvious if the files are being setup for the user or the
computer (eg root has to do that).
Also usually they will be . directories
.kde, .gimp,....
Unruh
>On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 16:56:07 +0000, Edward Diener No Spam thoughtfully
>wrote:
>> Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory
>> partition between different Linux distributions ? I am assuming that the
>> Linux distros I install all support the filetype of the /home directory
>> partition.
>>
>> I would like to develop code for Linux and having separate /home
>> directories for each Linux OS is something I would like to avoid. Of
>> course I will have separate subdirectories under my /home directory for a
>> Linux OS specific files.
>I agree with the others that there shouldn't be major problems if your
>/home is in a different partition on a filesystem usable by your different
>distros.
>The problem is when you start the different distros the hidden
>and non-hidden configuration files will differ sometimes greatly.
>For example:
>.gnome, .gnome2* or .kde will be different between SuSE ad Fedora.
>Tmpwatch in Fedora is not in SuSE.
>Some libraries and utilities in FC are in different folders than SuSe and
>some (locate) are not installed making it difficult for cron jobs and
>scripts.
Storing in different places is no problem The problem is if both store info
in the same place, but want different stuff there.
>These I know because I kept my /home and /mnt/dos but replaced FC4
>with SuSE 9.3. The /home and /mnt/dos were intact (do not format) but I
>had those issues.
>I suggest rename the separate partition /home to /realhome. Install
>however many distros you need then link the /realhome partition to each
>/home folder in each distro. Then configuration files and scripts can be
>unique to each distro but /realhome shares non-unique files,
I have no idea what this would accomplish. The conflicting config files
would now be in realhome.
Dan C
> Thanks for your explanations but actually the /home directory will hold
> my files from different Linux distros on the same machine in which I
> will be multi-booting at different times to each distro. In this
> situation I will simply be mounting the same partition, which holds my
> /home directory files, as /home in different distros.
I guarantee you will have problems with this kind of arrangement, as has
already been pointed out to you. Shrug.
--
All posts that originate from Google Groups are ignored.
If you're not on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
Linux Registered User #327951
noi
[snip]
>
>>For example:
>>.gnome, .gnome2* or .kde will be different between SuSE ad Fedora.
>>Tmpwatch in Fedora is not in SuSE.
>>Some libraries and utilities in FC are in different folders than SuSe and
>>some (locate) are not installed making it difficult for cron jobs and
>>scripts.
>
> Storing in different places is no problem The problem is if both store
> info in the same place, but want different stuff there.
That is the problem if you use gnome in all your distros the hidden .gnome
file of one distro may be the same name but have different attributes,
like menu items. Not too much of a problem but annoying. Third party
packages like Firebird or Pan won't be a problem.
>
>
>
[snip]
>
>>I suggest rename the separate partition /home to /realhome. Install
>>however many distros you need then link the /realhome partition to each
>>/home folder in each distro. Then configuration files and scripts can
>>be unique to each distro but /realhome shares non-unique files,
>
> I have no idea what this would accomplish. The conflicting config files
> would now be in realhome.
I knew I should have included this example:
Install your distros with /home on the root partition
/dev/hda3 on / type ext3 <-- Suse / and /home
/dev/hda4 on / type ext3 <-- FC / and /home
post install
$ ln -s /realhome /home/realhome
/home/realhome <- in suse
/home/realhome <-fedora
each distro /home contains release specific files, configs and the
linked sub-folder realhome contain all your user common files like mp3s or
programs.
Just a thought and I assume this is for a single user environment.
Unruh
>On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 21:57:19 +0000, Edward Diener No Spam wrote:
>> Thanks for your explanations but actually the /home directory will hold
>> my files from different Linux distros on the same machine in which I
>> will be multi-booting at different times to each distro. In this
>> situation I will simply be mounting the same partition, which holds my
>> /home directory files, as /home in different distros.
>I guarantee you will have problems with this kind of arrangement, as has
>already been pointed out to you. Shrug.
What are you talking about? For almost everything he will NOT have
problems. For the config files/directories he may have trouble if the
different distros use very different versions of the program but which
still use the same name for their configs.
Eg, gimp at least labels their config directories, so no trouble there.
.gimp .gimp-1.1 .gimp-1.2 .gimp-2.0
KDE does not so you may have trouble there.
Dan C
>>> will be multi-booting at different times to each distro. In this
>>> situation I will simply be mounting the same partition, which holds my
>>> /home directory files, as /home in different distros.
>>I guarantee you will have problems with this kind of arrangement, as has
>>already been pointed out to you. Shrug.
> What are you talking about? For almost everything he will NOT have
> problems. For the config files/directories he may have trouble if the
> different distros use very different versions of the program but which
> still use the same name for their configs.
> Eg, gimp at least labels their config directories, so no trouble there.
> .gimp .gimp-1.1 .gimp-1.2 .gimp-2.0
> KDE does not so you may have trouble there.
In your first sentence you say there WON'T be problems, and in the last
sentence you say there WILL be. Which is it?
What if the two (or three, or four) different distros each are running
different versions of KDE? Have you ever tried that? I guarantee that
you will have MAJOR problems if you try that. How about different
versions of Gnome? And as you said, what if the distros use "very
different versions" of other programs (email clients, browsers, etc...).
Like I said, there will be problems if this is done, and we haven't even
discussed the issue of different user-ID's from each distro, which will
further complicate things.
Does that answer your question about "what I am talking about"?
Unruh
>On Sat, 10 Sep 2005 14:40:42 +0000, Unruh wrote:
>>>> will be multi-booting at different times to each distro. In this
>>>> situation I will simply be mounting the same partition, which holds my
>>>> /home directory files, as /home in different distros.
>
>>>I guarantee you will have problems with this kind of arrangement, as has
>>>already been pointed out to you. Shrug.
>
>> What are you talking about? For almost everything he will NOT have
>> problems. For the config files/directories he may have trouble if the
>> different distros use very different versions of the program but which
>> still use the same name for their configs.
>> Eg, gimp at least labels their config directories, so no trouble there.
>> .gimp .gimp-1.1 .gimp-1.2 .gimp-2.0
>> KDE does not so you may have trouble there.
>In your first sentence you say there WON'T be problems, and in the last
>sentence you say there WILL be. Which is it?
In general there will not. In some specific cases there may be. That is far
different from "I guarantee you will have problems".
>What if the two (or three, or four) different distros each are running
>different versions of KDE? Have you ever tried that? I guarantee that
>you will have MAJOR problems if you try that. How about different
>versions of Gnome? And as you said, what if the distros use "very
>different versions" of other programs (email clients, browsers, etc...).
>Like I said, there will be problems if this is done, and we haven't even
>discussed the issue of different user-ID's from each distro, which will
>further complicate things.
a) For most things it is not a problem. The different versions use
different files or directories for their config stuff, knowing that
the same user might use different versions even on the same distribution.
For some things like kde it may be a problem (not will but may.)
Foreknowlege is forearmed.
b)User ids is trivial. They can even use the same /etc/passwd or
/etc/shadow files. But in any case it is trivial to make sure that uids are
the same.
>Does that answer your question about "what I am talking about"?
No.
Dan C
>>What if the two (or three, or four) different distros each are running
>>different versions of KDE? Have you ever tried that? I guarantee that
>>you will have MAJOR problems if you try that. How about different
>>versions of Gnome? And as you said, what if the distros use "very
>>different versions" of other programs (email clients, browsers, etc...).
>>Like I said, there will be problems if this is done, and we haven't even
>>discussed the issue of different user-ID's from each distro, which will
>>further complicate things.
> a) For most things it is not a problem. The different versions use
> different files or directories for their config stuff, knowing that
> the same user might use different versions even on the same distribution.
They do? Different versions of KDE don't use ".kde" as the base dir?
Different versions of Gnome don't use "gnome2" as the base dir? Well,
that's news to me.
> For some things like kde it may be a problem (not will but may.)
> Foreknowlege is forearmed.
Exactly what I've been saying. You should actually try what you're
talking about sometime...
> b)User ids is trivial. They can even use the same /etc/passwd or
> /etc/shadow files. But in any case it is trivial to make sure that uids are
> the same.
It may be trivial to you (and to me). Do you think it's trivial to the
OP? If he's asking this question, do you think he even has a clue what a
uid is?
>>Does that answer your question about "what I am talking about"?
> No.
Again, try what you're saying in a real world setting. That should clear
things up for you.
Unruh
>On Sat, 10 Sep 2005 21:03:07 +0000, Unruh wrote:
>>>What if the two (or three, or four) different distros each are running
>>>different versions of KDE? Have you ever tried that? I guarantee that
>>>you will have MAJOR problems if you try that. How about different
>>>versions of Gnome? And as you said, what if the distros use "very
>>>different versions" of other programs (email clients, browsers, etc...).
>>>Like I said, there will be problems if this is done, and we haven't even
>>>discussed the issue of different user-ID's from each distro, which will
>>>further complicate things.
>
>> a) For most things it is not a problem. The different versions use
>> different files or directories for their config stuff, knowing that
>> the same user might use different versions even on the same distribution.
>They do? Different versions of KDE don't use ".kde" as the base dir?
>Different versions of Gnome don't use "gnome2" as the base dir? Well,
>that's news to me.
It is too bad that you do not read before you reply.
>> For some things like kde it may be a problem (not will but may.)
>> Foreknowlege is forearmed.
>Exactly what I've been saying. You should actually try what you're
>talking about sometime...
I have.
>> b)User ids is trivial. They can even use the same /etc/passwd or
>> /etc/shadow files. But in any case it is trivial to make sure that uids are
>> the same.
>It may be trivial to you (and to me). Do you think it's trivial to the
>OP? If he's asking this question, do you think he even has a clue what a
>uid is?
Yes, I do, especially as he has already responded to the suggestion to make
sure that uids are the same.
>>>Does that answer your question about "what I am talking about"?
Dan C
>>> a) For most things it is not a problem. The different versions use
>>> different files or directories for their config stuff, knowing that
>>> the same user might use different versions even on the same distribution.
>>They do? Different versions of KDE don't use ".kde" as the base dir?
>>Different versions of Gnome don't use "gnome2" as the base dir? Well,
>>that's news to me.
> It is too bad that you do not read before you reply.
What??? What I said above (that you don't seem to understand), is that
different versions of KDE will all look for config stuff under ".kde".
There is no ".kde_3.4.1" or ".kde_3.4.2" for example.
Do you not understand that, or what?
Edward Diener No Spam
> On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:16:31 +0000, Unruh wrote:
>
>
>>>>a) For most things it is not a problem. The different versions use
>>>>different files or directories for their config stuff, knowing that
>>>>the same user might use different versions even on the same distribution.
>
>
>
>>>They do? Different versions of KDE don't use ".kde" as the base dir?
>>>Different versions of Gnome don't use "gnome2" as the base dir? Well,
>>>that's news to me.
>
>
>
>>It is too bad that you do not read before you reply.
>
>
> What??? What I said above (that you don't seem to understand), is that
> different versions of KDE will all look for config stuff under ".kde".
> There is no ".kde_3.4.1" or ".kde_3.4.2" for example.
>
> Do you not understand that, or what?
I got the message and understand the issues and appreciate the information from
both of you. It is silly to argue further between you, but aside from this
message telling you that I do understand the situation, that is your business.
Rick Moen
In comp.os.linux Edward Diener No Spam <eldiener_n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Are there any problems regarding sharing a common /home directory
> partition between different Linux distributions ? I am assuming that
> the Linux distros I install all support the filetype of the /home
> directory partition.
Sure there are.
Imagine that you make significant usage of KDE applications. Then,
you'll have a significant tree of configuration files under ~/.kde .
Imagine that one or more of those K-apps' configuration files changes
its format between versions. Imagine that the software versions
provided by your two or more distributions differ somewhat.
Multiply this problem by the number of applications having dotfiles and
dotfile directories within /home. (K-apps were just an example.)
> Of course I will have separate subdirectories under my /home directory
> for a Linux OS specific files.
Figure out how to ensure that each distro's dotfiles, etc. go into
those, and you might be able to get by.
Kent Wick
directory and then create an entirely separate partition/filesystem that is
mounted at boot time (or login time) to the appropriate place in the directory
tree. Example:
/dev/hda1 = /
/dev/hda2 = /home
/dev/hda3 = /mydata
If there is only one user then the UID number comes into play for permissions.
If there is more than one user, then create separate directory entries
within the /mydata filesystem for each user and set up an environment variable
in the login script for each user to hold that location. Then, aside from
possible versioning issues with the applications that store files within
/mydata, it should work the way you want. Of course you will want to modify
any backup procedures to make sure that /mydata is backed up periodially.