----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Milhollan" <mlm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Jeff Boyce" <jboyce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2014 7:18 AM
Subject: Re: CentOS 7 install software Raid on large drives error
On Wed, 3 Dec 2014, Jeff Boyce wrote:
I am trying to install CentOS 7 into a new Dell Precision 3610. I have
two 3
TB drives that I want to setup in software RAID1. I followed the guide
here
for my install as it looked fairly detailed and complete
(http://www.ictdude.com/howto/install-centos-7-software-raid-lvm/).
I suggest using the install guide rather than random crud. The storage
admin guide is fine to read too, but go back to the install guide when
installing.
/mark
Well I thought I had found a decent guide that wasn't random crud, but I can
see now that it was incomplete. I have read the RHEL installation guide
(several times now) and I am still not quite sure that it has all the
knowledge I am looking for.
I have played around with the automated and the manual disk partitioning
system in the installation GUI numerous times now trying to understand what
it is doing, or more accurately, how it responds to what I am doing. I have
made a couple of observations.
1. The installer requires that I have separate partitions for both /boot
and /boot/efi. And it appears that I have to have both of these, not just
one of them.
2. The /boot partition can not reside on LVM.
3. The options within the installer then appear to allow me to create my
LVM with Raid1, but the /boot and /boot/efi are then outside the Raid.
4. It looks like I can set the /boot partition to be Raid1, but then it is
a separate Raid1 from the LVM Raid1 on the rest of the disk. Resulting in
two separate Raid1s; a small Raid1 for /boot and a much larger Raid1 for the
LVM volume group.
I finally manually setup a base partition structure using GParted that
allowed the install to complete using the format below.
sda (3TB)
sda1 /boot fat32 500MB
sda2 /boot/efi fat32 500MB
sdb (3TB)
sdb1 /boot fat32 500MB
sdb2 /boot/efi fat32 500MB
The remaining space was left unpartitioned in GParted, which was then
prepared as LVM Raid1 in the CentOS installer. The installer also put the
/boot and /boot/efi files on sda1 and sda2. Then I would have to manually
copy them over to sdb1 and sdb2 if I wanted to be able to boot from drive
sdb if drive sda failed.
I am not sure that this result is what I really want, as it doesn't Raid my
entire drives. The structure below is what I believe I want to have.
sda & sdb RAID1 to produce md1
md1 partitioned
md1a /boot non-LVM
md1b /boot/efi non-LVM
md1c-f LVM containing /, /var, /home, and /swap
Well the abbreviations may not be the proper syntax, but you probably get
the idea of where I am going. If this is correct, then it looks like I need
to create the RAID from the command line of a rescue disk and set the /boot
and /boot/efi partitions first before beginning the installer. But then
again I could be totally off the mark here so I am looking for someone to
set me straight. Thanks.
Jeff
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