[svlug] Re: ext2 file to reiserfs transfer

[Bryan J. Smith]

Smitty wrote:
> How would I transfer files I have in the ext2 fs to
> reiserfs or Xfs?

Just like any other filesystem, provided your kernel supports the
filesystem and you have already created the new filesystem.

I like to use cpio, which can be "cleaner" than tar with special
files:

   init 1                <-- always a safe move
   cd /origfs
   find . -depth -mount -print | cpio -pmdv /newfs

Now that is if you are creating a new, equivalent filesystem.  Note
the use of the "-mount" option which would copy all files and
subdirectories under /origfs, but not those mounted in a filesystem
under /origfs.  E.g., if you were copying /var to /newvar, and you
have a separate /var/spool filesystem mounted, no files in
/var/spool would get copied to /newvar.

> Is it even possible?

Yes, the Linux VFS (virtual filesystem) layer allows you to transfer
files to/from any filesystem type -- even Windows FAT/NTFS!  Of
course non-UNIX filesystems will lose UNIX attributes.

Now if you want to get ReiserFS or XFS support -- you have to do
that in the kernel (plus an associated utilities).  ReiserFS only
comes with stock kernel's 2.4.1 and above.  XFS does not currently.

[ Side note:  I've used both Ext3 under kernel 2.2, and XFS under
kernel 2.4.  I have had production servers using Ext3 in v1 mode
(i.e. full-data journaling) for over 9 months now.  I've been
evaluating XFS for over a month now and like what I see.  Since I
have production NFS servers, I cannot consider ReiserFS.  And yes, I
know about the kernel 2.4 patches but I don't trust them, and there
seems to be a performance issue with them anyway. ]

> Of course this would be on a new hardrive.

You'd just boot up a new kernel with ReiserFS or XFS support,
partition and create new filesystems, and copy over the files with
the find/cpio command above.  You'll also need to make sure you
reconfigure and re-install LILO correctly so the new setup can boot
from the new hard drive.

There are a few variables here.  What exactly do you wish to
accomplish?

-- TheBS

-- 
Bryan "TheBS" Smith         chat:thebs413 @AOL/MSN/Yahoo
Engineer     mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org,thebs at theseus.com
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