Re: sysinst(8), `Installing from an unmounted filesystem'

[Don NetBSD <netbsd-embedded%gmx.com@localhost>]

On 10/11/2018 4:55 PM, Robert Elz wrote:
>    | Mounting /Sources and symlinking /Sources/src at /usr/src, /Sources/pkgsrc at
>    | /usr/pkgsrc, /Sources/xsrc at /usr/xsrc, etc. covers all the bases.  Where
>    | would you put xsrc if you mount a partition at /usr/src?  Ditto pkgsrc?
>
> /usr/xsrc and /usr/pkgsrc both work, those are the standard places (they can
> be separate partitions) though I use /usr/src/xsrc (and it remains part of
> /usr/src) and /usr/src/pkgsrc (and is mounted separately).

Yes, my point was that a partition for /usr/src does nothing to address
/usr/xsrc or /usr/pkgsrc.  You either stuff them into /usr (which means
the size of /usr varies from machine to machine based on whether or not
those sources are present -- and, how many "packages" you are in the
process of building) or add them as separate partitions of their own.

As I'm unlikely to build packages and the system at the same time, I
can have a smaller amount of "working space" (for .o's) if all of the
sources share a partition (/Sources).

> Distfiles (and
> packages) are (for me) separate partitions, mounted on /local (not with symlinks, but
> using pkgsrc var settings to alter their locations) but they could also be
> mounted under /usr/src/pkgsrc.

I have /usr/pkgsrc/distfiles point to /Sources/distfiles.  Then, I can put some
few sources there *or* mount a partition OVER /Sources/distfiles with a more
complete set of sources.

>   "mysources" go in ~kre/src  but there's also
> a /local/$hostname (mounted) which can have a src subdir  if a host has a need
> for sources all of its own, and if there was going to be a lot of that, it would be a
> separate partition as well.
>
> You might gather that I like separating data into multiple partitions - lots
> of them,.,,   Unloike some, I do not regard partitions as mereley a mechanism
> to get around issues with drives not being big enough, but as first class
> objects with a whole set of properties of their own, which should be used
> more, not less.

For me, I address that with additional *drives* -- typically external.  This
allows me to have a box with a 16MB (that's an M, not a G) DoM build its own
system -- by (temporarily) mounting the sources on an external medium.
And, use the same procedure for a 1G DoM, 20G disk or TB drive.

[I SneakerNet lots of stuff as I have /beaucoup des disques/ -- considerably
more than 100T]

>    | [Note that the device mounted at /Sources may be an external drive that may or
>    | may not be present at all times]
>
> That's fine, any of this can be "noauto" in fstab.

Exactly.  The only partitions that mount, normally, are /, /var, /usr, /usr/pkg
and /home.  Everything else is a just a mountpoint.

>    | It lets me keep sources off of systems that don't need them while keeping the
>    | file hierarchy basically consistent -- the "basic" partitions are always the
>    | same size and have the same content.
>
> That's reasonable, I was not suggesting loading everything into /usr ...  just
> not mounting anything (long term. /mnt, or /cdrom are OK for short term use)
> (except /usr /var and /tmp ... all of which are more or less critical, and so
> matter less ... that is, if the drive holding /usr dies, you're screwed,
> wherever it is mounted, whereas if /usr/src dies, the system should normally
> never notice, you don;t wantthings to hang because they're scanning /)
>
> That, and that everyone has their own setup - proclaiming any as being
> the way anyone else should do things is rarely a good idea.

Exactly.  I find a way that works for my hosts and my media.  One
that time has taught me will address the sorts of issues I'm likely
to encounter /with the way I use those systems/.