Step 1: Switch to single-user mode

First you need to switch to single-user mode. Logon as root and type:

[root@hogwarts /]# telinit 1

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Step 2: Partition the disk 

Now you need to identify the device name of the new disk. The following command will show you all the drives on your server (including any USB drives you might have)

 

[root@hogwarts /]# fdisk -l | more

Let's assume you installed the disk as master on the second IDE controller. This means you have to partition /dev/hdc

	IDE controller	Device name
Master	1	/dev/hda
Slave	1	/dev/hdb
Master	2	/dev/hdc
Slave	2	/dev/hdd

 

[root@hogwarts /]# fdisk /dev/hdc

 

and when prompted:

n (to add a new partition) p (to make a primary partion) 1 (that's the number one, the number you want to assign to the partition) (accept the suggested first & last cylinder values) w (write and exit)

This will create the primary partition /dev/hdc1, using the entire disk space.

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Step 3: Format the new partition 

Next you want to format the new partition:

[root@hogwarts /]# mkfs -t ext2 /dev/hdc1

 

If you are using SME 5.6 or newer, it is recommended to convert the partition to the ext3 format:

[root@hogwarts /]# tune2fs -j /dev/hdc1

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Step 4: Create a mounting point for the new disk 

A mounting point is just an empty directory that will link to your new disk. This can be any valid directory on your server, but it is recommended not to use /home or one of its subdirectories. In step 6 you will see a much better method to link your /home directory to the second disk.

 

For now just create a directory underneath /mnt

[root@hogwarts /]# mkdir /mnt/bigdisk

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Step 5: Automount at boot time

To automatically mount the partition at boot time, you need to add the following line to /etc/fstab:

[root@hogwarts /]# pico /etc/fstab /dev/hdc1 /mnt/bigdisk ext3 usrquota,grpquota 1 2

Make sure you end this line with a newline. Hit <ctrl-x> to exit the editor

 

Check if everything works as expected:

[root@hogwarts /]# mount -a [root@hogwarts /]# df -T Filesystem Type 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/hda3 ext3 39151724 28441348 8721532 77% / /dev/hda1 ext3 101089 8953 86917 10% /boot /dev/hdc1 ext3 38474956 27948 38447008 0% /mnt/bigdisk

If you don't see a line for /dev/hdc1, something went wrong. Go back to step 2 and check if you followed all instructions correctly.

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Step 6 ( Optional): Use /home to mount the new disk

On standard Linux machines, the /home directory contains the user's directories and is therefore a popular place to mount a bigger disk. However, on a SME server this is not a good idea:

1/ Create the necessary subdirectories on your second disk

[root@hogwarts /]# mkdir -p /mnt/bigdisk/ibays/mp3

2/ Apply the ownerships and permissions from the original directory

[root@hogwarts /]# ls -l /home/e-smith/files/ibays drwxrwxr-x 18 admin allstaff 4096 Sep 23 14:48 mp3 [root@hogwarts /]# chown admin:allstaff /mnt/bigdisk/ibays/mp3 [root@hogwarts /]# chmod 775 /mnt/bigdisk/ibays/mp3

3/ Copy the content to your new disk

[root@hogwarts /]# cp -rip /home/e-smith/files/ibays/mp3/* /mnt/bigdisk/ibays/mp3

4/ Check if all files have been copied correctly

[root@hogwarts /]# diff -r /mnt/bigdisk/ibays/mp3 /home/e-smith/files/ibays/mp3

5/ Remove the original files

[root@hogwarts /]# rm -rf /home/e-smith/files/ibays/mp3

6/ Create a symlink to the new location

[root@hogwarts /]# ln -s /mnt/bigdisk/ibays/mp3 /home/e-smith/files/mp3

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Step 7( Optional): Activate the quota 

Next you might want to activate the quota on the disk. This will only work if you activated quota management for at least one user (Server Manager > Collaboration > Quota Management).

[root@hogwarts /]# quotacheck -vugc /dev/hdc1

 

If quotachecks comes back to the command prompt without errors, you're ready.