[olug] Filesystems

Rob Townley rob.townley at gmail.com
Wed Aug 5 19:10:53 UTC 2009 

On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 1:24 PM, Chad Homan<choman at gmail.com> wrote:
> All,
>
> Mystery Solved?  How to "interrogate" an ext4 file system for ext3 and ext4
> files.
>
> Here is what I have found on this topic and am looking for confirmation or
> agreement
> from my peers and colleagues that what I tracked down is indeed true and my
> quest
> for global dominance may proceed or I that I have greatly underestimated my
> powers
> of investigation ;).
>
> According to my research on this matter.  Apparently the big shift for ext4
> is that files
> are stored in extents format.  During a conversion, "extents" is one of the
> flags one
> uses to "tune" the filesystem for ext4.
>
> So looking into extents and slightly changing path on what to look for on my
> filesystem.
> I found reference to a chattr command.  On my ubuntu system, the man page
> makes
> reference to a "e" flag that cannot be changed by chattr because it is
> "permanent" (for
> lack of a better word) flag once set.
>
> This led me to the lsattr command which displays the file attributes,
> including the "e" flag.
>
> So began my tests.
>  - On an ext3 system, an lsattr showed pretty much no file with the "e"
> flag.
>  - On a freshly installed ext4 system, pretty much every file had the "e"
> flag.
>  - So on a freshly converted system, no file appeared to have the "e" flag.
>
>          * I touched a file, and it showed the "e" flag.
>          * I copied a file, it to had the "e" flag.
>          * And for the real test, I moved a file and it maintained NO "e"
> flag, thus
>            still in ext3 format.
>
> So I think this is solved.  Please help confirm this.
> In the end happy converting.
>
>
> Chad, CISSP
> Sent from Lawndale, CA, United States
> Jonathan Swift<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jonathan_swift.html>
> - "May you live every day of your life."
>
> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 11:48 AM, Kevin <sharpestmarble at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> [root at kevin-sandbox ~]# cat ~/bin/update-filesystem.sh
>> #!/bin/bash
>> mv $1 /filename_of_your_choice
>> cp -a /filename_of_your_choice $1
>> [root at kevin-sandbox ~]# find / -exec ~/bin/update-filesystem.sh
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 10:06, T. J. Brumfield<enderandrew at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > I know tarring the entire filesystem to a new location, and then
>> > extracting it back does work. Perhaps you can do this folder by folder
>> > from within the file system?
>> >
>> > -- T. J.
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 9:44 AM, Chad Homan<choman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> I believe a "mv" (which would maintain the original inode), then "cp"
>> the
>> >> file back
>> >> to it's original name (new inode) should do the job.  My issue I would
>> like
>> >> to avoid
>> >> renaming the entire filesystem.  Not to mention that I cannot remove the
>> >> original
>> >> file until after a reboot, in case the file is being used.  However, if
>> I
>> >> could obtain
>> >> a "status" of the FS, My plans for world dominance would nearly be
>> complete.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Chad, CISSP
>> >> Sent from Los Angeles, CA, United States
>> >> Ogden Nash <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/o/ogden_nash.html>
>>  -
>> >> "The trouble with a kitten is that when it grows up, it's always a cat."
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 8:44 AM, DYNATRON tech <dynatron at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> just archive the drive and use the archive afterward, rather than the
>> >>> original. that should do it. bonus: you have a backup point of the
>> entire
>> >>> drive....that is...if you have an extra drive to mount up.
>> >>>
>> >>> i'm a reiser guy, myself.
>> >>>
>> >>> i've had many smooth rides with ext, though.....except a couple of
>> times
>> >>> when i was resizing partitions. turned out weird.
>> >>>
>> >>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 8:30 AM, T. J. Brumfield <
>> enderandrew at gmail.com
>> >>> >wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> > The files aren't rewritten with extents and such I don't believe with
>> >>> > a simple touch.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > -- T. J.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 8:21 AM, DYNATRON tech<dynatron at gmail.com>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>> > > what if you just touch all the files?
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > > updates the header....might work.
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > > On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:47 AM, T. J. Brumfield <
>> >>> enderandrew at gmail.com
>> >>> > >wrote:
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > >> I don't know of any way, but if you want to migrate fully, you can
>> >>> > >> shrink an ext3 partition down, make a new ext4 partition, copy the
>> >>> > >> files so they are written properly on the ext4 partition, mount
>> the
>> >>> > >> ext4 partition, wipe the ext3 partition, and then resize the ext4
>> >>> > >> partition.
>> >>> > >>
>> >>> > >> -- T. J. Brumfield
>> >>> > >>
>> >>> > >> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:28 AM, Chad Homan<choman at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>> > >> > I recently converted one of my systems from ext3 to ext4.
>>  According
>> >>> > to
>> >>> > >> the
>> >>> > >> > "guide", over time,
>> >>> > >> > the files left at ext3 will migrate to ext4 via updates.  I
>> would
>> >>> like
>> >>> > to
>> >>> > >> > know is this.  Is there a
>> >>> > >> > way to "interrogate" my file system and figure out the ext3 vs
>> ext4
>> >>> > >> status
>> >>> > >> > of the HDD.
>> >>> > >> >
>> >>> > >> >
>> >>> > >> > Chad, CISSP
>> >>> > >> >
>> >>> > >> > Joan Crawford<
>> >>> > >> http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/joan_crawford.html>
>> >>> > >> > - "I, Joan Crawford, I believe in the dollar. Everything I earn,
>> I
>> >>> > >> > spend."
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>> >>> > >
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > >
>> >>> > > --
>> >>> > > dynatron digital services
>> >>> > > box 191 - 68037
>> >>> > > www.dynatron.org
>> >>> > > dynatron at gmail.com
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>> >>> > Rewind and what does it show?
>> >>> > Could be, the truth it becomes you
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i was attempting to find a url to the above email about lsattr for
reference but googling "site:lists.olug.org ext4", the newest thread
containing ext4 is from February.  Did the robots file change on the
web server?  google slowing to a crawl?  by design?

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