(Adding OP back to cc list -- I know from IRC they're not subscribed to the list) On Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 03:02:23PM +0000, Duncan wrote: > Incorporeal Waffle posted on Mon, 21 Sep 2015 14:30:21 +0000 as excerpted: > > > I tried converting my root partition (originally ext4) to btrfs. > > There's some known bugs with btrfs-convert currently, with current or > very recent discussion on-list about how to fix it, if you check the > archives. > > In the more general case, while the present bugs will no doubt be fixed, > I (a user, not a dev) don't recommend using convert, as in the best case, > it's a compromise, with better results if you treat the existing ext* as > a backup and start with a brand new btrfs using mkfs.btrfs. > > The admin's rule of backups states that if you care about the data, it's > backed up, and if it's not backed up, in practice, you're defining the > data as not worth the time and resources to back up, any claims to the > contrary not withstanding. (Meanwhile, a would-be backup that hasn't > been tested restorable isn't considered a backup, because the backup > isn't defined as complete until it is tested.) > > From that perspective, there's little reason to do a filesystem > conversion, since if you care about the data, it's backed up and can be > restored to a brand new filesystem, with a better layout than a > filesystem that started as something else is likely to ever achieve, and > if you don't care about the data, then there's no reason not to start out > with a clean filesystem in the first place. > > So while having a convert tool is "nice", even when it's working > correctly, the best choice is to avoid using it, starting with brand new > clean filesystem and copying existing data, if any, into it from backups > so it is laid out ideally for the new filesystem, instead of the > compromise of trying to work around the location of existing data and > metadata, in a layout that should work, granted (and it's definitely a > bug that it's not doing so today), but is unlikely to be ideal for a > different filesystem than the one it started out as. > -- Hugo Mills | vi vi vi: the Editor of the Beast. hugo@... carfax.org.uk | http://carfax.org.uk/ | PGP: E2AB1DE4 |
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