root partition size?

[mreyna16]

basically right now my setup is 4gb for swap and 390gb for basically the whole ubuntu installation. i was advised on this forum to do a home partition for when i want to upgrade that its easier and stuff like that. i didnt listen or in other words i didnt mind not having a home partition since i have all my files sorted out and can always move them to my external when i need to reinstall the os, repartition, etc.

so heres the question, how much space does it give to the home directory? how much space does it give to other directories that get installed with the ubuntu installation? basically im asking because in case i wanted to make my /home directory as a seperate partition then what is the minimalist that should be given to the "/" partition?

[MidnightGrey]

so heres the question, how much space does it give to the home directory? how much space does it give to other directories that get installed with the ubuntu installation?

Since you only have one partition, all your files are stored in that partition and share the storage space (of 390 GB) meaning you can have up to 390 GB of data in any of your folders (/ or /home or anything else). There is no space restriction on any one folder within the partition itself.

[dave0109]

My root (/) partition is currently 7.5GB for Xubuntu 13.04. When I did the upgrade from 12.10 recently, that increased temporarily to nearly 11GB. I would expect standard Ubuntu to require a little more, but it depends on which packages you have.

My partition is actually 40GB so there's plenty of space for it to grow as I try different software or perform upgrades.

You can also see how big your current space requirements are, by bringing up a terminal and using:-

du -sh --exclude=/home /

[mreyna16]

thanks guys, for me i find it just simpler to leave it the way it is... not that im scared of having a seperate home directory or making one, i mean thats what linux is all about (the do it yourself kinda thing) but like i posted, i dont mind getting all my info out since i have everything in order

[fantab]

The only problem with not having a separate '/home' or 'data' partition is that when you have to do re-install or install a newer version Ubuntu you'll be forced to back up all your data. If we have a separate partition for our data then we can simply format the '/' partition and install Ubuntu or any other distro without worrying about data loss.

If you have more that one distro or different versions of Ubuntu then separate '/home' too can create problems, as /home or just Home folder also stores your application settings and preferences in hidden dot folders. If different distros have diifferent versions of the same application then there will be conflicts and problems with those applications.

I boot multiple distros, so I have a separate 'data' paritions which is a simple parition formatted with ext4 without any mountpoint. I manually mount this parition as and when needed. If you want we can automount this data parition at system start by editing /etc/fstab.

My two cents...

[3rdalbum]

In the olden days, installing or reinstalling Ubuntu would erase everything in / including the /home. That is why a different partition was recommended.

Since 2009, Ubuntu's installer has been smart enough to preserve your /home even when it is in the same partition as /

People still give the old advice because they don't know the Ubuntu installer that well. But as long as you choose the "Upgrade" function in the installer, or choose "Something Else" and don't elect to format / your home directory will be preserved. And your package set will be reinstalled, too.

[mastablasta]

having separate root and home is like separating C:\ and D:\ in widnows where you would put My documents on D:\

btw i have xubuntu on 8GB drive. the problem is i would have to clean it after every update. it still leaves about 2 GB for various programmes and files.

[fantab]

Since 2009, Ubuntu's installer has been smart enough to preserve your /home even when it is in the same partition as /

People still give the old advice because they don't know the Ubuntu installer that well. But as long as you choose the "Upgrade" function in the installer, or choose "Something Else" and don't elect to format / your home directory will be preserved. And your package set will be reinstalled, too.

Well, I didn't knew that.
Can you please direct me to where I can learn more about 'Ubuntu installer'.

Thanks for the info.

Though I will confirm with the old school and keep my data separate. Its too much of a risk to trust the installer with my data.

[3rdalbum]

Well, I didn't knew that.
Can you please direct me to where I can learn more about 'Ubuntu installer'.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Ubiquity

It's just the regular installer for Ubuntu, the one that runs from the live CD or Desktop CD.

Thanks for the info.

Though I will confirm with the old school and keep my data separate. Its too much of a risk to trust the installer with my data.

I've found it to be very reliable. I've done it multiple times on two different computers with no problems*. I've never lost data with it.

Don't get me wrong, there are still good reasons to have a separate /home partition: You have a lesser liklihood of filesystem corruption affecting your data, and if you've already got a /home partition there's no benefit to moving it back onto the / partition. Other Linux distros can't preserve /home if it's on the same partition as /, so if you want to try any Linux distro that's not based on Ubuntu you should have a separate /home. On my main desktop I have /home on a different hard disk altogether, although this is for speed reasons and "because I can".

My father's computer and my laptop have /home on the same partition as /, and as I say, I have had no problems*.

*The "preserving /home" feature appears to be incompatible with btfs filesystems, although you shouldn't be using btfs because it's not stable yet. I still didn't lose any data, the installer just refused to continue.

[oldfred]

I have seen what used be called a "dirty install" where you just did not click the reformat. But do not suggest it. Not sure if then you do not get any housecleaning of old kernels & logs and all the other cruft that builds up over time.

Over install without formatting to reuse same home data.
System settings or anything in / may be overwritten with defaults. Good backups still important
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuReinstallation
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1941872