From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On 5/13/2024 10:39 AM, David W. Hodgins wrote:   
   > On Mon, 13 May 2024 05:53:49 -0400, Jeff Gaines  wrote:   
   >> I want to install Linux with a 250 GB SSD for the OS and a 1 TB SSD for   
   >> the data. I tried Googling:   
   >>   
   >> "how to install Linux with one drive for Linux and one for data" and can't   
   >> believe the replies that came up! Most of them are about dual booting or   
   >> re-writing Grub.   
   >>   
   >> I like Linux Mint xfce if that makes a difference.   
   >>   
   >> Can anybody point me to a guide on this please? I have plenty of   
   >> experience doing it on Windows but this is the first attempt with Linux.   
   >   
   > It isn't hard. The critical part has nothing to do with the operating system.   
   >   
   > Which drive the bios or uefi firmware will look for the os in depends on the   
   > bios or uefi configuration settings.   
   >   
   > Whether it's the bios firmware looking for the boot drive, or the uefi   
   > firmware looking for the efi system partition, where it looks is controlled   
   > by the settings.   
   >   
   > I would install the os with just the one drive connected. Power off, connect   
   > the second drive, power on/boot. If it doesn't boot, power off and swap the   
   > data cables between the two drives.   
   >   
   > Once it's working, create a data partition on the spinning rust drives, mount   
   > it, and as root move the directories you want on the rust drive to it,   
   replacing   
   > them with symlinks. Just be careful to keep the ownership and permissions the   
   > same when moving them.   
   >   
   > You can move just the directories that for things like Downloads, or you can   
   > move all of /home, as you prefer.   
   >   
   > I move individual directories, so I end up with   
   > $ ls -ld Downloads   
   > lrwxrwxrwx 1 dave dave 14 Dec 22 11:15 Downloads -> /s3/Downloads//   
   >   
   > With /s3 being the directory used as a mount point for one of the partitions   
   on   
   > the spinning rust drive.   
   >   
   > $ ls -l /s3|grep Downloads   
   > drwxr-xr-x  52 dave dave      20480 May  1 17:20 Downloads/   
   >   
   > Be careful of not to try to move something that is in use. If you want to   
   move   
   > all of /home, boot from another os, such as using a live iso on a usb drive.   
   >   
   > Regards, Dave Hodgins   
      
   I already tested it in a VM, and you can install with two blank disk drives   
   present.   
      
   The mistake I keep making, is forgetting to put the EFI partition. The   
   partitioner even reminds you of missing items. There are some things   
   though, that are optional (like /home), and it's simply going to   
   assume / is used for everything, if you neglect to define a /home.   
   If you define a /home, it's smart enough to mount /home on / .   
      
      Paul   
      
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