	WARNING
	This is recommended only for Advanced users, proceed with caution.

NOTE: In the future, Amahi Disk Wizard application (in Development) will provide this capability from the Dashboard.

The purpose of this tutorial is to make partitioning, formatting, and mounting hard drives in the Amahi server simple for those new to Linux.

The scenario is to have an HDA with a single hard drive, but want to connect additional hard drive(s) for increased storage. Examples provided are for adding a single hard drive.

In order to keep this process simple, it's important NOT to connect additional hard drive(s) until the end of the Preparation step.

Disclaimer

Amahi cannot be held responsible for any data breakage or destruction arising from the use or misuse of this script. We provide it as a service in good will. You accept this automatically if you use the script.
GUID-partitioned drives (such as drives previously in a Mac or have GPT partition tables) are not supported in this tutorial.
nano is used as the command-line text editor (refer to beginners guide to nano as needed).

Prerequisites

In a Terminal, as root, verify disk tools are installed by executing:

Fedora

yum -y install pmount fuse fuse-libs ntfs-3g util-linux-ng parted nano

Ubuntu

sudo apt-get -y install gparted

NOTE: Hard drives must be formatted as MBR not GUID/GPT for hda-diskmount to work correctly.

Preparation

In terminal as root, execute the following to capture current hard drive configuration:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/ > before.txt
cat before.txt

EXAMPLE:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2010-02-18 03:24  ata-Hitachi_HDS722020ALA330_JK1131YAGDU37V -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-02-18 03:24 ata-Hitachi_HDS722020ALA330_JK1131YAGDU37V-part1 -> ../../sda1

Power OFF the HDA and install/connect any additional hard drive(s).

Identify

Power ON the HDA and collect data about the new hard drive configuration. Again, save this to a text file for reference.

In a terminal as root, execute the following to capture current hard drive configuration:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/ > after.txt
cat after.txt

EXAMPLE:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2010-02-18 03:24  ata-Hitachi_HDS722020ALA330_JK1131YAGDU37V -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-02-18 03:24 ata-Hitachi_HDS722020ALA330_JK1131YAGDU37V-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2010-02-18 03:24 ata-ST31000528AS_6VP08W65 -> ../../sdb

TIP: IDE/SATA hard drives will start with ata- and USB hard drives will start with usb-.

Partition/Format

Compare the difference between before.txt and after.txt to determine the new hard drive(s) device name. This can be done automatically by executing:

diff before.txt after.txt

EXAMPLE:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2010-02-18 03:24 ata-ST31000528AS_6VP08W65 -> ../../sdb

At this point, partition and format the hard drive(s) if they are new. For hard drive(s) that contain data to be preserved, skip to the Mount step.

Command-line (Fedora)

To partition the hard drive(s), execute the applicable commands (substitute sdX with hard drive device name, such as sdb):

parted /dev/sdX

Up to 2TB, at the (parted) prompt, enter:

mklabel (answer yes when prompted)
mkpart primary 0% 100%
quit

Greater than 2TB, at the (parted) prompt, enter:

mklabel gpt (answer yes when prompted)
mkpart primary 0% 100%
quit

Verify the new partition was created:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/

EXAMPLE:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 1b8597e0-5d95-4474-b093-53099c8c81c9 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 1c161033-c695-4291-aba1-257d3987edf7 -> ../../dm-0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 b7017251-cb54-438b-92a3-781537c565e6 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 c1fe62b3-41dc-4a67-8a6b-09f90b7893ba -> ../../dm-1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 e0f5a9bd-f52b-431e-89af-61da70659bdd -> ../../dm-2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 -> ../../sdb1

The new partition is named sdX1 (i.e. sdb1 in RED).

Format the partition, execute (can substitute ext3):

mkfs.ext4 -j /dev/sdX1

Repeat the Partition/Format step for each hard drive to be partitioned and formatted.

GParted (Ubuntu)

From the HDA desktop (or using VNC), In a terminal as root and type gparted to launch the application.

Here's a general introduction on YouTube. Just use ext3 or ext4 instead of fat32 if you follow that tutorial.

For drives > 2.0 TB, following these steps:

Choose hard disk in the dropdown menu (top right)
Select Device > Create Partition Table... > Advanced > (Choose 'gpt')
Create partition

NOTE: GParted supports GUID-partitioned drives, however, the hda-mount script do not support currently.

Repeat the Partition/Format step for each hard drive to be partitioned and formatted.

Mount

Mount the hard drive(s)/partition(s) for use in the HDA.

Execute the following command. It will create drive1, drive2, etc and mount the hard drive(s) automatically:

hda-diskmount

EXAMPLE:

****************************************************************
Ignoring /dev/sda1 - already in /etc/fstab or mounted
****************************************************************
Mounted /dev/sdb1 as '/var/hda/files/drives/drive1' (read-write)
You may want your system to mount it every time you boot.
To do so, add this line VERY CAREFULLY to /etc/fstab and reboot:
UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2
****************************************************************
All Linux, Windows and Mac partitions on non-removable disks have been mounted

The line in BLUE is what you need to copy and add to the bottom of /etc/fstab. This is REQUIRED for the hard drive(s) to be permanently mounted.

There will be multiple lines for multiple hard drive(s) added. Ensure you copy and add ONLY those which were not present in the before.txt file.

The new hard drive storage space can be used for All Shares, Some Shares, or the Greyhole Storage Pool. Follow the guidance below based on desired usage for each hard drive.

All Shares

Host ALL shares on the new hard drive.

Move all the shares data to the new drive, replacing path in RED with the path from the hda-diskmount output line in BLUE).

In a Terminal, as root, execute the following:

mv /var/hda/files/* /var/hda/files/drives/drive1/

NOTE: There may be a WARNING indicating /var/hda/files/drives cannot be moved to a subdirectory of itself which should be ignored.

Unmount the new hard drive:

umount /var/hda/files/drives/drive1/

Mount the new hard drive permanently as /var/hda/files by editing /etc/fstab:

nano /etc/fstab

Add the line to /etc/fstab provided in the hda-diskmount output in BLUE and change the second value (path) to /var/hda/files.

EXAMPLE hda-diskmount output (Original):

UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2

EXAMPLE hda-diskmount output (Modified):

UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files ext4 defaults 1 2

EXAMPLE /etc/fstab:

#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Sat Nov  9 01:46:39 2013
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk'
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info
#
UUID=1ebbf241-528c-465e-889f-acc15400dd8c /                       ext4    defaults        1 1
UUID=087b15a5-c3ca-4615-b6ee-bf5f399a803e /boot                   ext4    defaults        1 2
UUID=75346b8e-b162-458c-b0e9-a8d48ec2bc82 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=ad85eeb9-18f0-4b85-9bfa-b88a5d1489b3 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files ext4 defaults 1 2

Finally, execute the following:

mount -a
ls /var/hda/files/

The last command will display contents of the new hard drive. All shares are now located on the new hard drive.

Some Shares

Host SOME shares on the new hard drive.

Move some shares data to the new drive by executing the following command (replace path in RED with the path from the hda-diskmount output line in BLUE; sharename will be the share to move to the new drive).

In a Terminal, as root, execute the following:

mv /var/hda/files/sharename /var/hda/files/drives/drive1/

Repeat the process with every share to be moved to the new drive.

Unmount the new hard drive:

umount /var/hda/files/drives/drive1

Mount the new hard drive permanently by editing /etc/fstab:

nano /etc/fstab

Add the line to /etc/fstab provided in the hda-diskmount output in BLUE.

EXAMPLE /etc/fstab:

#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Sat Nov  9 01:46:39 2013
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk'
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info
#
UUID=1ebbf241-528c-465e-889f-acc15400dd8c /                       ext4    defaults        1 1
UUID=087b15a5-c3ca-4615-b6ee-bf5f399a803e /boot                   ext4    defaults        1 2
UUID=75346b8e-b162-458c-b0e9-a8d48ec2bc82 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=ad85eeb9-18f0-4b85-9bfa-b88a5d1489b3 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2

Verify the hard drive(s)/partition(s) configuration is correct in /etc/fstab.

Next, execute the following:

mount -a
ls /var/hda/files/

The last command will display contents of the new hard drive. All shares are now located on the new hard drive.

HDA Dashboard Update
The location of each share that was moved to the new hard drive will need updated. Select Setup followed by the Shares section. Expand each share that was moved individually and change the location (path) accordingly.

For example, the original movies location was /var/hda/files/movies but the new location might be /var/hda/files/drives/drive1/movies.

Repeat for any other shares that you have moved to the new hard drive. Verify these shares are accessible from another machine within your network.

NOTE: If any services depend on the location of a moved share, ensure they are configured to use the new share location. For example, if DLNA is installed, check the configuration file to verify it can find the new share location. Secondly, validate that that all such services start correctly and behave as expected. If the service doesn't start, it may be that it's looking for a specific share location during the service start up.

Greyhole Storage Pool

Use new hard drive for Greyhole Storage Pool.

In a Terminal, as root, mount the new hard drive permanently by editing /etc/fstab:

nano /etc/fstab

Add the line to /etc/fstab provided in the hda-diskmount output in BLUE.

EXAMPLE /etc/fstab:

#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Sat Nov  9 01:46:39 2013
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk'
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info
#
UUID=1ebbf241-528c-465e-889f-acc15400dd8c /                       ext4    defaults        1 1
UUID=087b15a5-c3ca-4615-b6ee-bf5f399a803e /boot                   ext4    defaults        1 2
UUID=75346b8e-b162-458c-b0e9-a8d48ec2bc82 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=ad85eeb9-18f0-4b85-9bfa-b88a5d1489b3 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2

Verify the hard drive(s)/partition(s) configuration is correct in /etc/fstab.

Refer to Greyhole (Amahi 6) for Ubuntu or Greyhole (Amahi 7) for Fedora to configure the Greyhole Storage Pool.

Verify/Test

Verify the hard drive/partition is mounted:

df -h

EXAMPLE:

Filesystem                  Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda5        16G  4.3G   11G  30% /
devtmpfs        493M     0  493M   0% /dev
tmpfs           498M   84K  498M   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs           498M  364K  498M   1% /run
tmpfs           498M     0  498M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs           498M  1.1M  497M   1% /tmp
/dev/sda1       190M   75M  102M  43% /boot
/dev/sdb1       917G  398G  473G  46% /var/hda/files/drives/drive1

The hard drive(s) and the mount point (path) should be listed for each hard drive added. If not, then further investigation will be needed to determine the problem.

Tips

Mount Order

The following will outline how to manually order your disks and mount drives automatically on boot.

1. First, get the UUID for each drive by opening a terminal and entering command

gstreet@gstreet-MicroServer:~$ sudo blkid
[sudo] password for gstreet:
/dev/sda1: LABEL="Seagate-Alpha2TB" UUID="55d9333f-d801-425a-b2af-d65c5966d56f" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Seagate-Beta2TB" UUID="5bd5498f-30c1-4780-948e-ca46656507d2" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="WD-Charlie2TB" UUID="a7337504-376a-4d36-9f7a-1a24c0f55fbd" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sdd1: LABEL="WD-Delta2TB" UUID="8d881dcb-8de3-4621-b9bd-00025196868a" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sde1: LABEL="root" UUID="4d6f8004-d190-4234-a03b-b68de988abf0" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sde3: LABEL="home" UUID="d0531fa1-9311-4d53-b838-f35898adbd98" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sde5: LABEL="swap" UUID="3c39206c-ba60-47ff-a1fe-f5821b2ab543" TYPE="swap"

In this case, the user has four data drives (sda1, sdb1, sdc1, sdd1) and the Operating system assigned to a fifth drive, sde.

Take note of the UUID's for each drive. Easiest to cut and paste UUID's straight from the terminal - no typo's!

2. Then edit /etc/fstab to mount each drive - for novices, easiest to do this using a graphical editor. You might consider first making a copy called fstab.bak (use the "save as" command, close file and then gedit the original fstab again) so that you can recover the original fstab file if you make mistakes.

sudo nano /etc/fstab

3. Then very carefully add the following line for each disk into the end of the fstab file. Make sure you paste in the right UUID, drive number and drive file system (ext4 in this case).

UUID=55d9333f-d801-425a-b2af-d65c5966d56f /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2

It should look something like the following when lines are added for each of the five drives in this example. Note lines beginning with # are comments where the remainder of the line is ignored)

#  Mounting Greyhole Drives for Drive Pool.  
#
# Drive1 = Seagate-Alpha2TB in Microserver Bay 1 from left 
UUID=55d9333f-d801-425a-b2af-d65c5966d56f /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2
#
# Drive2 = Seagate-Beta2TB in Microserver Bay 2 from left 
UUID=5bd5498f-30c1-4780-948e-ca46656507d2 /var/hda/files/drives/drive2 ext4 defaults 1 2
#
# Drive3 = WD-Charlie2TB in Microserver Bay 3 from left 
UUID=a7337504-376a-4d36-9f7a-1a24c0f55fbd /var/hda/files/drives/drive3 ext4 defaults 1 2
#
# Drive4 = WD-Delta2TB in Microserver Bay 4 from left 
UUID=8d881dcb-8de3-4621-b9bd-00025196868a /var/hda/files/drives/drive4 ext4 defaults 1 2
#
# Drive5 = 250GB OS Drive mounted in Optical Drive bay
UUID="4d6f8004-d190-4234-a03b-b68de988abf0 /var/hda/files/drives/drive5 ext4 defaults 1 2
#
#

Save the file and quit the editor. To see if that will work at boot time, try with:

mount -a

If that gives you errors, there is a good chance that this line was not added properly and your machine may not reboot and get stuck mounting the drives!

Note that the hda-diskmount command had already added lines to mount my OS drive which had two partitions (root or /, and home). Save file and close.

4. Save file and reboot machine.

5. Check that drives have successfully mounted in Amahi hda (Setup - Shares - Storage Pool)

In this case, if all drives mounted successfully, it should look like (Ubuntu):

Bad Blocks

Optionally, you can test your new drive for bad blocks.

NOTE: This can take a long time to complete! Recommend starting it in the evening so it will be completed the next day.

In a Terminal, as root, type the following command. Replace sdb1 with the (green) value you received from hda-diskmount.

e2fsck -cn /dev/sdb1

You'll receive a warning that says "WARNING!!! Running e2fsck on a mounted filesystem may cause SEVERE filesystem damage. Do you really want to continue (y/n)?"
Answer yes. The -cn option we're using can safely be used on mounted filesystems.

Troubleshooting

hda-diskmount

If hda-diskmount does not mount the hard drive, you can manually do it.

Complete the following steps:

Create the mount point (choose one NOT in use)

mkdir -p /var/hda/files/drives/drive1

Identify the hard drive to mount and copy the UUID from the output that corresponds to the hard drive (i.e. sdb)

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/

EXAMPLE:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 1b8597e0-5d95-4474-b093-53099c8c81c9 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 1c161033-c695-4291-aba1-257d3987edf7 -> ../../dm-0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 b7017251-cb54-438b-92a3-781537c565e6 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 c1fe62b3-41dc-4a67-8a6b-09f90b7893ba -> ../../dm-1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 e0f5a9bd-f52b-431e-89af-61da70659bdd -> ../../dm-2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 29 18:10 547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 -> ../../sdb1

The UUID for sdX1 (i.e. sdb1 is RED).

Add the following to the end of /etc/fstab, replacing the UUID as captured in the previous step

nano /etc/fstab

EXAMPLE:

#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Sat Nov  9 01:46:39 2013
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk'
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info
#
UUID=1ebbf241-528c-465e-889f-acc15400dd8c /                       ext4    defaults        1 1
UUID=087b15a5-c3ca-4615-b6ee-bf5f399a803e /boot                   ext4    defaults        1 2
UUID=75346b8e-b162-458c-b0e9-a8d48ec2bc82 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=ad85eeb9-18f0-4b85-9bfa-b88a5d1489b3 swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
UUID=547b073d-e591-4913-b4fb-7c5084353979 /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 ext4 defaults 1 2

The new entry will be mounted as /var/hda/files/drives/drive1 (i.e. sdb1 in BLUE)

Mount the hard drive

mount -a

If all goes well, there should not be any output. If there are errors, stop and diagnose the problem.

Accomplish Verify/Test step to ensure the hard drive is properly mounted.

Repeat this process for each hard drive to be mounted.

Partitions > 2.1TB

If by following this tutorial you are unable to mount hard drives with partitions > 2.1TB, refer to Partitions over 2.1TB guidance.

Help

If you need assistance, please post in the Amahi Forums or receive LIVE support on the Amahi IRC channel.

Amahi Wiki

Links

Personal tools

Navigation

Tools

Adding a second hard drive to your HDA

Contents

Disclaimer

Prerequisites

Preparation

Identify

Partition/Format

Command-line (Fedora)

GParted (Ubuntu)

Mount

All Shares

Some Shares

Greyhole Storage Pool

Verify/Test

Tips

Mount Order

Bad Blocks

Troubleshooting

hda-diskmount

Partitions > 2.1TB

Help