Linux – Rearrange partitions to install a second Linux distribution

linuxpartition

I am new to Linux and just got some foggy idea of partition tables. To be precise here it is:

Model: ATA ST3500418AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  1001MB  1000MB  primary   ext4         boot
 2      1001MB  3002MB  2001MB  primary
 3      3002MB  18.0GB  15.0GB  primary   ext4
 4      18.0GB  500GB   482GB   extended
 5      18.0GB  53.0GB  35.0GB  logical   ext4
 6      53.0GB  93.0GB  40.0GB  logical   ext4
 7      93.0GB  500GB   407GB   logical   ext4

$ uname -r -v
3.2.0-41-generic-pae #66-Ubuntu SMP Thu Apr 25 03:50:20 UTC 2013

$ df
Filesystem          1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3            14419440   4397832   9289144  33% /
udev                  1015728         4   1015724   1% /dev
tmpfs                  410376       908    409468   1% /run
none                     5120         0      5120   0% /run/lock
none                  1025940       584   1025356   1% /run/shm
/dev/sda1              961528    161488    751196  18% /boot
/dev/sda5            33643288   2435112  29499172   8% /var
/dev/sda6            38448788    180232  36315432   1% /usr/local
/dev/sda7           391315084 365544552   5892800  99% /home
/home/arun/.Private 391315084 365544552   5892800  99% /home/arun

And now I want to install OpenSUSE 12.2 alongside it. I also want to share /usr/local and /home partition among both OSes.

What changes to this partiton setup would get me going with the best usage of my hard disk space?
I will be doing kernel development later and thus want to share the /boot partition too.

Best Answer

Best... I don't know.

I use gparted when my partitions no longer fit my need, gparted helps me create , copy, move, resize, delete partitions. It's with a GUI, really easy to use.

I have modified my partitions more than a dozen of times on my current laptop since the beginning... and each time it was to fit my needs the best with new constraints.

Modifying the /etc/fstab file you can tell all your installed distributions to point on the same /boot /var or /home partition. You have to do it for each /etc/fstab file ( i.e. for each distribution).

I personnally would start with a simpler plan than yours. /, /home, and maybe /boot if you really really really think you will need it. And then, create symbolic link and mount partition to them as the need appears ( this is done with /etc/fstab).

For my current debian/ubuntu distro, I happen to have full 15GBytes / with all my installed tools, so I must allocate a bit more than that. Additionnal data are stored on other partitions, mounted as /home and /databases.

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