[mythtvnz] Upgraded to Mythbuntu 12.04

[Nick Rout]

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 6:49 PM, Paulgir <paulgir at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:15:00 +1200, Nick Rout <nick.rout at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>   Upgrading using the LiveCD will overwrite the /var directory (database
>>> and
>>> default recording location among others)
>>
>>
>> That is appalling!
>>
> So what's the work-around for that?
>
> Back-up the old /var and replace the new /var with it after the upgrade?

No because there will be files in /var/ that have been replaced by new packages.

Fresh install with backed up database I guess.

Keeping myth files in /var/lib/ is the worst part of mythbuntu IMHO. Rationale:

1. A mythtv system can survive on one disk, but experience and list
lurking teaches that keeping the database on a separate drive helps
performance heaps, and that keeping video data on a separate partition
is a boon when upgrading or backing up.

2. The database is in /var/lib/mysql. Mythbuntu stores data in
/var/lib/mythtv and /var/lib/mytharchive and   /var/lib/mythdvd - all
can contain large files, even if the latter two might only contain
transient data while files are archived or dvds ripped.

3. Try arranging a sane disk partitioning scheme around that, bearing
in mind the desirability of keeping the database on a separate disk to
the video/tv data and the fact you want /var/lib/myth* on a separate
partition for backup and upgrades.

My solutions are to have a small disk (assuming you can find such a
thing these days) for the OS (including the mysql data) and completely
bypass /var/lib/myth* in favour dedicated disks for myth's video
files. Still allow mytharchive and mythdvd to use /var/lib and hope
they don't fill the hard drive or interfere too much with mysql
performance (they shouldn't). However knowing to do that is not in the
scope for beginners, and mythbuntu is supposed to be suitable for
beginners.

But any upgrade process that wipes out your mysql databases, your web
pages and everything else in /var is an absolute nightmare. If this is
true, there are going to be some VERY pissed off sysadmins in this
world.