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Ron Piggott
Asked: 2020-07-10 12:46:00 +0800 CST

Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop Migration From 120GB SSD To RAID1 (software) 1TB SSD Not Booting

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I initially installed Ubuntu Studio 20.04 onto a 120GB SSD. I'm wondering if it is possible to migrate this to RAID1 (software) with (2) 1TB SSD drives.

What's confusing me is how Ubuntu Studio 20.04 installed:

sdc         8:32   0 111.8G  0 disk  
├─sdc1      8:33   0   512M  0 part  /boot/efi
└─sdc2      8:34   0 111.3G  0 part  /

I didn't specifically designate a /boot/efi partition during the installation sequence.

I created (2) RAIDs:

- 2GB fat32
- 929GB ext4

I wanted to make the fat32 partition larger than it would ever require to avoid re-partitioning the drive in the future.

To copy the files onto the RAID partitions I used:

rsync -avP --numeric-ids --delete-during {120GB partition} {equivalent RAID1 partition}

Additionally I edited /etc/fstab

# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=a461ff1b-8d74-4e24-84e7-fe17e2097f23 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=06A9-23FB  /boot/efi       vfat    umask=0077      0       1
/swapfile                                 none            swap    sw              0       0

However this won't boot. I am not sure if it can be salvaged. Was there a different way I was suppose to copy the boot partition?

This is the results of lsblk

NAME      MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sda         8:0    0 931.5G  0 disk  
├─sda1      8:1    0     2G  0 part  
│ └─md127   9:127  0     2G  0 raid1 
└─sda2      8:2    0 929.5G  0 part  
  └─md126   9:126  0 929.4G  0 raid1 
sdb         8:16   0 931.5G  0 disk  
├─sdb1      8:17   0     2G  0 part  
│ └─md127   9:127  0     2G  0 raid1 
└─sdb2      8:18   0 929.5G  0 part  
  └─md126   9:126  0 929.4G  0 raid1 
sdc         8:32   0 111.8G  0 disk  
├─sdc1      8:33   0   512M  0 part  /boot/efi
└─sdc2      8:34   0 111.3G  0 part  /

I want to set this up so Ubuntu Studio 20.04 will boot from both partitions --- so if 1 SSD dies I can still boot the computer and then replace the SSD.

dual-boot ssd partitioning raid 20.04

1 Answers

  1. After much research and help from the folks on the Freenode #Ubuntu IRC channel I have an answer. I ended up re-installing due to all the research and failed attempts. I've shared my process below. For those who will use this to migrate to RAID use rsync -avP --numeric-ids --delete-during /path/from/ /path/to/ for cloning your installed operating system and data (documents, videos, photos, etc.)

    I've treated this as many single board computers requiring a microsd card to boot. I setup the /boot/efi partition on a mSATA with a USB adapter I'll Velcro to my computer case.

    To make this work I booted the live media and accessed terminal ( CTRL ALT T ) used cfdisk to create the Linux RAID partitions on each SSD drives for the RAID

    sudo cfdisk /dev/sdLETTER

    "Select Tabel Type": gpt

    [New]

    Partition size: ###G

    [Type] Find Linux RAID

    [Write] "Are you sure you want to write the partition table to disk?" yes

    [Quit]

    Then eject, unmount or otherwise power off each SSD and reconnect them. Note what /dev/sdLETTER were assigned using lsblk

    Next sudo apt install mdadm and create the RAID1

    mdadm --create /dev/md/rootfs /dev/sdLETTER1 /dev/sdLETTER1 --level=1 --raid-devices=2

    To monitor the creation of the RAID use: cat /proc/mdstat

    When complete format the RAID using mkfs.ext4 -m0 /dev/md/rootfs

    While the RAID is being created create create the /boot/efi partition:

    Mount the device you will use the /boot/efi partition. I used a mSATA with USB adapter.

    Use lsblk to identify the assigned /dev/sdLETTER.

    Create the partition using cfdisk steps above.

    As the live media for installing Ubuntu 20.04 don't allow formatting using terminal do so with mkfs.vfat

    Once the RAID has been created use the Ubuntu 20.04 live media installation command to install selecting /dev/md127 (or the equivalent /dev/ mount assigned). Select the /boot/efi partition. Proceed with the installation.

    The final step of the installation where grub boot is created will fail. I created this manually using:

    sudo mount /dev/md127 /mnt
for i in /dev /proc /sys /run; do sudo mount -R $i /mnt$i; done
sudo chroot /mnt
apt install mdadm
mdadm --examine /dev/sda1
grub-install /dev/sdLETTER
update-grub

    My grub-install syntax was more complex:

    sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi && sudo update-grub

    Any time new Kernels are installed you will need to edit /etc/fstab to ensure the UUID= matches your RAID and not /dev/sda1. To fix this mistake:

    First confirm the UUID of your RAID parition and /dev/sda1 parition:

    blkid

    To display the incorrect UUID assigned:

    fsck -Af -M

    Then boot using live media. Access terminal to install and activate RAID:

    sudo su -
apt install mdadm
mdadm --assemble /dev/md127 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1

    The RAID partition should auto mount. To get the location of the audio mount use:

    df -h

    • You will be looking for something like:

      /dev/md127 916G 82G 789G 10% /media/ubuntu-studio/f3c747fb-63d8-455d-8815-6097e1f35d58

    If not:

    mount /dev/md127 /mnt

    Finally correct the UUID to match your RAID for "/":

    nano /etc/fstab

    My entry is:

    UUID=f3c747fb-63d8-455d-8815-6097e1f35d58 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
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