# Newfs without /usr/home



## Deleted member 9563 (Dec 11, 2010)

I am trying to re-install FreeBSD and have a previous separate */home* partition which I wish to preserve. I started the installation from the CD and when I got to the Fdisk menu I set the */* partition as bootable and moved on to the disk label editor. Here I am stuck. What do I do to install without a */usr/home* so that the original partition is kept?

Additionally, I already did this re-installation and upon rebooting I discovered that my original */home* partition was not included. I am assuming that all is fine with that and redoing it properly will be able to include it. Yes, the information is backed up in case I make a mistake.


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## Beastie (Dec 11, 2010)

OJ said:
			
		

> What do I do to install without a */usr/home* so that the original partition is kept?


Most probably nothing. sysinstall will extract the "home" directory from the base distribution. When you boot into the new installation, simply modify the new /etc/fstab and add a proper entry pointing to your old home partition.


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## Deleted member 9563 (Dec 11, 2010)

That makes sense. I just did it now, and unfortunately must have made a mistake. I copied the bootable root partition entry and used the designation of *ad10s2* (which is what *fdisk* indicated), and called it /home. Now I can't boot. I'll have to read more about how /etc/fstab is written. Also, here is my chance to learn how to use the livefs CD which I'm downloading as I write this.


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## Beastie (Dec 11, 2010)

It should be something like this:

```
/dev/ad10s2d /home ufs rw,noatime 2 2
```

Have you tried booting into single-user mode?


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## Deleted member 9563 (Dec 11, 2010)

Single mode doesn't work. However I figured out how to use the *livefs CD*, so I was able to reverse the situation. I didn't realize that /etc/fstab was so sensitive.

Anyway, I have the right /dev information now and I can mount the partition like this:

```
mount /dev/ad10s2b /home
```
So I put this in my /etc/fstab:

```
/dev/ad10s2b            /home           ufs     rw              1       2
```
Now it boots, and I can access the separate /home partition as usual. Thanks for the help Beastie.


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