How to Move a filesystem

This assumes the file system is a Linux ext3 file system

Prepare the disk to be a file system.

fdisk /dev/sda # partition the disk
mke2fs /dev/sda1
tune2fs -J /dev/sda1 # make the ext2 file system a ext3 file system
mount /dev/sda1 /new_home

You could also use cfdisk rather than fdisk to partition the disk.

Move files

cd /home
find . -depth -print | cpio -padmv /new_home

You may be able to use the 'cp -a' comand.

Install new filesystem

For most Linux file systems you need to modify the /etc/fstab to have it use the new file system.  For the root file system you will also need to modify the boot configuration to tell the boot process

example /etc/fstab

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
# /dev/sda1
UUID=a09531bf-f49f-46a8-b29b-96bc9ba22e14 /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /dev/sda2
UUID=906ec64c-6d9b-495d-9ea5-f88c13cf3756 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec 0       0
#
10.2.0.75:/server       /server nfs     intr,noauto             0       0

To find the UUID you can use tune2fs

thesystem$ sudo tune2fs -l /dev/sda1
tune2fs 1.40.2 (12-Jul-2007)
Filesystem volume name:   <none>
Last mounted on:          <not available>
Filesystem UUID:          a09531bf-f49f-46a8-b29b-96bc9ba22e14
Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features:      has_journal resize_inode dir_index filetype needs_recovery sparse_super large_file
Filesystem flags:         signed directory hash 
Default mount options:    (none)
Filesystem state:         clean
Errors behavior:          Continue
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
Inode count:              3662848
Block count:              7323624
Reserved block count:     366181
Free blocks:              6365412
Free inodes:              3540948
First block:              0
Block size:               4096
Fragment size:            4096
Reserved GDT blocks:      1022
Blocks per group:         32768
Fragments per group:      32768
Inodes per group:         16352
Inode blocks per group:   511
Filesystem created:       Fri Nov  9 11:12:55 2007
Last mount time:          Sat Nov 17 10:02:05 2007
Last write time:          Sat Nov 17 10:02:05 2007
Mount count:              12
Maximum mount count:      24
Last checked:             Fri Nov  9 11:12:55 2007
Check interval:           15552000 (6 months)
Next check after:         Wed May  7 12:12:55 2008
Reserved blocks uid:      0 (user root)
Reserved blocks gid:      0 (group root)
First inode:              11
Inode size:               128
Journal inode:            8
Default directory hash:   tea
Directory Hash Seed:      3a54a714-4936-4c2d-8519-7048d8c3e7ba
Journal backup:           inode blocks

To move the root file system you need to also tell the boot loader where the new filesystem is.  For a system using grub you need to edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst and modify the 'root=' to the new partition for your linux boot.

sudo vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default         0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout         3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title         Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root          (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader   +1
#
# title         Linux
# root          (hd0,1)
# kernel        /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#


#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=a09531bf-f49f-46a8-b29b-96bc9ba22e14 ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title           Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=a09531bf-f49f-46a8-b29b-96bc9ba22e14 ro quiet splash
initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
quiet

title           Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=a09531bf-f49f-46a8-b29b-96bc9ba22e14 ro single
initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

title           Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+

title           Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

*** Note the boot loader needs to be on the first drive. ****