RE: Swapfile

I setup a nbd swap using the info below and it seems to work pretty
well.  One bad thing is that the windows based nbd server that Dave
links to below runs in a command prompt.

I can't seem to find much for nbd on OpenBSD, which is what my server
runs.

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dave Dodge
Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 2:55 PM
To: Roku Tech Mail List and Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [Roku-tech] Swapfile

On Sun, May 30, 2004 at 01:58:05PM +0000, Barry Gordon wrote:
> I would like to set up a permanent swap file on a PC that is always on
> in my house.  Not being a linux expert could some one assist me.
> 
> 1) How big should I make it, disk space is not an issue

For the HD1000, I'd think 64M or even 32M would be plenty for just
running applications.  I use 512M for development but that's way
overkill.

> 2) What is the sequence of commands (I use telnet) to the HD1K shell
to 
> instantiate the file.

You need to format the file as swap space before using it the first
time:

  mkswap /path/to/file

Then each time you boot, you enable swapping to it:

  swapon /path/to/file

If you want to stop swapping to it:

  swapoff /path/to/file

> I assume I just need to make a file in a shared network drive that
> the HD1K can see.

Actually I don't think you can swap to a shared file.  I just tried it
using both SMB (the Windows filesharing protocol) and NFS (a Unix
alternative) and swapon wouldn't accept it either way.  If you dig up
some swapping instructions elsewhere on the list, you'll probably
notice that they always refer to using a file on a CF card instead of
over the network.

It _is_ possible to swap over the network, but it's more complicated:

  http://www.dododge.net/roku/nbd.html

The main issue with this approach would be getting an NBD server for
Windows. A quick googling finds this:

  http://www.vanheusden.com/Loose/nbdsrvr/

but I don't have any experience with it.

> 4) What HD1K file can I modify to cause the HD1K to re-initialize the
swap 
> file on every boot

"/etc/rc.local" looks like a good bet.

                                                  -Dave Dodge
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