cwfs(4) tips

No-dump configuration

A cheap VPS or an SD card lack the storage capacity for running a usable default cwfs(4) setup with a big WORM partition and daily dumps. The go-to solution is the hjfs(4) file system, which doesn’t use a dedicated WORM partition and doesn’t do daily dumps by default. However, it has several performance problems and is not as well tested.

The cwfs file system can be configured in lots of ways beyond the default cache-worm + other configuration supported by the 9front installer.

The desired configuration we’re going to cover is a single main file server tree backed by a simple disk file system - the same type used by the other tree in the default setup.

To do this we’re going to partition the disk appropriately and override the mountcwfs stage of the 9front installer with a replacement script that will configure cwfs appropriately. The rest of the installation and most of the subsequent system operation remain unaffected.

Start by booting from the installation media. Configure networking with ip/ipconfig(8) and fetch the replacement mountcwfs script, or put the script on a flash drive:

webfs
ramfs
hget http://a-b.xyz/23/666a >/tmp/mountcwfs
chmod +x /tmp/mountcwfs

Override the mountcwfs stage using bind(1):

bind /tmp/mountcwfs /bin/inst/mountcwfs

Run inst/start and complete the stages up to preppart as you would normally. At preppart, delete the default partitions and create one named fsmain with a desired size:

d other
d fscache
d fsworm
a fsmain 123456 .+100%
w
q

Make sure to “ream” the new partition at the next step.

Complete the rest of the installation, reboot. That is all.