I have a wonderful running Maverick Meerkat install going on right now. I want to move my /home to another partition as per many suggestions.
How can I go about doing this without reinstalling the entire Ubuntu system? Can I simply create the partition with gparted and then change the mount point of /home in fstab to reflect it or is it a bit more difficult?
Yes, it is only a matter of adding a new entry to /etc/fstab and then copying the files over.
I suggest using UUIDs for the partition identifier in fstab, the syntax similar to this:
UUID=abcdabcd-acbd-abcd-abcd-abcdabcd /home ext4 defaults 0 2
Copying is best done as root, with the -a flag passed to cp. Also, better play safe and not remove the files immediately:
cp -a /home/* /path/to/new/partition/
mv /home /old_home
mkdir /home
Note that the user directories must be straight inside the partition, not in /partition/home/.
Special Case: Copy home directory to Portable USB drive
There are some good reasons to copy your home directory to a USB drive. Not having to leave home at home when traveling is one. Not trusting your room mate is another.
Format flash drive to ext4.
As root, use Grsync to copy /home/{username} from the internal drive to the flash drive. Preserving owner, permissions and group works for me.
Copy the UUID of the new partition.
Edit /etc/fstab on the internal drive to add the /home UUID:
UUID={UUID from above} /home ext4 defaults 0 0
Notes:
It might be a good idea to use an encrypted home when traveling.
If USB home permissions get messed up, they can be updated from the internal drive.
You will either need the USB to boot the computer or edit the USB's home fstab entry with an # in front of it.
Thanks to ubfan1 for the hint: Using existing home directory from a bootable external drive
