All Partitions Lost on Samba File Server

[grittyminder]

Hi there! I don't really have a problem to "solve" per se, I just want to understand what exactly happened here and prevent the same from happening in the future...

Here's what I did. I have a home server running VMware Server on top of Linux. I have a virtual machine that I set up as a Samba file server (Ubuntu Feisty). I created a huge partition (120GB) just for storing my files, music, pictures, and movies. I copied aproximately 90GB worth of files to the new partition and Samba shared it. I was able to connect to the Samba share from Linux and Windows clients alike, and view pictures, play video, etc. Everything was great and peachy.

Here is where things become ugly. I'm about to leave on vacation so I want to turn the server off while I'm away to conserve power. I log into the physical server via the console and attempt a shutdown. The output reads as if everything is shutting down normally. However, after a while I am returned to the Linux login prompt (the server does not shut down). I attempt another command line shutdown but nothing happens. Now, I'm in a hurry, so I just manually power off the server. As I'm doing this I'm thinking to myself that nothing bad should happen, because there should be protections in place in case a server powers off unexpectedly (e.g. in case of a power outage).

Fast forward to present day. I power on the physical server and everything seems fine. However, the virtual Samba file server fails to boot. Upon closer inspection (using an install disc to access a shell upon bootup) I discover that none of the partitions on the Samba file server are being detected--they have all been wiped out.

So why did this happen? Obviously I should have shut off the virtual machine prior to powering off the physical server. However, who would have expected that all my partitions would be wiped out? This is not normal behavior, right?

Also, how can I prevent this from happening again? If I set up the virtual Samba server again in the same way would all the partitions be wiped out again in the event of a power failure? How should I proceed here?

 

[PHV]

Why using a virtual machine for samba as your native OS seems to be Linux ?

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[grittyminder]

That's a good question. The answer is that I also use the server as a test (or 'play') environment for new software. For example, I found this new Japanese groupware software package the other day (Aipo4) and I wanted to give it a whirl. So I set up a new virtual machine and installed it. As it turns out, there is no easy way to uninstall Aipo4. So I just remove the virtual machine, no fuss no muss (and no messy residue left behind).

So I'm kind of wanting to keep the native OS environment clean and free of unnecessary clutter (i.e. not install any programs outside of virtual server) and carry out all the messy test and installation/uninstallation business on virtual machines.

In addition, I wanted to minimize the number of programs installed on the native OS because that is where the hypervisor is located.

If the answer is something as simple as moving the Samba server from the virtual machine to the native OS, then I can do that. However, I don't see why a Samba server cannot exist in a virtual environment. Surely there are people/orgainizations out there with virtualized Samba file servers that have been running without any problems?