The tune2fs program can add a journal to an existing
ext2 file system without altering the data already on the partition. If
the file system is already mounted while it is being transitioned, the
journal will be visible as the file .journal in the
root directory of the file system. If the file system is not mounted,
the journal will be hidden and will not appear in the file system at all.
To convert an ext2 file system to ext3, log in as root and type:
/sbin/tune2fs -j /dev/hdbX |
In the above command, replace hdb with the
drive letter and X with the
partition number.
After doing this, be certain to change the partition type from ext2 to
ext3 in /etc/fstab.
If you are transitioning your root file system, you will have to use an
initrd image (or RAM disk) to boot. To create this, run the
mkinitrd program. For information on using the
mkinitrd command, type man
mkinitrd. Also make sure your LILO or GRUB configuration loads
the initrd.
If you fail to make this change, the system will still boot, but the
root file system will be mounted as ext2 instead of ext3.
