New OSX install on SSD : any way to move home folder when installing?

[MCHR]

Looking to use an SSD in a new MP, as a boot disc. Is there any way to designate where the home folder is during installation (and thus avoid a write/delete on the SSD volume)?

I know the home directory can be moved after install, but my question is about keeping it off the SSD alltogether.

 

[jedijoe]

During installation only a few kilobytes is written to the /Users area, and its also a good idea to keep an account on the boot drive anyway, for emergencies.

Install on the SSD, have the default user at installation be your emergency account. After install, go in and create your new user (your everyday user) and change its HOME directory in the advanced options to another volume.

 

[MCHR]

During installation only a few kilobytes is written to the /Users area, and its also a good idea to keep an account on the boot drive anyway, for emergencies.

Install on the SSD, have the default user at installation be your emergency account. After install, go in and create your new user (your everyday user) and change its HOME directory in the advanced options to another volume.

So, at install, there are really only the folders which are being assigned, is that correct (?) I understand the logic and reason for moving them off the boot drive after install. I was only looking to see if there was a way to have them completely off that volume.

If it's a few kb, it's much less than I thought. During migration of my existing data (Mail, iTunes, etc) will that be assigned to the folders away from the SSD (I assume it would be)? Or would I need to manually move them at that point?

 

[jedijoe]

If you do the migration during the install, it would certainly put the files on the SSD.

Just do the install. Login with the emergency account, create a new user (specifying the home directory using the advanced options). Then logout and log back in with the regular user account on the 2nd volume. Then launch the migration assistant manually or copy the files manually, whatever you are comfortable with.

But again, its good to keep an *empty* account on the boot drive. If your *users* volume fails for whatever reason and your only user account is on that drive, you won't have an account to login with, even to troubleshoot.

 

[Angelo95210]

...and change its HOME directory in the advanced options to another volume.

Sorry but I was interested in this thread too and I didn't find this option... ???

 

[MFDoom]

Sorry but I was interested in this thread too and I didn't find this option... ???

System Preferences > Accounts > Click the lock in the lower left side of the screen and authenticate >Right Click *your account* > Select "Advanced Options"

 

[Angelo95210]

I didn't think about the right click thing. Thanks. Great tip.

 

[Ravich]

I changed the location of my home folder through system preferences, and it seems to have worked, but both the documents and downloads folders are now question marks in the dock.


...okay scratch that. Until today, the documents folder was a question mark, now it is an actual folder. The downloads folder is still a question mark.


Anyone know that that is about?

 

[maflynn]

remove/re-add them from the dock and that should take care of the question marks

 

[Angelo95210]

System Preferences > Accounts > Click the lock in the lower left side of the screen and authenticate >Right Click *your account* > Select "Advanced Options"

Last question, how can you repair permissions when the user directory is not anymore on the System partition ?

 

[Glen Quagmire]

It doesn't matter where the home directory is, so long as you've told the OS where it is using the account preferences dialog. This ensures that repairing permissions and so on works fine.

 

[Angelo95210]

It doesn't matter where the home directory is, so long as you've told the OS where it is using the account preferences dialog. This ensures that repairing permissions and so on works fine.

Don't want to insist, but are you sure about this ? The Disk Utility application really lets me think that permissions are repaired only on the system disk...

 

[mulo]

if the home folder is encrypted with filevault, will it still be possible to move it?
could I move the folder then enable filevault and have it store it on the second drive by the current home folder?

 

[toxic]

Don't want to insist, but are you sure about this ? The Disk Utility application really lets me think that permissions are repaired only on the system disk...

the permission repair will look for the User/Library folder, find the one on the boot disk/partition, and find that it points to another location. at that point the utility follows the pointer to the new location.

...or at least it should, if the programmers were competent you can test it yourself by creating a symbolic link with a system folder to another partition/drive.