Testing the theory: the value of trying
“How does one set a custom boot partition to leverage for every provision or OS reload in SoftLayer?”
These are the kind of questions I LOVE! The question is specific and direct, but technically nuanced enough that will make tracking down the answer tricky. This is not a question asked every day. Best of all, I get to learn something new, as I have no clue!
Where do I start? I start where all technically savvy engineers do…Google. Over the years I’ve grown fairly adept at using The Google. This investigation leads me to a Stackoverflow inquiry:
Interesting. This _looks_ like the answer, yet it states the primary /boot partition can’t be custom. So not quite. I need a custom partition for the primary drive, not the secondary. Within IBM Cloud, as one might imagine, there is a multitude of resources, wikis, slack discussions, confluence pages, and more. I’m fairly confident the answer is hidden in the vast array of binary. Again, since this question is fairly unique, I search down the wiki rabbit hole. Fortunately, the force is strong with our internal search capability and I get a hit…seems that custom boot partitions can only be created internally. Fair enough, let’s give it a shot.
Eureka! In theory, this should work. But I need to be certain before responding to my customer. The best way to be certain is simply to test it out for yourself. I’ve learned that being assertive and driving forward the final action is atypical, but delivers results. Taking that one extra step demonstrates your willingness to go where most don’t, generates trust. Test, test, test! Fortunately, I did, and it worked. Now I can go back to my customer with an answer.
I learned something new. I added another quiver to my arsenal. To remain inquisitive is a virtue in life. Accepting the status quo dampens progress and eliminates improvement. Rabbit holes are not bad. My 4 year old is getting to the “why” stage, “why this, why that…” far be it from me to knock down on that curiosity, rather I would like to think I embolden her curiosity for the world. The worst phrase is, “that’s how it has always been done.” Bollucks.
To remain inquisitive is a virtue in life. Accepting the status quo dampens progress and eliminates improvement. Test everything. The world is your playground, get dirty.
This theological mindset is well discussed and debated in Carol Dweck’s book: Mindset. The Growth Mindset is a nascent theological avenue that has great potential to transform generations. Steve Jobs is accredited for the phrase, “Stay hungry. Stay Foolish,” yet I would add another “stay curious.” Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, rather it helped her discover and exciting things. I hope it does for you as well.
If you run across any technically nuanced question on IBM and you want a detailed answer, let me do your investigation for you!
Cheers,
_Spencer