SOS! Root filled, want to recover MySQL data!

I'd be GREATLY APRECIATED if someone could bail me out of this one! I
logged into my server an hour ago just to find that the root partition
is 100% filled:

/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
34285296 32544556 0 100% /

Because of that (I think), the data directory associated with my MySQL
installation got shot (read: disappeared!).

What would be the best way to recover the mysql data? The MySQL daemon
isn't running, and I can't find anything under lost+found, either!
Please help for I *really* need to get [some or most of] the data back!

Re: SOS! Root filled, want to recover MySQL data!

wrote in message
news:1141805251.233699.130770@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com.. .
> I'd be GREATLY APRECIATED if someone could bail me out of this one! I
> logged into my server an hour ago just to find that the root partition
> is 100% filled:
>
> /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
> 34285296 32544556 0 100% /
>
> Because of that (I think), the data directory associated with my MySQL
> installation got shot (read: disappeared!).

That would be very surprising. If the directory was removed, then wouldn't
that have freed up some space on the filesystem?

Are you absolutely certain you're looking in the right place for the data
directory? That is, have you confirmed by querying the MySQL instance that
it's using that location as the data directory, or are you assuming?

Is it possible your MySQL data dir was on a separate filesystem, and it
isn't currently mounted?

> What would be the best way to recover the mysql data? The MySQL daemon
> isn't running, and I can't find anything under lost+found, either!
> Please help for I *really* need to get [some or most of] the data back!

This demonstrates the value of making database backups and storing the
backups on a different server.

If the files have really been deleted, and the filesystem is 100% full, it's
likely that the physical tracks on the disk have been overwritten with other
data. If that's the case, there's probably no possibility of using one of
the "undelete" tools that are available for some operating systems.

By the way, you don't mention what operating system you're using, its
version, and the filesystem type of /root.

Regards,
Bill K.