Debian: Disable software Raid

debian

I own a server with 2 hdds and I used a debian raid installation template.
Know I want to reinstall my server and don't want raid anymore to have more space.
My provider wants money to change the template to a non-raid debian one.

Is there a way to disable software raid on linux after a fresh installation?

Thanks

Best Answer

This answer assumes a mdadm based Raid 1. It is a very general answer, as you haven't really provided much details on the actual setup.

To un-raid a software Raid 1 you do the following:

  1. Remove one of the disk/partitions from the raid device, putting it in a degraded mode.
  2. Create a fresh partition, filesystem etc on the freed drive. Rsync all files from the degraded raid device to the new partition.
  3. If /boot/ is handled by a raid device, repeat 1 and 2 on it as well.
  4. Fiddle with /boot/grub/menu.1st and /etc/fstab to make sure the system is booted without the degraded raid device(s).
  5. Reboot
  6. Clear away the degraded raid from the remaining disk.

(Preferable by first practicing on a local, possibly virtual, test system.)