On Thu, 6 Feb 2003, Eric Sproul wrote:

> Yep, that same syntax works here, and it turns out that inode 41021 is
> the directory entry /etc/mysql.  Now this is why it's puzzling to me.
> This directory is where the Debian mysql-common package puts the sample
> my.cnf file.  Nothing is actively being changed anywhere in this
> directory when a dump occurs, which was a possibility brought up by
> Martin Schwarz in a subsequent reply.
>
> Would temporarily renaming the directory cause its inode to change?  How
> about copying it to a different file, deleting the original, then
> renaming the copy to the original name?  I'm trying to think of
> something I could do that would not require a reboot/fsck, but would get
> the directory off of that inode.

Renaming it won't change the inode number; as it is a directory, you would
have to
   make a new directory (mkdir /etc/mysql.new)
   mv everything over   (mv /etc/mysql/* /etc/mysql.new)
   remove/rename        (rmdir /etc/mysql; mv /etc/mysql.new /etc/mysql)
that would free up that inode.