pifr_simpletest directory not created

The first time I activated pifr_simpletest, it didn't create its directory in the files directory with all the patches in it, so when I started trying to do tests, it couldn't find any of the sample patches. I had to uninstall and re-install the module to get the directory generation working.

I have a feeling that has to do with the sample configuration I have setup for files directory to run out of a ramfs instead of off the disk as part of the configuration when /etc/init.d/mysql starts and stops.

Start

+        chmod -R 777 /var/www/sites/default/files
+        mount -t tmpfs -o rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,uid=`id -u www-data`,gid=`id -g www-data`,size=30m tmpfs /var/www/sites/default/files
+        mkdir /var/www/sites/default/files/review
+        chmod 775 /var/www/sites/default/files/review
+        chown www-data:www-data -R /var/www/sites/default/files/review

Stop

+          rsync -a --delete /var/lib/mysql/ /var/lib/.mysql
+          umount /var/lib/mysql/
+          rm -fr /var/www/sites/default/files/*
+          umount /var/www/sites/default/files/

The next time it starts, the pifr_simpletest directory and files are gone cause they were in RAM. Does this mean I need to modify the configuration to rsync pifr_simpletest somewhere else when the files directory is mounted and unmounted like I do with mysql? Can I mount checkout directly instead? Last time I looked at it, the checkout directory was removed entirely on a new checkout and re-created, which wouldn't work for a mount location.