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Chapter 27. Getting started with partitions
Use disk partitioning to divide a disk into one or more logical areas which enables work on each partition separately. The hard disk stores information about the location and size of each disk partition in the partition table. Using the table, each partition then appears as a logical disk to the operating system. You can then read and write on those individual disks.
For an overview of the advantages and disadvantages to using partitions on block devices, see What are the advantages and disadvantages to using partitioning on LUNs, either directly or with LVM in between?.
27.1. Creating a partition table on a disk with parted
Use the parted
utility to format a block device with a partition table more easily.
Formatting a block device with a partition table deletes all data stored on the device.
Procedure
Start the interactive
parted
shell:# parted block-device
Determine if there already is a partition table on the device:
# (parted) print
If the device already contains partitions, they will be deleted in the following steps.
Create the new partition table:
# (parted) mklabel table-type
Replace table-type with with the intended partition table type:
-
msdos
for MBR -
gpt
for GPT
-
Example 27.1. Creating a GUID Partition Table (GPT) table
To create a GPT table on the disk, use:
# (parted) mklabel gpt
The changes start applying after you enter this command.
View the partition table to confirm that it is created:
# (parted) print
Exit the
parted
shell:# (parted) quit
Additional resources
-
parted(8)
man page.
27.2. Viewing the partition table with parted
Display the partition table of a block device to see the partition layout and details about individual partitions. You can view the partition table on a block device using the parted
utility.
Procedure
Start the
parted
utility. For example, the following output lists the device/dev/sda
:# parted /dev/sda
View the partition table:
# (parted) print Model: ATA SAMSUNG MZNLN256 (scsi) Disk /dev/sda: 256GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Disk Flags: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 1049kB 269MB 268MB primary xfs boot 2 269MB 34.6GB 34.4GB primary 3 34.6GB 45.4GB 10.7GB primary 4 45.4GB 256GB 211GB extended 5 45.4GB 256GB 211GB logical
Optional: Switch to the device you want to examine next:
# (parted) select block-device
For a detailed description of the print command output, see the following:
Model: ATA SAMSUNG MZNLN256 (scsi)
- The disk type, manufacturer, model number, and interface.
Disk /dev/sda: 256GB
- The file path to the block device and the storage capacity.
Partition Table: msdos
- The disk label type.
Number
-
The partition number. For example, the partition with minor number 1 corresponds to
/dev/sda1
. Start
andEnd
- The location on the device where the partition starts and ends.
Type
- Valid types are metadata, free, primary, extended, or logical.
File system
-
The file system type. If the
File system
field of a device shows no value, this means that its file system type is unknown. Theparted
utility cannot recognize the file system on encrypted devices. Flags
-
Lists the flags set for the partition. Available flags are
boot
,root
,swap
,hidden
,raid
,lvm
, orlba
.
Additional resources
-
parted(8)
man page.
27.3. Creating a partition with parted
As a system administrator, you can create new partitions on a disk by using the parted
utility.
The required partitions are swap
, /boot/
, and / (root)
.
Prerequisites
- A partition table on the disk.
- If the partition you want to create is larger than 2TiB, format the disk with the GUID Partition Table (GPT).
Procedure
Start the
parted
utility:# parted block-device
View the current partition table to determine if there is enough free space:
# (parted) print
- Resize the partition in case there is not enough free space.
From the partition table, determine:
- The start and end points of the new partition.
- On MBR, what partition type it should be.
Create the new partition:
# (parted) mkpart part-type name fs-type start end
-
Replace part-type with with
primary
,logical
, orextended
. This applies only to the MBR partition table. - Replace name with an arbitrary partition name. This is required for GPT partition tables.
-
Replace fs-type with
xfs
,ext2
,ext3
,ext4
,fat16
,fat32
,hfs
,hfs+
,linux-swap
,ntfs
, orreiserfs
. The fs-type parameter is optional. Note that theparted
utility does not create the file system on the partition. -
Replace start and end with the sizes that determine the starting and ending points of the partition, counting from the beginning of the disk. You can use size suffixes, such as
512MiB
,20GiB
, or1.5TiB
. The default size is in megabytes.
Example 27.2. Creating a small primary partition
To create a primary partition from 1024MiB until 2048MiB on an MBR table, use:
# (parted) mkpart primary 1024MiB 2048MiB
The changes start applying after you enter the command.
-
Replace part-type with with
View the partition table to confirm that the created partition is in the partition table with the correct partition type, file system type, and size:
# (parted) print
Exit the
parted
shell:# (parted) quit
Register the new device node:
# udevadm settle
Verify that the kernel recognizes the new partition:
# cat /proc/partitions
Additional resources
-
parted(8)
man page. - Creating a partition table on a disk with parted.
- Resizing a partition with parted
27.4. Setting a partition type with fdisk
You can set a partition type or flag, using the fdisk
utility.
Prerequisites
- A partition on the disk.
Procedure
Start the interactive
fdisk
shell:# fdisk block-device
View the current partition table to determine the minor partition number:
Command (m for help): print
You can see the current partition type in the
Type
column and its corresponding type ID in theId
column.Enter the partition type command and select a partition using its minor number:
Command (m for help): type Partition number (1,2,3 default 3): 2
Optional: View the list in hexadecimal codes:
Hex code (type L to list all codes): L
Set the partition type:
Hex code (type L to list all codes): 8e
Write your changes and exit the
fdisk
shell:Command (m for help): write The partition table has been altered. Syncing disks.
Verify your changes:
# fdisk --list block-device
27.5. Resizing a partition with parted
Using the parted
utility, extend a partition to utilize unused disk space, or shrink a partition to use its capacity for different purposes.
Prerequisites
- Back up the data before shrinking a partition.
- If the partition you want to create is larger than 2TiB, format the disk with the GUID Partition Table (GPT).
- If you want to shrink the partition, first shrink the file system so that it is not larger than the resized partition.
XFS does not support shrinking.
Procedure
Start the
parted
utility:# parted block-device
View the current partition table:
# (parted) print
From the partition table, determine:
- The minor number of the partition.
- The location of the existing partition and its new ending point after resizing.
Resize the partition:
# (parted) resizepart 1 2GiB
- Replace 1 with the minor number of the partition that you are resizing.
-
Replace 2 with the size that determines the new ending point of the resized partition, counting from the beginning of the disk. You can use size suffixes, such as
512MiB
,20GiB
, or1.5TiB
. The default size is in megabytes.
View the partition table to confirm that the resized partition is in the partition table with the correct size:
# (parted) print
Exit the
parted
shell:# (parted) quit
Verify that the kernel registers the new partition:
# cat /proc/partitions
- Optional: If you extended the partition, extend the file system on it as well.
Additional resources
27.6. Removing a partition with parted
Using the parted
utility, you can remove a disk partition to free up disk space.
Removing a partition deletes all data stored on the partition.
Procedure
Start the interactive
parted
shell:# parted block-device
-
Replace block-device with the path to the device where you want to remove a partition: for example,
/dev/sda
.
-
Replace block-device with the path to the device where you want to remove a partition: for example,
View the current partition table to determine the minor number of the partition to remove:
(parted) print
Remove the partition:
(parted) rm minor-number
- Replace minor-number with the minor number of the partition you want to remove.
The changes start applying as soon as you enter this command.
Verify that you have removed the partition from the partition table:
(parted) print
Exit the
parted
shell:(parted) quit
Verify that the kernel registers that the partition is removed:
# cat /proc/partitions
-
Remove the partition from the
/etc/fstab
file, if it is present. Find the line that declares the removed partition, and remove it from the file. Regenerate mount units so that your system registers the new
/etc/fstab
configuration:# systemctl daemon-reload
If you have deleted a swap partition or removed pieces of LVM, remove all references to the partition from the kernel command line:
List active kernel options and see if any option references the removed partition:
# grubby --info=ALL
Remove the kernel options that reference the removed partition:
# grubby --update-kernel=ALL --remove-args="option"
To register the changes in the early boot system, rebuild the
initramfs
file system:# dracut --force --verbose
Additional resources
-
parted(8)
man page