fdisk
Program used to create, view, delete, modify partitions a a drive that uses MBR method of indexing partitions. However, fdisk does not allow resizing a partition. What you can do instead, is to delete existing partition and rebuild it from scratch. To boot system from a partition, set the boot flag with “a”. Use command fdisk -l to list all partitions on the system:
[root@arch ~]# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 223.57 GiB, 240057409536 bytes, 468862128 sectors
Disk model: KINGSTON SUV5002
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: F64AEA71-E097-634D-A060-F6AD601357E4
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 206847 204800 100M EFI System
/dev/sda2 206848 209922047 209715200 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 209922048 468862094 258940047 123.5G Linux filesystemAs you can see, I have only one solid-state drive /dev/sda on my system. It has around 220GB, disk label is GPT since I am running UEFI system. There are three partitions on this SSD:
- /dev/sda1 – First partition, type EFI meaning it has GPT partition table, size 100MB, this is where GRUB2 bootloader lives.
- /dev/sda2 – Second partition, type Linux filesystem, size 100GB, this is / of the system
- /dev/sda3 – Third partition, type Linux filesystem, size 123GB, this partition contains /home/ and other subdirectories.
To actually create partitions, delete them, or modify, type fdisk followed by disk path:
# fdisk /dev/sdaHere are the most popular commands you will need when inside fdisk utility:
| a | Set partition as bootable |
| d | Delete a partition |
| g | Create empty GPT partition |
| l | List known partition types |
| m | Print help menu |
| n | Add new partition |
| p | Print partition table |
| q | Quit without saving |
| t | Change partition’s system ID |
| u | Change display units |
| v | Verify partition table |
| w | Write table to disk and exit |
gdisk
If you are running system that uses GPT, you will need gdisk utility. It is quite similar to fdisk. If the drive does not use GPT method, gdisk will ofer the option to convert it to a GPT drive. However, method we select there must be compatible with system’s firmware (BIOS or UEFI). Here are common gdisk commands:
| b | Backup GPT data to a file |
| c | Change partition’s name |
| d | Delete partition |
| i | Show partition detailed information |
| l | List known partition types |
| n | Add new partition |
| o | Create new GUID Partition Table (GPT) |
| p | Print the partition table |
| q | Quit without saving |
| s | Sort partitions |
| t | Change partition’s type code |
| v | Verify disk |
| w | Write table to disk and exit |
To read more about gdisk, click here.
parted
GNU parted utility provides command-line interface for working with drive partitions. One of best features of parted utility is to resize existing partitions.
[root@arch ~]# parted
GNU Parted 3.3
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print
Model: ATA KINGSTON SUV5002 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 240GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB fat32 boot, esp
2 106MB 107GB 107GB ext4
3 107GB 240GB 133GB ext4
(parted) That is it for now, I will come back as I finish other blog posts. Thank you for reading, I really hope you learned something. To read more from me, click here