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1<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> 1<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
2<!DOCTYPE sections SYSTEM "/dtd/book.dtd"> 2<!DOCTYPE sections SYSTEM "/dtd/book.dtd">
3 3
4<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license --> 4<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
5<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 --> 5<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
6 6
7<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-disk.xml,v 1.11 2004/11/15 12:47:47 swift Exp $ --> 7<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-disk.xml,v 1.32 2011/10/17 19:51:45 swift Exp $ -->
8 8
9<sections> 9<sections>
10 10
11<version>1.9</version> 11<version>11</version>
12<date>August 30, 2004</date> 12<date>2011-10-17</date>
13 13
14<section> 14<section>
15<title>Introduction to Block Devices</title> 15<title>Introduction to Block Devices</title>
16<subsection>
17<title>Block Devices</title>
18<body>
19 16
20<p>
21We'll take a good look at disk-oriented aspects of Gentoo Linux
22and Linux in general, including Linux filesystems, partitions and block devices.
23Then, once you're familiar with the ins and outs of disks and filesystems,
24you'll be guided through the process of setting up partitions and filesystems
25for your Gentoo Linux installation.
26</p>
27
28<p>
29To begin, we'll introduce <e>block devices</e>. The most famous block device is
30probably the one that represents the first SCSI HD in a Linux system, namely
31<path>/dev/sda</path>.
32</p>
33
34<p>
35The block devices above represent an abstract interface to the disk. User
36programs can use these block devices to interact with your disk without worrying
37about whether your drives are IDE, SCSI or something else. The program can
38simply address the storage on the disk as a bunch of contiguous,
39randomly-accessible 512-byte blocks.
40</p>
41
42</body>
43</subsection> 17<subsection>
18<include href="hb-install-blockdevices.xml"/>
19</subsection>
20
44<subsection> 21<subsection>
45<title>Slices</title> 22<title>Slices</title>
46<body> 23<body>
47 24
48<p> 25<p>
… …
86 63
87 64
88<p> 65<p>
89If you are interested in knowing how big a partition should be, or even how 66If you are interested in knowing how big a partition should be, or even how
90many partitions (or volumes) you need, read on. Otherwise continue now with 67many partitions (or volumes) you need, read on. Otherwise continue now with
91<uri link="#fdisk">Using fdisk to Partition your Disk</uri>. 68<uri link="#fdisk_SRM">Using fdisk to Partition your Disk (SRM only)</uri>
69or <uri link="#fdisk_ARC">Using fdisk to Partition your Disk (ARC/AlphaBIOS
70only)</uri>.
92</p> 71</p>
93 72
94</body> 73</body>
95</subsection> 74</subsection>
96<subsection> 75<subsection>
… …
104If you are installing Gentoo to perform as a mailserver, your 83If you are installing Gentoo to perform as a mailserver, your
105<path>/var</path> should be separate as all mails are stored inside 84<path>/var</path> should be separate as all mails are stored inside
106<path>/var</path>. A good choice of filesystem will then maximise your 85<path>/var</path>. A good choice of filesystem will then maximise your
107performance. Gameservers will have a separate <path>/opt</path> as most gaming 86performance. Gameservers will have a separate <path>/opt</path> as most gaming
108servers are installed there. The reason is similar for <path>/home</path>: 87servers are installed there. The reason is similar for <path>/home</path>:
109security and backups. 88security and backups. You will definitely want to keep <path>/usr</path> big:
89not only will it contain the majority of applications, the Portage tree alone
90takes around 500 Mbyte excluding the various sources that are stored in it.
110</p> 91</p>
111 92
112<p> 93<p>
113As you can see, it very much depends on what you want to achieve. Separate 94As you can see, it very much depends on what you want to achieve. Separate
114partitions or volumes have the following advantages: 95partitions or volumes have the following advantages:
… …
132 nosuid (setuid bits are ignored), noexec (executable bits are ignored) etc. 113 nosuid (setuid bits are ignored), noexec (executable bits are ignored) etc.
133</li> 114</li>
134</ul> 115</ul>
135 116
136<p> 117<p>
137However, multiple partitions have one big disadvantage: if not configured 118However, multiple partitions have disadvantages as well. If not configured
138properly, you might result in having a system with lots 119properly, you will have a system with lots of free space on one partition and
139of free space on one partition and none on another. 120none on another. Another nuisance is that separate partitions - especially
121for important mountpoints like <path>/usr</path> or <path>/var</path> - often
122require the administrator to boot with an initramfs to mount the partition
123before other boot scripts start. This isn't always the case though, so YMMV.
140</p> 124</p>
141 125
142</body> 126</body>
143</subsection> 127</subsection>
144</section> 128</section>
145<section id="fdisk"> 129<section id="fdisk_SRM">
146<title>Using fdisk on Alpha to Partition your Disk</title> 130<title>Using fdisk to Partition your Disk (SRM only)</title>
147<subsection> 131<subsection>
148<body> 132<body>
149 133
150<p> 134<p>
151The following parts explain how to create the example slice layout described 135The following parts explain how to create the example slice layout described
… …
214<p> 198<p>
215If your hard drive is completely blank, then you'll have to first create 199If your hard drive is completely blank, then you'll have to first create
216a BSD disklabel. 200a BSD disklabel.
217</p> 201</p>
218 202
219<pre caption="Creating BSD disklabel"> 203<pre caption="Creating a BSD disklabel">
220Command (m for help): <i>b</i> 204Command (m for help): <i>b</i>
221/dev/sda contains no disklabel. 205/dev/sda contains no disklabel.
222Do you want to create a disklabel? (y/n) <i>y</i> 206Do you want to create a disklabel? (y/n) <i>y</i>
223<comment>A bunch of drive-specific info will show here</comment> 207<comment>A bunch of drive-specific info will show here</comment>
2243 partitions: 2083 partitions:
225# start end size fstype [fsize bsize cpg] 209# start end size fstype [fsize bsize cpg]
226 c: 1 5290* 5289* unused 0 0 210 c: 1 5290* 5289* unused 0 0
227</pre> 211</pre>
228 212
229<p> 213<p>
230We start with deleting all slices <e>except</e> the 'c'-slice. The following 214We start with deleting all slices <e>except</e> the 'c'-slice (a requirement
231shows how to delete a slice (in the example we use 'a'). Repeat the process to 215for using BSD disklabels). The following shows how to delete a slice (in
232delete all other slices (again, except the 'c'-slice). 216the example we use 'a'). Repeat the process to delete all other slices
217(again, except the 'c'-slice).
233</p> 218</p>
234 219
235<p> 220<p>
236Use <c>p</c> to view all existing slices. <c>d</c> is used to delete a slice. 221Use <c>p</c> to view all existing slices. <c>d</c> is used to delete a slice.
237</p> 222</p>
… …
272<subsection> 257<subsection>
273<title>Creating the Swap Slice</title> 258<title>Creating the Swap Slice</title>
274<body> 259<body>
275 260
276<p> 261<p>
277On Alpha based systems you don't need a separate boot partition. However, the 262On Alpha based systems you don't need a separate boot slice. However, the
278first cylinder cannot be used as the <c>aboot</c> image will be placed there. 263first cylinder cannot be used as the <c>aboot</c> image will be placed there.
279</p> 264</p>
280 265
281<p> 266<p>
282We will create a swap slice starting at the third cylinder, with a total 267We will create a swap slice starting at the third cylinder, with a total
283size of 1 Gbyte. Use <c>n</c> to create a new slice. After creating the slice, 268size of 1 GB. Use <c>n</c> to create a new slice. After creating the slice,
284we will change its type to <c>1</c> (one), meaning <e>swap</e>. 269we will change its type to <c>1</c> (one), meaning <e>swap</e>.
285</p> 270</p>
286 271
287<pre caption="Creating the swap slice"> 272<pre caption="Creating the swap slice">
288BSD disklabel command (m for help): <i>n</i> 273BSD disklabel command (m for help): <i>n</i>
… …
315<body> 300<body>
316 301
317<p> 302<p>
318We will now create the root slice, starting from the first cylinder <e>after</e> 303We will now create the root slice, starting from the first cylinder <e>after</e>
319the swap slice. Use the <c>p</c> command to view where the swap slice ends. In 304the swap slice. Use the <c>p</c> command to view where the swap slice ends. In
320our example, this is at 1003, making the root partition start at 1004. 305our example, this is at 1003, making the root slice start at 1004.
321</p> 306</p>
322 307
323<p> 308<p>
324Another problem is that there is currently a bug in <c>fdisk</c> making it think 309Another problem is that there is currently a bug in <c>fdisk</c> making it think
325the number of available cylinders is one above the real number of cylinders. In 310the number of available cylinders is one above the real number of cylinders. In
326other words, when you are asked for the last cylinder, decrease the cylinder 311other words, when you are asked for the last cylinder, decrease the cylinder
327number (in this example: 5290) with one. 312number (in this example: 5290) with one.
328</p> 313</p>
329 314
330<p> 315<p>
331When the partition is created, we change the type to <c>8</c>, for <e>ext2</e>. 316When the slice is created, we change the type to <c>8</c>, for <e>ext2</e>.
332</p> 317</p>
333 318
334<pre caption="Creating the root slice"> 319<pre caption="Creating the root slice">
335D disklabel command (m for help): <i>n</i> 320D disklabel command (m for help): <i>n</i>
336Partition (a-p): <i>b</i> 321Partition (a-p): <i>b</i>
… …
369<pre caption="Save and exit fdisk"> 354<pre caption="Save and exit fdisk">
370Command (m for help): <i>w</i> 355Command (m for help): <i>w</i>
371</pre> 356</pre>
372 357
373<p> 358<p>
374Now that your slices are created, you can now continue with <uri 359Now that your slices are created, you can continue with <uri
360link="#filesystems">Creating Filesystems</uri>.
361</p>
362
363</body>
364</subsection>
365</section>
366<section id="fdisk_ARC">
367<title>Using fdisk to Partition your Disk (ARC/AlphaBIOS only)</title>
368<subsection>
369<body>
370
371<p>
372The following parts explain how to partition the disk with a layout
373similar to the one described previously, namely:
374</p>
375
376<table>
377<tr>
378 <th>Partition</th>
379 <th>Description</th>
380</tr>
381<tr>
382 <ti><path>/dev/sda1</path></ti>
383 <ti>Boot partition</ti>
384</tr>
385<tr>
386 <ti><path>/dev/sda2</path></ti>
387 <ti>Swap partition</ti>
388</tr>
389<tr>
390 <ti><path>/dev/sda3</path></ti>
391 <ti>Root partition</ti>
392</tr>
393</table>
394
395<p>
396Change your partition layout according to your own preference.
397</p>
398
399</body>
400</subsection>
401<subsection>
402<title>Identifying Available Disks</title>
403<body>
404
405<p>
406To figure out what disks you have running, use the following commands:
407</p>
408
409<pre caption="Identifying available disks">
410# <i>dmesg | grep 'drive$'</i> <comment>(For IDE disks)</comment>
411# <i>dmesg | grep 'scsi'</i> <comment>(For SCSI disks)</comment>
412</pre>
413
414<p>
415From this output you should be able to see what disks were detected and their
416respective <path>/dev</path> entry. In the following parts we assume that the
417disk is a SCSI disk on <path>/dev/sda</path>.
418</p>
419
420<p>
421Now fire up <c>fdisk</c>:
422</p>
423
424<pre caption="Starting fdisk">
425# <i>fdisk /dev/sda</i>
426</pre>
427
428</body>
429</subsection>
430<subsection>
431<title>Deleting All Partitions</title>
432<body>
433
434<p>
435If your hard drive is completely blank, then you'll have to first create
436a DOS disklabel.
437</p>
438
439<pre caption="Creating a DOS disklabel">
440Command (m for help): <i>o</i>
441Building a new DOS disklabel.
442</pre>
443
444<p>
445We start with deleting all partitions. The following shows how to delete
446a partition (in the example we use '1'). Repeat the process to delete all
447other partitions.
448</p>
449
450<p>
451Use <c>p</c> to view all existing partitions. <c>d</c> is used to delete a
452partition.
453</p>
454
455<pre caption="Deleting a partition">
456command (m for help): <i>p</i>
457
458Disk /dev/sda: 9150 MB, 9150996480 bytes
45964 heads, 32 sectors/track, 8727 cylinders
460Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
461
462 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
463/dev/sda1 1 478 489456 83 Linux
464/dev/sda2 479 8727 8446976 5 Extended
465/dev/sda5 479 1433 977904 83 Linux Swap
466/dev/sda6 1434 8727 7469040 83 Linux
467
468command (m for help): <i>d</i>
469Partition number (1-6): <i>1</i>
470</pre>
471
472
473</body>
474</subsection>
475<subsection>
476<title>Creating the Boot Partition</title>
477<body>
478
479<p>
480On Alpha systems which use MILO to boot, we have to create a small vfat
481boot partition.
482</p>
483
484<pre caption="Creating the boot partition">
485Command (m for help): <i>n</i>
486Command action
487 e extended
488 p primary partition (1-4)
489<i>p</i>
490Partition number (1-4): <i>1</i>
491First cylinder (1-8727, default 1): <i>1</i>
492Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-8727, default 8727): <i>+16M</i>
493
494Command (m for help): <i>t</i>
495Selected partition 1
496Hex code (type L to list codes): <i>6</i>
497Changed system type of partition 1 to 6 (FAT16)
498</pre>
499
500</body>
501</subsection>
502<subsection>
503<title>Creating the Swap Partition</title>
504<body>
505
506<p>
507We will create a swap partition with a total size of 1 GB. Use <c>n</c> to
508create a new partition.
509</p>
510
511<pre caption="Creating the swap partition">
512Command (m for help): <i>n</i>
513Command action
514 e extended
515 p primary partition (1-4)
516<i>p</i>
517Partition number (1-4): <i>2</i>
518First cylinder (17-8727, default 17): <i>17</i>
519Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (17-8727, default 8727): <i>+1000M</i>
520
521Command (m for help): <i>t</i>
522Partition number (1-4): <i>2</i>
523Hex code (type L to list codes): <i>82</i>
524Changed system type of partition 2 to 82 (Linux swap)
525</pre>
526
527<p>
528After these steps you should see a layout similar to the following:
529</p>
530
531<pre caption="Partition listing after creating a swap partition">
532Command (m for help): <i>p</i>
533
534Disk /dev/sda: 9150 MB, 9150996480 bytes
53564 heads, 32 sectors/track, 8727 cylinders
536Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
537
538 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
539/dev/sda1 1 16 16368 6 FAT16
540/dev/sda2 17 971 977920 82 Linux swap
541</pre>
542
543</body>
544</subsection>
545<subsection>
546<title>Creating the Root Partition</title>
547<body>
548
549<p>
550We will now create the root partition. Again, just use the <c>n</c> command.
551</p>
552
553<pre caption="Creating the root partition">
554Command (m for help): <i>n</i>
555Command action
556 e extended
557 p primary partition (1-4)
558<i>p</i>
559Partition number (1-4): <i>3</i>
560First cylinder (972-8727, default 972): <i>972</i>
561Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (972-8727, default 8727): <i>8727</i>
562</pre>
563
564<p>
565After these steps you should see a layout similar to the following:
566</p>
567
568<pre caption="Partition listing after creating the root partition">
569Command (m for help): <i>p</i>
570
571Disk /dev/sda: 9150 MB, 9150996480 bytes
57264 heads, 32 sectors/track, 8727 cylinders
573Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
574
575 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
576/dev/sda1 1 16 16368 6 FAT16
577/dev/sda2 17 971 977920 82 Linux swap
578/dev/sda3 972 8727 7942144 83 Linux
579</pre>
580
581</body>
582</subsection>
583<subsection>
584<title>Save the Partition Layout and Exit</title>
585<body>
586
587<p>
588Save <c>fdisk</c> by typing <c>w</c>. This will also save your partition layout.
589</p>
590
591<pre caption="Save and exit fdisk">
592Command (m for help): <i>w</i>
593</pre>
594
595<p>
596Now that your partitions are created, you can continue with <uri
375link="#filesystems">Creating Filesystems</uri>. 597link="#filesystems">Creating Filesystems</uri>.
376</p> 598</p>
377 599
378</body> 600</body>
379</subsection> 601</subsection>
… …
392Otherwise read on to learn about the available filesystems... 614Otherwise read on to learn about the available filesystems...
393</p> 615</p>
394 616
395</body> 617</body>
396</subsection> 618</subsection>
397<subsection>
398<title>Filesystems?</title>
399<body>
400 619
401<p>
402Several filesystems are available. Most of them are found stable on the
403Alpha architecture.
404</p>
405
406<p>
407<b>ext2</b> is the tried and true Linux filesystem but doesn't have metadata
408journaling, which means that routine ext2 filesystem checks at startup time can
409be quite time-consuming. There is now quite a selection of newer-generation
410journaled filesystems that can be checked for consistency very quickly and are
411thus generally preferred over their non-journaled counterparts. Journaled
412filesystems prevent long delays when you boot your system and your filesystem
413happens to be in an inconsistent state.
414</p>
415
416<p>
417<b>ext3</b> is the journaled version of the ext2 filesystem, providing metadata
418journaling for fast recovery in addition to other enhanced journaling modes like
419full data and ordered data journaling. ext3 is a very good and reliable
420filesystem. It has an additional hashed b-tree indexing option that enables
421high performance in almost all situations. In short, ext3 is an excellent
422filesystem.
423</p>
424
425<p>
426<b>ReiserFS</b> is a B*-tree based filesystem that has very good overall
427performance and greatly outperforms both ext2 and ext3 when dealing with small
428files (files less than 4k), often by a factor of 10x-15x. ReiserFS also scales
429extremely well and has metadata journaling. As of kernel 2.4.18+, ReiserFS is
430solid and usable as both general-purpose filesystem and for extreme cases such
431as the creation of large filesystems, the use of many small files, very large
432files and directories containing tens of thousands of files.
433</p>
434
435<p>
436<b>XFS</b> is a filesystem with metadata journaling which comes with a robust
437feature-set and is optimized for scalability. We only recommend using this
438filesystem on Linux systems with high-end SCSI and/or fibre channel storage and
439an uninterruptible power supply. Because XFS aggressively caches in-transit data
440in RAM, improperly designed programs (those that don't take proper precautions
441when writing files to disk and there are quite a few of them) can lose a good
442deal of data if the system goes down unexpectedly.
443</p>
444
445<p>
446<b>JFS</b> is IBM's high-performance journaling filesystem. It has recently
447become production-ready and there hasn't been a sufficient track record to
448comment positively nor negatively on its general stability at this point.
449</p>
450
451</body>
452</subsection> 620<subsection>
621<include href="hb-install-filesystems.xml"/>
622</subsection>
623
453<subsection id="filesystems-apply"> 624<subsection id="filesystems-apply">
454<title>Applying a Filesystem to a Partition</title> 625<title>Applying a Filesystem to a Partition</title>
455<body> 626<body>
456 627
457<p> 628<p>
… …
464 <th>Filesystem</th> 635 <th>Filesystem</th>
465 <th>Creation Command</th> 636 <th>Creation Command</th>
466</tr> 637</tr>
467<tr> 638<tr>
468 <ti>ext2</ti> 639 <ti>ext2</ti>
469 <ti><c>mke2fs</c></ti> 640 <ti><c>mkfs.ext2</c></ti>
470</tr> 641</tr>
471<tr> 642<tr>
472 <ti>ext3</ti> 643 <ti>ext3</ti>
473 <ti><c>mke2fs -j</c></ti> 644 <ti><c>mkfs.ext3</c></ti>
645</tr>
646<tr>
647 <ti>ext4</ti>
648 <ti><c>mkfs.ext4</c></ti>
474</tr> 649</tr>
475<tr> 650<tr>
476 <ti>reiserfs</ti> 651 <ti>reiserfs</ti>
477 <ti><c>mkreiserfs</c></ti> 652 <ti><c>mkfs.reiserfs</c></ti>
478</tr> 653</tr>
479<tr> 654<tr>
480 <ti>xfs</ti> 655 <ti>xfs</ti>
481 <ti><c>mkfs.xfs</c></ti> 656 <ti><c>mkfs.xfs</c></ti>
482</tr> 657</tr>
… …
490For instance, to have the root partition (<path>/dev/sda2</path> in our example) 665For instance, to have the root partition (<path>/dev/sda2</path> in our example)
491in ext3, you would use: 666in ext3, you would use:
492</p> 667</p>
493 668
494<pre caption="Applying a filesystem on a partition"> 669<pre caption="Applying a filesystem on a partition">
495# <i>mke2fs -j /dev/sda2</i> 670# <i>mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda2</i>
496</pre> 671</pre>
497 672
498<p> 673<p>
499Now create the filesystems on your newly created partitions (or logical 674Now create the filesystems on your newly created partitions (or logical
500volumes). 675volumes).
… …
521<pre caption="Activating the swap partition"> 696<pre caption="Activating the swap partition">
522# <i>swapon /dev/sda1</i> 697# <i>swapon /dev/sda1</i>
523</pre> 698</pre>
524 699
525<p> 700<p>
526Create and activate the swap now. 701Create and activate the swap with the commands mentioned above.
527</p> 702</p>
528 703
529</body> 704</body>
530</subsection> 705</subsection>
531</section> 706</section>
… …
535 710
536<p> 711<p>
537Now that your partitions are initialized and are housing a filesystem, it is 712Now that your partitions are initialized and are housing a filesystem, it is
538time to mount those partitions. Use the <c>mount</c> command. Don't forget to 713time to mount those partitions. Use the <c>mount</c> command. Don't forget to
539create the necessary mount directories for every partition you created. As an 714create the necessary mount directories for every partition you created. As an
540example we mount the root and boot partition: 715example we mount the root partition:
541</p> 716</p>
542 717
543<pre caption="Mounting partitions"> 718<pre caption="Mounting partitions">
544# <i>mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/gentoo</i> 719# <i>mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/gentoo</i>
545</pre> 720</pre>
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