Partition using fdisk

Partitioning in Linux is essential for managing disk storage. The fdisk and parted commands are commonly used for this purpose. Below are steps to partition a disk using each command, along with sample inputs and expected outputs.

1. Using fdisk

fdisk is a popular tool for creating and managing partitions on a disk.

Steps:

1. Open fdisk with the target disk:

sudo fdisk /dev/sdX

Replace /dev/sdX with your target disk (e.g., /dev/sdb).

Sample Output:

Command (m for help):

2. View the current partition table (optional):

• Enter p to print the partition table

p

Sample Output:

Disk /dev/sdb: 10 GB, 10000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1216 cylinders, total 19531250 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System

Create a New Partition:

• Enter n to create a new partition.
• Choose p for primary or e for extended.
• Enter the partition number (e.g., 1).
• Specify the first sector (press Enter to accept the default).
• Specify the last sector (or specify size, e.g., +5G for 5 GB).

n
p
1
[press Enter]
+5G

Sample Output:

Partition type:
   p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
   e   extended
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-19531250, default 2048): [press Enter]
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-19531250, default 19531250): +5G
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 5 GiB.

Write the Partition Table:

• Enter w to write the partition changes to disk.

w

Sample Output:

The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.

5. Format the New Partition: After partitioning, you should format it with a file system (e.g., ext4).

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1

Sample Output:

mke2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
Creating filesystem with 1310720 4k blocks and 327680 inodes
Filesystem UUID: a8c9c2d4-8e9c-432b-8ae4-d6e94cbd1e59
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
    32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736

Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

6. Mount the New Partition:

sudo mkdir /mnt/new_partition
sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/new_partition

Sample Output:

(no output if successful)