Ubuntu mate disk partitioning. Hard disk partitioning in Linux Ubuntu during installation

UBUNTU: hard drive partitioning

It is assumed that we do not have any "Windoffsof" on our hard drive. Otherwise, the markup strategy changes slightly, although the principles remain the same. I calculate this for a working wheelbarrow, and not for a server, where it is desirable to do it a little differently. For convenience, we will agree that we have a screw with a size of at least 80 GB, and RAM - 500 MB. Otherwise, I would suggest different values ​​for partition sizes. The words partition and section are synonyms.

Option 1- simple
Everything is clear from the name. A similar option is offered, probably, by all modern distributions during installation for "complete beginners". And this is fair. After all, there are only 2 partitions: swap is the swap partition, and / is the root partition where everything else is located, including the home directory and so on. I use a similar markup in virtual machines - quickly and conveniently. Partitions on the disk - Primary.

SWAP- 500Mb
/ - All other space

Option 2- optimal
A very good layout option. Everything is clear and optimal. All sections Primary. In my opinion, this is the best solution if a high level of system security is not very important to us.

/ - 5-10 Gb
SWAP-500Mb
/Home- all other space (nodev, noexec)

I believe that this is the most popular disk partitioning option.

Option 3- safe.
If there is a permanent Internet connection (for example, via a dedicated line), then I would make more sections. And it is connected, first of all, from the point of view of safety. Like it or not, Linux machines are also subject to attacks and hacking "from outside", except that I have not yet encountered viruses. Therefore, the following scheme is proposed:

Primary /boot 20Mb ro
primary swap 500 Mb
extended / 5-10Gb
logical /tmp 1-2 Gb (nodev, nosuid, noexec)
logical /var/log 500 Mb (noexec)
primary /home Other (nodev, noexec)

For partitions, I also specified mount options. They can be set during Ubuntu installation, but it is preferable to write or change in a file /etc/fstab. In my opinion, it is much more convenient.

/boot
This section contains static files: kernel images, configs, ramdisks and bootloader. The main point of a separate mount is to make it read-only. This eliminates any possibility for any viruses or Trojans to register in the bootloader for auto-activation when the system boots. I consider this step to be quite an effective measure to protect my system.

Parameter value: ro- read-only access.

However, we must remember that this partition is in read-only mode when we are going to install a new kernel or change something in the bootloader files. If we need to write something there, then we first need to transfer this section to the "read-write" mode. You can do it in different ways, but I like the following option:

# mount -o remount,rw /boot

Now the /boot directory is available to us in the "write" mode too. You can return this directory back to read-only mode either by rebooting the system (our directory will again be mounted in read-only mode), or by running the following command in the console:

# mount -o remount,ro /boot

Don't forget to "leave" the directory before remount operations, otherwise the system will swear at it.

For this partition, it is optimal to use the ext2 file system, since the bootloader is accessed without the help of the OS, and journaling is not needed here.

As for the swap file, not everything is so clear. There are different opinions about the size of the swap partition, depending on the size of the RAM. As I understand it, in laptops it makes sense to make a swap partition the size of a RAM, since in the "sleep" mode, the laptop must dump all its RAM onto the hard drive.

Somewhere I met recommendations that it is enough to make a swap partition half the amount of RAM. In this version, I worked for quite some time, and I want to note that it is quite acceptable for work. However, due to the emergence of the possibility of using virtual machines such as QEMU and Virtual Box, such a calculation of the swap partition is not enough.

When using a large amount of RAM, things are a little different. There is a statement that when using RAM of 2 GB or more, a swap partition is not needed at all. It's hard to argue with that, and I would do the same (with that much memory). But, I repeat, for laptops, the swap partition is an actual thing.

Conclusion: everyone decides for himself, but in this case we use the option of calculating the swap partition when it is equal to the amount of RAM.

/ (root partition)
I usually do not set any special mount options for this partition. The system itself prescribes in the file /etc/fstab following:

defaults,errors=remount-ro

This means that the connection is made with default parameters, and in case of any errors (which, for example, may occur when loading Debian), this partition will be mounted in read-only mode. Which suits me just fine.

File system, I usually use ext3, because journaling here is not even hurt.

/tmp
This is the temporary files directory and should be empty after a reboot.
The point of moving it to a separate partition is to exclude a hole in the security of the system.
That is why we impose restrictions in the form of nodev, nosuid, noexec. Parameter values:

* nodev- does not allow the creation and use of character or block device files on this file system
* nosuid- the suid bit does not work on this file system (execution of the program on behalf of its owner, and not the user who launched it)
* noexec- prohibition of launching from this file system (however, scripts can still be run with the bash script.sh command)

And the option score noexec there have been cases when some software (as I understand it - not very well written) requires the ability to run from this file system, so here you need to try. After completing the installation of all the necessary programs on the system, I would recommend trying to enable this option (remember that this is done in the /etc/fstab file) and work with it. In case of any problems in operation, disable it (delete it from /etc/fstab and reboot, for example) and try to work again. In general, in this vein. Once again, I note that this option is a very important point in the security of the system.

Recommended file system reiserfs- a journaling file system, which differs from others in its good speed of working with directories that have a large number of small files. In addition, it can compactly store the tails of files to save space, usually wasted.

/var/log
Many people advise to connect the /var directory as a separate partition, but I limited myself to this directory, because. I think that this is more important from the point of view of security, but I also don’t want to create a “garland” of sections on my desktop. It probably came from the servers, because during crashes or DoS attacks, the size of the logs can increase dramatically, thereby overflowing this section. And if it is not placed in a separate section, i.e. located in the / (root) partition, then its overflow can block the entire system. And so - nothing terrible will happen, except for an error about the impossibility of creating a log.

Parameter values:
noatime - each access (including reading) to the file in the inode updates the time of the last access to the file, which is extremely rare, when this option is used, this update will not be performed. The importance of setting the noatime option is that it removes the need for a file system write operation for files that are simply being read. Since recording is an "expensive" operation, its absence can significantly improve the efficiency of the system.

For him, the best solution would be the reiserfs file system with the noexec, nodev, noatime options.

/home
Here is an example line from my /etc/fstab file:

/dev/sda3 /home ext3 nodev,noexec 0 2

The mount options are listed above. However, if we don't set the noexec option, then nosuid is highly desirable.

It probably makes sense to make the file system reiserfs, but I have it ext3: it somehow happened historically, but I didn’t remake it.

Conclusion
Regarding the placement of file systems on the disk, I will only say the following: it is better to place /boot at the very beginning of the hard disk. Behind it, it is desirable to place a swap partition / swap. The beginning of the disk is physically located on the outside of the cylinder. Therefore, when swapping, the hard disk heads do not have to make unnecessary movements when working with data, as a result, the head covers a large surface in one revolution. Well, the rest is up to you.

Volume manager (LVM2) - a layer between the file system and hardware. It allows you to resize partitions, create and delete partitions. I am skeptical about it and only use static disk partitioning. In defense of my point of view, I can give several arguments against using LVM:

1. I don't need to resize partitions every day.
2. An extra layer affects the speed of accessing the disk.
3. I have enough static markup.

The latest versions of Solaris (and now linux and BSD) allow you to install the system on partitions with ZFS. With ZFS, you can resize partitions and take snapshots.

Why would you want to partition a disk?

• To protect data.
• Use different file systems.
• Be able to unmount a partition.
• Use different mount options for different partitions (ro, nodev, nosuid, noexec)
• Place them on different hard drives.

/ - Root

This section must be present.
In the absence of other partitions, all system and user files will be stored on it. This must be taken into account when determining its size. Typically, the distribution manufacturer will give recommendations on the minimum size of the root partition.

Swap

The page file or swap is needed to allocate memory pages that are not currently in use. Swap can be done as a separate partition or put in a file on any partition (a file for swap can be created using the utility dd). The first option is, of course, preferable.

If you do not use hibernation, do not run heavy applications and have a lot of RAM, you can reduce the size of the swap or disable it altogether.

Boot

This partition is placed at the beginning of the disk. Moreover, it can not be mounted at all at boot or mounted with the option ro.
The kernel size is ~1.5-2M, so 15-20M for this partition will be enough.
The recommended file system is ext2.

Home

Section with user home directories /home can be isolated for security reasons (mount it with noexec, nosuid, nodev options) or to increase system reliability.

You can also use one section /home for multiple operating systems on the same machine.
The size of this section is determined according to the needs of the users.

Var

On servers (mail, web, caching proxies), this section can be clogged with a large number of small files. In this case, it is quite reasonable to format it in raiserfs.

And, for example, on a machine with gentoo, when compiling OpenOffice, up to five gigabytes of free space is required in /var/tmp.
The size of this partition will depend on the task the system is performing.

opt

When using third-party software that requires a lot of disk space, you can move /opt to a separate partition and put this software on it. It also increases the reliability of the system (the failure of this software will not affect the main system in any way).

Usr

User files, documentation, various icons and other junk are stored here. There are lovers to separate this section as well.

tmpfs

The information in the /tmp /var/tmp /var/lock partitions does not need to be stored on disk.
These partitions contain temporary files. When mounted in tmpfs, all content will be placed in memory or in swap. Additionally, you can specify mount options for these sections: noexec, nodev, nosuid, which will increase system security.

Other sections

You can create a partition with information not related to the main system, or mount a partition from another hard drive. Example: /mnt/pron or /mnt/anime.

fstab

Information about file systems, mount points, and options is contained in the file /etc/fstab, or /etc/vfstab in solaris.
For more information about mount options, see the help. man mount
about the file format - man fstab.

Utilities

Disk partitioning is usually carried out when installing the system using the installer program.
If during installation an unallocated space was left or it became necessary to change the markup, you can use the following utilities:

• fdisk
• cfdisk
• format - in solaris
• parted

Conclusion

Several ways to partition a disk:

For desktop:

For the server:

/ 10G swap 2 x ram_size /var 10G

Today we will learn on our own create disk partition in linux ubuntu during the installation of the distribution kit on the computer, in other words, manually create hard disk partitions in Ubuntu, which are necessary for the normal functioning of the operating system on your home computer, and also talk a little about which partition is needed for what.

So, as an example, we will use the current version of Linux Ubuntu 17.04, i.e. let's pretend you are installing Ubuntu 17.04 ( or any other derivative distribution such as Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE and others) and got to the step where you need to select " type of instalation”, i.e. type of disk layout, for example: automatic - this is the first item " Erase disk and install Ubuntu", or " Another variant"- this is exactly the type in which we can independently mark the disk, we will now consider it.

Note! In this article, we will consider the initial layout of a blank disk, i.e. on which there are no partitions and data yet.

Create disk partitions during Linux Ubuntu installation

To create a disk layout yourself during the installation of Linux Ubuntu, you must select the installation type " Another variant» and press « Proceed».

If you have multiple physical drives ( I have one) select the one you want and click " New partition table».

Then we are warned that a new empty partition table will be created, we click " Proceed”, i.e. confirm your action.

The first thing we need to create is the root partition, i.e. basic ( systemic) section for installing the system. For this we specify:

• The size- for the root partition, at least 15 gigabytes, for the future, of course, it is better to specify more, for example, 50 gigabytes. I have a small disk for testing, so I specify 15 gigabytes;
• New partition type- indicate " Primary”, since this type must be on the disk;
• - indicate " The beginning of this space»;
• Use as- here we need to select the type of file system, we leave the default Ext4 file system - this is a journaled file system for Linux operating systems, which is currently most suitable for the file system of the root partition ( yes for user data);
• Mount point- indicate "/", since this is our root partition.

Click " OK».

Then, in almost the same way, we create a partition for user data, i.e. home section. Creating such a partition will allow you to store your data ( documents, music, photos and so on) in a separate place, which will not need to be copied in some special way ( reserve) during reinstallation ( updates) distribution kit or even its change.

In this case, we need to specify:

• The size– maximum possible, i.e. all the remaining space, as I said, my test disk is small, so there is little space left;
• New partition type- indicate " Logical»;
• Location of the new section- indicate " The beginning of this space»;
• Use as- also select the Ext4 file system;
• Mount point- specify "/home".

Click " OK».

swap partition (swap) we will not create, since in Ubuntu, starting from version 17.04, a swap file is used instead of a swap partition ( as in Windows). By default, its size is 5% of the free disk space, but no more than 2 gigabytes. Once installed, the swap file size can be changed at any time.

On this, the disk layout, which is suitable for a home computer, is finished, click " Install now».

We confirm the changes to the disk, click " Proceed” and continue installing the distribution.

That's all for me, I hope the material was useful to you, bye!

Today's story is about installing the popular Ubuntu OS version 16.04, while we will partition the disk into sections manually. We will not describe where to get the distribution kit from, how to create a bootable USB flash drive. Suppose all these preparatory work has been completed, and all that remains is to install the system on a computer. For those who do not want to do it themselves, here, for example, is a link to an Asus laptop repair shop, where they not only repair computers with high quality, but also optimize, install various operating systems and application programs. We will tell everyone else how to install this system.

Training

First of all, we set the boot mode in the BIOS from the USB flash drive on which the Ubuntu distribution is located. Now boot from this media. In the window that opens, select the Russian language and click the "Start Ubuntu" button.

The system desktop will appear.

You need to click on the "Start" button, in the search bar enter "GParted" you can enter only a few initial letters. The found program will be used to work with the hard drive.

Hard disk partitioning

In the Linux family of operating systems, including Ubuntu, disks are called differently than is customary in Windows. Here sda ​​is the first disk, sdb is the second, sdc is the third, and so on. Similarly, with partitions, these are sda1, sda2, and so on.

After we launched the “GParted” utility, a window will open showing our disk, which does not yet have a single partition.

Now you need to create an extended partition. Select it and click on the "New" item.

The extended partition will be the size of the unallocated space on the disk. In the window that opens, select "Advanced Section" and click "Add".

The task will be added to the list of operations whose execution is delayed.

The next step is to create three other partitions in the extended partition: under the OS, a swap partition and a partition for user data. To do this, select the extended section and select the "New" item.

You need to specify the size of the partition to be created, indicate that we are creating a "Logical Partition", the file system must be ext4, assign the label "root" and click "Add".

A new task will be added to the list of pending operations.

Now let's create a swap partition. Its purpose is similar to the action of the paging file in Windows, with the only difference being that a separate partition is allocated here. We click on the unallocated space, select the item "New".

Again, specify the size, type - "Logical partition", select "linux-swap" as the file system, set the "swap" label, click "Add".

The third task has been added to the list of pending operations.

The remaining unallocated space will be given to the third, user section. Select it and click "New".

In the window that opens, select the type - "Logical partition", ext4 file system, set the label "home" and click "Add".

The GParted application's list of pending operations now contains tasks to create all the necessary partitions.

It remains to start the execution of all these tasks, for which you need to click on the green checkmark.

A window will appear warning you that all data on the drive will be lost. You must confirm the decision to create partitions by clicking the "Apply" button.

Upon completion of the operation, a message will be displayed indicating that the operation was completed successfully.

The created partitions in our case are marked as follows: sda5 is a partition for Ubuntu OS, sda6 is a swap partition, sda7 is a partition for user data.

Now everything is ready to directly install Ubuntu. To do this, on the desktop, click on the icon "Install Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS".

In the window that opens, click "Continue".

In the next window, check the boxes "Download updates during Ubuntu installation" and "Install third-party software".

In the "Installation type" window, check the "Other option" item.

All previously created partitions will be displayed.

You need to select the sda5 partition and go to its properties.

In the "Use as" line, select "Journaled Ext4 file system", and in the "Mount point" drop-down list, select "/". We press the "OK" button.

We do the same with the sda7 partition.

We specify "Use as" you need to select "Journaled Ext4 file system", and in the drop-down list "Mount point" you need to select "/home". We press the "OK" button.

Now, after editing the properties of the partitions for the OS and user, you can click the "Install now" button.

In the "Where are you" window, click "OK".

Now we need to specify the keyboard layout.

The last thing to do is enter the computer name, username, and password.

Now you need to click the "Continue" button, after which the installation process of the Ubuntu OS will begin.

After installation is complete, you must restart your computer.

A window will appear prompting you to enter the user's password.

The desktop of the newly installed Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS system will now appear.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated, however, if at some stage errors occur, something does not work out, then keep a link to the computer help site in Strogino, where they will certainly help in solving problems.

So, you decided to install the Ubuntu operating system for yourself, but suddenly you are faced with such a thing as disk partitioning, and you don’t understand what to do next. The situation is painfully familiar to many newcomers to the Linux world. But you should not panic. It only takes a little figuring out how to create disk partitions when installing Ubuntu, and you can easily do it yourself.

Partitioning an HDD when installing Ubuntu.

Surely in many articles, on the Linux forums, you have already heard a bunch of times that "everything is different in Linux." It really is. But this does not mean at all that everything is more complicated and difficult there. It's just that these operating systems use the same hard drives in a slightly different way. Try to understand how, so that further all the actions are clear.

Windows, as a rule, does not cut the disk into several parts (and if it does, then into a maximum of two and very rarely into three), but uses it as an indivisible whole: where the system is, there are also files, and a home folder, and everything else . Linux systems, by default, divide the HDD into three or four parts or partitions. These sections are of three types.

• Primary, or main section. The main thing you need to know about it is that it should always be on disk. Operating systems are installed on it. For example, Windows can be installed exclusively on the main partition.
• The logical partition is the free space that the system leaves on the hard drive for user needs. If you had Windows XP, then you remember several "Local drives": C, D, E, F. These are the logical partitions. Linux systems, by the way, are easy to boot from them.
• An extended partition is a container that needs to be created in order to put an unlimited number of logical partitions on it. In practice, the number is, of course, limited by software, but in theory it is not. Unlike the same main ones: there can be a maximum of four - such a rule is dictated by modern computer equipment, which will not pull more than primary partitions.

Why do you need such a sawing of the hard drive into pieces? Probably, some have already guessed.

• Data security. If suddenly the operating system installed in one part “flies”, then all other sections will remain intact and you will save all the files.
• Using different file systems. Often this provides great convenience and benefits.
• The ability to install two operating systems at once, which is exactly what you need.

Now it is clear why it is worth creating an extended partition, if it is not already on the HDD - install Ubuntu there. However, this is not all. Linux, in turn, divides this half, third or quarter of a large apple into several more pieces of different sizes. This is what makes it fundamentally different from Windows. Let's take a look at these main parts.

• / - main section. Inside it is all the data. For some reason, this is not even a section, but a container for sections.
• /home - home partition. Any user data is located here. As you can see, it belongs to the root partition.
• /swap - swap partition. As you know, RAM is not always enough, in addition to entering hibernation mode, it is always necessary to have such a partition. In Windows, a file is used for this, but with a partition it is still more convenient.
• /boot - part of the hard drive where the operating system itself is located: the kernel and everything else.

Markup - this is the division of the hard disk, as a result of which it turns out that it consists of several parts. Windows rests on one of them, and Ubuntu thrives on the others. However, what will rest and what will flourish is up to you.

What is it for? Again, so that you do not destroy all the files in one fell swoop due to some kind of system error. Did the core fly? No problem, we installed a new one, and the files from the home directory were not affected in any way. Moreover, Ubuntu often releases updates. During such an upgrade, previous versions may be deleted, so it is convenient to keep the system separate from user data. Subsequently, many masters create even more logical partitions for themselves: for music, servers, a special cache, and more.

Disc preparation

Let's move on to practice. Before you start the actual layout, you need to prepare the HDD with Windows installed. The process we will be doing is called compression. The fact is that there is no initially unallocated space, so you need to make it yourself. It is convenient to compress using the old OS, since Ubuntu can easily erase all installed files from the C drive, and with them the system.

Newer Windows often provide one C drive and no D drive at all. This is not very convenient, because working with this section, you run the risk of leaving the computer without operating systems and destroying all data. Therefore, before starting all actions, it is worth making a backup copy and saving it on a disk or flash drive. After that, you can safely proceed to compression.

Disk partitioning

Markup can be done in many different ways, including through the terminal. For beginners, disk partitioning in Ubuntu is optimal during installation or through the GParted utility, which is great for this purpose.

Separation using Ubuntu

This is the simplest HDD layout. It is performed when installing the system from a bootable USB flash drive or disk.

1. We boot from bootable media (sorry for the tautology).
2. Select "Install Ubuntu".
3. We arrange all options, guided by our priorities. The most important is the "Install Type" window. Three options are proposed here: together with the old OS, remove the old OS and install Ubuntu or your own version. You can limit yourself to choosing one of the first two. Then everything will happen automatically, you can not read further. However, it will be useful to do everything with your own hands in order to successfully apply new knowledge. In general - decide for yourself.
4. If you chose the third option, in the next window you will need to make a new partition table by clicking the appropriate button.
5. We select the free space that we made in the previous step and click on the plus.

Here it is worth making a small but important digression. Then again, there are two ways to go.

• The first is if you have UEFI. UEFI is similar to BIOS, but more modern, performing the same functions. Usually, if it is UEFI, then this will be indicated on some sticker on the computer. Or you can use special utilities to find out. In any case, if you have reached this step, then you have connected bootable media, which means you have already used UEFI or BIOS.
• The second is if you have a BIOS. Then everything will be a little different and a little easier.

So if UEFI.

1. We press on plus.
2. The first partition created will be bootable. You need to put the marker on "Primary" and select "Use as EFI boot partition". Size: 200 MB.
3. Next, create the root directory. We put in the column to use "Journaled file system Ext4". Size: 20-30 GB, depending on how much space you have. In general, this is about 40-50% of the entire place. Primary. The beginning of this space.
4. Next section: home. Everything is the same, except for the size, which now needs to be adjusted so that there are 2–4 GB left for the swap file and mount point: /home. Although it is quite possible to make a logical partition. It doesn't matter much.
5. The third section, as you might guess, will be Swap or "Swap". For it, we allocate a place equal to the amount of RAM on the PC. There is no point in singling it out anymore. We put: "Use as a swap partition." Boolean type.
6. We select the device for installing the bootloader completely the entire previously unallocated partition.
7. Click "Install Now".

Things are a little different if you don't have UEFI.

1. The first partition created will be named /boot. Size taken: 7-10 GB. Seven is enough, however, if there are no problems with the place, it is better to take ten, since each subsequent update will add 200–300 MB. Type: boolean. Journaled file system
2. Second partition: /home. Here we allocate all the space, except for what will remain on the Swap. The file system is the same, the type is also boolean.
3. Well, Swap. Everything here is exactly as in the previous step-by-step instructions.
4. Now you need to assign the /boot partition as the device for installing the bootloader, which was created for this.

ADVICE. The method may seem a little difficult and confusing. There is an option that seems to me easier for beginners. Although in it you have to work with Ubuntu even before installing it.

GParted

The GParted utility does an excellent job of partitioning a hard drive. You will see for yourself if you decide to use this method.

1. To get started, plug in a bootable CD or USB and run Ubuntu without installing it.
2. Turn on GParted. You do not need to download it, it is already included in the list of preinstalled programs.
3. We work with unallocated space. It should already be displayed in the main window of the program. If it suddenly turned out to be mounted (a key is drawn in the line opposite it), right-click on it and click "Unmount". After that, you can perform further actions with it.
4. We create an extended section from it. We click RMB, select "New", or New, and, without reducing the space, put an extended partition, or Extended Partition, in the upper right column. The name can be left blank.
5. Right-click again and select "Create Partition", or New. The size will be 7-10 GB or 7000-10000 MB. File system: ext Logical partition. Name: /root.
6. Similarly, we set Swap with the same type of partition, but with a different name (swap), file system (linux-swap) and a volume of 2 or 4 GB.
7. And the last partition, which will again contain all the remaining space, will be /home. ext4 file system and boolean type.
8. By the way, do not forget about UEFI. If it exists, you also need to create a section for it by analogy with the previous instruction.
9. Final step. We check that everything is set correctly, and then click on the green checkmark at the top. The matter is that GParted possesses one very convenient function. It won't start any operations until you click this button at the top. Up to this point, you can fearlessly experiment with the markup as you like. The main thing is to check everything before pressing the treasured button.
10. Processes will run slowly. At this time, you can not turn off the laptop or computer from the network.

After such a markup through GParted, you can easily install Ubuntu in a ready-made directory. You need to use, as you know, the /boot partition.

Well, now you have significantly expanded your knowledge of hard drives. And most importantly, we understood (I really hope so) how disk partitioning is done in Ubuntu, why and how to do it yourself. This is just the first step towards creating the ideal operating system for yourself. There will be many more interesting things to come.