Linux: Disk Partitioning and Formatting a Filesystem 🐧💻

🛠️ Partitioning with parted

• Overview: In Linux, the parted tool is used for disk partitioning and supports both MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) partitioning schemes.

• Modes:

  • Interactive Mode: Launches a separate program for user interaction.

  • Command Line Mode: Allows running commands directly in the shell.

🔍 Viewing Disks

• Command: sudo parted -l

  • Lists all connected disks and their partitions.

  • Example Output:

    • /dev/sda: 128GB disk with existing partitions.

    • /dev/sdb: 8GB USB drive with no partitions yet.

🛠️ Partitioning a Disk

1. Selecting the Disk:

   • Use: sudo parted /dev/sdb

   • This starts the parted tool for the selected disk.

2. Creating a Partition Table:

   • Command: mklabel gpt

   • Sets the partition table to GPT.

3. Creating Partitions:

   • Command: mkpart <type> <filesystem> <start> <end>

     • Type: Partition type (primary for GPT).

     • Filesystem: The file system to format (e.g., ext4).

     • Start/End: Defines partition size.

     • Example: mkpart primary ext4 1MiB 5GiB creates a 5GiB partition.

4. Formatting the Partition:

   • Command: sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sdb1

   • Formats the newly created partition with the ext4 file system.

🧮 Data Measurement

• Exact vs. Estimated Sizes:

  • Mebibyte (MiB): 1 MiB = 1024^2 bytes.

  • Gibibyte (GiB): 1 GiB = 1024^3 bytes.

  • Kilobyte (KB) and Gigabyte (GB) use 1000 bytes and 1000^3 bytes, respectively.

📁 Mounting the Filesystem

• Final Step: To use the disk for reading and writing files, you must mount the file system to a directory.

• Command: mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/your_mount_point

⚠️ Caution

• Be cautious with parted as incorrect modifications can lead to data loss. Always double-check the disk and partition details before proceeding.

Partitioning and formatting a disk with Linux's parted tool can efficiently manage and prepare storage, but requires careful handling to avoid mistakes. 🚀🔧