Linux Disk Partitioning Made Easy: A Beginner's Hands-on Guide

Introduction

Disk partitioning is a fundamental skill for anyone working with Linux. It's the foundation of storage management, allowing you to organize your hard drive, install multiple operating systems, separate your data, and manage storage efficiently. This hands-on guide will walk you through a practical lab exercise, creating multiple partitions on a new hard drive in a virtual machine using fdisk. I'll explain each step clearly and include troubleshooting tips for common problems. Even if you're a complete beginner, you'll be able to follow along!

What You'll Need

• A computer with virtualization software (like VirtualBox or VMware) installed.
• An Ubuntu (or any Linux distribution) virtual machine (VM).
• Basic familiarity with the Linux command line.

Setting Up the Virtual Hard Drive

1. Add a New Hard Drive to the VM:
• Shut down your VM completely.
• Open your virtualization software and go to the settings of your Ubuntu VM.
• Find the "Storage" or "Hard Drives" section.
• Click the button to add a new hard drive.
• Choose "Create a new virtual hard disk."
• Select VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) or the recommended format for your virtualization software.
• Choose "Dynamically allocated" for the storage (this means the disk file will grow as you add data).
• Select a location on your computer to save the hard drive file and choose an appropriate size. (10GB is usually enough for this exercise).
• Finish the wizard.
2. Start Your VM: Boot up your Ubuntu virtual machine.

Partitioning the Disk with fdisk

1. Identify the New Disk: Open a terminal and use the lsblk command. This lists all block devices (hard drives and partitions). Your new disk will likely be /dev/sdb, but double-check! It might be /dev/sdc or something else if you already have other drives. (Screenshot of lsblk showing the new disk)
2. Run fdisk:

Bash

sudo fdisk /dev/sdb  # Replace /dev/sdb with the correct device name if necessary

3. Create Partitions: Inside the fdisk utility, follow these steps:
• g (Create a new GPT partition table. This is important for newer systems and can also help resolve some errors, even if your disk is under 2TB. It's a good practice.)
• n (New partition)
• p (Primary partition)
• 1 (Partition number)
• Press Enter to accept the default first sector.
• +1G (or whatever size you want for the first partition - 1GB in this example. You can use M for MB, G for GB, etc.)
• Repeat the n, p, and number steps for two more primary partitions.
• n (New partition)
• e (Extended partition)
• 4 (Partition number)
• (Press Enter to accept defaults)
• n (New partition)
• l (Logical partition)
• 5 (Partition number)
• (Press Enter to accept defaults)
• n (New partition)
• l (Logical partition)
• 6 (Partition number)
• (Press Enter to accept defaults)
• w (Write changes and exit) (Screenshot of fdisk commands)
4. Verify Partitions: Use lsblk again to confirm that your partitions (/dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2, /dev/sdb3, /dev/sdb5, /dev/sdb6) have been created. (Screenshot of lsblk showing the new partitions)

Formatting and Mounting

1. Format the Partitions: We'll use the ext4 filesystem:

Bash

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb2

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb3

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb5

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb6

2. Create Mount Points: These are folders where you'll access your partitions:

Bash

sudo mkdir /mnt/partition1

sudo mkdir /mnt/partition2

sudo mkdir /mnt/partition3

sudo mkdir /mnt/partition5

sudo mkdir /mnt/partition6

3. Mount the Partitions:

Bash

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/partition1

sudo mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/partition2

sudo mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/partition3

sudo mount /dev/sdb5 /mnt/partition5

sudo mount /dev/sdb6 /mnt/partition6

4. Make Mounts Permanent (Crucial!): Edit the /etc/fstab file:

Bash

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add these lines (replace the example UUIDs with your actual UUIDs, which you can find using sudo blkid):

UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /mnt/partition1 ext4 defaults 0 2

UUID=yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy /mnt/partition2 ext4 defaults 0 2

UUID=zzzzzzzz-zzzz-zzzz-zzzz-zzzzzzzzzzzz /mnt/partition3 ext4 defaults 0 2

UUID=aaaaaaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaa /mnt/partition5 ext4 defaults 0 2

UUID=bbbbbbbb-bbbb-bbbb-bbbb-bbbbbbbbbbbb /mnt/partition6 ext4 defaults 0 2

Save and close the file. (Screenshot of /etc/fstab)

5. Test the Mounts:

Bash

sudo mount -a  # Mounts all partitions in /etc/fstab

lsblk        # Verify the mounts

```  *(Screenshot of `lsblk` showing mounted partitions)*

 

Troubleshooting

• "Value out of range" Error: If you get this error during fdisk, it often means there's leftover data on the disk. Use g inside fdisk to create a new GPT partition table.
• Mounting Issues: Double-check your /etc/fstab file. Make sure each partition has its own line and that the UUIDs are correct. Use sudo blkid to get the UUIDs.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully partitioned a hard drive in Linux. This is a fundamental skill that will serve you well in your Linux journey. Remember to practice and experiment. The more you work with disk partitioning, the more comfortable you'll become.

I plan to explore different partitioning tools and techniques, including LVM (Logical Volume Management).

Call to Action

What are your go-to disk partitioning tips? Share them in the comments below!

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#Linux #SysAdmin #Cybersecurity #DiskPartitioning #fdisk #GPT #Troubleshooting #HandsOnLab #VirtualBox

 

I plan to explore different partitioning tools and techniques, including LVM (Logical Volume Management).