Handbook:AMD64/Blocks/Disks

GUID Partition Table (GPT)

The GUID Partition Table (GPT) setup (also called GPT disklabel) uses 64-bit identifiers for the partitions. The location in which it stores the partition information is much bigger than the 512 bytes of the MBR partition table (DOS disklabel), which means there is practically no limit on the amount of partitions for a GPT disk. Also the size of a partition is bounded by a much greater limit (almost 8 ZiB - yes, zebibytes).

When a system's software interface between the operating system and firmware is UEFI (instead of BIOS), GPT is almost mandatory as compatibility issues will arise with DOS disklabel.

GPT also takes advantage of checksumming and redundancy. It carries CRC32 checksums to detect errors in the header and partition tables and has a backup GPT at the end of the disk. This backup table can be used to recover damage of the primary GPT near the beginning of the disk.

Master boot record (MBR) or DOS boot sector

The Master boot record boot sector (also called DOS boot sector or DOS disklabel) was first introduced in 1983 with PC DOS 2.x. MBR uses 32-bit identifiers for the start sector and length of the partitions, and supports three partition types: primary, extended, and logical. Primary partitions have their information stored in the master boot record itself - a very small (usually 512 bytes) location at the very beginning of a disk. Due to this small space, only four primary partitions are supported (for instance, /dev/sda1 to /dev/sda4).

In order to support more partitions, one of the primary partitions in the MBR can be marked as an extended partition. This partition can then contain additional logical partitions (partitions within a partition).

The Handbook authors suggest using GPT whenever possible for Gentoo installations.

How many partitions and how big?

The design of disk partition layout is highly dependent on the demands of the system and the file system(s) applied to the device. If there are lots of users, then it is advised to have /home on a separate partition which will increase security and make backups and other types of maintenance easier. If Gentoo is being installed to perform as a mail server, then /var should be a separate partition as all mails are stored inside the /var directory. Game servers may have a separate /opt partition since most gaming server software is installed therein. The reason for these recommendations is similar to the /home directory: security, backups, and maintenance.

In most situations on Gentoo, /usr and /var should be kept relatively large in size. /usr hosts the majority of applications available on the system and the Linux kernel sources (under /usr/src). By default, /var hosts the Gentoo ebuild repository (located at /var/db/repos/gentoo) which, depending on the file system, generally consumes around 650 MiB of disk space. This space estimate excludes the /var/cache/distfiles and /var/cache/binpkgs directories, which will gradually fill with source files and (optionally) binary packages respectively as they are added to the system.

How many partitions and how big very much depends on considering the trade-offs and choosing the best option for the circumstance. Separate partitions or volumes have the following advantages:

• Choose the best performing filesystem for each partition or volume.
• The entire system cannot run out of free space if one defunct tool is continuously writing files to a partition or volume.
• If necessary, file system checks are reduced in time, as multiple checks can be done in parallel (although this advantage is realized more with multiple disks than it is with multiple partitions).
• Security can be enhanced by mounting some partitions or volumes read-only, nosuid (setuid bits are ignored), noexec (executable bits are ignored), etc.

However, multiple partitions have certain disadvantages as well:

• If not configured properly, the system might have lots of free space on one partition and little free space on another.
• A separate partition for /usr/ may require the administrator to boot with an initramfs to mount the partition before other boot scripts start. Since the generation and maintenance of an initramfs is beyond the scope of this handbook, we recommend that newcomers do not use a separate partition for /usr/.
• There is also a 15-partition limit for SCSI and SATA unless the disk uses GPT labels.

What about swap space?

There is no perfect value for the swap partition. The purpose of swap space is to provide disk storage to the kernel when internal memory (RAM) is under pressure. A swap space allows for the kernel to move memory pages that are not likely to be accessed soon to disk (swap or page-out), freeing memory. Of course, if that memory is suddenly needed, these pages need to be put back in memory (page-in) which will take a while (as disks are very slow compared to internal memory).

When the system is not going to run memory intensive applications or has lots of memory available, then it probably does not need much swap space. However, swap space is used to store the entire contents of memory in case of hibernation. If the system requires support for hibernation, then swap space larger than or equal to the amount of memory is necessary.

As a general rule of thumb, the swap space size is recommended to be twice the internal memory (RAM). For systems with multiple hard disks, it is wise to create one swap partition on each disk so that they can be utilized for parallel read/write operations. The faster a disk can swap, the faster the system will run when data in swap space must be accessed. When choosing between rotational and solid state disks, it is better for performance to put swap on the SSD. Also, swap files can be used as an alternative to swap partitions; this is mostly interesting for systems with very limited disk space.

What is the EFI System Partition (ESP)?

When installing Gentoo on a system that uses UEFI to boot the operating system (instead of BIOS), then it is important that an EFI System Partition (ESP) is created. The instructions below contain the necessary pointers to correctly handle this operation. The EFI system partition is not required when booting in BIOS/Legacy mode.

The ESP must be a FAT variant (sometimes shown as vfat on Linux systems). The official UEFI specification denotes FAT12, 16, or 32 filesystems will be recognized by the UEFI firmware, although FAT32 is recommended for the ESP. After partitioning, format the ESP accordingly:

What is the BIOS boot partition?

A BIOS boot partition is only needed when combining a GPT partition layout with GRUB2 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It is not required when booting in EFI/UEFI mode, and also not required when using a MBR table. It is a very small (1 to 2 MB) partition in which boot loaders like GRUB2 can put additional data that doesn't fit in the allocated storage. It will not be used in this guide.

Viewing the current partition layout

fdisk is a popular and powerful tool to split a disk into partitions. Fire up fdisk against the disk (in our example, we use /dev/sda):

Use the p key to display the disk's current partition configuration:

Disk /dev/sda: 28.89 GiB, 31001149440 bytes, 60549120 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 21AAD8CF-DB67-0F43-9374-416C7A4E31EA

Device        Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1      2048   526335   524288  256M EFI System
/dev/sda2    526336  2623487  2097152    1G Linux swap
/dev/sda3   2623488 19400703 16777216    8G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda4  19400704 60549086 41148383 19.6G Linux filesystem

This particular disk was configured to house two Linux filesystems (each with a corresponding partition listed as "Linux") as well as a swap partition (listed as "Linux swap").

Creating a new disklabel / removing all partitions

Type g to create a new GPT disklabel on the disk; this will remove all existing partitions.

Created a new GPT disklabel (GUID: 87EA4497-2722-DF43-A954-368E46AE5C5F).

For an existing GPT disklabel (see the output of p above), alternatively consider removing the existing partitions one by one from the disk. Type d to delete a partition. For instance, to delete an existing /dev/sda1:

Partition number (1-4): 1

The partition has now been scheduled for deletion. It will no longer show up when printing the list of partitions (p, but it will not be erased until the changes have been saved. This allows users to abort the operation if a mistake was made - in that case, type q immediately and hit Enter and the partition will not be deleted.

Repeatedly type p to print out a partition listing and then type d and the number of the partition to delete it. Eventually, the partition table will be empty:

Disk /dev/sda: 28.89 GiB, 31001149440 bytes, 60549120 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 87EA4497-2722-DF43-A954-368E46AE5C5F

Now that the in-memory partition table is empty, we're ready to create the partitions.

Creating the EFI system partition (ESP)

First create a small EFI system partition, which will also be mounted as /boot. Type n to create a new partition, followed by 1 to select the first partition. When prompted for the first sector, make sure it starts from 2048 (which may be needed for the boot loader) and hit Enter. When prompted for the last sector, type +256M to create a partition 256 Mbyte in size:

Partition number (1-128, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-60549086, default 2048): 
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-60549086, default 60549086): +256M

Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 256 MiB.

Mark the partition as EFI system partition:

Selected partition 1
Partition type (type L to list all types): 1
Changed type of partition 'Linux filesystem' to 'EFI System'.

Creating the swap partition

Next, to create the swap partition, type n to create a new partition, then type 2 to create the second partition, /dev/sda2. When prompted for the first sector, hit Enter. When prompted for the last sector, type +4G (or any other size needed for the swap space) to create a partition 4GB in size.

Partition number (2-128, default 2): 
First sector (526336-60549086, default 526336): 
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (526336-60549086, default 60549086): +4G

Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 4 GiB.

After all this is done, type t to set the partition type, 2 to select the partition just created and then type in 19 to set the partition type to "Linux Swap".

Partition number (1,2, default 2): 2
Partition type (type L to list all types): 19

Changed type of partition 'Linux filesystem' to 'Linux swap'.

Creating the root partition

Finally, to create the root partition, type n to create a new partition. Then type 3 to create the third partition, /dev/sda3. When prompted for the first sector, hit Enter. When prompted for the last sector, hit Enter to create a partition that takes up the rest of the remaining space on the disk. After completing these steps, typing p should display a partition table that looks similar to this:

Disk /dev/sda: 28.89 GiB, 31001149440 bytes, 60549120 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 87EA4497-2722-DF43-A954-368E46AE5C5F

Device       Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1     2048   526335   524288  256M EFI System
/dev/sda2   526336  8914943  8388608    4G Linux swap
/dev/sda3  8914944 60549086 51634143 24.6G Linux filesystem

Saving the partition layout

To save the partition layout and exit fdisk, type w.

With the partitions created, it is now time to put filesystems on them.

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Viewing the current partition layout

Fire up fdisk against the disk (in our example, we use /dev/sda):

Use the p key to display the disk's current partition configuration:

Disk /dev/sda: 28.89 GiB, 31001149440 bytes, 60549120 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 21AAD8CF-DB67-0F43-9374-416C7A4E31EA

Device        Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1      2048   526335   524288  256M EFI System
/dev/sda2    526336  2623487  2097152    1G Linux swap
/dev/sda3   2623488 19400703 16777216    8G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda4  19400704 60549086 41148383 19.6G Linux filesystem

This particular disk was until now configured to house two Linux filesystems (each with a corresponding partition listed as "Linux") as well as a swap partition (listed as "Linux swap"), using a GPT table.

Creating a new disklabel / removing all partitions

Type o to create a new MBR disklabel (here also named DOS disklabel) on the disk; this will remove all existing partitions.

Created a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0xe04e67c4.
The device contains 'gpt' signature and it will be removed by a write command. See fdisk(8) man page and --wipe option for more details.

For an existing DOS disklabel (see the output of p above), alternatively consider removing the existing partitions one by one from the disk. Type d to delete a partition. For instance, to delete an existing /dev/sda1:

Partition number (1-4): 1

The partition has now been scheduled for deletion. It will no longer show up when printing the list of partitions (p, but it will not be erased until the changes have been saved. This allows users to abort the operation if a mistake was made - in that case, type q immediately and hit Enter and the partition will not be deleted.

Repeatedly type p to print out a partition listing and then type d and the number of the partition to delete it. Eventually, the partition table will be empty:

Disk /dev/sda: 28.89 GiB, 31001149440 bytes, 60549120 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xe04e67c4

Now we're ready to create the partitions.

Creating the boot partition

First, create a small partition which will be mounted as /boot. Type n to create a new partition, followed by p for a primary partition and 1 to select the first primary partition. When prompted for the first sector, make sure it starts from 2048 (which may be needed for the boot loader) and hit Enter. When prompted for the last sector, type +256M to create a partition 256 Mbyte in size:

Partition type
   p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
   e   extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-60549119, default 2048): 
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-60549119, default 60549119): +256M

Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 256 MiB.

Creating the swap partition

Next, to create the swap partition, type n to create a new partition, then p, then type 2 to create the second primary partition, /dev/sda2. When prompted for the first sector, hit Enter. When prompted for the last sector, type +4G (or any other size needed for the swap space) to create a partition 4GB in size.

Partition type
   p   primary (1 primary, 0 extended, 3 free)
   e   extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (2-4, default 2): 2
First sector (526336-60549119, default 526336): 
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (526336-60549119, default 60549119): +4G

Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux' and of size 4 GiB.

After all this is done, type t to set the partition type, 2 to select the partition just created and then type in 82 to set the partition type to "Linux Swap".

Partition number (1,2, default 2): 2
Hex code (type L to list all codes): 82

Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'Linux swap / Solaris'.

Creating the root partition

Finally, to create the root partition, type n to create a new partition. Then type p and 3 to create the third primary partition, /dev/sda3. When prompted for the first sector, hit Enter. When prompted for the last sector, hit Enter to create a partition that takes up the rest of the remaining space on the disk. After completing these steps, typing p should display a partition table that looks similar to this:

Disk /dev/sda: 28.89 GiB, 31001149440 bytes, 60549120 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xe04e67c4

Device     Boot   Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1          2048   526335   524288  256M 83 Linux
/dev/sda2        526336  8914943  8388608    4G 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3       8914944 60549119 51634176 24.6G 83 Linux

Saving the partition layout

To save the partition layout and exit fdisk, type w.

Now it is time to put filesystems on the partitions.