Linux Create 3TB partition size
To create a partition start GNU parted as follows:
# parted /dev/sdb
Output:
GNU Parted 2.3 Using /dev/sdb Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands. (parted)
Creates a new GPT disklabel i.e. partition table:
(parted) mklabel gpt
Sample outputs:
Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdb will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue? Yes/No? yes (parted)
Next, set the default unit to TB, enter:
(parted) unit TB
To create a 3TB partition size, enter:
(parted) mkpart primary 0 0
OR
(parted) mkpart primary 0.00TB 3.00TB
To print the current partitions, enter:
(parted) print
Sample outputs:
Model: ATA ST33000651AS (scsi) Disk /dev/sdb: 3.00TB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: gpt Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 1 0.00TB 3.00TB 3.00TB ext4 primary
Quit and save the changes, enter:
(parted) quit
Sample outputs:
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
Use the mkfs.ext3 or mkfs.ext4 command to format the file system, enter:
# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb1
OR
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
Sample outputs:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1 mke2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010) Filesystem label= OS type: Linux Block size=4096 (log=2) Fragment size=4096 (log=2) Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks 183148544 inodes, 732566272 blocks 36628313 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user First data block=0 Maximum filesystem blocks=4294967296 22357 block groups 32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group 8192 inodes per group Superblock backups stored on blocks: 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, 4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968, 102400000, 214990848, 512000000, 550731776, 644972544 Writing inode tables: done Creating journal (32768 blocks): done Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done This filesystem will be automatically checked every 31 mounts or 180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
Type the following commands to mount /dev/sdb1, enter:
# mkdir /data
# mount /dev/sdb1 /data
# df -H
Sample outputs:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/sdc1 16G 819M 14G 6% / tmpfs 1.6G 0 1.6G 0% /lib/init/rw udev 1.6G 123k 1.6G 1% /dev tmpfs 1.6G 0 1.6G 0% /dev/shm /dev/sdb1 3.0T 211M 2.9T 1% /data
Make sure you replace /dev/sdb1 with actual RAID or Disk name or Block Ethernet device such as /dev/etherd/e0.0. Do not forget to update your /etc/fstab file, if necessary. Also note that booting from a GPT volume requires support in your BIOS / firmware. This is not supported on non-EFI platforms. I suggest you boot server from another disk such as IDE / SATA / SSD disk and store data on /data. It is also possible to use the whole disk such as /dev/sdb if needed. Please note that the latest version of fdisk dose support GPT. From the man page:
fdisk is able to optimize the disk layout for a 4K-sector size and use an alignment offset on modern devices for MBR and GPT. GPT is modern standard for the layout of the partition table. GPT uses 64-bit logical block addresses, checksums, UUIDs and names for partitions and an unlimited number of partitions (although the number of partitions is usually restricted to 128 in many partitioning tools). Note that the first sector is still reserved for a protective MBR in the GPT specification. It prevents MBR-only partitioning tools from mis-recognizing and overwriting GPT disks.
Say hello to gdisk
The gdisk is an GPT alternative to fdisk command. The syntax is same as fdisk command. For example:
$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
OR
$ sudo gdisk /dev/sdb
Sample outputs:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1 Partition table scan: MBR: not present BSD: not present APM: not present GPT: not present Creating new GPT entries. Command (? for help):
Type n to create a new partition:
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1): 1
First sector (34-XXXXXXX, default = 2048) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (2048-XXXXXXX, default = XXXXXXX) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300)
Press w to write new table to disk and exit to the shell prompt:
Command (? for help): w Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING PARTITIONS!! Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): y OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to hdd.img. Warning: The kernel is still using the old partition table. The new table will be used at the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8) The operation has completed successfully.
Now you can format /dev/sdb1 and mount it as usual.
