You now have to decide where you want to install Mandriva Linux on your hard drive. It needs to be partitioned which means it must be logically divided in order to create the required space for your new Mandriva Linux system.
Because the process of partitioning a hard drive is usually irreversible and can lead to data loss, it can be intimidating and stressful for the inexperienced user. Fortunately, DrakX includes a wizard which simplifies this process. Before continuing with this step, read through the rest of this section and above all, take your time.
Depending on the configuration of your hard drive, several options are available:
- Use free space
This option performs an automatic partitioning of your blank drive(s). If you use this option, there will be no further prompts
- Use existing partitions
The wizard detected one or more existing partitions on your hard drive. If you want to use them, choose this option. Then choose the mount points associated with each of the partitions. The legacy mount points are selected by default, and for the most part, it's a good idea to keep them. Then choose the partitions to be formatted or preserved.
- Erase entire disk
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Choose this option to delete all data and partitions present on your hard drive. You won't be able to undo this operation after you confirm.
- Custom disk partitioning
Choose this option to manually partition your hard drive. Be careful: it's a powerful but dangerous choice and you can very easily lose all your data. This option is only recommended if you have performed custom disk partitioning before, and have enough Linux experience.
![[Warning]](images/warning.png)
![[Note]](images/note.png) |
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By default, Mandriva Enterprise Server 5 adds support for Access Control Lists (ACL) to manage advanced user rights on ext3 partitions. |
DiskDrake allows you to make a partition fit exactly to your needs.
DiskDrake enables you to configure each physical hard drive on your machine. If you only have one IDE disk, you will see a single tab called sda below the file-system types. If there is more than one drive, then each drive will have its own tab and will be named according to the kernel name for that drive. diskdrake will allow you to manage the partitioning of each drive.
The window (see Figure 2.2, “DiskDrake's Main Window”) is divided into four zones:
Clicking on this button clears all partitions on the current hard drive.
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Displays a three-button dialog allowing you to:
. Allows you to save the current partition table to a file on a disk (a floppy, for example). This may prove useful if a problem arises (such as an error made during drive repartitioning).
. Enables you to restore the partition table as previously saved with . Restoring a partition table may recover your data as long as you do not reformat partitions, because the formatting process will overwrite all your data.
. If you lose your partition table and have no backup, this function scans your hard drive to try and reconstruct the partition table.
Cancels the last action. Most modifications done on your partitions are not made permanent until diskdrake warns you it will write the partition table. Therefore, this button allows you to undo all modifications done on partitions up to the last time it was saved.
Allows you to access the expert mode functions (which are even more dangerous if you are not sure of what you are doing). Reserved for experts.
Here is a practical example using DiskDrake to obtain a list of the partitions contained on your machine. Your server will mainly be a file server. Therefore it needs a lot of manageable space so that you can increase it easily in case of a full partition. Here is the information we will use:
Dynamically manageable partitions: we will use LVM (Logical Volume Manager). If the file system allows it, it enables you to resize partitions on-the-fly; it also manages disk space without physical limits.
Advanced ACLs (Access Control Lists) to manage the rights of users: we need extra rights such as on Windows® file systems. The XFS file system allows you to increase the size on-the-fly.
Misc information: total space available will be 350 GB, using 2 disks. Our file system will be mounted on the
/datapartition.
In DiskDrake, choose . We will assume you have already created your system's partitions. At the bottom, click on . Let's follow the steps below to get the desired partition:
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Getting Space from System Disk.
As we can see we have 50 GB left from the system disk. Click on it, then on . Choose the size so that you can use all the space left. Then in the Filesystem type list, choose Linux Logical Volume Manager. After validating your selection, you should be back to the main screen. Keep your partition selected and click on . In LVM name field, enter a name for this virtual partition. Let's call it data. You should now see one more tab named data.
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Adding More Space from a Second Disk
Let's now use the second disk to increase the available space. Click on the corresponding tab then on the available space. Click on and select all the disk space. In the Filesystem type list, choose Linux Logical Volume Manager. Back to the main screen, click on again. The next screen should now propose 2 items: data which is the name of the first logical group we created, and new. Since we want to increase the partition size of data, select it. You can check that the operation is completed: click on the data tab. The size of the data volume should now be increased.
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Creating a Virtual Partition and File System
Now that your global volume is ready, you need to create logical partitions inside. In the data tab, click on the available space then on . We will use 200 GB out of the 250 available. Adjust the size in the field. Choose
xfsin the Filesystem type. Fill the Mount point field by typing/data. You should also fill the Logical volume name field with data. -
Optimizing File Systems
Now that your partition and file system is ready, let's optimize some parameters:
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In order to simplify administration, you should use significant names for all partitioning steps. |
Your file system is now ready. You will be able to modify options and increase the partition's space by using the command line or the harddrake tool from the Mandriva Linux Control Center.