Disks
Partition a usb, then add a filesystem on it
- locate the disk that you want to partition. This naming scheme varies from one device to another
# dmesg to see kernel messages for the usb
sudo dmesg | tail
[ 886.725353] usb-storage 2-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 886.725732] scsi host3: usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[ 887.816989] scsi 3:0:0:0: Direct-Access USB SanDisk 3.2Gen1 1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[ 887.819866] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[ 887.826848] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] 120164352 512-byte logical blocks: (61.5 GB/57.3 GiB)
[ 887.829822] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 887.829834] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 00
[ 887.831965] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn\'t support DPO or FUA
[ 887.846908] sdb: sdb1
[ 887.847344] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
# list block devices. If no path under MOUNTPOINTS, its not mounted:
lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 25G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 1M 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 2G 0 part /boot
└─sda3 8:3 0 23G 0 part
└─ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 252:0 0 11.5G 0 lvm /
sdb 8:16 1 57.3G 0 disk # usb drive
└─sdb1 8:17 1 57.3G 0 part # partition (takes up entire disk)
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
# view mountpoint in filesystem
ll /dev/sdb*
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 16 Nov 10 23:41 /dev/sdb
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 17 Nov 10 23:41 /dev/sdb1
# detailed information with fdisk
> sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 25 GiB, 26843545600 bytes, 52428800 sectors
Disk model: VBOX HARDDISK
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: E709F353-19E4-4540-AA41-D8CA695DB004
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 4095 2048 1M BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 4096 4198399 4194304 2G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 4198400 52426751 48228352 23G Linux filesystem
Disk /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv: 11.5 GiB, 12343836672 bytes, 24109056 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/sdb: 57.3 GiB, 61524148224 bytes, 120164352 sectors # usb drive
Disk model: SanDisk 3.2Gen1
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: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 32 120164351 120164320 57.3G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
- Verify that your disk is not mounted. View all mounted devices, filter for your device (skip if not mounted):
mount
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=4030056k,nr_inodes=1007514,mode=755,inode64)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=813272k,mode=755,inode64)
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv on / type ext4 (rw,relatime)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,inode64)
tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k,inode64)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
...
- Unmount with
umountif mounted:
sudo umount
13:40 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z6ouBYfZr8&t=183s
- Run
fdiskto start partitioning:
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.39.3).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
# p to view existing partitions
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 57.3 GiB, 61524148224 bytes, 120164352 sectors
Disk model: SanDisk 3.2Gen1
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: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 32 120164351 120164320 57.3G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
# create new GPT partition, which wipes out the existing partition table
Command (m for help): g
Created a new GPT disklabel (GUID: 8AE83933-1443-47D3-BADB-EFADD54FD659).
The device contains 'dos' signature and it will be removed by a write command. See fdisk(8) man page and --wipe option for more details.
# partition table is empty
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 57.3 GiB, 61524148224 bytes, 120164352 sectors
Disk model: SanDisk 3.2Gen1
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: 8AE83933-1443-47D3-BADB-EFADD54FD659
# create new partition
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1):
First sector (2048-120164318, default 2048):
# create a 10G partition
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-120164318, default 120162303): +10G
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 10 GiB.
# write the partition
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
# command exits, so check partitions again to verify
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.39.3).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 57.3 GiB, 61524148224 bytes, 120164352 sectors
Disk model: SanDisk 3.2Gen1
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: 8AE83933-1443-47D3-BADB-EFADD54FD659
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 20973567 20971520 10G Linux filesystem
Command (m for help): q
# view partition with lsblk
lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 25G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 1M 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 2G 0 part /boot
└─sda3 8:3 0 23G 0 part
└─ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 252:0 0 11.5G 0 lvm /
sdb 8:16 1 57.3G 0 disk
└─sdb1 8:17 1 10G 0 part # new partition
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
- Format the disk with a filesystem with
mkfs. Use exfat :
sudo apt install exfatprogs exfat-fuse
- Format the filesystem:
sudo mkfs.exfat /dev/sdb1
exfatprogs version : 1.2.2
Creating exFAT filesystem(/dev/sdb1, cluster size=32768)
Writing volume boot record: done
Writing backup volume boot record: done
Fat table creation: done
Allocation bitmap creation: done
Upcase table creation: done
Writing root directory entry: done
Synchronizing...
exFAT format complete!
Mount the disk drive. This means that you mount the filesystem into a directory on your current filesystem.
There are a few locations that linux suggests that you mount storage:
/mnt: permanent filesystems that you want available at all times/media: temporary storage volume that will not be attached all the time
# make a new directory in /mnt
ls -l /mnt
total 0
sudo mkdir /mnt/disk1
# mount the disk in the new directory
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/disk1/
# verify it was mounted
lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 25G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 1M 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 2G 0 part /boot
└─sda3 8:3 0 23G 0 part
└─ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 252:0 0 11.5G 0 lvm /
sdb 8:16 1 57.3G 0 disk
└─sdb1 8:17 1 10G 0 part /mnt/disk1 # it was mounted
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
# verify with df
df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 795M 1.1M 794M 1% /run
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 12G 2.7G 8.0G 25% /
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock
/dev/sda2 2.0G 95M 1.7G 6% /boot
tmpfs 795M 12K 795M 1% /run/user/1000
/dev/sdb1 10G 128K 10G 1% /mnt/disk1 # it was mounted
ncdu
Scan your filesystem and show report on which directories are using the most space:
- Use the arrow and Enter key to drill down into directories in the output.
# run from $HOME
sudo ncdu
ncdu 1.15.1 ~ Use the arrow keys to navigate, press ? for help
--- /home/ryanseymour --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47.0 GiB [##########] /isos
34.8 GiB [####### ] /VirtualBox VMs
32.7 GiB [###### ] /Development
14.4 GiB [### ] /Desktop
8.6 GiB [# ] /Downloads
4.9 GiB [# ] /.local
4.7 GiB [ ] /.config
# run from root dir
sudo ncdu /
ncdu 1.19 ~ Use the arrow keys to navigate, press ? for help
--- / -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 GiB [##############################] /usr
604.8 MiB [######## ] /var
94.3 MiB [# ] /boot
6.2 MiB [ ] /etc
1.1 MiB [ ] /run
436.0 KiB [ ] /home
# search only the local filesystem (no mounts)
sudo ncdu / -x
fstab
/etc/fstab lets you mount storage automatically.
df
Displays disk usage on all mounted filesystems:
# display each partition with disk usage and location
$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 795M 1.1M 794M 1% /run
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 12G 2.6G 8.1G 25% /
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock
/dev/sda2 2.0G 95M 1.7G 6% /boot
tmpfs 795M 12K 795M 1% /run/user/1000
# inode usage
df -i
Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on
tmpfs 4058217 1652 4056565 1% /run
/dev/nvme0n1p3 30883840 1704682 29179158 6% /
tmpfs 4058217 536 4057681 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs 4058217 6 4058211 1% /run/lock
/dev/nvme0n1p1 0 0 0 - /boot/efi
tmpfs 811643 159 811484 1% /run/user/1001
dd
Disk/data duplicator, also called the “disk destroyer”:
- Create backups of entire partitions and hard drives
- Wipe disks
# backup a partition
dd if=/dev/sdb1 of=/dev/sdb2 status=progress
# overwrite with 0s
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb2 status=progress
# overwrite with random chars
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdb2 status=progress