Default partitions in linux

What partition table does Ubuntu create by default?

In the «Something else» partitioning menu what partition table (MBR/GPT) does «New Partition Table. » use?

IF you boot in UEFI mode it will be gpt, If you boot in BIOS mode it will be MBR unless drive is blank and somewhere over 1.5GB even though gpt only required if over 2TiB. Otherwise if you want gpt with BIOS boot you need to partition in advance.

1 Answer 1

There is no default partition format for Linux. It can handle many partition formats.

For a Linux-only system, either use MBR or GPT will work fine. MBR is more common, but GPT has some advantages, including support for larger disks. The main issue with GPT is compatibility; not all OSes support it, and some can’t boot from GPT on BIOS-based computers. For just a Linux system, I’d choose GPT. If you need to dual-boot with Windows, go with MBR.

That said, if you have a newer system, a very large hard drive, and you use UEFI I`d go with GPT.

The installer will use GPT automatically for disks over 2 TiB, if you choose the automatic option. It will create either the bios_grub or efi system partition depending on whether the machine supports UEFI or not.

So to answer your question, it depends on your system, hard drive size, and whether you have UEFI or not.

Master Boot Record (MBR) — Most IBM-based PC storage units use this partition table format. MBR is often referred to as the msdos partition table. The MBR can only support storage devices up to two terabytes. MBR supports the concept of logical and primary partitions. A storage unit with the MBR table can only have up to four primary partitions. Many users wanting to make a multiboot system with more than four Linux distros often have the problem of not being able to support more partitions. Remember, logical partitions cannot be made bootable. Multiboot systems must use a different partition table discussed later. Linux.org

GUID Partition Table (GPT) — Some IBM-based PC storage units have GPT, although it is usually because the user reformatted from MBR to GPT. However, most Intel-based Mac systems use GPT by default. The GPT partition table offers many improvements over MBR. GPT can support storage units up to over nine zettabytes. GPT is also the most highly recommended partition table for computers needing more than four operating systems on one hard-drive. For example, if a computer with a ten terabyte hard-disk is meant to be a multiboot system for seven different Linux distros, then GPT should be used. Most Unix and Unix-like operating systems can fully support GPT. However, most Windows systems cannot run on a GPT partition table. As for Mac systems, only the Intel-based ones can boot from GPT. Linux.org

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DiskSpace

The goal of this page is to offer advice and strategy on partitioning a Linux system.

Required partitions

Overview

The easiest partitioning scheme, on a non-GPT disk, is simply a root partition and a swap partition.

If the disk is GPT type (this can be checked via the «sudo parted -l» command), you must also add a BIOS-Boot or an EFI partition depending on the boot mode of your BIOS.

On some computers, a separate /boot partition may also be required.

Root partition (always required)

• Mount point: /
• Type: Linux type (generally EXT4)
• Description: the root partition contains by default all your system files, program settings and documents.
• Size: minimum is 8 GB. It is recommended to make it at least 15 GB. Warning: your system will be blocked if the root partition is full.

Swap (very recommended)

Separate /boot (sometimes required)

Some computers can’t see boot files (/boot) if located far (>100GB) from the start of the disk. This is why it is sometimes necessary to create a separate /boot partition at the start of the disk. Remark: don’t use the same /boot for several Linux distributions, as it may mix up their kernels. See this tutorial if you want to create a separate /boot after installing Ubuntu.

BIOS-Boot or EFI partition (required on GPT disks)

If you want to install Ubuntu on a GPT disk (you can check it via the ‘sudo parted -l’ command), you will need either an EFI partition (if your BIOS is set up in EFI mode) or a BIOS-Boot partition (if your BIOS is set up in Legacy mode).

• Mount point: none
• Type: no filesystem
• Description: the BIOS-boot partition contains GRUB 2’s core. It is necessary if you install Ubuntu on a GPT disk, and if the firmware (BIOS) is set up in Legacy (not EFI) mode. It must be located at the start of a GPT disk, and have a «bios_grub» flag.
• Size: 1MB.

• Mount point: /boot/efi (no need to set up this mount point as the installer will do it automatically)
• Type: FAT (generally FAT32)
• Description: the EFI partition (also called ESP) contains some boot files. It is necessary if the firmware (BIOS) is set up to boot the HDD in EFI mode (which is default on more and more modern, > year 2011 computers). It must be located at the start of a GPT disk, and have a «boot» flag.
• Size: 100~250MB

Optional partitions

Optionally, some other partitions can be created for specific usages. Be careful, these partitions reduce the flexibility of your disk space, they must be considered only if you are sure not to fill completely your root partition (which would block your system).

Partition for sharing data with Windows, MacOS. (optional)

• Mount point: /media/thenameyouwish
• Type: to share data with Windows, choose NTFS. To share data with MacOS, choose HFS+. To share data with another Linux system, choose EXT4.
• Description: other operating systems (Windows, MacOS..) cannot read nor write in the Ubuntu partitions, but Ubuntu can read and write in any partition. If you want to share files between Ubuntu and the other systems, it is recommended to create a data partition. It is not recommended to share files directly into the Windows system partition (eg files may be overwritten by hibernation).
• Size: as you wish

Separate /home (optional)

• Mount point: /home
• Type: Linux type (generally EXT4)
• Description: see HomeFolder. When your hard disk is big enough, a separate /home allows to separate your settings (and also your data if you don’t use a data partition, see previous paragraph) from the rest of the system. A separate /home does not allow to share data with Windows nor MacOS (see previous paragraph).
• Size: as you wish

More Complex Schemes

For more information on what various directories are used for, see The Linux Filesystem Hierarchy.

More complex schemes could involve creating a separate partition for any number of the default folders used by Ubuntu. System critical folders are important to protect, and since drives, and / or partitions do fail, it is often useful to have your file system broken down into as many small parts as possible. This can be over done however. Installing every core directory to its own partition could cause a noticeable degradation of performance.
Bearing that in mind, the following directories should NEVER be placed in their own separate partitions:

Note about /sbin

It can be argued, and reasonably so, that moving this directory to its own partition is a wise choice. If any of your partitions or drives should fail, then this directory / partition will be the one that most likely contains the tools you will need to repair it. So while moving this would decrease performance marginally, it could also be considered a wise move.

Sizes For Alternative Schemes

On a six month old installation of Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS the disk usage could resemble something like this: (examples taken from my own system with many extra packages installed)

The above recommendations assume you are using large modern hard drives and can afford the space.

Space Requirements

Absolute Requirements

The required disk space for an out-of-the-box Ubuntu installation is said to be 15 GB. However, that does not take into account the space needed for a file-system or a swap partition.

It is more realistic to give yourself a little bit more than 15 GB of space. Give yourself 15-25 GB to have some space left for actually doing things. If your file-system is full to the brim, you will feel some performance loss.

A certain percentage of an ext3 file-system is dedicated to root, as a way of preventing a rogue process from filling the disk to the point that the system is unusable. This dedicated portion is 5% by default. Also, the anti-fragmentation strategies used by Linux file-systems require that the disk is not close to full. A rule of thumb is to keep them less than 90% full.

Installation on a small disk

(This section is out-of-date & may need research for sizes) During a normal install, the installer copies the packages from the CD to the hard drive (in addition to actually installing them). If you are short on disk space before you install, you can tell the installer not to use extra disk space. The packages take up about xxx Mb. You will be able to install a full Ubuntu system with less than xx GB of hard drive space.

At the installation prompt (just after you boot from CD) type:

linux archive-copier/copy=false

DiskSpace (последним исправлял пользователь ckimes 2017-09-02 19:35:04)

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