| Red Hat Linux 7.1: The Official Red Hat Linux x86 Installation Guide |
|---|
| Prev | Chapter 4. Installing Red Hat Linux | Next |
If you chose Automatic Partitioning, please skip
ahead to the section called Network Configuration.
If you chose Manually partition with fdisk, please skip
ahead to the section called Partitioning with fdisk.
At this point, you must tell the installation program where to install
Red Hat Linux. This is done by defining mount points for one or more disk
partitions in which Red Hat Linux will be installed. You may also need to
create and/or delete partitions at this time (refer to Figure 4-6).
 | Note |
|---|
| | If you have not yet planned how you will set up your partitions, refer
to the partitioning appendix in the Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide.
As a bare minimum, you will need an appropriately-sized root
partition, and a swap partition of at least 32 MB.
|
The partitioning tool used in Red Hat Linux 7.1 is Disk
Druid. With the exception of certain esoteric
situations, Disk Druid can handle the
partitioning requirements for a typical Red Hat Linux installation.
Each line in the Partitions section represents a
disk partition. Each line in this section has five different fields:
Mount Point: A mount point is the location
within the directory hierarchy at which a volume exists; the
volume is "mounted" at this location. This field indicates
where the partition will be mounted. If a partition exists, but
is not set, then you need to define its mount point.
Double-click on the partition or click the
Edit button.
Device: This field displays the partition's
device name.
Requested: This field shows the partition's
original size. To redefine the size of a partition, you must
delete the current partition and recreate it using the
Add button.
Actual: This field shows the space currently
allocated to the partition.
Type: This field shows the partition's type
(for example, Linux Native or DOS).
Unless you have a reason for doing otherwise, we recommend that you
create the following partitions:
A swap partition (at least 32 MB) — swap partitions are used
to support virtual memory. In other words, data is written to a
swap partition when there is not enough RAM to store the data your
system is processing. If your computer has 16 MB of RAM or less,
you must create a swap partition. Even if
you have more memory, a swap partition is still recommended. The
minimum size of your swap partition should be equal to twice your
computer's RAM, or 32 MB, whichever amount is larger, but no more
than 128 MB. In Disk Druid, the
partition field for swap should look similar to the following:
<Swap> hda6 64M 64M Linux swap |
A /boot partition (32 MB maximum) — the
partition mounted on /boot contains the
operating system kernel (which allows your system to boot Red Hat Linux),
along with files used during the bootstrap process. Due to the
limitations of most PC BIOSes, creating a small partition to hold
these files is a good idea. This partition should be no larger
than 32 MB. In Disk Druid, the
partition field for /boot should look similar
to:
/boot hda1 16M 16M Linux native |
 | Caution |
|---|
| | If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders, you must create a
/boot partition if you want the /
(root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive. |
A root partition (1.2-2.4 GB) — this
is where "/" (the root directory) will be
located. In this setup, all files (except those stored in
/boot) are on the root partition. An 1.2 GB
root partition will permit the equivalent of a workstation-class
installation (with very little free space),
while a 2.4 GB root partition will let you install every package.
In Disk Druid, the partition field for
/ should look similar to:
/ hda5 3734M 3734M Linux native |
If you attempt to add a partition and Disk
Druid cannot handle your request, you will see a
dialog box listing partitions that are currently unallocated, along
with the reason they could not be allocated. Unallocated
partition(s) are also displayed on Disk
Druid's main screen (though you may have to scroll
through the Partitions section to see them).
As you scroll through the Partitions section, you
might see an Unallocated Requested Partition
message in red text, followed by one or more partitions. A common
reason for this is a lack of sufficient free space for the partition.
In any case, the reason the partition remains unallocated will be
displayed after the partition's requested mount point.
To fix an unallocated requested partition, you must move the partition
to another drive which has the available space, resize the partition
to fit on the current drive, or delete the partition entirely. Make
changes using the Edit button or by
double-clicking on the partition.
Each line in the Drive Summaries section
represents a hard disk on your system. Each line has the following
fields:
Drive: This field shows the hard disk's
device name.
Geom [C/H/S]: This field shows the hard
disk's geometry. The geometry consists of three numbers
representing the number of cylinders, heads and sectors as
reported by the hard disk.
Total: This field shows the total available
space on the hard disk in megabytes.
Free: This field shows how much of the hard
disk's space is still unallocated, in megabytes.
Used: These fields show how much of the hard
disk's space is currently allocated to partitions, in megabytes
and percentage.
The Drive Summaries section is displayed only to
indicate your computer's disk configuration. It is not meant to be
used as a means of specifying the target hard drive for a given
partition; to do that, use the Allowable Drives
field in the section called Adding Partitions.
These buttons control Disk Druid's actions.
They are used to add and delete partitions, and to change partition
attributes. Buttons on this screen are also used to accept the
changes you have made, or to exit Disk
Druid. For further explanation, take a look at each
button in order.
Add: Used to request a new partition. When
selected, a dialog box will appear containing fields (such as
mount point and size) that must be filled in.
Edit: Used to modify attributes of the
partition currently selected in the
Partitions section. Selecting
Edit will open up a dialog box. Some or
all of the fields can be edited, depending on whether the
partition information has already been written to disk.
Delete: Used to remove the partition
currently highlighted in the Current Disk
Partitions section. You will be asked to confirm the
deletion of any partition.
Reset: Used to restore Disk
Druid to its original state. All changes made will
be lost if you Reset the partitions.
Make RAID Device: Make RAID
Device can be used if you want to provide redundancy
to any or all disk partitions. It should only be used
if you have experience using RAID. To read more about
RAID, please refer to RAID (Redundant Array of
Independent Disks) in the
Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide.
To add a new partition, select the Add
button. A dialog box will appear.
| Note |
|---|
| | You will need to dedicate at least one partition to Red Hat Linux, and
optionally more. This is discussed more completely in An
Introduction to Disk Partitions in the
Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide.
|
Mount Point: Highlight and enter the
partition's mount point. For example, if this partition should be
the root partition, enter /; enter
/boot for the /boot
partition, and so on. You can also use the pulldown menu to choose
the correct mount point for your partition.
Size (Megs): Enter the size (in megabytes) of
the partition. Note this field starts with a "1" in it; unless
changed you will end up with a 1 MB partition.
Use remaining space: This checkbox indicates
whether the size you entered in the previous field is to be
considered the partition's exact size, or its minimum size. When
selected, the partition will grow to fill all available space on
the hard disk. The partition's size will increase and decrease as
other partitions are modified. You can make multiple partitions
growable; if you do, the additional free space will be shared
among all growable partitions.
Partition Type: This field contains a list of
different partition types (such as Linux Native or DOS). Select
the appropriate partition type by using the mouse.
Allowable Drives: This field contains a list
of the hard disks installed on your system. If a hard disk's box
is highlighted, then a desired partition can be created on that
hard disk. If the box is not checked, then
the partition will never be created on that
hard disk. By using different checkbox settings, you can have
Disk Druid place partitions as you see
fit, or let Disk Druid decide where
partitions should go.
Ok: Select Ok once
you are satisfied with the settings, and wish to create the
partition.
Cancel: Select
Cancel if you do not want to create the
partition.
To edit a partition, select the Edit button or
double-click on the existing partition.
| Note |
|---|
| | If the partition already existed on your hard disk, you will only be
able to change the partition's mount point. If you want to make any
other changes, you will need to delete the partition and recreate
it.
|
To delete a partition, highlight it in the
Partitions section and double-click the
Delete button. You will be asked to confirm the
deletion.
Skip to the section called Formatting Partitions for further
installation instructions.
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Network sites:
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