7 linux fdisk command examples to manage hard disk partition
1. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
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7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
Par;;on
by
Balakrishnan
Mariyappan
on
September
14,
2010
1 Like 4 Tweet 10
On
Linux
distribuFons,
fdisk
is
the
best
tool
to
manage
disk
parFFons.
fdisk
is
a
text
based
uFlity.
Using
fdisk
you
can
create
a
new
parFFon,
delete
an
exisFng
parFFon,
or
change
exisFng
parFFon.
Using
fidsk
you
are
allowed
to
create
a
maximum
of
four
primary
parFFon,
and
any
number
of
logical
parFFons,
based
on
the
size
of
the
disk.
1
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
2. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
Keep
in
mind
that
any
single
parFFon
requires
a
minimum
size
of
40MB.
In
this
arFcle,
let
us
review
how
to
use
fdisk
command
using
pracFcal
examples.
Warning:
Don’t
delete,
modify,
or
add
parFFon,
if
you
don’t
know
what
you
are
doing.
You
will
lose
your
data!
1.
View
All
Exis;ng
Disk
Par;;ons
Using
fdisk
-‐l
Before
you
create
a
new
parFFon,
or
modify
an
exisFng
parFFon,
you
might
want
to
view
all
available
parFFon
in
the
system.
Use
fdisk
-‐l
to
view
all
available
parFFons
as
shown
below.
# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6edf6ed
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1959 15735636 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 1960 5283 26700030 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 5284 6528 10000462+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6529 9729 25712032+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 1960 2661 5638752 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 2662 2904 1951866 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 2905 3147 1951866 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 3148 3264 939771 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda9 3265 5283 16217586 b W95 FAT32
The
above
will
list
parFFons
from
all
the
connected
hard
disks.
When
you
have
more
than
one
disk
on
the
system,
the
parFFons
list
are
ordered
by
the
device’s
/dev
name.
For
example,
/dev/sda,
/dev/sdb,
/dev/sdc
and
so
on.
2.
View
Par;;ons
of
a
Specific
Hard
Disk
using
fdisk
-‐l
/dev/sd{a}
To
view
all
parFFons
of
the
/dev/sda
hard
disk,
do
the
following.
# fdisk -l /dev/sda
View
all
fdisk
Commands
Using
fdisk
Command
m
Use
fdisk
command
m,
to
view
all
available
fdisk
commands
as
shown
below.
# fdisk /dev/sda
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 9729.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help): m
Command action
a toggle a bootable flag
b edit bsd disklabel
c toggle the dos compatibility flag
d delete a partition
l list known partition types
2
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
3. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
m print this menu
n add a new partition
o create a new empty DOS partition table
p print the partition table
q quit without saving changes
s create a new empty Sun disklabel
t change a partition's system id
u change display/entry units
v verify the partition table
w write table to disk and exit
x extra functionality (experts only)
3.
Delete
a
Hard
Disk
Par;;on
Using
fdisk
Command
d
Let
us
assume
that
you
like
to
combine
several
parFFons
(for
example,
/dev/sda6,
/dev/sda7
and
/dev/sda8)
into
a
single
disk
parFFon.
To
do
this,
you
should
first
delete
all
those
individual
parFFons,
as
shown
below.
# fdisk /dev/sda
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 9729.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6edf6ed
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1959 15735636 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 1960 5283 26700030 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 5284 6528 10000462+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6529 9729 25712032+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 1960 2661 5638752 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 2662 2904 1951866 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 2905 3147 1951866 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 3148 3264 939771 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda9 3265 5283 16217586 b W95 FAT32
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-9): 8
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-8): 7
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-7): 6
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.
The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at
3
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
4. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
Syncing disks.
4.
Create
a
New
Disk
Par;;on
with
Specific
Size
Using
fdisk
Command
n
Once
you’ve
deleted
all
the
exisFng
parFFons,
you
can
create
a
new
parFFon
using
all
available
space
as
shown
below.
# fdisk /dev/sda
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 9729.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help): n
First cylinder (2662-5283, default 2662):
Using default value 2662
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (2662-3264, default 3264):
Using default value 3264
In
the
above
example,
fdisk
n
command
is
used
to
create
new
parFFon
with
the
specific
size.
While
creaFng
a
new
parFFon,
it
expects
following
two
inputs.
StarFng
cylinder
number
of
the
parFFon
to
be
create
(First
cylinder).
Size
of
the
parFFon
(or)
the
last
cylinder
number
(Last
cylinder,
+cylinders
or
+size
).
Please
keep
in
mind
that
you
should
issue
the
fdisk
write
command
(w)
ader
any
modificaFons.
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.
The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at
the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
Syncing disks.
Ader
the
parFFon
is
created,
format
it
using
the
mkfs
command
as
shown
below.
# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda7
5.
View
the
Size
of
an
exis;ng
Par;;on
Using
fdisk
-‐s
As
shown
below,
fdisk
-‐s
displays
the
size
of
the
parFFon
in
blocks.
# fdisk -s /dev/sda7
4843566
The
above
output
corresponds
to
about
4900MB.
6.
Toggle
the
Boot
Flag
of
a
Par;;on
Using
fdisk
Command
a
Fdisk
command
displays
the
boot
flag
of
each
parFFon.
When
you
want
to
disable
or
enable
the
boot
flag
on
the
corresponding
parFFon,
do
the
following.
If
you
don’t
know
why
are
you
are
doing
this,
you’ll
mess-‐up
your
system.
4
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
5. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
# fdisk /dev/sda
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 9729.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6edf6ed
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1959 15735636 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 1960 5283 26700030 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 5284 6528 10000462+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6529 9729 25712032+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 1960 2661 5638752 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 3265 5283 16217586 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda7 2662 3264 4843566 83 Linux
Partition table entries are not in disk order
Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-7): 5
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6edf6ed
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1959 15735636 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 1960 5283 26700030 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 5284 6528 10000462+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6529 9729 25712032+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda5 1960 2661 5638752 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 3265 5283 16217586 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda7 2662 3264 4843566 83 Linux
Partition table entries are not in disk order
Command (m for help):
As
seen
above,
the
boot
flag
is
disabled
on
the
parFFon
/dev/sda5.
7.
Fix
Par;;on
Table
Order
Using
fdisk
Expert
Command
f
When
you
delete
a
logical
parFFon,
and
recreate
it
again,
you
might
see
the
“parFFon
out
of
order”
issue.
i.e
“ParFFon
table
entries
are
not
in
disk
order”
error
message.
For
example,
when
you
delete
three
logical
parFFons
(sda6,
sda7
and
sda8),
and
create
a
new
parFFon,
you
might
expect
the
new
parFFon
name
to
be
sda6.
But,
the
system
might’ve
created
the
new
parFFon
as
sda7.
This
is
because,
ader
the
parFFons
are
deleted,
sda9
parFFon
has
been
moved
as
sda6
and
the
free
space
is
moved
to
the
end.
5
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
6. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
To
fix
this
parFFon
order
issue,
and
assign
sda6
to
the
newly
created
parFFon,
execute
the
expert
command
f
as
shown
below.
$ fdisk /dev/sda
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 9729.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6edf6ed
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1959 15735636 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 1960 5283 26700030 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 5284 6528 10000462+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6529 9729 25712032+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 1960 2661 5638752 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 3265 5283 16217586 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda7 2662 3264 4843566 83 Linux
Partition table entries are not in disk order
Command (m for help): x
Expert command (m for help): f
Done.
Expert command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.
The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at
the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
Syncing disks.
Once
the
parFFon
table
order
is
fixed,
you’ll
not
get
the
“ParFFon
table
entries
are
not
in
disk
order”
error
message
anymore.
# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6edf6ed
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1959 15735636 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 1960 5283 26700030 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 5284 6528 10000462+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6529 9729 25712032+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 1960 2661 5638752 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 2662 3264 4843566 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 3265 5283 16217586 b W95 FAT32
6
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
7. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
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{
12
comments…
read
them
below
or
add
one
}
1
anurag
rana
September
14,
2010
at
2:50
am
thanxs
……
2
anurag
rana
September
14,
2010
at
2:52
am
sir
,
you
provides
very
good
tuts….i
use
to
save
every
single
page
of
your
arFcles…
thanxs
again..
3
Madharasan
September
14,
2010
at
4:57
am
The
“Warning
Message”
in
this
arFcle
reminds
me
of
the
mistake
I
did
while
teaching
linux
to
a
group
of
students.
I
was
about
to
enter
the
command
#
mkfs.ext3
/dev/sda4
But
unfortunately
just
when
I
have
finished
typing
#
mkfs.ext3
/dev/sda
,
I
accidentely
pressed
the
enter
key….
There
ends
the
story
of
my
LINUX
OS
of
that
machine
and
my
session
on
Disk
management.
Now
a
days,
I
first
enter
the
device
details
and
opFons,
only
then
the
command
Conclusion:
No
Playing
with
linux,
at
Fmes
it
is
merciless
4
Chris
F.A.
Johnson
September
14,
2010
at
1:43
pm
s/loose/lose/
7
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
pm
8. 7
Linux
fdisk
Command
Examples
to
Manage
Hard
Disk
ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
5
DarkForce
September
14,
2010
at
5:21
pm
Thanks
for
Fp
number
7.
6
Ramesh
Natarajan
September
14,
2010
at
8:51
pm
@Chris,
Thanks
for
poinFng
out
the
typo.
It’s
fixed.
7
jameslee
September
15,
2010
at
9:35
am
thank
u
sir,its
very
useful
8
raralee
September
15,
2010
at
11:07
am
good
Fps.
how
to
add
new
space
on
the
exisFng
parFFon
using
fdisk
without
losing
data?
9
Sebas
September
16,
2010
at
12:46
pm
Add
new
space
w/o
loosing
data
with
fdisk….?
i
think
that’s
not
posible.
10
madharasan
September
17,
2010
at
1:48
am
@raralee
resizing
a
parFFon
without
losing
data
is
not
possible.
But
if
you
have
a
plan
already
that
you
would
be
changing
parFFon
sizes,
then
please
use
LVM
(
Logical
Volume
Manager
)
11
alieblice
June
27,
2011
at
3:50
pm
I
have
problem
with
fdisk
command
when
i
tell
it
to
make
80
megabyte
drive
with
this
input
((
+80M))
it
make
85
megabyte
drive
and
the
drive
is
made
by
vmware
player
on
ubutnu
10.04
any
idea
why
this
happen
?
12
Guus
August
29,
2011
at
10:56
am
Thanks
a
lot!
Ader
restoring
a
Windows
installaFon
to
a
new
harddisk,
i
found
that
i
had
made
a
mistake
with
the
parFFon-‐order,
causing
a
non-‐boot.
Ader
reordering
the
parFFons,
it
boots
again
(although
i
won’t
use
it,
not
my
machine
.
Leave
a
Comment
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E-‐mail
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Command
Examples
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ParFFon hPp://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-‐fdisk/
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Examples
15
Awesome
Gmail
Tips
and
Tricks
15
Awesome
Google
Search
Tips
and
Tricks
RAID
0,
RAID
1,
RAID
5,
RAID
10
Explained
with
Diagrams
Can
You
Top
This?
15
PracFcal
Linux
Top
Command
Examples
Top
5
Best
System
Monitoring
Tools
Top
5
Best
Linux
OS
DistribuFons
How
To
Monitor
Remote
Linux
Host
using
Nagios
3.0
Awk
IntroducFon
Tutorial
–
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Awk
Print
Examples
How
to
Backup
Linux?
15
rsync
Command
Examples
The
UlFmate
Wget
Download
Guide
With
15
Awesome
Examples
Top
5
Best
Linux
Text
Editors
Packet
Analyzer:
15
TCPDUMP
Command
Examples
The
UlFmate
Bash
Array
Tutorial
with
15
Examples
3
Steps
to
Perform
SSH
Login
Without
Password
Using
ssh-‐keygen
&
ssh-‐copy-‐id
Unix
Sed
Tutorial:
Advanced
Sed
SubsFtuFon
Examples
UNIX
/
Linux:
10
Netstat
Command
Examples
The
UlFmate
Guide
for
CreaFng
Strong
Passwords
6
Steps
to
Secure
Your
Home
Wireless
Network
Turbocharge
PuTTY
with
12
Powerful
Add-‐Ons
About
The
Geek
Stuff
10
of
11 18
Apr
12
7:29
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