If you are performing a workstation- or server-class installation and
you chose not to partition manually, please skip to
the section called Network Configuration.
At this point, it's necessary to let the installation program know where
it should 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 15-9).
Please Note
If you have not yet planned how you will set up your partitions, refer
to Appendix B. As a bare minimum, you'll need an
appropriately-sized root partition, and a swap partition of at least
16 MB.
Figure 15-9. Partitioning with Disk Druid
The partitioning tool used in Red Hat Linux 7.0 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 said to be mounted at this
location. This field indicates where the partition will be
mounted. If a partition exists, but is "not set" you need to
define its mount point. Double-click on the partition or use
the Edit key.
Device:
This field displays the partition's device name.
Requested:
This field shows the partition's original size. To re-define the
size, 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 (such as 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 16MB) -- 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 16MB 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 your computer's RAM, or 16MB (whichever is
larger). In Disk Druid, the partition field for
swap should look similar to:
<Swap> hda2 125M 125M Linux swap
A /boot partition (16MB, 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 16MB. In
Disk Druid, the partition field for
/boot should look similar to:
/boot hda1 16M 19M Linux native
A root partition (900MB-1.7GB) -- This is where
"/" (the root directory) resides. In this setup, all files
(except those stored in /boot) reside on the root
partition. A 850MB root partition will permit the equivalent of a
workstation-class installation (with very little free
space), while a 1.7GB root partition will let you install every package. In
Disk Druid, the partition field for / should look
similar to:
If you attempt to add a partition and Disk
Druid can't carry out your request, you'll 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.
Free:
This field shows how much of the hard disk's space is still
unallocated.
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. That is done using 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. There are also buttons that are used to accept the
changes you've made, or to exit Disk Druid.
Let's 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'll 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 Appendix E.
To add a new partition, select the Add
button. A dialog box will appear (see Figure 15-10).
Please Note
You will need to dedicate at least one partition to Red Hat Linux, and
optionally more. This is discussed more completely in Appendix B.
Figure 15-10. Adding a Partition
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 pull-down 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'll end up with a 1 MB partition.
Use remaining space: This check box indicates if 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 expand and contract 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 check box settings, you can direct
Disk Druid to place partitions as you
see fit, or let Disk Druid decide where
partitions should go.
Ok: Select Ok once
you're satisfied with the settings, and wish to create the
partition.
Cancel: Select Cancel if
you don't want to create the partition.
To edit a partition, select the Edit button or
double-click on the existing partition (see Figure 15-11).
Figure 15-11. Editing a Partition
Please 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.
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