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Chapter 7. Partition operations with parted

parted is a program to manipulate disk partitions. It supports multiple partition table formats, including MS-DOS and GPT. It is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, and copying data to new hard disks.

7.1. Viewing the partition table with parted

Display the partition table of a block device to see the partition layout and details about individual partitions. You can view the partition table on a block device by using the parted utility.

Procedure

  1. Start the parted utility. For example, the following output lists the device /dev/sda:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # parted /dev/sda

  2. View the partition table:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

Model: ATA SAMSUNG MZNLN256 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 256GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  269MB   268MB   primary   xfs          boot
 2      269MB   34.6GB  34.4GB  primary
 3      34.6GB  45.4GB  10.7GB  primary
 4      45.4GB  256GB   211GB   extended
 5      45.4GB  256GB   211GB   logical

  3. Optional: Switch to the device you want to examine next:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) select block-device

For a detailed description of the print command output, see the following:

Model: ATA SAMSUNG MZNLN256 (scsi)
The disk type, manufacturer, model number, and interface.
Disk /dev/sda: 256GB
The file path to the block device and the storage capacity.
Partition Table: msdos
The disk label type.
Number
The partition number. For example, the partition with minor number 1 corresponds to /dev/sda1.
Start and End
The location on the device where the partition starts and ends.
Type
Valid types are metadata, free, primary, extended, or logical.
File system
The file system type. If the File system field of a device shows no value, this means that its file system type is unknown. The parted utility cannot recognize the file system on encrypted devices.
Flags
Lists the flags set for the partition. The most commonly used flags are boot, root, swap, hidden, raid, lvm, or lba. For a complete list of flags, see parted(8) man page on your system.

Additional resources

  • parted(8) man page on your system

7.2. Creating a partition table on a disk with parted

Use the parted utility to format a block device with a partition table more easily.

Warning

Formatting a block device with a partition table deletes all data stored on the device.

Procedure

  1. Start the interactive parted shell:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # parted block-device

  2. Determine if there already is a partition table on the device:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

    If the device already contains partitions, they will be deleted in the following steps.

  3. Create the new partition table:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) mklabel table-type

    • Replace table-type with with the intended partition table type:

      • msdos for MBR
      • gpt for GPT

    Example 7.1. Creating a GUID Partition Table (GPT) table

    To create a GPT table on the disk, use:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) mklabel gpt

    The changes start applying after you enter this command.

  4. View the partition table to confirm that it is created:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

  5. Exit the parted shell:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) quit

Additional resources

  • parted(8) man page on your system

7.3. Creating a partition with parted

As a system administrator, you can create new partitions on a disk by using the parted utility.

Note

The required partitions are swap, /boot/, and / (root).

Prerequisites

  • A partition table on the disk.
  • If the partition you want to create is larger than 2 TiB, format the disk with the GUID Partition Table (GPT).

Procedure

  1. Start the parted utility:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # parted block-device

  2. View the current partition table to determine if there is enough free space:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print
    • Resize the partition in case there is not enough free space.

    • From the partition table, determine:

      • The start and end points of the new partition.
      • On MBR, what partition type it should be.

  3. Create the new partition:

    For MS-DOS:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) mkpart part-type fs-type start end

    For GPT:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) mkpart part-name fs-type start end
    • Replace part-type with primary, logical, or extended. This applies only to the MBR partition table.
    • Replace name with an arbitrary partition name. This is required for GPT partition tables.
    • Replace fs-type with xfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, linux-swap, ntfs, or reiserfs. The fs-type parameter is optional. Note that the parted utility does not create the file system on the partition.
    • Replace start and end with the sizes that determine the starting and ending points of the partition, counting from the beginning of the disk. You can use size suffixes, such as 512MiB, 20GiB, or 1.5TiB. The default size is in megabytes.

    Example 7.2. Creating a small primary partition

    To create a primary partition from 1024 MiB until 2048 MiB on an MBR table, use:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) mkpart primary 1024MiB 2048MiB

    The changes start applying after you enter the command.

  4. View the partition table to confirm that the created partition is in the partition table with the correct partition type, file system type, and size:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

  5. Exit the parted shell:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) quit

  6. Verify that the kernel recognizes the new partition:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # cat /proc/partitions

Additional resources

7.4. Removing a partition with parted

Using the parted utility, you can remove a disk partition to free up disk space.

Procedure

  1. Start the interactive parted shell:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # parted block-device
    • Replace block-device with the path to the device where you want to remove a partition: for example, /dev/sda.

  2. View the current partition table to determine the minor number of the partition to remove:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

  3. Remove the partition:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) rm partition-number
    • Replace partition-number with the partition number you want to remove.

    The changes start applying as soon as you enter this command.

  4. Verify that you have removed the partition from the partition table:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

  5. Exit the parted shell:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) quit

  6. Verify that the kernel registers that the partition is removed:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # cat /proc/partitions
  7. Remove the partition from the /etc/fstab file, if it is present. Find the line that declares the removed partition, and remove it from the file.

  8. Regenerate mount units so that your system registers the new /etc/fstab configuration:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # systemctl daemon-reload
    Important

    To remove a partition mentioned in /proc/cmdline or that is part of an LVM, see Configuring and managing logical volumes, and the dracut(8) and grubby (8) man pages on your system.

Additional resources

  • parted(8) man page on your system

7.5. Resizing a partition with parted

Using the parted utility, extend a partition to use unused disk space, or shrink a partition to use its capacity for different purposes.

Prerequisites

  • Back up the data before shrinking a partition.
  • If the partition you want to create is larger than 2 TiB, format the disk with the GUID Partition Table (GPT).
  • If you want to shrink the partition, first shrink the file system so that it is not larger than the resized partition.
Note

XFS does not support shrinking.

Procedure

  1. Start the parted utility:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # parted block-device

  2. View the current partition table:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

    From the partition table, determine:

    • The minor number of the partition.
    • The location of the existing partition and its new ending point after resizing.
Important

When resizing a partition, ensure there is enough unallocated space between the end of the partition being resized and either the beginning of the next partition, or the end of the disk if it is the last partition. If there is not sufficient space, parted will return an error. However, it is best to verify the available space before attempting to resize to avoid partition overlap.

  1. Resize the partition:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) resizepart 1 2GiB
    • Replace 1 with the minor number of the partition that you are resizing.
    • Replace 2 with the size that determines the new ending point of the resized partition, counting from the beginning of the disk. You can use size suffixes, such as 512MiB, 20GiB, or 1.5TiB. The default size is in megabytes.

  2. View the partition table to confirm that the resized partition is in the partition table with the correct size:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) print

  3. Exit the parted shell:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    (parted) quit

  4. Verify that the kernel registers the new partition:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    # cat /proc/partitions
  5. Optional: If you extended the partition, extend the file system on it as well.

Additional resources

  • parted(8) man page on your system
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