This document discusses considerations for installing Linux, including whether to do a single Linux install, dual boot with Windows, or multiple Linux installs. It provides examples of recommended partition sizes and file system types for different scenarios, such as allocating 50GB to / and the rest to /home for a single Linux install, or using FAT32 for a partition to share data between Linux and Windows on a dual boot system. The document emphasizes backing up data and having separate partitions for /var or /home if installing on a server.

1. Installing Linux:
Partitioning and File System
Considerations
Kevin O'Brien
Washtenaw Linux Users Group
http://www.lugwash.org

2. Where Will You Install?
● Single Linux system
● Dual boot with Windows
● Dual boot with other OS
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3. Single Linux System
● Simplest install with least worry
● Hardware is cheap
● Linux works well with older hardware, can
give new life to an older system
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4. Dual Boot With Windows
● Backup your data first!!!!
● Safest approach is to add a second hard
drive
● Can also re-partition existing drive (probably
required for laptops)
● Must have Windows already installed before
installing Linux
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5. Dual Boot With Other OS
● Can install Linux with other OS, including
other Linux distros
● With multiple Linux installs, you can install in
any order, I believe.
● Can share data between installs if you like.
● I still prefer separate hard drives for each OS
install
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6. If you want to re-partition
● Backup your data first!!!!
● Most Linux distros include re-partitioning
software in the installation CD
● Partition Magic <http://www.symantec.com/>
● GNU Parted
<http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/index.s
html>
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7. Good Open-Source Solution
● GParted Live CD
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
● Can also be installed on a USB drive:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/liveusb.php
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8. Linux File System Structure
● Typical directories:
– /
– /bin
– /boot
– /dev
– /etc
– /home/initrd
– /lib
– /lost+found
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9. Linux File System Structure (cont)
– /misc
– /media
– /opt
– /proc
– /root
– /sbin
– /tmp
– /usr
– /var
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10. How to allocate in partitions
● Every Linux install must have at least two
partitions
● One must be a swap partition. This is
generally set at 2x the amount of physical
memory, but may be more for servers.
● Everything else can go into one data
partition, but this is not the best solution in
most cases
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11. Partitioning choice
● Putting all directories into one partition can
cause problems
– For servers, it is advisable to put /var into its own
partition. This directory holds the log files, and
servers can generate a lot of data in log files. If
these fill up, it can crash your server if everything
is in one partition.
– It is a good idea to separate user data from the
OS. I recommend putting the /home directory on
its own partition.
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12. File System Choice
● Options include ext2, ext3, Reiser, fat32, jfs
for data partitions. Swap is swap.
● Which one you choose depends on your
needs, to some degree. For most people, it
will come down to ext2, ext3, Reiser, or
fat32.
● ext2 is the older standard for Linux. It is
stable, but does not have journaling.
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13. File System Choice (cont)
● ext3 is the update to ext2 that adds journaling.
Journaling is important for data integrity. A
sudden crash (power outage?) can leave
unwritten changes to data, but a journaling
system will recover those changes. Backwards
compatible with ext2
● Reiser is stable, and very fast. Whether it has a
future is slightly unclear at this point. But if
speed is your most important need, this is the
one to use.
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14. File System Choice (cont)
● fat32 is not a native Linux file system, it is a
Windows file system, introduced with Windows
95 OSR2. It is not the normal file system for
Windows XP or Windows 2000, which would be
NTFS. But is has one virtue, which is that is you
are planning to dual boot Linux and Windows,
and want to have full read-write access to the
same data, fat32 is the answer. But only create
a data partition for that data you want to share.
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15. Bottom line
● I cannot see why anyone would choose ext2
at this point. ext3 does everything ext2 does,
and adds journaling.
● Reiser is a possibility if you have the need
for speed, but will it survive his legal
troubles?
● For most Linux installs, ext3 is a fine choice,
and should be your default.
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16. Example: Linux single install
● Assume a hypothetical 200GB hard drive
– Allow 2-3GB for the swap partition. Your install
routine will probably make a default choice based
on your system configuration. Accept this. People
who write install routines frequently know what they
are doing.
– Set a second partition for / and everything not
otherwise accounted for. Allow 50GB for this. Make
it ext3
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17. Example: Linux Single Install
(cont)
– If this is going to be a server, set a third partition
for /var. Allow 30GB for this. Make it ext3.
– Allocate the rest of the drive to /home. This
should be approximately 117GB in our example
(or 147GB if there is no separate /var partition).
All of your MP3 files, movies, documents, and so
on go here. Make this one ext3 as well.
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18. Dual Boot with Windows
● Assume a system that already has Windows
installed.
● Assume adding a 200GB second hard drive.
– Allow 2-3GB for the swap partition.
– Set a fat32 partition for shared data. Note that fat32
has some limitations, such as large cluster sizes,
and maximum 4GB file size. For movies, that can
be an issue. The size of this partition will be
determined by what you want to share. In this
example, 50GB
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19. Dual Boot with Windows (cont)
– Set a third partition for / and everything not
otherwise accounted for. Allow 50GB for this.
Make it ext3.
– Allocate the rest of the drive to /home. This
should be approximately 97GB in our example.
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20. Dual Boot with Windows (cont)
– However, sizing the fat32 and the /home
partition depends on how much of your data you
intend to be Linux-only, and how much you want
to share with Windows. If you want to share
everything, do not create a separate partition
for /home. Instead, let the install routine create
a /home directory in the root partition along with
everything else, and create a large fat32
directory with the rest of the space. Or perhaps
create a couple of them.
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21. Multiple Linux Install
● Assume you have Linux already installed on
a single hard drive.
● Assume you are adding a second hard drive
of 200GB
– You may need to have a second swap partition
for the second install. I have not yet found a
definitive answer for this. It should not be a big
deal. My own example of this uses separate
swap partitions for each install
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22. Multiple Linux Install (cont)
– Configure the rest of the install as if it were a
single Linux install.
– Sharing data: I am not sure what the best way is
to handle this. You might be able to create a
single /home directory to do this, though I have
not done it. Any ideas?
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