Editing Solaris 10 System Administration Part I (section)

=== partitioning hard disk ===

use format utility to configure disk partitions & slices

X86/x64 systems require additional step to create a Solaris fdsik partition before you can create slices within that partition. SPARC systems do not use fdisk partitions

Solaris OS will perform disk partition as part of installation process

==== disk partitioning ====

Using format utility to create fdisk partitions or slices

# identify correct disk
# x86/x64 systems use fdisk menu in format utility to create fdisk partitions & save fdisk partition table to disk
# use partition menu in format utility to divide disk or Solaris fdisk partitions into slices
# label disk or Solaris fdisk partition

==== disk management ====

Slices are defined by an offset & a size, expressed in whole cylinders. On SPARC systems the offset is the distance from cylinder 0. On x86/x64 systems slice offsets are specified from 1st cylinder of Solaris fdisk partition

<insert pic & text details showing example>

On x86/x64 systems the format utility shows 1st cylinder of Solaris fdisk partition as cylinder 0

IDE/SATA disks in x86/x64 systems slice 8 occupies cylinder 0 & slice 9 cylinder 1 & 2.

Slice 8 & 9 are reserved so format utility does not allow changes to slice 8 & 9.

First available cylinder for additional slice definitions is cylinder 3.

Slice 2 starts at cylinder 0 & ends on last available cylinder of Solaris fdisk partition.

<insert pic of x86/x64 slice example>

==== identifying wasted disk space ====

when any cylinders are not allocated to any disk slice disk space is wasted

<insert pic showing unallocated cylinders>

once identified wasted space may be assigned to a slice

==== identifying overlapping disk slices ====

overlapping disk slices occur when cylinders are allocated to more than one disk slice

<insert pic of overlapping disk slices>

only format utility modify command warns of overlapping slices

Note: changing size of slices will make existing data inaccessible, backup or copy data to another location before resizing slices or changing partitions

==== format utility & disk partition table ====

format utility allows modification of two partition tables on disk:
* fdisk partition table
* Solaris OS partition tables (SPARC VTOC & x86/x64 VTOC)

===== fdisk partition tables =====

fdisk partition table defines up to four fdisk partitions on a disk

Solaris OS systems on x86/x64 platforms use fdisk partition table to determine parts of disk reserved for different operating systems & identify boot partition

Only x86/x64 systems use fdisk partition tables (fdisk menu from format utility)

===== Solaris OS partition tables =====

VTOC define slices that Solaris OS will use on a disk. use partition menu in format utility to view, modify, & save partition tables (VTOC)

* SPARC systems read VTOC from 1st sector of disk
* x86/x64 systems read VTOC from 2nd sector of Solaris fdisk partition

partition menu in format utility describes writing the VTOC as labeling the disk. Labeling means saving slice info into VTOC. Failure to label disk or Solaris fdisk partition after making changes the slice info changes will be lost

format utility works with /etc/format.dat file which is read when format utility is run

/etc/format.dat file is a table of available disk types & a set of predefined partition tables that can be used to partition a disk quickly

partition menu uses term partition exclusively instead of slice so the term partition & slice are identical

<insert image to show relationship between VTOC, memory, & /etc/format.dat>

save function in format utility
* writes partition table info into ./format.dat by default
* to save to /etc/format.dat specify absolute path or run format utility within /etc directory & accept default file name
* by default Solaris OS format.dat file exists in /etc directory


==== using format utility ====

type format at command prompt & use menu-driven choices to perform various format activites

Example of format:
<pre># format
Searching for disks...done


AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c1t0d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@0,0
       1. c1t1d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@1,0
       2. c1t2d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@2,0
       3. c1t3d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@3,0
Specify disk (enter its number): 0
selecting c1t0d0
[disk formatted]
Warning: Current Disk has mounted partitions.
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0 is currently mounted on /. Please see umount(1M).
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s1 is currently mounted on /usr/openwin. Please see umount(1M).
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s3 is currently mounted on /var. Please see umount(1M).
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s4 is currently used by swap. Please see swap(1M).
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s5 is currently mounted on /opt. Please see umount(1M).
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s6 is currently mounted on /usr. Please see umount(1M).
/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s7 is currently mounted on /export/home. Please see umount(1M).


FORMAT MENU:
        disk       - select a disk
        type       - select (define) a disk type
        partition  - select (define) a partition table
        current    - describe the current disk
        format     - format and analyze the disk
        repair     - repair a defective sector
        label      - write label to the disk
        analyze    - surface analysis
        defect     - defect list management
        backup     - search for backup labels
        verify     - read and display labels
        save       - save new disk/partition definitions
        inquiry    - show vendor, product and revision
        volname    - set 8-character volume name
        !<cmd>     - execute <cmd>, then return
        quit
format></pre> 

<insert example of using format utility to setup disk>