How to manually partition multiple drives, one for OS and one for storage (downloads, pictures, games, etc

Hi it’s me again :grinning:

UEFI INSTALLATIONS ONLY

So you are new and probably wondering, “Hey this is how I did it on windows…how do I do it on linux?” The answer is you usually don’t. The two handle the storage function very differently. This post is intended for installations only. Anything (almost) can be changed after the fact but getting it right for what you are intending to do in the first place is optimal :hugs:

Scenario 1: (there will be others but this is the most common IMHO)

“I have a drive (smaller then the second drive and usually an SSD) I want to use for the OS”
"I have a second drive (usually a HD but not specifically that I want to use to store my games, music, photos, videos, etc.)

This assumes you know how to use manual partitioning in calamares (the installer that EOS uses) if not the wiki is a great resource for this or just post here and I will make another thread.

Drive 1 (OS)

Partition 1: /boot/efi

/boot/efi

Usually it is recommended for a size of 512 mib to be used. I usually use 1000mib as I have ample storage capacity. This partition needs to me mounted at /boot/efi, formatted to fat32, and marked with the boot flag (check the box).

Partition 2:root

/

This is called the root partiton. This should not be confused with the user account /root They are very different. Confused? It’s really not that bad one is the / root partiton (OS stuff) and /root is a user like other users with the very important difference of being administrative. In the beginning you will most likely not be using this account as you can do very naughty things to your system if you do not know what you are doing!

Use the rest of the drive if you can afford it and don’t need a swap partition. It should be mounted at / and formatted as ext4.

Partiton 3: swap (optional)

linux-swap

This one is up to the user. If you have more than 16Gib of ram you probably don’t need one unless you use a lot of virtual machines. There are some articles that suggest having one helps with memory performance on certain kernels (linux-zen for one). I am no expert so go research :yum:

If you have decided you would like one simply figure out how large you’d like it to be and then subtract that from the amount of space you have left on the drive after you created the /boot/efi partition. That remaining number becomes your / partition size. Then use the rest of the drive for the linux-swap partition. I know it sounds easier to make the swap partiton first but we want linux-swap at the end of the drive.

Format the partiiton as linux-swap.

Drive 2 (Storage)

Partiton 4:home

/home

This is where all of your personal files are stored. Pictures, games, downloads, music, etc.
You should use the whole drive formatted as ext4 and mounted at /home
The nice part of a separate home partiton is the fact that if something unfortunate happens to your system you can reinstall the “OS” (Drive 1) and tell the installer to just use the existing /home partition and save your data MAYBE.

THIS IS IN NO WAY A BACK UP STRATEGY!!! SIMPLY AN EASE OF USE CHOICE

Run the installer and you are done.

ComplicatedWildKitten-small

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