Chapter 9. Disk Partitioning
Fedora creates and uses several partitions on
the available hard drives. You may customize both the partitions,
and how the drives on your system are managed.
Section 9.2, “General Information on Partitions” explains drive partitions
in more detail.
![[Note]](./stylesheet-images/note.png)
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Changing Your Mind |
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The installation process makes no changes to your system until
package installation begins. You may use
Back
to return to previous screens and
change your selections at any time.
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The on-screen dialog lists the available drives. By default, the
installation process may affect all of the drives on your computer.
To prevent the installation program from repartitioning specific
drives, clear the check box next to those drives on this list.
The installation process erases any existing Linux partitions on the
selected drives, and replaces them with the default set of
partitions for Fedora. All other types of partitions remain unchanged.
For example, partitions used by Microsoft Windows, and system
recovery partitions created by the computer manufacturer, are both
left intact. You may choose an alternative from the drop-down list:
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Remove all partitions on selected drives and
create default layout
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If the selected hard disks are brand new, or if you want to
destroy all data currently on the selected drives, use this
option. This option removes all partitions on all selected
drives, even those used by non-Linux operating systems.
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This Option Destroys All Data |
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Once you have selected all installation options and
proceed, all data on the selected drives will be destroyed.
Use this option with caution.
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Remove linux partitions on selected drives and
create default layout
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If the selected drives have any Linux partitions, this option
removes them and installs Fedora into the resulting free space.
This option does not modify partitions assigned to other
non-Linux operating systems. It does not discriminate,
however, between partitions assigned to different Linux
distributions, and will remove all of them.
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Use free space on selected drives and create
default layout
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If the selected drives have free space that has not been
assigned to a partition, this option installs Fedora into the
free space. This option ensures that no existing partition is
modified by the installation process.
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Create custom layout
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You manually specify the partitioning on the selected drives.
The next screen enables you to configure the drives and
partitions for your computer. If you choose this option, Fedora
creates no partitions by default.
Select
Review and modify partitioning layout
to
customize the set of partitions that Fedora creates, to configure your
system to use drives in RAID arrays, or to modify the boot options
for your computer. If you choose one of the alternative partitioning
options, this is automatically selected.
Use the
Advanced storage options
option if:
-
You want to install Fedora to a drive connected through the
iSCSI protocol. Select
Advanced storage options
, then select
Add iSCSI target
, then select
Add drive
. Provide an IP address and the
iSCSI initiator name, and select
Add
drive
.
-
You want to disable a dmraid device
that was detected at boot time.
Choose a partitioning option, and select
Next
to proceed.
9.1. RAID and Other Disk Devices
RAID, or Redundant Array of Independent
Disks, allows a group, or array, of
drives to act as a single device. Configure any RAID functions
provided by the mainboard of your computer, or attached
controller cards, before you begin the installation process.
Each active RAID array appears as one drive within Fedora.
On systems with more than one hard drive you may configure Fedora
to operate several of the drives as a Linux RAID array without
requiring any additional hardware.
You can use the Fedora installation program to create
Linux software RAID arrays, where RAID functions are controlled
by the operating system rather than dedicated hardware. These
functions are explained in detail in Section 9.5, “Disk Druid”.
9.1.3. FireWire and USB Disks
Some FireWire and USB hard disks may not be recognized by
the Fedora installation system. If configuration of these
disks at installation time is not vital, disconnect them to
avoid any confusion.
![[Tip]](./stylesheet-images/tip.png)
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Post-installation Usage |
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You can connect and configure external FireWire and USB
hard disks after installation. Most such devices are
recognized by the kernel and available for use at that
time.
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