Two options in the Format utility enable you to administer disk partitions or slices, namely partition and fdisk. The fdisk option is used specifically to manage partitions on x86 based systems. Thus, these partitions are also called fdisk partitions.
For easier management, use whole disks for creating ZFS storage non-root pools instead of disk slices . You only need to use a disk slice if the disk is intended for the ZFS root pool. When you create a pool with whole disks, an EFI label is applied. If you need to prepare a disk for use as a root pool disk, create a slice 0 that contains the entire disk capacity, as shown in Example 6–1.
For information about setting up disks for use with ZFS storage pools, see Chapter 7, Setting Up ZFS on Disks.
To display slice or partition information, perform the following general steps after you launch the Format utility:
At the Format Menu format > prompt, type partition.
If you are using an x86 based system, you can also type fdisk.
At the partition > prompt, type print.
If you typed fdisk at the format > prompt, you do not need to type print
The following list explains the meaning of the partition information. The actual partition information that is displayed varies depending on the label.
Partition or slice number. For VTOC labeled disks, the partitions range from 0–7. For EFI labeled disks, the partitions range from 0–6.
File system that is mounted on the partition.
Any combination of the following states that apply to a specific partition: writable (w), mountable (m), readable (r), and unmountable (u). wu_rm for example are the flags for partitions reserved for swap areas.
Applies only to VTOC-labeled disks and refers to the starting and ending cylinder number for the slice.
Slice or partition size in MB.
Applies only to VTOC-labeled disks and refers to the total number of cylinders and the total number of sectors per slice.
Applies only to EFI labeled disks and refers to the starting block number.
Applies only to EFI labeled disks and refers to the ending block number.
This example assumes that the disk being administered is c2t3d0.
format> partition partition> print Current partition table (c2t3d0): Total disk cylinders available: 14087 + 2 (reserved cylinders) Part Tag Flag Cylinders Size Blocks 0 root wm 0 - 14086 136.71GB (14087/0/0) 286698624 1 swap wu 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 2 backup wu 0 - 14086 136.71GB (14087/0/0) 286698624 3 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 4 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 5 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 6 usr wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 7 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 partition> q format> qExample 6-2 Slice Information on a Disk With an EFI Label
This example assumes that the disk being administered is c2t3d0.
format> partition partition> print Current partition table (default): Total disk sectors available: 286722878 + 16384 (reserved sectors) Part Tag Flag First Sector Size Last Sector 0 usr wm 34 136.72GB 286722911 1 unassigned wm 0 0 0 2 unassigned wm 0 0 0 3 unassigned wm 0 0 0 4 unassigned wm 0 0 0 5 unassigned wm 0 0 0 6 unassigned wm 0 0 0 7 reserved wm 286722912 8.00MB 286739295 partition> q format> qExample 6-3 Slice Information on a Disk With an EFI (GPT) Label
This example assumes that the disk being administered is c2t0d0.
format> partition partition> print Current partition table (original): Total disk sectors available: 27246525 + 16384 (reserved sectors) Part Tag Flag First Sector Size Last Sector 0 BIOS_boot wm 256 256.00MB 524543 1 usr wm 524544 12.74GB 27246558 2 unassigned wm 0 0 0 3 unassigned wm 0 0 0 4 unassigned wm 0 0 0 5 unassigned wm 0 0 0 6 unassigned wm 0 0 0 7 reserved wm 27246559 8.00MB 27262942 partition> q format> qExample 6-4 Partition Information From the fdisk Command
The fdisk option of the Format utility shows similar partition information as the partition option but also includes partition types. In the following example, the disk has an EFI and a Solaris partition, and the Solaris partition is active.
format> fdisk
Part Tag Flag First Sector Size Last Sector
0 BIOS_boot wm 256 256.00MB 524543
1 usr wm 524544 68.11GB 143358320
2 unassigned wm 0 0 0
3 unassigned wm 0 0 0
4 unassigned wm 0 0 0
5 unassigned wm 0 0 0
6 unassigned wm 0 0 0
Total disk size is 8924 cylinders
Cylinder size is 16065 (512 byte) blocks
Cylinders
Partition Status Type Start End Length %
========= ====== ============ ===== === ====== ===
1 EFI 1 6 6 0
2 Active Solaris2 7 8925 8919 100