In most cases, disks are formatted and partitioned by the manufacturer. Thus, you configure disk partitions or slices if you want to modify partition configuration, either by changing the slice or partition size, or by changing the partition type.
The Format utility's partition option configures disk slices on SPARC based systems. This section provides examples on the use of the partition option.
Example 6-15 SPARC: Resizing a Disk SliceIn this example, the root pool disk's size is insufficient. For an optimal size, the bulk of the disk space must be in slice 0. You change the partition size by modifying the current partition.
...Format Menu format> partition partition> print Current partition table (default): Total disk cylinders available: 14085 + 2 (reserved cylinders) Part Tag Flag Cylinders Size Blocks 0 root wm 1 - 13 129.19MB (13/0/0) 264576 1 swap wu 14 - 26 129.19MB (13/0/0) 264576 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 27 - 14084 136.43GB (14058/0/0) 286108416 7 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 8 boot wu 0 - 0 9.94MB (1/0/0) 20352 9 alternates wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 partition> modifyChange partition size. Select partitioning base: 0. Current partition table (default) 1. All Free Hog Choose base (enter number) [0]? 1 Part Tag Flag Cylinders Size Blocks 0 root wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 1 swap wu 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 2 backup wu 0 - 14084 136.69GB (14085/0/0) 286657920 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 8 boot wu 0 - 0 9.94MB (1/0/0) 20352 9 alternates wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 Do you wish to continue creating a new partition table based on above table[yes]? yes Free Hog partition[6]? 0 Enter size of partition '1' [0b, 0c, 0.00mb, 0.00gb]: Enter size of partition '3' [0b, 0c, 0.00mb, 0.00gb]: Enter size of partition '4' [0b, 0c, 0.00mb, 0.00gb]: Enter size of partition '5' [0b, 0c, 0.00mb, 0.00gb]: Enter size of partition '6' [0b, 0c, 0.00mb, 0.00gb]: Enter size of partition '7' [0b, 0c, 0.00mb, 0.00gb]: Part Tag Flag Cylinders Size Blocks 0 root wm 1 - 14084 136.68GB (14084/0/0) 286637568 1 swap wu 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 2 backup wu 0 - 14084 136.69GB (14085/0/0) 286657920 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 8 boot wu 0 - 0 9.94MB (1/0/0) 20352 9 alternates wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0 Okay to make this the current partition table[yes]? yes Enter table name (remember quotes): "c2t0d0" Ready to label disk, continue? yes partition> q format> q
You use the Format utility's fdisk option to administer fdisk partitions on x86 based systems.
You can use x86-type disks for ZFS storage pools, provided that the following requirements are met:
If the disk has multiple partitions, one of partitions must be a Solaris partition.
With the fdisk option, you can determine if a Solaris partition exists. If not, create one, as shown in Example 6–16
The Solaris partition must be the active partition on the disk.
The active partition is partition whose operating system will be booted by default at system startup.
Solaris fdisk partitions must begin on cylinder boundaries.
The Solaris fdisk partitions must not begin at cylinder 0 on the first disk, which is reserved for storing additional boot information, including the master boot record.
The Solaris fdisk partition can be the entire disk or only part of the disk to leave space for other partitions.
Provided the disk has sufficient space, you can create new partitions without having to reconfigure existing partitions on the disk.
All fdisk partitions have identifiers. A Solaris partition has two identifiers:
Solaris uses the 0x82 identifier.
Solaris2 uses the 0xbf identifier.
All Oracle Solaris commands, utilities, and drivers have been updated to work with either identifier with no impact on the fdisk functionality. Thus, you can switch between the two identifiers by selecting the appropriate option from the fdisk menu as follows:
format > fdisk ... SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: 1. Create a partition 2. Specify the active partition 3. Delete a partition 4. Change between Solaris and Solaris2 Partition IDsToggle between identifiers 5. Edit/View extended partitions 6. Exit (update disk configuration and exit) 7. Cancel (exit without updating disk configuration)
The following example shows how to create a Solaris fdisk partition that spans the entire c8t3d0 drive.
# format Searching for disks...done AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS: 0. c8t0d0 <SEAGATE-ST973401LSUN72G-0556 cyl 8921 alt 2 hd 255 sec 63> /pci@0,0/pci1022,7458@11/pci1000,3060@4/sd@0,0 /dev/chassis/SYS/HD0/disk 1. c8t1d0 <SEAGATE-ST973401LSUN72G-0556 cyl 8921 alt 2 hd 255 sec 63> /pci@0,0/pci1022,7458@11/pci1000,3060@4/sd@1,0 /dev/chassis/SYS/HD1/disk 2. c8t2d0 <SEAGATE-ST973401LSUN72G-0556-68.37GB> /pci@0,0/pci1022,7458@11/pci1000,3060@4/sd@2,0 /dev/chassis/SYS/HD2/disk 3. c8t3d0 <SEAGATE-ST973401LSUN72G-0556 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424> /pci@0,0/pci1022,7458@11/pci1000,3060@4/sd@3,0 /dev/chassis/SYS/HD3/disk Specify disk (enter its number): 3 selecting c8t3d0 [disk formatted] No Solaris fdisk partition found. format> fdisk No fdisk table exists. The default partitioning for your disk is: a 100% "SOLARIS System" partition. Type "y" to accept the default partition, otherwise type "n" to edit the partition table. y format> label Ready to label disk, continue? yes format> quitExample 6-17 x86: Converting an x86 Partition to a Solaris Partition
This example shows how to convert an existing partition to a Solaris partition. By default, disks have the EFI label on most x86 based systems. To change a partition type, you first destroy the existing one. When you change partition types, the labels are also automatically changed. Because the disk is originally an EFI disk, then you use the format –e command to launch the Format utility.
# format -e ... format> fdisk FORMAT MENU: disk - select a disk type - select (define) a disk type Total disk size is 17833 cylinders Cylinder size is 16065 (512 byte) blocks Cylinders Partition Status Type Start End Length % ========= ====== ============ ===== === ====== === 1 EFI 0 17833 17834 100 SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: 1. Create a partition 2. Specify the active partition 3. Delete a partition 4. Change between Solaris and Solaris2 Partition IDs 5. Edit/View extended partitions 6. Exit (update disk configuration and exit) 7. Cancel (exit without updating disk configuration) Enter Selection: 3 Specify the partition number to delete (or enter 0 to exit): 1 This will make all files and programs in this partition inaccessible (type "y" or "n"). y Enter Selection: 1 Select the partition type to create: 1=SOLARIS2 2=UNIX 3=PCIXOS 4=Other 5=DOS12 6=DOS16 7=DOSEXT 8=DOSBIG 9=DOS16LBA A=x86 Boot B=Diagnostic C=FAT32 D=FAT32LBA E=DOSEXTLBA F=EFI (Protective) G=EFI_SYS 0=Exit? 1 Specify the percentage of disk to use for this partition (or type "c" to specify the size in cylinders). 100 Should this become the active partition? If yes, it will be activated each time the computer is reset or turned on. Please type "y" or "n". y Enter Selection: 6 Partition 1 is now the active partition.