greentea2
September 9th, 2015, 07:54 AM
Hi all,
I've found this post on a Linux Mint forum and I would like to ask if I basically could apply the same for installing Ubuntu. In my case I only have a 120gb SSD.
Should I do a partition: home and root ?
Would be 20gb enough for home in Ubuntu ?
..... - Instead of linking you to a general tutorial that's vague or missing important information, here's one that applies to you and your specific situation. Basically, you have two choices. If you want to keep it simple, all you need are two disk partitions, one for root and one for swap. If you want to take it to the next level and isolate your data files from your operating system files, then you need three disk partitions: one for root, one for swap, and one for home.
1.) Swap - If you want to hibernate the system, then you will need to make swap equal in size to your system memory. For example, if you have 4GB of system memory, then swap should be 4096MB in size. 8GB of memory, then make swap 8192MB, etc.
If you are not concerned with using hibernation, then you should create a swap partition keeping this in mind: Systems with a lot of memory don't need a lot of swap. Systems with very little memory need more swap. Examples: If you have 8GB or more of system memory, and you don't want to use hibernation, you can make swap quite small, say 2GB. However, if your system has just 1GB or 2GB of memory, you should consider making swap 4GB in size, maybe even 6GB. I suggest doing some Google searches for yourself and see what other people recommend for swap.
2.) Root - If you're only creating swap and root, then create swap first and then use most of the remaining space for root ***(see NOTE below). If you're thinking about creating a third partition for home, create swap first, then create root and make it 20GB in size. Then use most of the remaining space for home ***(see NOTE below). You should format swap as linux-swap, and format both root and home as ext4.
***NOTE: You will find your 240GB SSD isn't actually 240GB. It's formatted capacity will be about 223.5GB. Also, you should leave roughly 10% of the space on it as unallocated space. This is so the SSD's firmware has a small amount of space available to perform functions such as wear leveling and garbage collection. So try to keep the total partitioned area on the disk at 200-205GB. Take this into account when planning your partition setup and do not extend the last partition to the very end of the disk.
3.) If Linux Mint is the only operating system you're planning to install on your SSD, and you'll only have two or three partitions on the disk, then keep it simple. Go into your BIOS settings, and enable Legacy/CSM as the boot mode. Make sure UEFI boot mode and Secure Boot are both disabled.
4.) Boot your machine using your Linux Mint installation media, then make your internet connection. Go to Menu > Preferences > Gparted. Examine the lower panel and verify the 240GB SSD is displayed there. If not, use the tab on the right side to toggle between /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. until it appears there. Once you are certain you have selected the correct device, go up and click "Device", then select "Create Partition Table". The default choice is "ms-dos", which is what you want to use since it is compatible with using Legacy/CSM boot. Now click "Apply", a new partition table will be created on the disk, and you will see a single line marked "unallocated" appear in the lower panel. Leave Gparted open, since the next step is creating your Linux partitions using Gparted.
5.) Now go to the lower panel and right-click the line marked "unallocated", then select "New". For each new partition you create, you must do four things: a.) Size: Enter the size in MB. Remember, MB = GB x 1024. b.) Align to: Select "MiB" for SSD device. c.) Create as: Select "Primary". d.) File system: Select "linux-swap" for swap and "ext4" for root and home. Optional: For Label: Enter Root, Swap, or Home to identify your new partitions. After doing this, click "Add", then go back, right click on "unallocated", and create the next partition.
I suggest creating your Linux partitions in this order: swap, then root, then home. This way, if you ever decide to add another Linux OS in the future, you can use Gparted to shrink the last partition on the disk, create an extended partition for the new OS, then create logical partitions within the extended partition. It always pays to plan ahead. Also remember what I mentioned about partition sizes in steps #1 and #2 and about leaving some unallocated space as explained in ***Note.
6.) Once you have created all of your Linux disk partitions, and are satisfied with the results, then you can proceed by going up and clicking "Edit" and selecting "Apply All Operations". (Note: You also have the choice of undoing the last operation or cancelling all operations entirely if you need to change anything.) Doing this is what actually creates all of your new disk partitions. One more thing I like to do: Find the line for swap, then right-click it and select "swap on". This mounts and activates the swap partition prior to installation, which is helpful on systems with a small amount of installed memory. You are now finished and can close Gparted.
7.) Now you can perform the installation, and when you get to the screen "Installation Options", use the "Something Else" option to install. On the next screen, for each new Linux partition, you must do three things by clicking the line where each one is displayed and then clicking the "Change" button: a.) For "Filesystem", use "ext4" for both root and home. If you did not turn "swap on" in Gparted, then use "linux swap" for swap. b.) For "Mount Point", use " / " for root, and "/home" for home. If you did not turn "swap on" in Gparted, use "/swap" for swap. c.) For root and home, check the box marked "Format". There's no need to do this for swap. After doing this for each Linux partition, click "OK".
Once you have done this, there is one very important thing left. Go down to where you see "Device for bootloader installation", and select "dev/sda". DO NOT select anything that includes a number! Then click "Install" to proceed.
8.) Never forget the password you create for root. You'll need it to log in as root, run most of the administrative apps, and to execute Terminal commands.
9.) After rebooting, performing the initial system update, and getting everything set up the way you want, here is a tutorial you should read explaining how to optimize Linux Mint for use on your SSD drive: https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd
Thanks in advance for any help. ;)
I've found this post on a Linux Mint forum and I would like to ask if I basically could apply the same for installing Ubuntu. In my case I only have a 120gb SSD.
Should I do a partition: home and root ?
Would be 20gb enough for home in Ubuntu ?
..... - Instead of linking you to a general tutorial that's vague or missing important information, here's one that applies to you and your specific situation. Basically, you have two choices. If you want to keep it simple, all you need are two disk partitions, one for root and one for swap. If you want to take it to the next level and isolate your data files from your operating system files, then you need three disk partitions: one for root, one for swap, and one for home.
1.) Swap - If you want to hibernate the system, then you will need to make swap equal in size to your system memory. For example, if you have 4GB of system memory, then swap should be 4096MB in size. 8GB of memory, then make swap 8192MB, etc.
If you are not concerned with using hibernation, then you should create a swap partition keeping this in mind: Systems with a lot of memory don't need a lot of swap. Systems with very little memory need more swap. Examples: If you have 8GB or more of system memory, and you don't want to use hibernation, you can make swap quite small, say 2GB. However, if your system has just 1GB or 2GB of memory, you should consider making swap 4GB in size, maybe even 6GB. I suggest doing some Google searches for yourself and see what other people recommend for swap.
2.) Root - If you're only creating swap and root, then create swap first and then use most of the remaining space for root ***(see NOTE below). If you're thinking about creating a third partition for home, create swap first, then create root and make it 20GB in size. Then use most of the remaining space for home ***(see NOTE below). You should format swap as linux-swap, and format both root and home as ext4.
***NOTE: You will find your 240GB SSD isn't actually 240GB. It's formatted capacity will be about 223.5GB. Also, you should leave roughly 10% of the space on it as unallocated space. This is so the SSD's firmware has a small amount of space available to perform functions such as wear leveling and garbage collection. So try to keep the total partitioned area on the disk at 200-205GB. Take this into account when planning your partition setup and do not extend the last partition to the very end of the disk.
3.) If Linux Mint is the only operating system you're planning to install on your SSD, and you'll only have two or three partitions on the disk, then keep it simple. Go into your BIOS settings, and enable Legacy/CSM as the boot mode. Make sure UEFI boot mode and Secure Boot are both disabled.
4.) Boot your machine using your Linux Mint installation media, then make your internet connection. Go to Menu > Preferences > Gparted. Examine the lower panel and verify the 240GB SSD is displayed there. If not, use the tab on the right side to toggle between /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. until it appears there. Once you are certain you have selected the correct device, go up and click "Device", then select "Create Partition Table". The default choice is "ms-dos", which is what you want to use since it is compatible with using Legacy/CSM boot. Now click "Apply", a new partition table will be created on the disk, and you will see a single line marked "unallocated" appear in the lower panel. Leave Gparted open, since the next step is creating your Linux partitions using Gparted.
5.) Now go to the lower panel and right-click the line marked "unallocated", then select "New". For each new partition you create, you must do four things: a.) Size: Enter the size in MB. Remember, MB = GB x 1024. b.) Align to: Select "MiB" for SSD device. c.) Create as: Select "Primary". d.) File system: Select "linux-swap" for swap and "ext4" for root and home. Optional: For Label: Enter Root, Swap, or Home to identify your new partitions. After doing this, click "Add", then go back, right click on "unallocated", and create the next partition.
I suggest creating your Linux partitions in this order: swap, then root, then home. This way, if you ever decide to add another Linux OS in the future, you can use Gparted to shrink the last partition on the disk, create an extended partition for the new OS, then create logical partitions within the extended partition. It always pays to plan ahead. Also remember what I mentioned about partition sizes in steps #1 and #2 and about leaving some unallocated space as explained in ***Note.
6.) Once you have created all of your Linux disk partitions, and are satisfied with the results, then you can proceed by going up and clicking "Edit" and selecting "Apply All Operations". (Note: You also have the choice of undoing the last operation or cancelling all operations entirely if you need to change anything.) Doing this is what actually creates all of your new disk partitions. One more thing I like to do: Find the line for swap, then right-click it and select "swap on". This mounts and activates the swap partition prior to installation, which is helpful on systems with a small amount of installed memory. You are now finished and can close Gparted.
7.) Now you can perform the installation, and when you get to the screen "Installation Options", use the "Something Else" option to install. On the next screen, for each new Linux partition, you must do three things by clicking the line where each one is displayed and then clicking the "Change" button: a.) For "Filesystem", use "ext4" for both root and home. If you did not turn "swap on" in Gparted, then use "linux swap" for swap. b.) For "Mount Point", use " / " for root, and "/home" for home. If you did not turn "swap on" in Gparted, use "/swap" for swap. c.) For root and home, check the box marked "Format". There's no need to do this for swap. After doing this for each Linux partition, click "OK".
Once you have done this, there is one very important thing left. Go down to where you see "Device for bootloader installation", and select "dev/sda". DO NOT select anything that includes a number! Then click "Install" to proceed.
8.) Never forget the password you create for root. You'll need it to log in as root, run most of the administrative apps, and to execute Terminal commands.
9.) After rebooting, performing the initial system update, and getting everything set up the way you want, here is a tutorial you should read explaining how to optimize Linux Mint for use on your SSD drive: https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd
Thanks in advance for any help. ;)