Default Partitioning and Disk Layout During Installation
Created by dboth on 12 Jun 2009 | Tagged as:
This document will not consider those instances of dual boot or multiple operating systems because this is purely about the Fedora Linux disk layout. Note that other distributions, such as Ubuntu also use a similar default layout.
Default Layout
Let’s start by describing the default disk layout for current versions of Fedora. As I said above, it is very simple; it contains only two partitions as shown in the following table.
| Mount Point | Partition Type | Size | Description |
| /boot | EXT3 or EXT4 | 100MB | This is where the kernel and other required boot files are located. Fedora 11 uses 200MB for this partition. I like to use about 256MB to allow plenty of room for multiple kernels. |
| / | EXT3 or EXT4 on LVM. | Rest of available disk space | This partition contains all the rest of the available disk space in a single logical volume. This logical volume is then partitioned and formatted as EXT3 for all Fedora releases up through 10 and as EXT4 for Fedora 11. |
The default disk partitioning layout created by Anaconda, the Fedora installation program, is very simple and provides a decent option for most unsophisticated or inexperienced Linux users. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it in many instances where the computer is going to be used as a desktop for an individual non-power user. Power users and those installing servers or specialized workstations should consider other options that will provide more flexibility and better use of disk space.
I use this default layout for some workstations. I also use it for testing new releases and distributions to simplify and speed installation time and because there is no reason to worry about other partitioning for a test — unless the test is about partitioning.
Pros and Cons
This layout provides for maximum use of disk space with no need for administrative intervention to reallocate disk space.
It’s primary disadvantages are that if the disk fills up due to a runaway process the entire system can crash. Loss of or damage to metadata on the only partition can be catastrophic and the entire system will have to be reinstalled.
Installation
Selecting this default layout during installation is also simple; make no changes and click the Next button.
Figure 1: To accept the default disk layout simply click on the Next button
Note: The default selection of Replace existing Linux system is the correct option if there has never been any operating system on the selected hard drives. You may wish to make one change here, to choose the Use entire drive option if you will have any other operating systems on this computer that you want to replace.
Figure 2: Disk layout options.