Linux

Laboratory 5 - Linux disk management

Fifth laboratory article, teaching you how to work with disks in Linux.

Alexandru Calcatinge

• 27 min read
Laboratory 5 - Linux disk management

Lab 5 - Disk management

In this laboratory you will exercise using disk devices, partitions, RAID, LVM, swap and cryptsetup.

Contents:

  1. Lab 5.1 Partitioning and formatting disks

    • Lab objective 1: Using a file as a disk partition image
    • Lab objective 2: Partitioning a disk image file
    • Lab objective 3: Using losetup and parted
    • Lab objective 4: Partitioning and formatting a real hard drive/stick
    • Lab objective 5: Working with swap

  2. Lab 5.2 Encryption and filesystem features

    • Lab objective 6: Disk encryption
    • Lab objective 7: Encrypted swap

  3. Lab 5.3 Using LVM

    • Lab objective 8: Managing logical volumes
    • Lab objective 9: Creating a RAID device

Laboratory objective 1: Using a file as a disk partition image

Commands used: dd, mkfs, ls, mount, mkdir

Solution:

For the purpose of this exercise, you will need unpartitioned disk space available on your disk. If you don't, and you are using your own system, you will need to shrink a partition and the filesystem on it first, and then make it available to the system. If you don't use partitions on your system, only one large partition for the entire operating system, the you can use the loop device mechanism with or without the parted program. In the first exercises we will use the loop mechanism.

We are going to create a file that will be used as a container for a full hard disk partition image, and thus it can be used as a real partitioned hard disk.

  1. create a file full of zeros that will be 1GB in length
dd if=/dev/zero of=imagefile bs=1M count=1024

for this I created a test directory in my home directory, and the output is:

alexandru@linux-vje9:~> ls
backup Desktop Dropbox Public Videos
backup_restore Documents Music public_html VirtualBox VMs
bin Downloads Pictures Templates vi_test
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> mkdir backup_test
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> ls
backup bin Downloads Pictures Templates vi_test
backup_restore Desktop Dropbox Public Videos
backup_test Documents Music public_html VirtualBox VMs
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> cd backup_test/
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> dd if=/dev/zero of=imagefile bs=1M count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB, 1.0 GiB) copied, 7.05357 s, 152 MB/s
  1. now put a filesystem on the file you just created. For convenience, I created a ext4 filesystem, but you can user another one, such as ext3, vfat, xfs or btrfs.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkfs.ext4 imagefile
[sudo] password for root:
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Discarding device blocks: done 
Creating filesystem with 262144 4k blocks and 65536 inodes
Filesystem UUID: f6ea8ac0-8b8f-4f9a-baf3-ff021c4d9a80
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test>
  1. now mount the file you created. For this, I created a new directory called mountpoint inside my backup_test directory, where the image file was created
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls -l
total 33168
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexandru users 1073741824 Sep 5 16:04 imagefile
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> mkdir mountpoint
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
imagefile mountpoint
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount -o loop imagefile mountpoint
[sudo] password for root:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
imagefile mountpoint

Laboratory objective 2: Partitioning a disk image file

Commands used: fdisk, umount

Solution:

In the previous exercise, you created an image file that was formatted as a disk drive. Now, the next level of complication is to divide the container file into multiple partitions, in order to hold a filesystem or a swap area. We will reuse the imagefile that we created earlier.

  1. run fdisk on the imagefile

if you finished the above exercise, please make sure to unmount the imagefile using the umount command:

sudo umount mountpoint
sudo fdisk imagefile
  1. type m to get a list of commands
Command (m for help): 
Help:
DOS (MBR)
 a toggle a bootable flag
 b edit nested BSD disklabel
 c toggle the dos compatibility flag
Generic
 d delete a partition
 F list free unpartitioned space
 l list known partition types
 n add a new partition
 p print the partition table
 t change a partition type
 v verify the partition table
 i print information about a partition
Misc
 m print this menu
 u change display/entry units
 x extra functionality (experts only)
Script
 I load disk layout from sfdisk script file
 O dump disk layout to sfdisk script file
Save & Exit
 w write table to disk and exit
 q quit without saving changes
Create a new label
 g create a new empty GPT partition table
 G create a new empty SGI (IRIX) partition table
 o create a new empty DOS partition table
 s create a new empty Sun partition table
Command (m for help):
  1. create a new primary partition and make it 256MB
Command (m for help): n
Partition type
 p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
 e extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-2097151, default 2048):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-2097151, default 2097151): +256M

Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 256 MiB.

 

  1. add a secondary primary partition also of 256MB in size
Command (m for help): n
Partition type
 p primary (1 primary, 0 extended, 3 free)
 e extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (2-4, default 2): 2
First sector (526336-2097151, default 526336):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (526336-2097151, default 2097151): +256M

Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux' and of size 256 MiB.

Now print the partition table by hitting the p key

Command (m for help): p
Disk imagefile: 1 GiB, 1073741824 bytes, 2097152 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x56de2a50
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
imagefile1 2048 526335 524288 256M 83 Linux
imagefile2 526336 1050623 524288 256M 83 Linux
  1. write the partition table to disk and exit
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Syncing disks.

Laboratory objective 3: Using losetup and parted

Commands used: losetup, parted, fdisk, ls, mkfs, mount, mkdir, df, umount, rmdir

Solution:

In this exercise you are going to experiment with loop devices, losetup and parted to partition at the command line. You can use the previous file, or you can create a new one. For the purpose of this exercise, better create a new one.

alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
imagefile mountpoint
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> dd if=/dev/zero of=imagefile2 bs=1M count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB, 1.0 GiB) copied, 4.13728 s, 260 MB/s
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls -l
total 1081744
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexandru users 1073741824 Sep 5 16:53 imagefile
-rw-r--r-- 1 alexandru users 1073741824 Sep 5 17:07 imagefile2
drwxr-xr-x 2 alexandru users 6 Sep 5 16:13 mountpoint
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test>

 

  1. associate the image file with a loop device
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo losetup -f
[sudo] password for root:
/dev/loop0
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo losetup /dev/loop0 imagefile2
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test>

 

With the first command, we find the first loop device that is free, just to make sure in case you already use others on your system. With the option -a you can find all the currently used loop devices.

alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo losetup -a
/dev/loop0: [2051]:135535270 (/home/alexandru/backup_test/imagefile2)
  1. create a disk partition label on the loop device image file
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo parted -s /dev/loop0 mklabel msdos

 

  1. create three primary partitions on the loop device
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo parted -s /dev/loop0 unit MB mkpart primary ext4 0 256
Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best performance.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo parted -s /dev/loop0 unit MB mkpart primary ext4 256 512
Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best performance.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo parted -s /dev/loop0 unit MB mkpart primary ext4 512 1024
Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best performance.
  1. check the partition table
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo fdisk -l /dev/loop0
Disk /dev/loop0: 1 GiB, 1073741824 bytes, 2097152 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00001f7d
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/loop0p1 1 500000 500000 244.1M 83 Linux
/dev/loop0p2 500001 1000000 500000 244.1M 83 Linux
/dev/loop0p3 1000001 2000000 1000000 488.3M 83 Linux
  1. check if the device nodes have been created. This depends on your distribution. In openSUSE 42.x, RHEL 7 and Ubuntu (starting 14.04), the following command will work. On older distributions, it might not work.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls -l /dev/loop0*
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 7, 0 Sep 5 17:13 /dev/loop0
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 259, 0 Sep 5 17:13 /dev/loop0p1
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 259, 3 Sep 5 17:13 /dev/loop0p2
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 259, 4 Sep 5 17:13 /dev/loop0p3
  1. put filesystems on the partitions
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/loop0p1
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Discarding device blocks: done 
Creating filesystem with 250000 1k blocks and 62744 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 635916fd-594e-4a24-afe2-4e23a62ce812
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/loop0p2
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Discarding device blocks: done 
Creating filesystem with 250000 1k blocks and 62744 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 61ef4b25-e4dd-4e07-8e94-e4166ee9381a
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/loop0p3
mkfs.fat 3.0.26 (2014-03-07)
unable to get drive geometry, using default 255/63
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test>

 

  1. mount all three filesystems and show that they are available
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> mkdir mount1 mount2 mount3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount /dev/loop0p1 mount1
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount /dev/loop0p2 mount2
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount /dev/loop0p3 mount3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> df -Th
Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs devtmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /dev
tmpfs tmpfs 1.9G 204K 1.9G 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs tmpfs 1.9G 2.7M 1.9G 1% /run
tmpfs tmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda3 xfs 104G 24G 81G 23% /
/dev/sda2 vfat 4.0G 4.6M 4.0G 1% /boot/efi
tmpfs tmpfs 384M 32K 384M 1% /run/user/1000
/dev/dm-0 ext4 15G 8.2G 5.5G 60% /run/media/alexandru/HOT
/dev/loop0p1 ext3 233M 2.1M 219M 1% /home/alexandru/backup_test/mount1
/dev/loop0p2 ext4 233M 2.1M 215M 1% /home/alexandru/backup_test/mount2
/dev/loop0p3 vfat 489M 0 489M 0% /home/alexandru/backup_test/mount3
  1. after using the filesystems to your needs, you can unwind it all
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount mount1 mount2 mount3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> rmdir mount1 mount2 mount3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo losetup -d /dev/loop0

Laboratory objective 4: Partitioning and formatting a real hard drive/stick

Commands used: fdisk, mount, umount, mkdir, mkfs, ls

Solution:

Now we will exercise partitioning and formatting with a real memory stick or external hard drive. Depending on what you have available, you can use either of those.

I have a 32GB memory stick that I will use for this exercise.

  1. Insert your memory stick into your computer's USB port and use fdisk to see details about it.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: E6E55437-CAAE-42EC-A5C0-233DC0CF4CE0
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 8386559 8384512 4G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda2 8386560 16771071 8384512 4G EFI System
/dev/sda3 16771072 234440703 217669632 103.8G Microsoft basic data
Disk /dev/sdb: 29.8 GiB, 32015679488 bytes, 62530624 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x000dd880
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 62530623 62528576 29.8G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

You will see that your memory stick is under /dev/sdb

  1. Now use fdisk for the memory stick
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

 

  1. Now we will create three different partitions, as follows:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: E6E55437-CAAE-42EC-A5C0-233DC0CF4CE0
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 8386559 8384512 4G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda2 8386560 16771071 8384512 4G EFI System
/dev/sda3 16771072 234440703 217669632 103.8G Microsoft basic data
Disk /dev/sdb: 29.8 GiB, 32015679488 bytes, 62530624 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x000dd880
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 62530623 62528576 29.8G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> fdisk /dev/sdb
Absolute path to 'fdisk' is '/usr/sbin/fdisk', so running it may require superuser privileges (eg. root).
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
[sudo] password for root:
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.29.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): g
Created a new GPT disklabel (GUID: CE694922-069C-43F2-8BBA-D8FC3580EA6B).
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.29.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 29.8 GiB, 32015679488 bytes, 62530624 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: CE694922-069C-43F2-8BBA-D8FC3580EA6B
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1):
First sector (2048-62530590, default 2048):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-62530590, default 62530590): +10G
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 10 GiB.
Partition #1 contains a vfat signature.
Do you want to remove the signature? [Y]es/[N]o: Y
The signature will be removed by a write command.
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.29.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (2-128, default 2):
First sector (20973568-62530590, default 20973568):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (20973568-62530590, default 62530590): +10G
Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 10 GiB.
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (3-128, default 3):
First sector (41945088-62530590, default 41945088):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (41945088-62530590, default 62530590):
Created a new partition 3 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 9.8 GiB.
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: E6E55437-CAAE-42EC-A5C0-233DC0CF4CE0
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 8386559 8384512 4G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda2 8386560 16771071 8384512 4G EFI System
/dev/sda3 16771072 234440703 217669632 103.8G Microsoft basic data
Disk /dev/sdb: 29.8 GiB, 32015679488 bytes, 62530624 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: CE694922-069C-43F2-8BBA-D8FC3580EA6B
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 20973567 20971520 10G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb2 20973568 41945087 20971520 10G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb3 41945088 62530590 20585503 9.8G Linux filesystem

 

  1. Now we have three different partitions on the external memory stick, as shown in the upper lines. The partitions are not formatted. To view the supported filesystems on our distribution, we can run the command:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> ls /sbin/mk*
/sbin/mkdosfs /sbin/mkfs.cramfs /sbin/mkfs.minix /sbin/mkhomedir_helper
/sbin/mke2fs /sbin/mkfs.ext2 /sbin/mkfs.msdos /sbin/mkill
/sbin/mkfs /sbin/mkfs.ext3 /sbin/mkfs.ntfs /sbin/mkinitrd
/sbin/mkfs.bfs /sbin/mkfs.ext4 /sbin/mkfs.vfat /sbin/mkinitrd_setup
/sbin/mkfs.btrfs /sbin/mkfs.fat /sbin/mkfs.xfs /sbin/mkswap

You should choose your filesystem based on your requirements and needs. Most used filesystem type is ext4, supported by most distributions, but there also are XFS or btrfs that are also used by enterprise grade Linux such as SUSE. For convenience I will use ext4, even though I use XFS and btrfs on my SUSE systems. I will label the three partitions: "alex1", "alex2", "alex3", thus I will use the -L option for mkfs command:

alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo mkfs.ext4 -L alex1 /dev/sdb1
[sudo] password for root:
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Creating filesystem with 2621440 4k blocks and 655360 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 20a5c3b1-53a0-423f-a66f-ba799ceba4ba
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo mkfs.ext4 -L alex2 /dev/sdb2
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Creating filesystem with 2621440 4k blocks and 655360 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 45040578-61cd-4fa1-a30d-1776bd0fb8c3
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo mkfs.ext4 -L alex3 /dev/sdb3
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Creating filesystem with 2573187 4k blocks and 643376 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 80ce9abf-a7e8-4e66-bde4-381d78ebb8c8
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

 

  1. Now lets mount the device partitions. I will use the same directory as in the previous exercise, but I will create two other directories, for each partition.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test/mountpoint> sudo mount /dev/sdb1 ~/backup_test/mountpoint/
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test/mountpoint> cd..
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> mkdir mountpoint2
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> mkdir mountpoint3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount /dev/sdb2 ~/backup_test/mountpoint2/
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount /dev/sdb3 ~/backup_test/mountpoint3/
  1. Now unmount the partitions:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/sdb1
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/sdb2
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/sdb3

Laboratory objective 5: Working with swap

Commands used: cat, dd, mkswap, cp, swapon, chown, chmod, swapoff, rm

Solution:

  1. Examine your current swap space with the command:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> cat /proc/swaps
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/sda1 partition 4192252 20252 -1

 

  1. We will now add more swap space to the system by adding a new swap file. You can add more space with a new partition, if you have one unused.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> dd if=/dev/zero of=swapfile bs=1M count=2048
2048+0 records in
2048+0 records out
2147483648 bytes (2.1 GB, 2.0 GiB) copied, 21.563 s, 99.6 MB/s

 

  1. Now format the file as a swap partition. First I will move the swapfile into the /backup_test directory for more convenience.
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> cp swapfile backup_test/swapfile

 

Now I will format the swap partition:

alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkswap swapfile
[sudo] password for root:
mkswap: swapfile: insecure permissions 0644, 0600 suggested.
mkswap: swapfile: insecure file owner 1000, 0 (root) suggested.
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 2 GiB (2147479552 bytes)
no label, UUID=30c53729-ec92-4780-9275-e49519933123

 

  1. Activate the new swap space:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo swapon swapfile
swapon: /home/alexandru/backup_test/swapfile: insecure permissions 0644, 0600 suggested.
swapon: /home/alexandru/backup_test/swapfile: insecure file owner 1000, 0 (root) suggested.

 

You notice that the distribution is warning us that the new swap is insecure, so we will need to take extra measures and fix this:

alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo chown root:root swapfile
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo chmod 600 swapfile
  1. Now make sure that it is being used:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> cat /proc/swaps
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/sda1 partition 4192252 23492 -1
/home/alexandru/backup_test/swapfile file 2097148 0 -2
  1. If you are not using the file, you can then remove it from use and delete it from your system with the commands:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo swapoff swapfile
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo rm swapfile
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
imagefile imagefile2 mountpoint mountpoint2 mountpoint3

 

We did an ls to make sure that the file was removed.

Laboratory objective 6: Disk encryption

Commands used: partprobe, umount, cryptsetup, mount, fdisk, mount

Solution:

  1. Create a new partition for the encrypted block device with fdisk, make sure that the kernel is aware of the new partition table, without rebooting.

You can create a new partition, but we will use one of the partitions from the memory stick we used in the previous exercise. You can do the same. To make the kernel aware of a new partition table, use the command:

sudo partprobe -s
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo partprobe -s
[sudo] password for root:
/dev/sda: gpt partitions 1 2 3
/dev/sdc: gpt partitions 1 2 3

 

  1. Format one of the partitions on the memory stick with cryptsetup using LUKS for the crypto layer. If you don't have cryptsetup installed on your system, install it using your software management tools. We will encrypt the second partition /dev/sdc2
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo umount /dev/sdc2
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sdc2
WARNING!
This will overwrite data on /dev/sdc2 irrevocably.
Are you sure? (Type uppercase yes): YES
Enter passphrase:
Verify passphrase:

 

Notice that first, you have to unmount the partition that you are planning on encrypting.

  1. create an un-encrypted pass through device by opening the encrypted block device
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdc2 secret-disk
Enter passphrase for /dev/sdc2:
  1. Add an entry to /etc/crypttab so that the system prompts for the passphrase on reboot:
sudo vim /etc/crypttab
secret-disk /dev/sdc2
  1. Format the filesystem as an ext4 filesystem
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/secret-disk
mke2fs 1.42.11 (09-Jul-2014)
Creating filesystem with 2620928 4k blocks and 655360 inodes
Filesystem UUID: dd1635b9-8a09-42b6-949c-8b72f0db5e35
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

 

  1. Create a mount point for the new filesystem (for example /secret)
alexandru@linux-vje9:~> cd backup_test/
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
imagefile imagefile2 imagefilex mnt mountpoint mountpoint2 mountpoint3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkdir -p secret
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> ls
imagefile imagefilex mountpoint mountpoint3
imagefile2 mnt mountpoint2 secret
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test>

 

  1. Add an entry to /etc/fstab so that the filesystem is mounted on boot
/dev/mapper/secret-disk /home/alexandru/backup_test/secret ext4 defaults 1 2
 

8. try and mount the encrypted filesystem and verify by running fdisk -l:

alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mount -a
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: E6E55437-CAAE-42EC-A5C0-233DC0CF4CE0
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 8386559 8384512 4G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda2 8386560 16771071 8384512 4G EFI System
/dev/sda3 16771072 234440703 217669632 103.8G Microsoft basic data
Disk /dev/sdc: 29.8 GiB, 32015679488 bytes, 62530624 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: CE694922-069C-43F2-8BBA-D8FC3580EA6B
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdc1 2048 20973567 20971520 10G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdc2 20973568 41945087 20971520 10G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdc3 41945088 62530590 20585503 9.8G Linux filesystem
Disk /dev/mapper/secret-disk: 10 GiB, 10735321088 bytes, 20967424 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


 


You will have to unmount all the partitions, including the encrypted one, using the commands:


alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/sdc1
[sudo] password for root:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/sdc2
umount: /dev/sdc2: not mounted
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/sdc3
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo umount /dev/mapper/secret-disk


Laboratory objective 7: Encrypted swap


Commands used: swapoff, swapon, cryptsetup, mkswap, cat


Solution:


In this exercise we will work with the active swap partition on your hard drive, so you need to be extra careful on what you do!!!!


    

  1. Find out what partition you are currently using for swap and then deactivate it:
    2. 



alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> cat /proc/swaps
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/sda1 partition 4192252 1916 -1
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo swapoff /dev/sda1


    

  1. do the same steps as in the previous exercise to set up encryption:
    2. 



alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sda1
WARNING!
This will overwrite data on /dev/sda1 irrevocably.
Are you sure? (Type uppercase yes): YES
Enter passphrase:
Verify passphrase:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda1 swapcrypt
Enter passphrase for /dev/sda1:
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test>


    

  1. Format the encrypted device to use with swap:
    2. 



alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo mkswap /dev/mapper/swapcrypt
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 4 GiB (4290768896 bytes)
no label, UUID=c4c1ed09-f29d-427a-b3c3-85de230ac2b7


 


    

  1. Now test to see if it actually works by activating it:
    2. 



alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> sudo swapon /dev/mapper/swapcrypt
alexandru@linux-vje9:~/backup_test> cat /proc/swaps
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/dm-1 partition 4190204 0 -1


 


    

  1. To make sure that the encrypted swap partition can be activated at boot, you need to do two things:
    
(a) Add a line to /etc/crypttab so that the system prompts for the passphrase on reboot:
    2. 



swapcrypt /dev/sda1 /dev/urandom swap,cipher=aes-cbc-essiv:sha256,size=256


(b) Add an entry to the /etc/fstab so that the swap device is activated on boot


/dev/mapper/swapcrypt none swap defaults 0 0


    

  1. 

    You can reboot and see if everything works.
    

    2. 

  2. 

    To restore your original unencrypted swap partition, do the following:
    

    3. 



sudo swapoff /dev/mapper/swapcrypt
sudo cryptsetup luksClose swapcrypt
sudo mkswap /dev/sda1
sudo swapon -a


Laboratory objective 8: Managing logical volumes


Commands used: fdisk, partprobe, pvcreate, pvdisplay, vgcreate, vgdisplay, lvcreate, lvdisplay, mkfs, mkdir, mount, df, lvextend, resize2fs


Solution:


We are going to create a logical volume using two 250 MB partitions. We will assume that you have real partitionable disk space available. I will use an external 32 GB memory stick for this exercise. Note that this exercise was done using Debian 9.1 GNU/Linux.


    

  1. Create two 250 MB partitions of type (in my case is /dev/sdb)
    2. 



sudo fdisk /dev/sdb


type n and follow the on screen messages, type Y to remove the ext4 signature, type t to change the partition type and select 31 (Linux LVM), type 2 to write changes to disk. Do this twice, for the second partition too. Then execute:


sudo partprobe -s


    

  1. Convert the partitions to physical volumes. The new partitions are: /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2, thus execute:
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb1
 Physical volume "/dev/sdb1" successfully created.
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb2
 Physical volume "/dev/sdb2" successfully created.
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo pvdisplay
 --- Physical volume ---
 PV Name /dev/mapper/sda5_crypt
 VG Name debian-vg
 PV Size 111.55 GiB / not usable 2.00 MiB
 Allocatable yes (but full)
 PE Size 4.00 MiB
 Total PE 28556
 Free PE 0
 Allocated PE 28556
 PV UUID WD9D5n-PX1K-TWAf-gHHu-OtHY-XzdM-W2NCZJ
 "/dev/sdb2" is a new physical volume of "250.00 MiB"
 --- NEW Physical volume ---
 PV Name /dev/sdb2
 VG Name 
 PV Size 250.00 MiB
 Allocatable NO
 PE Size 0 
 Total PE 0
 Free PE 0
 Allocated PE 0
 PV UUID pXv062-nAbB-suQV-2oq9-55nc-lqNH-XgO153
 "/dev/sdb1" is a new physical volume of "250.00 MiB"
 --- NEW Physical volume ---
 PV Name /dev/sdb1
 VG Name 
 PV Size 250.00 MiB
 Allocatable NO
 PE Size 0 
 Total PE 0
 Free PE 0
 Allocated PE 0
 PV UUID UNJXcQ-QnGj-4FZq-oORr-PzDu-LiHu-f1WgI0


 


    

  1. Create a volume group named myvg and add the two physical volumes to it. Use the default extent size.
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo vgcreate myvg /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb2
 Volume group "myvg" successfully created
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo vgdisplay
 --- Volume group ---
 VG Name debian-vg
 System ID 
 Format lvm2
 Metadata Areas 1
 Metadata Sequence No 3
 VG Access read/write
 VG Status resizable
 MAX LV 0
 Cur LV 2
 Open LV 2
 Max PV 0
 Cur PV 1
 Act PV 1
 VG Size 111.55 GiB
 PE Size 4.00 MiB
 Total PE 28556
 Alloc PE / Size 28556 / 111.55 GiB
 Free PE / Size 0 / 0 
 VG UUID INFr5q-OXoM-L1yI-btT4-YtHP-U99T-flIO87
 --- Volume group ---
 VG Name myvg
 System ID 
 Format lvm2
 Metadata Areas 2
 Metadata Sequence No 1
 VG Access read/write
 VG Status resizable
 MAX LV 0
 Cur LV 0
 Open LV 0
 Max PV 0
 Cur PV 2
 Act PV 2
 VG Size 496.00 MiB
 PE Size 4.00 MiB
 Total PE 124
 Alloc PE / Size 0 / 0 
 Free PE / Size 124 / 496.00 MiB
 VG UUID HTPpQr-C6zG-N8GK-V5kj-J8U4-KGdY-1uGF01


 


    

  1. Allocate a 300 MB logical volume named mylvm from volume group myvg.
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo lvcreate -L 300M -n mylvm myvg
 Logical volume "mylvm" created.
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo lvdisplay
 --- Logical volume ---
 LV Path /dev/debian-vg/root
 LV Name root
 VG Name debian-vg
 LV UUID vsoJtP-fUXW-dyCU-Ofc6-LUMY-82he-UfYeZ5
 LV Write Access read/write
 LV Creation host, time debian, 2017-09-08 20:44:50 +0300
 LV Status available
 # open 1
 LV Size 107.66 GiB
 Current LE 27561
 Segments 1
 Allocation inherit
 Read ahead sectors auto
 - currently set to 256
 Block device 254:1
 --- Logical volume ---
 LV Path /dev/debian-vg/swap_1
 LV Name swap_1
 VG Name debian-vg
 LV UUID Yi1QYt-coOu-bnqC-mXgA-WUPk-TMJc-JOzKrW
 LV Write Access read/write
 LV Creation host, time debian, 2017-09-08 20:44:50 +0300
 LV Status available
 # open 2
 LV Size 3.89 GiB
 Current LE 995
 Segments 1
 Allocation inherit
 Read ahead sectors auto
 - currently set to 256
 Block device 254:2
 --- Logical volume ---
 LV Path /dev/myvg/mylvm
 LV Name mylvm
 VG Name myvg
 LV UUID zlEpKI-YJDV-LMtD-r1gQ-ZY54-KffL-A0Sl3W
 LV Write Access read/write
 LV Creation host, time debian, 2017-09-11 18:12:52 +0300
 LV Status available
 # open 0
 LV Size 300.00 MiB
 Current LE 75
 Segments 2
 Allocation inherit
 Read ahead sectors auto
 - currently set to 256
 Block device 254:3


 


    

  1. Format and mount the logical volume mylvm at /mylvm
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/myvg/mylvm
mke2fs 1.43.4 (31-Jan-2017)
Creating filesystem with 307200 1k blocks and 76912 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 5c4bccbb-2f6f-4ffa-8b43-f42f4f123295
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@debian:~$ mkdir /mylvm
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/mylvm’: Permission denied
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mkdir /mylvm
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mount /dev/myvg/mylvm /mylvm
alexandru@debian:~$


    

  1. Use lvdisplay to view information about the logical volume
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo lvdisplay
 --- Logical volume ---
 LV Path /dev/debian-vg/root
 LV Name root
 VG Name debian-vg
 LV UUID vsoJtP-fUXW-dyCU-Ofc6-LUMY-82he-UfYeZ5
 LV Write Access read/write
 LV Creation host, time debian, 2017-09-08 20:44:50 +0300
 LV Status available
 # open 1
 LV Size 107.66 GiB
 Current LE 27561
 Segments 1
 Allocation inherit
 Read ahead sectors auto
 - currently set to 256
 Block device 254:1
 --- Logical volume ---
 LV Path /dev/debian-vg/swap_1
 LV Name swap_1
 VG Name debian-vg
 LV UUID Yi1QYt-coOu-bnqC-mXgA-WUPk-TMJc-JOzKrW
 LV Write Access read/write
 LV Creation host, time debian, 2017-09-08 20:44:50 +0300
 LV Status available
 # open 2
 LV Size 3.89 GiB
 Current LE 995
 Segments 1
 Allocation inherit
 Read ahead sectors auto
 - currently set to 256
 Block device 254:2
 --- Logical volume ---
 LV Path /dev/myvg/mylvm
 LV Name mylvm
 VG Name myvg
 LV UUID zlEpKI-YJDV-LMtD-r1gQ-ZY54-KffL-A0Sl3W
 LV Write Access read/write
 LV Creation host, time debian, 2017-09-11 18:12:52 +0300
 LV Status available
 # open 1
 LV Size 300.00 MiB
 Current LE 75
 Segments 2
 Allocation inherit
 Read ahead sectors auto
 - currently set to 256
 Block device 254:3


    

  1. Grow the logical volume and corresponding filesystem to 350MB
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /dev
tmpfs 385M 6.6M 378M 2% /run
/dev/mapper/debian--vg-root 106G 24G 77G 24% /
tmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock
tmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda1 236M 38M 186M 17% /boot
tmpfs 385M 16K 384M 1% /run/user/117
tmpfs 385M 44K 384M 1% /run/user/1000
/dev/mapper/myvg-mylvm 283M 2.1M 262M 1% /mylvm
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo lvextend -L 350M /dev/myvg/mylvm
 Rounding size to boundary between physical extents: 352.00 MiB.
 Size of logical volume myvg/mylvm changed from 300.00 MiB (75 extents) to 352.00 MiB (88 extents).
 Logical volume myvg/mylvm successfully resized.
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo resize2fs /dev/myvg/mylvm
resize2fs 1.43.4 (31-Jan-2017)
Filesystem at /dev/myvg/mylvm is mounted on /mylvm; on-line resizing required
old_desc_blocks = 3, new_desc_blocks = 3
The filesystem on /dev/myvg/mylvm is now 360448 (1k) blocks long.
alexandru@debian:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /dev
tmpfs 385M 6.6M 378M 2% /run
/dev/mapper/debian--vg-root 106G 24G 77G 24% /
tmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock
tmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda1 236M 38M 186M 17% /boot
tmpfs 385M 16K 384M 1% /run/user/117
tmpfs 385M 44K 384M 1% /run/user/1000
/dev/mapper/myvg-mylvm 334M 2.1M 311M 1% /mylvm


Laboratory objective 9: Creating a RAID device


Commands used: fdisk, mdadm, mkfs, mkdir, mount, cat


Solution:


We are using Debian 9.1 for this exercise. Normally, when creating a RAID device we would use partitions from separate disks, but for this exercise we will use two partitions on the same disk. The process is actually the same whether the partitions are on one drive or on several drives. In real life operations, there is no reason to create a RAID device with two partitions on the same disk.


    

  1. Create two 1GB partitions of type "raid" either on your hard disk/memory stick using fdisk, or using LVM.
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.29.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): n
Partition type
 p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
 e extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1):
First sector (2048-62530623, default 2048):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-62530623, default 62530623): +1G
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 1 GiB.
Partition #1 contains a ext4 signature.
Do you want to remove the signature? [Y]es/[N]o: Y
The signature will be removed by a write command.
Command (m for help): n
Partition type
 p primary (1 primary, 0 extended, 3 free)
 e extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p):
Using default response p.
Partition number (2-4, default 2):
First sector (2099200-62530623, default 2099200):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (2099200-62530623, default 62530623): +1G


Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux' and of size 1 GiB.


Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1,2, default 2): 1
Partition type (type L to list all types): L
0 Empty 24 NEC DOS 81 Minix / old Lin bf Solaris 
 1 FAT12 27 Hidden NTFS Win 82 Linux swap / So c1 DRDOS/sec (FAT-
 2 XENIX root 39 Plan 9 83 Linux c4 DRDOS/sec (FAT-
 3 XENIX usr 3c PartitionMagic 84 OS/2 hidden or c6 DRDOS/sec (FAT-
 4 FAT16 <32M 40 Venix 80286 85 Linux extended c7 Syrinx 
 5 Extended 41 PPC PReP Boot 86 NTFS volume set da Non-FS data 
 6 FAT16 42 SFS 87 NTFS volume set db CP/M / CTOS / .
 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT 4d QNX4.x 88 Linux plaintext de Dell Utility 
 8 AIX 4e QNX4.x 2nd part 8e Linux LVM df BootIt 
 9 AIX bootable 4f QNX4.x 3rd part 93 Amoeba e1 DOS access 
 a OS/2 Boot Manag 50 OnTrack DM 94 Amoeba BBT e3 DOS R/O 
 b W95 FAT32 51 OnTrack DM6 Aux 9f BSD/OS e4 SpeedStor 
 c W95 FAT32 (LBA) 52 CP/M a0 IBM Thinkpad hi ea Rufus alignment
 e W95 FAT16 (LBA) 53 OnTrack DM6 Aux a5 FreeBSD eb BeOS fs 
 f W95 Ext'd (LBA) 54 OnTrackDM6 a6 OpenBSD ee GPT 
10 OPUS 55 EZ-Drive a7 NeXTSTEP ef EFI (FAT-12/16/
11 Hidden FAT12 56 Golden Bow a8 Darwin UFS f0 Linux/PA-RISC b
12 Compaq diagnost 5c Priam Edisk a9 NetBSD f1 SpeedStor 
14 Hidden FAT16 <3 61 SpeedStor ab Darwin boot f4 SpeedStor 
16 Hidden FAT16 63 GNU HURD or Sys af HFS / HFS+ f2 DOS secondary 
17 Hidden HPFS/NTF 64 Novell Netware b7 BSDI fs fb VMware VMFS 
18 AST SmartSleep 65 Novell Netware b8 BSDI swap fc VMware VMKCORE
1b Hidden W95 FAT3 70 DiskSecure Mult bb Boot Wizard hid fd Linux raid auto
1c Hidden W95 FAT3 75 PC/IX bc Acronis FAT32 L fe LANstep 
1e Hidden W95 FAT1 80 Old Minix be Solaris boot ff BBT 
Partition type (type L to list all types): fd


Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'Linux raid autodetect'.


Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1,2, default 2): 2
Partition type (type L to list all types): fd


Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'Linux raid autodetect'.


Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo partprobe


 


    

  1. Create RAID 1 device named /dev/md0 using the two partitions.
    2. 



first you should run the command:


sudo apt install -y mdadm


to install the applications needed to create RAID. Then do:


alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mdadm -C /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-disks=2 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb2
mdadm: Note: this array has metadata at the start and
 may not be suitable as a boot device. If you plan to
 store '/boot' on this device please ensure that
 your boot-loader understands md/v1.x metadata, or use
 --metadata=0.90
Continue creating array?
Continue creating array? (y/n) y
mdadm: Defaulting to version 1.2 metadata
mdadm: array /dev/md0 started.


    

  1. Format the RAID device as an ext4 filesystem. Then mount it at /myraid and make the mount persistent.
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/md0
mke2fs 1.43.4 (31-Jan-2017)
Creating filesystem with 261888 4k blocks and 65536 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 3c4bfdae-9580-4876-8b3a-c628d35a29c7
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376
Allocating group tables: done 
Writing inode tables: done 
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mkdir /myraid
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mount /dev/md0 /myraid
Add the following line in /etc/fstab
/dev/md0 /myraid ext4 defaults 0 0


 


    

  1. Place the information about /dev/md0 in /etc/mdadm.conf file using mdadm.
    2. 



alexandru@debian:~$ sudo mdadm --detail --scan >> /etc/mdadm.conf
bash: /etc/mdadm.conf: Permission denied
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo su
root@debian:/home/alexandru# mdadm --detail --scan >> /etc/mdadm.conf


    

  1. Examine /proc/mdstat to see the status of your RAID device.
    2. 



root@debian:/home/alexandru# cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid1]
md0 : active raid1 sdb2[1] sdb1[0]
 1047552 blocks super 1.2 [2/2] [UU]
unused devices: <none>


You can also verify that everything that is working great by doing a reboot. To clean everything up, you can erase that line from /etc/fstab file, and then remove the partitions.


alexandru@debian:~$ sudo umount /dev/md0
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.29.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1,2, default 2): 1
Partition 1 has been deleted.
Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 2
Partition 2 has been deleted.
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Re-reading the partition table failed.: Device or resource busy
The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8).
alexandru@debian:~$ sudo partprobe
Error: Partition(s) 1, 2 on /dev/sdb have been written, but we have been unable to inform the kernel of the change, probably because it/they are in use. As a result, the old partition(s) will remain in use. You should reboot now before making further changes.
alexandru@debian:~$

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