Partitions: How many?

[EdSquareCat]

I've seen different answers on how many partitions I need to make to install Linux. I'm going to install Debian Linux. I have a partition program, Partition Magic. How many partitions should I make, and of what type should they be (NTFS, ext2, ext3, SWAP)? I know that the latter 3 are for Linux, but I'm confused as to which type to use, and how many I should make.

[oz]

You only have to have 1 partition if you have enough ram. Otherwise, you'll need as least a swap partition and the / partition.

Don't make the ntfs. I'd recommend ext3 only because it's been around for a while and that's what I use.

/ ext3 (about 6 to 10 G)
swap swap (I use 512 M)
/home ext3 (about 6 to 10 G)

[EdSquareCat]

Okay, thanks a lot.
Edit: I have sufficient RAM (2 gigs). While I'm installing, what partitions do I make on my partition? How do I accomplish this? I got stuck on this (the partitioning) part of the installation. I read the how-to afterwards, and I'm still confused.

[g.ivannov]

Okay, thanks a lot.
Edit: I have sufficient RAM (2 gigs). While I'm installing, what partitions do I make on my partition? How do I accomplish this? I got stuck on this (the partitioning) part of the installation. I read the how-to afterwards, and I'm still confused.

You need two partitions: one for the system (/) and one for your personal data (/home)
I would give 5 to 10 GB for the / (it depends on whether you want to install many programs afterwards) and all the rest for the /home

Sadly I cannot tell you how to partition on debian (no experience). I use ubuntu where partitioning is very easy (you dont need external programs to partition)

[valemon]

I wouldn't recommend using partition magic. Debian installer has its own partitioning application. If you want to look at something else I would suggest GParted -- Download

[bigtomrodney]

There are many ways to breakdown your partitions. There is one thing I do that many perhaps wouldn't; It is common practice to make your /tmp directory seperate to avoid filling your root (/) partition and causing system problems. The unusual step that I do is that I make one of about 9-10GB so I can rip my DVD collection.

As you can see there are many reasons people adjust their partition schemes. Generally speaking once you keep your home partition seperate you should be fine.

[g.ivannov]

Advanced question :

Do you think that a separate partition for /opt is necessary, if someone installs many closed-source programs?

That is: you left the / partition with the default options, you put nodev, nosuid to /opt (where you install your closed-source stuff) and you put nodev, nosuid, noexec to /home. Does it ensure more security or is it useless?

[Agent-X]

Information:

1. Create your Linux partition: ext2, ext3, etc...
2. Put the SWAP partition next to that partition
3. Create an extended partition
4. Create as many logical partitions as you like within that extended partition (there is a limit, however).

The idea here is that SWAP is close to the Linux partition, thus giving it more ability to swap in and out data.

More information:

Concepts to learn:

1. mount
2. mountpoint
3. bind
4. symbolic link

Answer: Creating seperate partitions is not a bad idea; however, I would leave them blank with only a file-system (ext2, ext3, etc) until learning the above concepts. I suggest using EXT3.

[bigtomrodney]

Advanced question :

Do you think that a separate partition for /opt is necessary, if someone installs many closed-source programs?

That is: you left the / partition with the default options, you put nodev, nosuid to /opt (where you install your closed-source stuff) and you put nodev, nosuid, noexec to /home. Does it ensure more security or is it useless?

I wouldn't say its useless but possibly overkill. Unless you are running a secured and hardened server.

To be honest personally I think keeping /tmp seperate is one of the most important steps. Anyone has write access to /tmp so it can be easy to fill up root or to create executables there. Make sure you secure that first.

[EdSquareCat]

So I take it that I should split the partition that I made with Partition magic into a root partition and a /home partition, and I should make more later when I learn more, after installation?