Handbook:AMD64/Blocks/Disks/ja

パーティションテーブル
Although it is theoretically possible to use a full disk to house a Linux system (when creating a btrfs RAID for example), this is almost never done in practice. Instead, full disk block devices are split up in smaller, more manageable block devices. On systems, these are called partitions. There are currently two standard partitioning technologies in use: MBR and GPT.

MBR
MBR (Master Boot Record)構成は、パーティションの識別子として、32ビットで、開始セクタとパーティションのセクタ数を使い、3種類のパーティションタイプ（プライマリ、拡張、論理）を持っています. プライマリパーティションは、ディスク先頭のとても小さい領域（ふつうは512バイト）にあるMBRの中に、その情報が格納されます. この小ささのために、たった4つのプライマリパーティションしか使うことができません（例えばからまで）.

より多くのパーティションを使うために、プライマリパーティションのうちのひとつを拡張パーティションとしてマークすることができます. 拡張パーティションは複数の論理パーティションを格納することができます（パーティションの中にパーティションが存在することになります）.

各パーティションのサイズは（識別子が32ビットなので）2TBまでに制限されます. 加えて、MBR構成はMBRのバックアップを提供しないので、アプリケーションやユーザがMBRを上書きしてしまうと、すべてのパーティション情報が失われます.

GPT
GPT (GUID Partition table)構成は、パーティションの識別子として64ビットの値を使います. パーティション情報を格納する領域はMBRの512バイトよりもずっと大きく、パーティション数の制限もありません. さらに、パーティションサイズの上限ももっと大きく設定されています（およそ8ZB、そう、ゼタバイトです）.

When a system's software interface between the operating system and firmware is UEFI (instead of BIOS), GPT is almost mandatory as compatibility issues will arise with MBR.

GPTはディスクの末尾にバックアップのGPTを持っているので、先頭のプライマリGPTに損害があっても、それを使って回復できるという利点もあります. GPTはCRC32チェックサムを含んでいて、ヘッダやパーティションテーブルのエラーを検出することもできます.

GPT と MBR のどちらにすべきか
From the description above, one might think that using GPT should always be the recommended approach, however there are a few caveats.

BIOSベースのコンピュータでGPTを使うことはできますが、Microsoft Windowsとデュアルブートを組むことはできません. Microsoft WindowsはGPTパーティションラベルを検出すると、EFIモードで起動しようとするからです.

一部のバグのあるBIOSや、BIOS/CSM/レガシーモードでブートするように設定されたEFIでは、GPTディスクからブートすると問題が発生するかもしれません. その場合には、保護MBRパーティションにブートフラグやアクティブフラグと呼ばれるフラグを付加することで、この問題を回避できるかもしれません. に オプションを付けると、強制的にMBRフォーマットとしてパーティションテーブルを読み込みます. これを使って作業を行います.

を起動して、キーを使ってフラグを立ててください. を押して最初のパーティションを選択し、キーを押してディスクに変更を反映させ、アプリケーションを終了してください:

Using UEFI
オペレーティングシステムを起動するのに（BIOSではなく）UEFIを使うシステムにGentooををインストールするときは、EFIシステムパーティションを作成することが重要です. 後述のを使う説明には、このために必要な指針が含まれています.

また、EFIシステムパーティションはFAT32（Linuxシステムではvfatと表示されます）である必要があります. この章の終わりに、パーティションにext2ファイルシステムを使う場合の指示が書かれています. それにならって、vfatを使います:

Btrfs RAID
As noted above, btrfs has the ability to create filesystems across multiple devices. Btrfs filesystems generated in this way can act in the following modes: raid0, raid1, raid10, raid5, and raid6. RAID modes 5 and 6 have improved considerably, but are still considered unstable. After a multiple device filesystem has been created, new devices can be added and old devices removed in a few commands. Btrfs takes more involvement than other filesystems making it not as friendly to beginners.

ext4 filesytems can be converted into btrfs filesystems, which may be useful for those who'd like to install Gentoo with a stable, well tested filesystem and gradually increase their knowledge about newer filesystems such as btrfs by experimentation.

LVM2
The Installation CDs provide support for LVM2. LVM2 increases the flexibility offered by the partitioning setup. The installation instructions below will focus on "regular" partitions, but it is good to know LVM2 is supported if that route is desired.

Default partitioning scheme
Throughout the remainder of the handbook, the following partitioning scheme will be used as a simple example layout:

If this suffices and the reader going the GPT route they can immediately jump to Default: Using parted to partition the disk. Those who are still interested in MBR (hey - it happens!) and using the example layout can jump to Alternative: Using fdisk to partition the disk.

Both and  are partitioning utilities. is well known, stable, and recommended for the MBR partition layout while was one of the first Linux block device management utilities to support GPT partitions. Those who like the user interface of can use  (GPT fdisk) as an alternative to.

Before going to the creation instructions, the first set of sections will describe in more detail how partitioning schemes can be created and mention some common pitfalls.

What is the BIOS boot partition?
A BIOS boot partition is a very small (1 to 2 MB) partition in which boot loaders like GRUB2 can put additional data that doesn't fit in the allocated storage (a few hundred bytes in case of MBR) and cannot be placed elsewhere.

Such partitions are not always necessary, but considering the low space consumption and the difficulties we have with documenting the plethora of partitioning differences otherwise, it is recommended to create it in either case.

For completeness, the BIOS boot partition is needed when GPT partition layout is used with GRUB2, or when the MBR partition layout is used with GRUB2 when the first partition starts earlier than the 1 MB location on the disk.

Default: Using parted to partition the disk
In this chapter, the example partition layout mentioned earlier in the instructions will be used:

Change the partition layout according to personal preference.

Viewing the current partition layout with parted
The application offers a simple interface for partitioning the disks and supports very large partitions (more than 2 TB). Fire up against the disk (in our example, we use ). It is recommended to ask to use optimal partition alignment:

Alignment means that partitions are started on well-known boundaries within the disk, ensuring that operations on the disk from the operating system level (retrieve pages from the disk) use the least amount of internal disk operations. Misaligned partitions might require the disk to fetch two pages instead of one even if the operating system asked for a single page.

To find out about all options supported by parted, type and press return.

Setting the GPT label
Most disks on the or  architectures are prepared using an msdos label. Using, the command to put a GPT label on the disk is :

To have the disk with MBR layout, use.

Removing all partitions with parted
If this isn't done yet (for instance through the operation earlier, or because the disk is a freshly formatted one), first remove all existing partitions from the disk. Type to view the current partitions, and  where   is the number of the partition to remove.

Do the same for all other partitions that aren't needed. However, make sure to not make any mistakes here - parted executes the changes immediately (unlike which stages them, allowing a user to "undo" his changes before saving or exiting fdisk).

Creating the partitions
Now create the partitions. Creating partitions with isn't very difficult - all we need to do is inform parted about the following settings:


 * The partition type to use. This usually is primary. If the msdos partition label is used, keep in mind that there can be no more than 4 primary partitions. If more than 4 partitions are needed, make one of the first four partitions extended and create logical partitions inside it.
 * The start location of a partition (which can be expressed in MB, GB, ...)
 * The end location of the partition (which can be expressed in MB, GB, ...)

First, tell parted that the size unit we work with is megabytes (actually mebibytes, abbreviated as MiB which is the "standard" notation, but we will use MB in the text throughout as it is much more common):

Now create a 2 MB partition that will be used by the GRUB2 boot loader later. Use the command for this, and inform  to start from 1 MB and end at 3 MB (creating a partition of 2 MB in size).

Do the same for the boot partition (128 MB), swap partition (in the example, 512 MB) and the root partition that spans the remaining disk (for which the end location is marked as -1, meaning the end of the disk minus one MB, which is the farthest a partition can go).

When using the UEFI interface to boot the system (instead of BIOS), mark the boot partition as the EFI System Partition. Parted does this automatically when the boot option is set on the partition:

The end result looks like so:

Use the command to exit parted.

Alternative: Using fdisk to partition the disk
The following parts explain how to create the example partition layout using. The example partition layout was mentioned earlier:

Change the partition layout according to personal preference.

Viewing the current partition layout
is a popular and powerful tool to split a disk into partitions. Fire up against the disk (in our example, we use ):

Use the key to display the disk's current partition configuration:

This particular disk was configured to house seven Linux filesystems (each with a corresponding partition listed as "Linux") as well as a swap partition (listed as "Linux swap").

Removing all partitions with fdisk
First remove all existing partitions from the disk. Type to delete a partition. For instance, to delete an existing :

The partition has now been scheduled for deletion. It will no longer show up when printing the list of partitions (, but it will not be erased until the changes have been saved. This allows users to abort the operation if a mistake was made - in that case, type immediately and hit enter and the partition will not be deleted.

Repeatedly type to print out a partition listing and then type  and the number of the partition to delete it. Eventually, the partition table will be empty:

Now that the in-memory partition table is empty, we're ready to create the partitions.

Creating the BIOS boot partition
First create a very small BIOS boot partition. Type to create a new partition, then  to select a primary partition, followed by  to select the first primary partition. When prompted for the first sector, make sure it starts from 2048 (which is needed for the boot loader) and hit enter. When prompted for the last sector, type +2M to create a partition 2 Mbyte in size:

Mark the partition for EFI purposes:

Creating the boot partition
Now create a small boot partition. Type to create a new partition, then  to select a primary partition, followed by  to select the second primary partition. When prompted for the first sector, accept the default by hitting. When prompted for the last sector, type +128M to create a partition 128 Mbyte in size:

Now, when pressing, the following partition printout is displayed:

Type to toggle the bootable flag on a partition and select. After pressing again, notice that an * is placed in the "Boot" column.

Creating the swap partition
To create the swap partition, type to create a new partition, then  to tell fdisk to create a primary partition. Then type to create the third primary partition,. When prompted for the first sector, hit. When prompted for the last sector, type +512M (or any other size needed for the swap space) to create a partition 512MB in size.

After all this is done, type to set the partition type,  to select the partition just created and then type in 82 to set the partition type to "Linux Swap".

Creating the root partition
Finally, to create the root partition, type to create a new partition, then  to tell  to create a primary partition. Then type to create the fourth primary partition,. When prompted for the first sector, hit. When prompted for the last sector, hit to create a partition that takes up the rest of the remaining space on the disk. After completing these steps, typing should display a partition table that looks similar to this:

Saving the partition layout
To save the partition layout and exit, type.

With the partitions created, it is now time to put filesystems on them.