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Diffstat (limited to 'release/sysinstall/help/partition.hlp')
-rw-r--r-- | release/sysinstall/help/partition.hlp | 196 |
1 files changed, 117 insertions, 79 deletions
diff --git a/release/sysinstall/help/partition.hlp b/release/sysinstall/help/partition.hlp index 19b6ce1..cbce9a4 100644 --- a/release/sysinstall/help/partition.hlp +++ b/release/sysinstall/help/partition.hlp @@ -1,21 +1,50 @@ This is the FreeBSD DiskLabel Editor. +NOTE: If you're entering this editor from the update procedure then +you probably shouldn't (C)reate anything at all but rather use only +the (M)ount command to check and mount existing partitions for +upgrading. + +If you would like the label editor to do most of the following for +you, simply type `A' for automatic partitioning of the disk. + +If you wish to create partitions manually you may do so by moving the +highlighted selection bar with the arrow keys over the FreeBSD +partition(s) displayed at the top of the screen. Typing (C)reate +while a partition with available free space is selected will allow you +to create a BSD partition inside of it using some or all of its +available space. + +Typing (M)ount over an existing partition entry (displayed in the +middle of the screen) will allow you to set a mount point for it +without initializing it. If you want it initialized, use the (T)oggle +command to flip the Newfs flag. When Newfs is set to "Y", the +filesystem in question will be ERASED and rebuilt from scratch! + +NOTE: The (W)rite option is HIGHLY DANGEROUS and should NOT BE USED if +you're installing a new system! It's only for use in resurrecting +or changing an existing system, and will cause unpredictable things to +happen if you use it in any other circumstances. Don't do it! Wait +for the final commit dialog if you're express/novice installing, or +use the "Commit" menu item if you're custom installing, and do it there. + + You should use this editor to create at least the following filesystems: - Name Purpose Min Size? Optional? - ---- ------- --------- --------- - / Root filesystem 20MB No - swap Swap space 2 * MEM No - /usr System & user files 80MB or more Yes + Name Purpose Min Size? Optional? + ---- ------- --------- --------- + / Root filesystem 20MB No + swap Swap space 2 * MEM No + /usr System & user files 80MB or more Yes Note: If you do not create a /usr filesystem then your / filesystem will need to be bigger - at least 100MB. This is not recommended as any media errors that may occur during disk I/O to user files will corrupt the filesystem containing vital system files as well. It is for this reason that / is generally kept on its own filesystem, where -it's basically considered "read only" by the system and hence a good -deal safer. +it should be considered essentially "read only" in your administration +of it. Swap space is a little tricker, and the rule of "2 * MEM" is simply a best-guess approximation and not necessarily accurate for your @@ -44,79 +73,88 @@ instead. You may therefore wish to make the / partition bigger if you expect a lot of mail or news and do not want to make /var its own partition. - -If you're new to this installation, you should also first understand -how FreeBSD 2.0.5's new "slices" paradigm for looking at disk storage -works. It's not very hard to grasp. A "fully qualified slice name", -that is the name of the file we open in /dev to talk to the slice, is -optionally broken into 3 parts: - - First you have the disk name. Assume we have two SCSI - drives in our system, which gives us `sd0' and `sd1'. - - Next you have the "Slice" (or "FDISK Partition") number, - as seen in the Partition Editor. Assume that our sd0 contains - two slices, a FreeBSD slice and a DOS slice. This gives us - sd0s1 and sd0s2. Let's also say that sd1 is completely devoted - to FreeBSD, so we have only one slice there: sd1s1. - - Next, if a slice is a FreeBSD slice, you have a number of - (confusingly named) "partitions" you can put inside of it. - These FreeBSD partitions are where various filesystems or swap - areas live, and using our hypothetical two-SCSI-disk machine - again, we might have something like the following layout on sd0: - - Name Mountpoint - ---- ---------- - sd0s1a / - sd0s1b <swap space> - sd0s1e /usr - - Because of historical convention, there is also a short-cut, - or "compatibility slice", that is maintained for easy access - to the first FreeBSD slice on a disk for those programs which - still don't know how to deal with the new slice scheme. - The compatibility slice names for our filesystem above would - look like: - - Name Mountpoint - ---- ---------- - sd0a / - sd0b <swap space> - sd0e /usr - - FreeBSD automatically maps the compatibility slice to the first - FreeBSD slice it finds (in this case, sd0s1). You may have multiple - FreeBSD slices on a drive, but only the first one may be the - compatibility slice! - - The compatibility slice will eventually be phased out, but - it is still important right now for several reasons: - - 1. Some programs, as mentioned before, still don't work - with the slice paradigm and need time to catch up. - - 2. The FreeBSD boot blocks are unable to look for - a root file system in anything but a compatibility - slice right now. This means that our root will always - show up on "sd0a" in the above scenario, even though - it really lives over on sd0s1a and would otherwise be - referred to by its full slice name. - -Once you understand all this, then the label editor becomes fairly -simple. You're either carving up the FreeBSD slices displayed at the -top of the screen into smaller pieces (displayed in the middle of the -screen) and then putting FreeBSD file systems on them, Or you're just -mounting existing partitions/slices into your filesystem hierarchy; -this editor lets you do both. Since a DOS partition is also just -another slice as far as FreeBSD is concerned, you can mount one into -in your filesystem hierarchy just as easily with this editor. For -FreeBSD partitions you can also toggle the "newfs" state so that -the partitions are either (re)created from scratch or simply checked -and mounted (the contents are preserved). +If you're new to this installation, you might also want to read the +following explanation of how FreeBSD's new "slice" paradigm for +looking at disk storage works: + + +In FreeBSD's new system, a device name can be broken up into up to 3 +parts. Take a typical name like ``/dev/sd0s1a'': + + The first three characters represent the drive name. If we had + a system with two SCSI drives on it then we'd see /dev/sd0 and + /dev/sd1 as the device entries representing the entire drives. + + Next you have the "slice" (or "FDISK Partition") number, + as seen in the Partition Editor. Assuming that our sd0 + contained two slices, a FreeBSD slice and a DOS slice, that + would give us /dev/sd0s1 and /dev/sd0s2 as device entries pointing + to the entire slices. + + Next, if a slice is a FreeBSD slice, you can have a number of + (confusingly named) "partitions" inside of it. + + These partitions are where various filesystems or swap areas live, + and using our hypothetical two-SCSI-disk machine again, we might + have something like the following layout on sd0: + + Name Mountpoint + ---- ---------- + sd0s1a / + sd0s1b <swap space> + sd0s1e /usr + + Because of historical convention, there is also a short-cut, + or "compatibility slice", that is maintained for easy access + to the *first* FreeBSD slice on a disk. This gives some + backwards compatibility to utilities that still may not know + how to deal with the new slice scheme. + + The compatibility slice names for our filesystem above would + also look like: + + Name Mountpoint + ---- ---------- + sd0a / + sd0b <swap space> + sd0e /usr + + Again, let it be noted: FreeBSD automatically maps the + compatibility slice to the first FreeBSD slice it finds + (in this case, sd0s1). You may have multiple FreeBSD slices on a + drive, but only the first one will be mapped to the compatibility + slice! + + The compatibility slice will eventually be phased out, but + it is still important right now for several reasons: + + 1. Some programs, as mentioned before, still don't work + with the slice paradigm and need time to catch up. + + 2. The FreeBSD boot blocks are unable to look for + a root file system in anything but a compatibility + slice right now. This means that our root will always + show up on "sd0a" in the above scenario, even though + it really lives over on sd0s1a and would otherwise be + referred to by its full slice name. + +Once you understand all this, then the purpose of the label editor +becomes fairly clear: You're carving up the FreeBSD slices displayed +at the top of the screen into smaller pieces, which are displayed in +the middle of the screen, and then assigning FreeBSD file system names +(mount points) to them. + +You can also use the label editor to mount existing partitions/slices +into your filesystem hierarchy, as is frequently done for DOS FAT +slices. For FreeBSD partitions, you can also toggle the "newfs" state +so that the partitions are either (re)created from scratch or simply +checked and mounted (the contents are preserved). When you're done, type `Q' to exit. No actual changes will be made to the disk until you (C)ommit from the -Install menu! You're working with what is essentially a copy of -the disk label(s), both here and in the FDISK Partition Editor. +Install menu or (W)rite directly from this one. You're working with +what is essentially a copy of the disk label(s), both here and in the +FDISK Partition Editor, and the actual on-disk labels won't be +affected by any changes you make until you explicitly say so. + |