User:Zulu Foxtrott/GentooOnARM/EasyInstall/CreatingFilesystems

Default Btrfs filesystem layout

Note
In case a filesystem other than Btrfs will be used, this section can be skipped. In that case it is recommended to proceed with designing a partition scheme.

Btrfs is a modern copy-on-write (CoW) filesystem for Linux aimed at implementing advanced features while focusing on fault tolerance, repair, and easy administration. With Btrfs it's possible to use subvolumes to replicate the functionality - organizing and managing data - of what on older systems used to be implemented by an advanced partitioning scheme. Btrfs subvolumes are not block level devices, they are POSIX file namespaces. They can be created at any location in the filesystem and will act like any other directory on the system with the exception that subvolumes can be mounted and unmounted.

Throughout the remainder of the handbook, the following structure for the Btrfs filesystem on /dev/mmcblk0p4 will be used as a simple example layout:

Subvolume name	Parent volume	Future mountpoint	Description
		not to be mounted by default	Toplevel volume
rootvol	Toplevel volume	/	Subvolume to accomodate the root filesystem (rootfs)
homevol	Toplevel volume	/home	Subvolume for the Users' home directories
swapvol	Toplevel volume	/var/swap	Subvolume to host the swapfile

TODO remove this section

For instance, to have TODO: what about those nowiki-tags (inherited from upstream handbook)?

To have the main partition () in btrfs as used in the example partition structure, the following command would be used:

root #mkfs.btrfs

Alternatively, in case the main partition has been encrypted as outlined in the optional section above, use instead:

root #mkfs.btrfs /dev/mapper/main_crypt

Now create the filesystems on the newly created partitions.

Creating Btrfs subvolumes

TODO: text

root #mount /mnt

Alternatively, in case the main partition has been encrypted as outlined in the optional section above, use instead:

root #mount /dev/mapper/main_crypt /mnt

TODO: text

root #btrfs subvolume create /mnt/rootvol

root #btrfs subvolume create /mnt/swapvol

root #btrfs subvolume create /mnt/homevol

root #umount

Mounting the subvolumes

Now that the partitions are initialized, are housing a filesystem, and subvolumes have been created, don't forget to create the necessary mount directories for every subvolume. Once this is done it is time to mount the subvolumes. Use the mount command followed by the command line parameter -o to indicate that options are going to be passed to the command. The subvolume that is to be mounted can now be specified with the subvol= option. As an example we mount the primary hierarchy root, the subvolume accommodating the rootfs:

root #mount -o subvol=rootvol /mnt/gentoo

Alternatively, in case the main partition has been encrypted as outlined in the optional section above, use instead:

root #mount -o subvol=rootvol /dev/mapper/main_crypt /mnt/gentoo

Note
If /tmp/ needs to reside on a separate partition or subvolume, be sure to change its permissions after mounting:

root #chmod 1777 /mnt/gentoo/tmp

This also holds for /var/tmp.

Setting up the swapfile

As another example, in case it hasn't been done yet, create the mount directory for the subvolume that's going to host the swapfile:

root #mkdir /mnt/gentoo/var/swap

Mount the respective subvolume:

root #mount -o subvol=swapvol /mnt/gentoo/var/swap

Create an empty file that will serve as the swap space:

root #touch /mnt/gentoo/var/swap/swapfile

Adjust the permissions:

root #chmod 600 /var/swap/swapfile

Disable copy-on-write (COW) for the swapfile:

root #chattr +C /var/swap/swapfile

As COW is disabled, it's necessary to define the size of the swapfile:

root #fallocate /var/swap/swapfile -l4g

mkswap is the command that is used to initialize swapfiles (and swap partitions):

root #mkswap /var/swap/swapfile

Create the swapfile with the commands mentioned above.

Alternative: no btrfs

TODO

Mounting the boot partition

The boot partition () needs to be mounted, too:

root #mount /mnt/gentoo/boot

Later in the instructions the proc filesystem (a virtual interface with the kernel) as well as other kernel pseudo-filesystems will be mounted. But first we [[Handbook:Zulu Foxtrott/Installation/Stage|install the Gentoo installation files]].

Next

[[User:Zulu_Foxtrott/GentooOnARM/EasyInstall/Stage|Installing the Gentoo installation files]]