1. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Second Edition
Chapter 6
Linux Filesystem Administration

2. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Objectives
Identify the structure and types of device files in the /dev directory
Understand common filesystem types and their features
Mount and unmount floppy disks to and from the Linux directory tree
Mount and unmount CD-ROMs to and from the Linux directory tree
Create hard disk partitions
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3. Objectives (continued)
Mount and unmount hard disk partitions to and from the Linux directory tree
Monitor free space on mounted filesystems
Check filesystems for errors
Use hard disk quotas to limit user space usage
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4. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
The /dev Directory
Device file: File representing a system device
Typically found in /dev directory
Character devices: Transfer data to and from system character by character
Block devices: Transfer chunks or blocks of data using physical memory as a buffer
Fast data transfer
CD-ROM, HDD, floppy disks
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5. The /dev Directory (continued)
Table 6-1: Common device files
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6. The /dev Directory (continued)
Table 6-1 (continued): Common device files
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7. The /dev Directory (continued)
Major number: Points to the device’s driver in the Linux kernel
Minor number: Indicates the particular device
Device file type (block or character), major number, and minor number make up a device file’s unique characteristics
mknod command: Can be used to re-create a corrupted device file
Must know file type, major, and minor numbers
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8. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Filesystems
Filesystem: Organization imposed on physical storage media
Formatting: Creating a filesystem on a device
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9. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Filesystem Types
Table 6-2: Common Linux filesystems
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10. Filesystem Types (continued)
Table 6-2 (continued): Common Linux filesystems
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11. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Mounting
Mounting: Making a device accessible to users via the logical directory tree
Mount point: Directory to which a device is attached
Any existing directory can be a mount point
Root filesystem: When Linux filesystem first turned on, a filesystem on the hard drive is mounted to the / directory
Contains most OS files
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12. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Mounting (continued)
Figure 6-1: The directory structure prior to mounting
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13. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Mounting (continued)
Figure 6-2: The directory structure after mounting a floppy device
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14. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Mounting (continued)
mount command: Used to mount devices to mount point directories
With no options or arguments, lists currently mounted filesystems
umount command: Used to unmount devices from mount point directories
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15. Working with Floppy Disks
Floppy disks must be prepared before use
Formatted with a filesystem
mkfs (make filesystem) command: Used to format a disk device with a filesystem
–t option: Specifies filesystem type
Default is ext2 filesystem
To mount or unmount floppies, must ensure that no user is currently using the mount point directory
fuser command: With the –u option, lists users using a directory
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16. Working with Floppy Disks (continued)
Table 6-3: Commands used to create filesystems
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17. Working with Floppy Disks (continued)
/etc/fstab file: Used to mount devices at boot time
Also consulted when users do not specify enough mount command arguments
Six fields: Device to mount, mount point, type, mount options, dump#, fsck#
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18. Working with Floppy Disks (continued)
Table 6-4: Useful commands when mounting and unmounting filesystems
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19. Working with Floppy Disks (continued)
Figure 6-3: Mounting a floppy device using a GUI environment
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20. Working with Floppy Disks (continued)
Figure 6-4: Accessing filesystem devices in the KDE desktop
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21. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Working with CD-ROMs
Most Linux systems have ATAPI-compliant IDE CD-ROM drive
Acts as a normal IDE hard disk
Must configure in one of the following:
Primary master (/dev/hda)
Primary slave (/dev/hdb)
Secondary master (/dev/hdc)
Secondary slave (/dev/hdd)
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22. Working with CD-ROMs (continued)
Typically use iso9660 filesystem type and are not writable
Mount with –r (read-only) option
Cannot be ejected until properly unmounted
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23. Working with Hard Disks
IDE HDDs must be configured in one of the following:
Primary master (/dev/hda)
Primary slave (/dev/hdb)
Secondary master (/dev/hdc)
Secondary slave (/dev/hdd)
Different device file for each
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24. Working with Hard Disks (continued)
SCSI hard disks well-suited to Linux servers
Faster access speed
Multiple hard drives can be attached to a controller
Associated with different device files
First SCSI HDD (/dev/sda)
Second SCSI HDD (/dev/sdb)
Third SCSI HDD (/dev/sdc)
And so on
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25. Hard Disk Partitioning
As disk size increases, organization becomes more difficult and chance of error increases
Partition: A physical division of an HDD; can have own filesystem
Good practice to use more than two partitions
Segregate different types of data
Allow for use of multiple filesystem types on one HDD
Reduce chance that filesystem corruption will render a system unusable
Speeds up access to stored data; keep filesystems small
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26. Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)
Track: Areas on a hard disk that form a concentric circle of sectors
Sector: Smallest unit of data storage on a hard disk
Block: Combination of sectors; commonly used by filesystem commands
Cylinder: Series consisting of the same concentric track on all of the metal platters inside a HDD
Partition definitions stored in first readable sector of the hard disk
Master Boot Record (MBR) or master boot block (MBB)
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27. Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)
Figure 6-5: The physical areas of a hard disk
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28. Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)
Table 6-5: Common hard disk partition device files for /dev/hda and /dev/sda
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29. Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)
Table 6-5 (continued): Common hard disk partition device files for /dev/hda and /dev/sda
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30. Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)
Figure 6-6: A sample Linux partitioning strategy
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31. Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)
Figure 6-7: A sample dual-boot Linux partitioning strategy
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32. Working with Hard Disk Partitions
fdisk command: Create partitions after installation
Specify hard disk partition as an argument
tune2fs command: Create a journal file on the filesystem
Convert ext2 to ext3
Edit /etc/fstab file to allow system to mount new filesystems automatically at boot time
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33. Monitoring Filesystems
Check mounted filesystems periodically
Errors
Disk Space usage
Inode usage
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34. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Disk Usage
Using more filesystems typically results in less hard disk space per filesystem
Errors when filesystems fill up with data
e.g., free space on / filesystem falls below 10%
df (disk free space) command: Monitor free space used by mounted filesystems
–h option: More user friendly
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35. Disk Usage (continued)
du (directory usage) command: View size of a directory and contents in Kilobytes
–s option: Summarizes output
dumpe2fs command: View total number of inodes and free inodes for ext2 or ext3 filesystem
Use –h option
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36. Checking Filesystems for Errors
Filesystem corruption: Errors in filesystem structure preventing retrieval of data
Commonly occurs due to improper system shutdown
Syncing: Process of writing data stored in RAM to the HDD
Bad blocks: Unusable areas of a disk
Cannot hold a magnetic charge
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37. Checking Filesystems for Errors (continued)
fsck (filesystem check) command: Check a filesystem for errors
Filesystem must be unmounted
–f option used to perform full check
e2fsck command: Check ext2 and ext3 filesystems
Reiserfsck: Check reiserfs filesystems
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38. Checking Filesystems for Errors (continued)
Table 6-6: Common options to the fsck command
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39. Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e
Hard Disk Quotas
If several users on a system, must be enough hard disk space for each user’s files
Hard disk quotas: User limits on filesystem usage
Restrict number of files/directories or total disk space usage
Soft limit: User may exceed quota briefly
Hard limit: Limit cannot be exceeded
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40. Hard Disk Quotas (continued)
quotaon and quotaoff commands: Toggle quotas on and off
edquota command: Edit user quotas
repquota command: Report user quotas
quota command: Allows regular users to view quotas and current usage
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