fdisk Command in Linux

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The fdisk command in Linux creates and manipulates the disk partition table. It allows system administrators to manage disks. The fdisk tool is a powerful command line utility that allows creating, deleting, and resizing disk partitions.

Table of Contents

Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the fdisk command −

• Syntax of fdisk Command
• fdisk Command Options
• Examples of fdisk Command in Linux

Syntax of fdisk Command

The syntax of the Linux fdisk command is as follows −

fdisk [options] [device]

The [options] field is used to specify the options to modify the command’s behavior. The [device] field is used to specify the device that needs to be manipulated using fdisk.

fdisk Command Options

The options of the fdisk command are listed below −

Examples of fdisk Command in Linux

This section demonstrates the usage of the fdisk command in Linux with examples −

Note − The fdisk command needs sudo privileges.

• Listing Partitions
• Listing Partition of a Specific Device
• Listing Partition with Details
• Resizing a Partition
• Creating a Partition
• Deleting a Partition
• Display the Partition Size

Listing Partitions

To list all the partitions along with unit and sector size information, use the -l or --list option −

sudo fdisk -l

Listing Partition of a Specific Device

To list the partition of a specific device, use the -l or --list option along with the device name −

sudo fdisk -l /dev/vda

Listing Partition with Details

To display the partitions with the details such as starting/ending sectors, type-UUID, name, and attributes, use the -x or --list-details option −

sudo fdisk -x

Resizing a Partition

To resize a partition, use the fdisk command with the target device name. For example, to resize a partition of /dev/vda1, first unmount it using the command given below −

sudo umount /dev/vda1

Now, create the partition by executing the fdisk command in the following way −

sudo fdisk /dev/vda

First, the command will prompt for help. To display the sub-commands of the fdisk tool, type m and press Enter.

To continue to create the partition type n and press Enter −

Now, select the partition type from the primary and extended options by typing p or e.

Select the partition number −

Now specify the first and last sectors. Press Enter to select the default sector sizes. The output will confirm that the partition has been created. Now, type w to apply the changes.

Lastly, reboot the system.

sudo reboot

Creating a Partition

To create the partition, specify the disk name after the fdisk command −

sudo fdisk /dev/vda

All prompts will be similar to the prompts that appear while resizing the partition.

Deleting a Partition

To delete the partition, run the fdisk command along with the device name.

sudo fdisk /dev/vda

Now, type the d sub-command and then type the partition number to delete. After that, type the partition number to be deleted. Once the partition number is typed, it will immediately be deleted. To apply the changes, type w and reboot the system.

Display the Partition Size

To display the size of the partition in blocks, use the -s or --getsz option −

sudo fdisk -s /dev/vda1

Conclusion

The fdisk command on Linux is used to create, delete, and resize the disk partitions. It is an interactive utility that is easy to use for disk management. It offers a robust and versatile way of managing disk partitions on Linux systems.

In this tutorial, we covered the fdisk command, its syntax, options, and usage in Linux with examples.