Skip to content

Create storage partition

A local storage partition will be used, to hold the clonezilla backup of all other partitions.

Check partition number and unallocated disk space

1
sudo parted -s /dev/sda unit s print free

The extended partition has number 4 and ends at sector 1702858751. There is some unallocated disk space available.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
guru@lab:~$ sudo parted -s /dev/sda unit s print free
Model: ATA ST1000DM003-1CH1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start        End          Size        Type      File system     Flags
        63s          2047s        1985s                 Free Space
1      2048s        206847s      204800s     primary   ntfs            boot
2      206848s      837578751s   837371904s  primary   ntfs
3      837578752s   838858751s   1280000s    primary   ntfs            msftres
        838858752s   838860797s   2046s                 Free Space
4      838860798s   1702858751s  863997954s  extended
5      838860800s   902858751s   63997952s   logical   linux-swap(v1)
6      902860800s   1702858751s  799997952s  logical   ext4
        1702858752s  1953525167s  250666416s            Free Space

guru@lab:~$

Expand and verify extended partition

This is an interactive command. See output.

1
sudo parted /dev/sda

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
guru@lab:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda
[sudo] password for guru:     
GNU Parted 3.4
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) resizepart 4                                                     
Warning: Partition /dev/sda4 is being used. Are you sure you want to continue?
Yes/No? Yes                                                               
End?  [872GB]? -0                                                         
(parted) quit                                                             
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
guru@lab:~$

Create partition

We'll use all remaining unallocated (free) space. First use the sector found in step one. This will fail. See output.

1
2
sudo parted -s /dev/sda mkpart logical ext4 1702858752s -- -1s      <--- fails
sudo parted -s /dev/sda mkpart logical ext4 1702858753s -- -1s      <--- OK

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
guru@lab:~$ sudo parted -s /dev/sda mkpart logical ext4 1702858752s -- -1s
Error: You requested a partition from 872GB to 1000GB (sectors 1702858752..1953525167).
The closest location we can manage is 872GB to 1000GB (sectors 1702858753..1953525167).

guru@lab:~$ sudo parted -s /dev/sda mkpart logical ext4 1702858753s -- -1s
Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best performance: 1702858753s % 2048s != 0s
guru@lab:~$

Create filesystem

Just create it. No need to mount it.

1
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda7

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
guru@lab:~$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda7
mke2fs 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
/dev/sda7 alignment is offset by 3584 bytes.
This may result in very poor performance, (re)-partitioning suggested.
Creating filesystem with 31333301 4k blocks and 7839744 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 4d53f383-64b7-4aa7-9093-b3829e27c1f4
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
    32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, 
    4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872

Allocating group tables: done                            
Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (131072 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done   

guru@lab:~$