Formatting a storage device typically involves the following steps. This article includes the directions for steps 1 and 2.

1. Create one or more partitions
2. Format each partition with a file system (see mkfs and mke2fs)

The fdisk command partitions a drive as MBR (master boot record). The gdisk command partitions a drive as GPT (GUID partition table). The parted command can partition a drive as either MBR or GPT. MBR is typically needed for systems with old hardware or software, because GPT is not backwards compatible with old hardware or software. gdisk or parted can be used if the system is using modern hardware and software. GPT is typically used if you need a create a partition greater than 2 TB.

The fdisk --list command can be used to view each parition and type. In this example, there are a variety of partition types, including an LVM partition and a RAID partition.

[root@server1 ~]# fdisk --list
/dev/sda1   83  Linux
/dev/sdb1   8e  Linux LVM
/dev/sdc1   fd  Linux raid autodetect

To create a new partition, type fdisk /dev/xxx and press enter, where xxx is a device, such as /dev/sda or /dev/sdb.

[root@server1 ~]# fdisk /dev/sdb

Type n and press enter to create a new partition.

Command (m for help): n

If you will have 1 - 4 partitions, each partition can be a primary partition. If you wil have 5 or more partition, partitions 1 - 3 can be primary, partition 4 must be extended, and then partitons 5 and above will be logical.

Select (default p): p

Select the partition number, where 1 is /dev/xxx1, 2 is /dev/xxx2, et cetera.

Partition number (2-4, default 2): 2

When prompted First sector, press enter to use the default first sector.

First sector (1234567-3456789, default 2048):

When prompted Last sector, enter the size of the partition (such as +1GB or +512MB).

Last sector (1234567-3456789, default 1234567): +1GB

Type t and press enter to set the partition type.

Command (m for help): t

Type L to view all of the available codes. Type the code for the type you wish to use and press enter. For example, type 83 for Linux, 8e for Linux LVM (Logical Volume Group), or fd for Linux RAID auto.

Hex code (type L to list all codes): 83

Type w and press enter to write the changes.

Command (m for help): w

Use the partprobe command to update the system to recongize the new partition.

~]# partprobe

The mkfs and mke2fs commands can be used to assign a file system to the partition, such as the xfs or ext4 file system.