start/stop Unix partition

Question

I would like to know the Unix Command for :

Do you mean you want to know how to mount a partition? linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl8_mount.htm — Mark Pim, Aug 11, 2009 at 13:37
OR create and delete partitions? linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl8_fdisk.htm — Mark Pim, Aug 11, 2009 at 13:38

Andy Balaam · Accepted Answer · 2009-08-11 14:09:32Z

4

Making guesses at what you mean, I suggest:

1) To list all mounted drives:

mount

To find out how much space you have on each drive, and for a clearer display of which device corresponds to which directory, type:

df -h

2) To un-mount (remove) a drive:

umount /dev/hda

To mount (add/start) a drive:

mount /dev/hda

(where /dev/hda is the device you'd like to unmount)

To edit your partitions, try:

fstab

To find out more about these commands type:

man mount

or:

man df

or:

man fstab

respectively.

answered Aug 11, 2009 at 13:39

Andy Balaam

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It should be added, that the fdisk-command can be used to show partition (and to change them).
– Mnementh
Aug 11, 2009 at 13:47
I would add one more item to your post. df -k will show the file system and which mounted partition it maps to.
– Axxmasterr
Aug 11, 2009 at 14:06

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Mark Pim · Accepted Answer · 2009-08-11 13:49:21Z

2

It's not entirely clear what you're asking but here's some pointers about partitions in Unix.

Type cat /etc/fstab to see how the volumes are set up to be mounted at startup
Use fdisk to examine and edit hard disk partitions
Use mount to give you access to partitions/volumes from the root filesystem

Post a comment if you want more help on using any of those commands.

answered Aug 11, 2009 at 13:41

Mark Pim

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'cat /etc/fstab' does not return the currently mounted volumes (that does the command mount without params), but defines the volumes the system should mount at startup.
– Mnementh
Aug 11, 2009 at 13:46
Thanks, I've edited that line. It's been a little while since I've used fstab...
– Mark Pim
Aug 11, 2009 at 13:49

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Jack M. · Accepted Answer · 2009-08-11 15:45:29Z

Keeping in mind that in UNIX your devices are shown as files in the /dev/ folder, the best way to view all partitions is action ls /dev/.

For example, on FreeBSD:

$ ls -1 /dev/amrd*
/dev/amrd0
/dev/amrd0s1
/dev/amrd0s1a
/dev/amrd0s1b
/dev/amrd0s1c
/dev/amrd0s1d
/dev/amrd0s1e

On Linux the drives tend to be sd* or hd*, while OSX uses disk*.

Once you have your partition that you want to "start":

mount /dev/amrd0s1d /mnt/storage/

And to "stop" the partition:

umount /mnt/storage/

Check the man pages for either for more detailed uses.

3 Answers 3