Linux Certification Ch. 5

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Third Edition
Chapter 5 Linux Filesystem Administration
Objectives
Identify the structure and types of device files in the /dev directory Understand common filesystem types and their features Mount and unmount filesystems to and from the Linux directory tree Create and manage filesystems on floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, USB storage devices, FireWire storage devices, and hard disk partitions Create and use ISO images
Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e 2
Objectives (continued)
Use the LVM to create and manage logical volumes Monitor free space on mounted filesystems Check filesystems for errors Use hard disk quotas to limit user space usage
Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e
The /dev Directory

Device file: file representing a system device
Typically found in /dev directory Specifies how to transfer data to and from the device
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 Floppy disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, USB flash drives, hard disk drives
The /dev Directory (continued)
Table 5-1: Common device files

Table 5-1 (continued): Common device files


Major number: points to the devices driver in the Linux kernel Minor number: indicates the particular device Device file type (block or character), major number, and minor number make up the unique characteristics of a device file

mknod command: can be used to re-create a corrupted device file
Must know file type, major, and minor numbers
/dev/MAKEDEV command: can be used to recreate a device file based on its common name
Useful if dont know some of the information required for the mknod command
Filesystems
Filesystem: organization and management imposed on physical storage media Formatting: creating a filesystem on a device
Filesystem Types
Table 5-2: Common Linux filesystems

Filesystem Types (continued)
Table 5-2 (continued): Common Linux filesystems

Mounting
Mounting: making a device accessible to users via the logical directory tree Mount point: directory to which a device is attached
The mounted device temporarily covers up the contents of the mount point Any existing directory can be a mount point
In order to prevent making files inaccessible, create empty directories used specifically for mounting devices
Mounting (continued)
Figure 5-1: The directory structure prior to mounting

Figure 5-2: The directory structure after mounting a floppy device
14
Root filesystem: when Linux filesystem is first turned on, a filesystem on the hard drive is mounted to the / directory
Contains most OS files
mount command: used to mount devices to mount point directories

When used with no options or arguments, lists currently mounted filesystems
umount command: used to unmount devices from mount point directories

Working with Floppy Disks

Disk devices 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
Use mount command with no options or arguments to get list of currently mounted filesystems Once mounted, use as any other directory
Working with Floppy Disks (continued)
Table 5-3: Commands used to create filesystems


fuser command: With the u option, lists users using a directory /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 options> <mount point> <dump#> <type> <fsck#>
18
Table 5-4: Useful commands when mounting and unmounting filesystems

Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images

Most software is packaged on CDs and DVDs Can be mounted using the mount command and unmounted using umount command
Different device file - depend on the technology used by the drive itself.
For PATA drives, use one of the following:

Primary master (/dev/hda) Primary slave (/dev/hdb) Secondary master (/dev/hdc) Secondary slave (/dev/hdd)
20
Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images (continued)

For SATA or SCSI drives, Linux may use many different names, depending on the actual CD or DVD drive To make identification of CD/DVD drive easier, Fedora Linux includes symbolic links within the /dev directory:
/dev/cdrom symbolic link to first CD-ROM drive /dev/cdrw symbolic link to first CD-RW drive /dev/dvd symbolic link to first DVD-ROM drive /dev/dvdrw symbolic link to first DVD-RW drive
21

CDs and DVDs Typically use iso9660 filesystem type and are read only when accessed using Linux
Mount with r (read-only) option
Cannot be ejected until properly unmounted In GUI environment, CD or DVD automatically mounted to a directory underneath the /media directory
Named for the label on the CD or DVD System places shortcut on desktop
Figure 5-3: Accessing a DVD within the GNOME desktop environment


iso9660 filesystem can be used to create ISO images that contain other files
Can be mounted as a loopback device using the mount command
mkisofs command: Used to create ISO image from directory

Receives at least two arguments:
Filename to be created Directory used to create the ISO image
24
Working with Hard Disks

Three types of hard disks: PATA, SATA, and SCSI PATA 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
25
Working with Hard Disks (continued)

SATA and SCSI hard disks are 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
26
Standard Hard Disk Partitioning

Partition: physical division of an HDD; can have its own filesystem Linux requires at least two partitions; root and swap 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 Speed up access to stored data
Standard Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)

Track: area on a hard disk that forms a concentric circle Sector: portion of a track containing information Block: combination of sectors 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)
Figure 5-4: The physical areas of a hard disk

Table 5-5: Common hard disk partition device files for /dev/hda and /dev/sda
Figure 5-5: A sample Linux partitioning strategy

Figure 5-6: A sample dual-boot Linux partitioning strategy

Working with Standard Hard Disk Partitions

fdisk command: Create partitions after installation
Specify hard disk partition as an argument Variety of options for fdisk prompt to achieve different tasks
cfdisk command: Interactive graphical utility for creating, manipulating and deleting partitions Reboot computer after using the fdisk and cfdisk commands to ensure proper reloading into memory
Working with Standard Hard Disk Partitions (continued)

Edit /etc/fstab file to allow system to mount new filesystems automatically at boot time mkswap command: Prepare the swap partition swapon command: Activate the swap partition swapoff command: Deactivate the swap partition
Edit /etc/fstab file to ensure that new swap partition is activated as virtual memory
34
Working with the LVM

Logical Volume Manager (LVM): Used to create volumes
Volumes can contain filesystems and can be mounted to directories More flexible than standard partitions allows use of free space across multiple hard disks Has error correction abilities
LVM components: physical volumes (PVs), volume group (VG), and logical volumes (LVs)
Working with the LVM (continued)
Figure 5-8: A sample LVM configuration


pvcreate command: used to create PVs pvdisplay command: used to display detailed information about each PV vgcreate command: used to create a VG that uses the space in PVs
Arguments are name of the VG and PVs to be used
Physical Extent: block size for saving data in a VG

Should be set when creating a VG Can use vgcreate -s to set the PE

vgdisplay command: used to display detailed information about each VG lvcreate command: used to create LVs from available space in a VG lvdisplay command: used to display information about each LV Work with mount points of LVs as would work with any other had disk partition device file
Edit /etc/fstab to ensure that LVs are automatically mounted at system startup

pvscan, vgscan, and lvscan commands: Display information about PVs, VGs, and LVs, respectively vgextend command: used to add a new PV to an existing VG lvextend command: used to increase the size of an LV, e.g., to use space extended onto an existing VG
39
Working with USB and FireWire-Based Storage Devices

Most removable storage devices emulate SCSI protocol in the firmware of the device Devices are automatically mounted to a new directory under the /media directory named for the label on the device Easy to work with removable storage devices using a GUI interface
If you want to use commands, must know the device file and mount point directory
Monitoring Filesystems
Check mounted filesystems periodically
Errors Disk Space usage Inode usage
Minimizes problems that due to damaged filesystems
41
Disk Usage
Using more filesystems typically results in less hard disk space per filesystem
Errors when filesystems fill up with data Periodically remove obsolete files such as old log files to make room for new ones
df (disk free space) command: Monitor free space used by mounted filesystems
h option: More user friendly
To get information about different filesystems, you must mount them prior to using df command
Disk Usage (continued)

du (directory usage) command: view size of a directory and contents in Kilobytes
s option: Summarizes output h option: More user friendly
dumpe2fs command: view total number of inodes and free inodes for ext2, ext3, or ext4 filesystem
Use h option
43
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
44
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, ext3, and ext4 filesystems

-c option checks for bad blocks
tune2fs command: Used to change filesystem parameters

-i option sets interval to forcing full system check
Checking Filesystems for Errors (continued)
Table 5-6: Common options to the fsck command
46
Hard Disk Quotas

If several users on a system, must be enough hard disk space for each users 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
47
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 their own quotas and current usage
48
Summary
Disk devices are represented by device files that reside in the /dev directory Each disk drive must contain a filesystem, which is then mounted to the Linux directory tree for usage using the mount command
Hard disks must be partitioned into distinct sections before filesystems are created on those partitions Many different filesystems available to Linux
49
Summary (continued)
The LVM can be used to create logical volumes from the free space within multiple partitions USB and FireWire storage devices are recognized as SCSI disks by the Linux system Important to monitor disk usage using the df, du, and dumpe2fs commands to avoid running out of storage space If hard disk space is limited, you can use hard disk quotas to limit the space that each user has on filesystems

Linux Certification Ch. 5

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originalbeschreibung:

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Linux Certification Ch. 5

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Third Edition

Chapter 5 Linux Filesystem Administration

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

The /dev Directory

The /dev Directory (continued)

Table 5-1: Common device files

The /dev Directory (continued)

Table 5-1 (continued): Common device files

The /dev Directory (continued)

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

The /dev Directory (continued)

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Table 5-2: Common Linux filesystems

Filesystem Types (continued)

Table 5-2 (continued): Common Linux filesystems

Figure 5-1: The directory structure prior to mounting

Figure 5-2: The directory structure after mounting a floppy device

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

mount command: used to mount devices to mount point directories

umount command: used to unmount devices from mount point directories

Working with Floppy Disks

Working with Floppy Disks (continued)

Table 5-3: Commands used to create filesystems

Working with Floppy Disks (continued)

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Working with Floppy Disks (continued)

Table 5-4: Useful commands when mounting and unmounting filesystems

Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images

For PATA drives, use one of the following:

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images (continued)

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images (continued)

Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images (continued)

Figure 5-3: Accessing a DVD within the GNOME desktop environment

Working with CDs, DVDs, and ISO Images (continued)

mkisofs command: Used to create ISO image from directory

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Working with Hard Disks

Different device file for each

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Working with Hard Disks (continued)

Associated with different device files

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Standard Hard Disk Partitioning

Standard Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)

Standard Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)

Figure 5-4: The physical areas of a hard disk

Standard Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)

Standard Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)

Figure 5-5: A sample Linux partitioning strategy

Standard Hard Disk Partitioning (continued)

Figure 5-6: A sample dual-boot Linux partitioning strategy

Working with Standard Hard Disk Partitions

Working with Standard Hard Disk Partitions (continued)

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 3e

Working with the LVM

Working with the LVM (continued)

Figure 5-8: A sample LVM configuration

Working with the LVM (continued)

Physical Extent: block size for saving data in a VG