Users Guide

Linux Disk Partition Information | Preparing for Installation
OMNM 6.5.3 Installation Guide 27
Linux Disk Partition Information
Suggested partitioning includes separation into several partitions including /, swap, /usr, /opt, and /
export/home.
Partition Description
/ (root) The root partition contains everything that is not specifically placed on a
slice/partition. The rule of thumb here is: Do not put data on this
partition that is likely to grow significantly (logs, applications, data, and so
on). This partition can be as little as 200MB, however best practice
indicates as much as 2GB if space is available.
swap The space allocated for the operating system to use as part of its virtual
memory to augment physical memory. If something in memory has not
been used for a while, the operating system will move it to disk
temporarily. Recommendations for this are typically for two to three times
the physical memory, however we usually determine the amount available
based on physical memory. If you have 512MB, specify 1.5-2.0GB. As
physical memory increases, still specify 1-2 times the physical memory so
you have enough disk space for the operating system. The following are
instructions about setting swap:
1
Check your current swap space setting with swap -l su to root (if not
already).
2 Issue mkfile (size required) (filename)
3 Execute swap -a (pathname) .
This adds the swap file. You must use an absolute path name
4 Check with swap -l to confirm the new swap addition.
/usr Typically holds operating system commands and utilities related to the
operating system.
/usr can also contain the documentation associated
with these commands. This partition should be a minimum of 1.5GB for
a full installation. Best practice is to specify 2GB and potentially more if
you know you will be adding operating system utilities.
/etc We recommend this be located on the root partition, not on its own
partition. The data here may change from time to time, but the typically
does not grow significantly.
/var Best practice is to create a partition for /var . This contains the syslog
data, print spool, mail, and so on. This partition could grow significantly
from the required amount of disk space depending on the applications
running on the system. We recommend you allow at least 2GB.
/opt The /opt partition holds application software that is added to the
system. OpenManage Network Manager would be an application that
should be installed here. The size of this partition should depend on the
required disk space for applications including OpenManage Network
Manager. Both the application’s software and data reside in the same
directory structure, however, so you can add more volumes to another
partition.
/export/home /export/home is typically for user data. Most systems have user home
drives specified in this space (for example:
/export/home/auser ).
This should have enough space for all user data.
/<some_partition_name> With a RAID configuration, you can specify a large amount of disk space
for data purposes.