Datasheet

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Part I ✦ SUSE Linux Basics
At a bare minimum, the filesystems that need to be created are the swap space and
a root (/) filesystem. However, for ease of use and manageability, the creation of a
/home partition can help keep your personal data separate from the system parti-
tion and also enable you to keep your data in the unlikely event that you want to do
a total reinstall of Linux. See the section on “Data Partitions” later in this chapter for
more information.
In this example you are creating the bare minimum, the swap and root partitions.
The Root Partition
After the swap space has been created, you need to configure the root (/) partition
(see Figure 1-13). The root (
/) partition is the most important data partition on any
Linux or Unix system, and is the only non-swap filesystem partition that is required
in order to boot a Unix or Linux system. The root partition takes its name from the
fact that it is the partition mounted at the root of the Unix/Linux filesystem, which
is the directory known as
/. A filesystem must be mounted on this directory to
successfully boot a Linux system. The root filesystem contains core directories
required to boot Linux, such as the directory through which devices are accessed
(
/dev); the directory containing system administration, configuration, and initial-
ization files (
/etc); the directory in which critical system libraries, kernel modules,
security, and internationalization information are located (
/lib ); and directories
containing critical system binaries (
/sbin, /bin, and so on).
Figure 1-13: Creating the root partition
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