Skip to main content

Create partitions and filesystems

A new LUN has no partition or file system when the Linux host first discovers it. You must format the LUN before it can be used. Optionally, you can create a file system on the LUN.

Before you begin

The host must have discovered the LUN.

In the /dev/mapperfolder, you have run the ls command to see the available disks.

You can initialize the disk as a basic disk with a GUID partition table (GPT) or Master boot record (MBR).

Format the LUN with a file system such as ext4. Some applications do not require this step.

  1. Retrieve the SCSI ID of the mapped disk by issuing the sanlun lun show -p command.
    The SCSI ID is a 33-character string of hexadecimal digits, beginning with the number 3. If user-friendly names are enabled, Device Mapper reports disks as mpath instead of by a SCSI ID.
    # sanlun lun show -p

                    DE-Series Array: ictm1619s01c01-SRP(60080e50002908b40000000054efb9d2)
                       Volume Name:
                   Preferred Owner: Controller in Slot B
                     Current Owner: Controller in Slot B
                              Mode: ALUA (Active/Active)
                           UTM LUN: None
                               LUN: 116
                          LUN Size:
                           Product: DE-Series
                       Host Device: mpathr(360080e50004300ac000007575568851d)
                  Multipath Policy: round-robin 0
                Multipath Provider: Native
    --------- ---------- ------- ------------ ----------------------------------------------
    host      controller                      controller
    path      path       /dev/   host         target
    state     type       node    adapter      port
    --------- ---------- ------- ------------ ----------------------------------------------
    up        secondary  sdcx    host14       A1
    up        secondary  sdat    host10       A2
    up        secondary  sdbv    host13       B1

  2. Create a new partition according to the method appropriate for your Linux OS release.
    Typically, characters identifying the partition of a disk are appended to the SCSI ID (the number 1 or p3 for instance).
    # parted -a optimal -s -- /dev/mapper/360080e5000321bb8000092b1535f887a mklabel
    gpt mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%

  3. Create a file system on the partition.
    The method for creating a file system varies depending on the file system chosen.
    # mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/360080e5000321bb8000092b1535f887a1

  4. Create a folder to mount the new partition.
    # mkdir /mnt/ext4

  5. Mount the partition.
    # mount /dev/mapper/360080e5000321bb8000092b1535f887a1 /mnt/ext4