Manual Partitioning when installing Ubuntu


Simplest Setup

You will need 2 partitions - one for the system and one for swap.   A minimum size of 5GB is recommended for the system - and swap of twice the size of RAM installed.

At the Prepare disk space step choose Manual
Popup - Scanning disks
Prepare partitions
A list of partitions is shown - Select partition for the system (/) and Edit partition
Use as: ext3
Mount point: /
For v8.10 - set the check box for Format
Click OK
For v8.04 and earlier - Check the Format box for that partition (careful here to do the right one)

If not already set up, choose a partition for swap and Edit partition - Use as: swap - click OK
(Note - in some cases a single swap partition my be used by all Ubuntu installations - no need for separate ones unless using a laptop and wishing to hibernate one Ubuntu installation whilst running another)

That's it - click Forward to continue installation as usual.


Using a separate /home partition

This is a HowTo on manual partitioning during Ubuntu install with the option of using a separate /home partition.  This is useful when upgrading Ubuntu or where there are two or more installations.  The /home partition may be shared, thereby making all user files and settings apply to both/all installations - or retained when re-installing.

At the Prepare disk space step choose Manual
Popup - Scanning disks
Prepare partitions
Select partition for the system (/) and Edit partition
Use as: ext3
Mount point: /
For v8.10 - set the check box for Format
Click OK
For v8.04 and earlier - Check the Format box for that partition (careful here to do the right one)

Select partition for /home and Edit partition
Use as: ext3
Mount point: /home
If you are using a previous home partition and want to keep the data leave the format checkbox (if present) unchecked.   Otherwise set it to Format.
Click OK
Do NOT set this partition to be Formatted if you want yo keep the data from a previous use of this partition for home.
If not already set up, choose a partition for swap and Edit partition - Use as: swap - click OK
(Note - in some cases a single swap partition my be used by all Ubuntu installations - no need for separate ones unless using a laptop and wishing to hibernate one Ubuntu installation whilst running another)

That's it - click Forward to continue installation as usual.

Updated - 4 November 2008