Install Linux on 2 disks.

Linux Tutorial #1: Advanced Task 2

May 30, 2023

When using 2 disks, it’s very common to mount the /home directory on the secondary disk. (Let’s call the disk with the root directory for the Primary disk, and the disk with the home directory for the Secondary disk). The /home directory btw, is where all the user data will be stored, and that is why it’s a good idea to use a disk with relatively large volume for that.

Note: More on Linux directories in the upcoming tutorials.

For this to work you need to make a manual configuration under disk setup.

Create new partitions

Assuming you are at the Kubuntu installation setup screen:

Step 1: Under Disk Setup, choose manual instead of use entire disk. Click Next.

Note: On Ubuntu, it is called other.

This page will show up:

*This picture is from a VM with no existing OS installations on it.*

Step 2: Delete all the old partitions until it ends up looking similar to the picture above.

Note: No configuration changes will take place until you press Install Now.

Step 3: Click on the devices. A popup will appear, asking if you want to create new partition tables. Click Continue.

The result will look similar to this:

Define Root and Home directory, and create a swap partition

Step 4: For the primary disk (in this example it is /dev/nvme0n1), create a partition for “/” (root) and use the entire disk. Click on free space.

The partizion size is by default set to max
Location: Beginning of this space
Use as: Ext4 journaling file system
Mount point: /

Note: You might notice that there are plenty of other directories that you can mount. When selecting “/”, it will place all directories under the same partition, unless other directories specifically have their own mount points defined.

Step 5: For the secondary disk, first create a swap partition. Click on free space under the secondary disk (in this example, it is the /dev/sda).

The disk space should be twice the size of the installed RAM memory on the computer.
Location: Beginning of this space
Use as: swap area

Note: You don’t have to create a swap partition, but it’s recommended. Mainly because the system won’t be able to hibernate without it. The faster disk used for swap, the better performance.

Step 6: For the remaining space on the secondary disk, create a partition for the /home directory.

The partition size is by default set to max
Location: Beginning of this space
Use as: Ext4 journaling file system
Mount point: /home

The end result should look similar to this:

*End result. All information could not be fitted on the screen.*

Verify and start the installation

Step 7: Verify that the partitions is setup correctly. You can revert back to the beginning by clicking Undo all changes.
Step 8: Verify that the Boot loader is set to the primary disk.
Step 9: Click Install Now

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