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Initializing Cloud Disks (<2 TB)

Last updated: 2023-12-21 21:18:42

    Overview

    This document describes how to initialize a cloud disk with a capacity less than 2 TB. For more cases, see Initialization Scenarios.

    Prerequisite

    You have attached the cloud disk to your CVM.

    Notes

    Read FAQs about cloud disk usage before working with cloud disks.
    Formatting a data disk will erase all data. Make sure that the disk does not contain data, or important data has been backed up.
    To prevent service exceptions, ensure that the CVM has stopped providing external services before formatting.

    Directions

    Initializing cloud disks (Windows)
    Initializing cloud disks (Linux)
    Note:
    This example uses a Lighthouse instance using Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system. Note that the steps may vary according to the operating system version.
    2. On the desktop, right-click
    
    in the lower-left corner.
    3. Select Disk Management in the pop-up menu.
    Note:
    If the newly added disk is in offline status, execute Step 4 before Step 5 to perform initialization. Otherwise, you can directly execute Step 5.
    4. 
    Disks are listed on the right-side pane. Right-click disk 1 area, and select Online to bring it online. The status of disk 1 changes from Offline to Not Initialized.
    
    5. 
    Right-click disk 1 area and select Initialize Disk in the menu.
    
    6. In the Initialize Disk pop-up window, the disk to be initialized is displayed. Select MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) and click OK.
    Note:
    If the disk partition format is changed after the disk is put into use, the original data on the disk will be erased. Select an appropriate partition format based on actual needs.
    7. Right-click the free space of the disk, and select New Simple Volume.
    8. In the New Simple Volume Wizard pop-up window, click Next.
    9. Specify the volume size as needed, which is the maximum value by default. Click Next.
    10. Assign a drive letter and click Next.
    11. Select Format this volume with the following settings, configure parameters as needed, format the partition, and click Next to complete the partition creation.
    12. Click Complete to complete the wizard. Wait for the completion of initialization. When the volume status becomes Healthy, the disk initialization is successful.
    After the initialization is complete, enter the PC interface to view the new disk.
    Select the initialization method according to your actual use cases:
    If the entire disk is presented as one independent partition (there is no logical disks such as vdb1 and vdb2), we strongly recommend that you not use partition, and directly create the file system on bare devices.
    If the entire disk needs to be presented as multiple logical partitions (there are multiple logical disks), you need to first partition the disk, and then create the file system on a partition.

    Creating file systems on bare devices

    2. Run the following command as the root user to view the disk name.
    fdisk -l
    If the returned result is as shown below, the current CVM has two disks, where /dev/vda is the system disk and /dev/vdb is the newly added data disk.
    
    
    3. Run the following command to create a file system on the /dev/vdb bare device.
    mkfs -t <File system format> /dev/vdb
    The partition size supported by different file systems varies. Select an appropriate file system as needed. The following example takes EXT4 as the file system:
    mkfs -t ext4 /dev/vdb
    Note:
    The formatting takes a while. Pay attention to the system's running status and do not exit.
    4. Run the following command to create a new mount point.
    mkdir <Mount point>
    Take creating a new mount point /data as an example:
    mkdir /data
    5. Run the following command to mount the new partition to the newly created mount point.
    mount /dev/vdb <Mount point>
    Take creating a new mount point /data as an example:
    mount /dev/vdb /data
    6. Run the following command to view the mount result.
    df -TH
    Note:
    If you don't need to configure disk automount at startup, skip the following steps.
    7. Confirm the mount method and obtain the corresponding information. Based on business needs, you can use an elastic cloud disk's soft link, file system's UUID (universally unique identifier), or device name to automatically mount a disk. The descriptions and information acquisition methods are as follows:
    Mounting method
    Pros and cons
    Information acquisition method
    Use the soft link of the elastic cloud disk (recommended)
    Pros: The soft link of an elastic cloud disk is fixed and unique. It does not change with operations such as mounting, unmounting, and formatting partitions.Cons: Only an elastic cloud disk can use the soft link, which operates imperceptibly for the partition formatting operation.
    =Run the following command to obtain the soft link of the elastic cloud disk.
    ls -l /dev/disk/by-id
    Use the UUID of the file system
    Auto-mounting configuration may fail due to changes in a file system's UUID.For example, reformatting a file system will change its UUID.
    Run the following command to obtain the UUID of the file system.
    blkid /dev/vdb
    Use device name
    Automatic mounting configuration may fail due to changes in device name.For example, if an elastic cloud disk on the CVM is unmounted and then remounted, the device name may change when the operating system recognizes the file system again.
    Run the following command to obtain the device name.
    fdisk -l
    
    8. Run the following command to back up the /etc/fstab file to the /home directory, for example:
    cp -r /etc/fstab /home
    9. Execute the following command to use VI editor to open the /etc/fstab file.
    vi /etc/fstab
    10. Press i to enter edit mode.
    11. Move the cursor to the end of the file, press Enter, and add the following content.
    <Device information> <Mount point> <File system format> <File system installation option> <File system dump frequency> <File system check sequence at launch>
    (Recommended) Take automatic mounting using the soft link of an elastic cloud disk as an example. Add the following content:
    /dev/disk/by-id/virtio-disk-drkhklpe /data ext4 defaults 0 0
    Note:
    If you have multiple elastic cloud disks, you can compare disk-xxxxx with the cloud disk ID in the console.
    Take automatic mounting using the UUID of the disk partition as an example. Add the following content:
    UUID=d489ca1c-5057-4536-81cb-ceb2847f9954 /data ext4 defaults 0 0
    Take automatic mounting using the device name as an example. Add the following content:
    /dev/vdb /data ext4 defaults 0 0
    12. Press Esc, enter :wq, and press Enter. Save the configuration and exit the editor.
    13. Run the following command to check whether the /etc/fstab file has been written successfully.
    mount -a
    If the command runs successfully, the file has been written. The newly created file system will automatically mount when the operating system starts up.

    Creating a file system on a partition

    Note:
    This example uses the parted partition tool in the CentOS 7.5 operating system to configure data disk /dev/vdc as the primary partition. MBR is used as the default partition format, EXT4 format as the file system, and /data/newpart as the mount point. Disk automount at startup is configured. Note that the formatting operation may vary according to the operating system.
    2. Run the following command as the root user to view the disk name.
    fdisk -l
    If the returned result is as shown in the following figure, the current CVM has two disks, where /dev/vda is the system disk and /dev/vdb is the newly added data disk.
    
    
    3. Run the following command to use the fdisk tool to partition the newly added data disk.
    fdisk <Newly added data disk>
    Take the newly mounted data disk `/dev/vdb` as an example:
    fdisk /dev/vdb
    The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    
    4. Enter n and press Enter to start creating the new partition. The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    This indicates that the disk has two partition types:
    p: Primary partition.
    e: Extended partition.
    5. Take creating a primary partition as an example. Enter p and press Enter to start creating a primary partition. The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    
    Partition number indicates the number of the primary partition. Valid range: 1-4.
    6. Take selecting partition number 1 as an example. Enter the primary partition number 1 and press Enter. The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    
    First sector indicates the start sector. Valid range: 2048 (default value) - 125829119.
    7. Take selecting the default start sector number 2048 as an example. Press Enter. The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    
    Last sector indicates the end sector. Valid range: 2048 - 125829119 (default value).
    8. Take selecting the default end sector number 125829119 as an example, press Enter. The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    This indicates that partitioning is completed. A new partition has been created on the 60 GB data disk.
    9. Enter p and press Enter to view the details of the newly created partition. The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    This indicates the detailed information of the newly created partition /dev/vdb1.
    Note:
    If an error occurs during the partitioning operation, enter q to exit the fdisk partition tool, and the previous partition result will not be retained.
    10. Enter w and press Enter to write the partition result into the partition table. If the returned information is similar to what is shown below, the partition has been created.
    
    
    11. Run the following command to sync the partition table to the operating system.
    partprobe
    12. Run the following command to configure the file system of the newly created partition to that required by the system.
    mkfs -t <File system format> /dev/vdb1
    The partition size supported by different file systems varies. Select an appropriate file system as needed. The following example takes EXT4 as the file system:
    mkfs -t ext4 /dev/vdb1
    The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    
    
    The formatting takes a while. Pay attention to the system's running status and do not exit.
    13. Run the following command to create a new mount point.
    mkdir <Mount point>
    mkdir /data/newpart
    14. Run the following command to mount the new partition to the newly created mount point.
    mount /dev/vdb1 <Mount point>
    Take creating a new mount point /data/newpart as an example:
    mount /dev/vdb1 /data/newpart
    15. Run the following command to view the mount results.
    df -TH
    The returned information is similar to what is shown below:
    
    This indicates that the newly created partition /dev/vdb1 has been mounted to /data/newpart.
    Note:
    If you don't need to configure disk automount at startup, skip the following steps.
    16. Confirm the mount method and obtain the corresponding information. Based on business needs, you can use an elastic cloud disk's soft link, file system's UUID (universally unique identifier), or device name to automatically mount a disk. The descriptions and information acquisition methods are as follows:
    Mounting method
    Pros and cons
    Information acquisition method
    Use the soft link of the elastic cloud disk (recommended)
    Pros: The soft link of an elastic cloud disk is fixed and unique. It does not change with operations such as mounting, unmounting, and formatting partitions.Cons: Only an elastic cloud disk can use the soft link, which operates imperceptibly for the partition formatting operation.
    Run the following command to obtain the soft link of the elastic cloud disk.
    ls -l /dev/disk/by-id
    Use the UUID of the file system
    Auto-mounting configuration may fail due to changes in a file system's UUID.For example, reformatting a file system will change its UUID.
    Run the following command to obtain the UUID of the file system.
    blkid /dev/vdb1
    Use device name
    Automatic mounting configuration may fail due to changes in device name.For example, if an elastic cloud disk on the CVM is unmounted and then remounted, the device name may change when the operating system recognizes the file system again.
    Run the following command to obtain the device name.
    fdisk -l
    
    17. Run the following command to back up the /etc/fstab file to the /home directory:
    cp -r /etc/fstab /home
    18. Run the following command to use VI editor to open the /etc/fstab file.
    vi /etc/fstab
    19. Press i to enter edit mode.
    20. Move the cursor to the end of the file, press Enter, and add the following content.
    <Device information> <Mount point> <File system format> <File system installation option> <File system dump frequency> <File system check sequence at launch>
    (Recommended) Take automatic mounting using the soft link of an elastic cloud disk as an example. Add the following content:
    /dev/disk/by-id/virtio-disk-drkhklpe-part1 /data/newpart ext4 defaults 0 2
    Note:
    If you have multiple elastic cloud disks, you can compare disk-xxxxx with the cloud disk ID in the console.
    Take automatic mounting using the UUID of the disk partition as an example. Add the following content:
    UUID=d489ca1c-5057-4536-81cb-ceb2847f9954 /data/newpart ext4 defaults 0 2
    Take automatic mounting using the device name as an example. Add the following content:
    /dev/vdb1 /data/newpart ext4 defaults 0 2
    21. Press Esc, enter :wq, and press Enter. Save the configuration and exit the editor.
    22. Run the following command to check whether the /etc/fstab file has been written successfully.
    mount -a
    If the command runs successfully, the file has been written. The newly created file system will automatically mount when the operating system starts up.
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