Master Disk Partitioning with Parted: From GPT Setup to Automated Scripts

Parted Overview

Parted is a GNU tool for creating, deleting, resizing, moving, and copying partitions on hard disks, supporting disks larger than 2 TB and a variety of file systems (ext2, ext3, ext4, xfs, swap, FAT, HFS, etc.). It is useful for preparing space for new OS installations or reallocating disk usage.

MBR vs GPT

Traditional MBR partition tables support up to four primary partitions and cannot handle disks larger than 2 TB, making GPT the preferred format for large disks. Parted can create GPT tables with the mklabel gpt command.

Interactive Usage

Creating a Partition

$ parted /dev/sdb
(parted) mklabel gpt
(parted) mkpart p1 xfs 0% 100%
(parted) print

The tool prompts for confirmation before destroying existing labels.

Deleting a Partition

$ parted /dev/sdb
(parted) rm 1
(parted) print

Scripted Operations

Use the -s or --script option to suppress prompts, enabling non‑interactive scripts.

$ parted -s /dev/sdb mklabel gpt
$ parted -s /dev/sdb mkpart primary xfs 0% 100%

Viewing Partition Information

$ parted /dev/sdb print
Model: VMware, VMware Virtual S (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 107GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name
1      0%      100%    107GB   xfs          p1

Formatting and Mounting

$ mkfs.xfs /dev/sdb1
$ mkdir /data
$ mount /dev/sdb1 /data
$ df -hT /data

The resulting filesystem shows the expected size and usage.

Full Example: 100 GB Disk

parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdb mkpart primary xfs 0% 100%
mkfs.xfs /dev/sdb1
mount /dev/sdb1 /data
df -hT /data
# Add to /etc/fstab for automatic mounting
/dev/sdb1   /data   xfs   defaults   0 0