---
title: "Format, and Mount a Disk in Linux - Intermediate"
slug: "format-and-mount-a-disk-in-linux-intermediate"
updated: 2026-07-13T03:08:15Z
published: 2026-07-13T03:08:15Z
canonical: "docs.serversaustralia.com.au/format-and-mount-a-disk-in-linux-intermediate"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serversaustralia.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Format, and Mount a Disk in Linux - Intermediate

The below article will assume that you have one of the following hardware configurations:

1. A stand-alone drive which presents itself to the OS as a device name *(like /dev/sdc for example)*
2. A RAID Array configured on a RAID device, which presents itself to OS as a device name *(like /dev/sdc for example)*

Use the below command to initiate **fdisk** for formatting the disk.

***Note: If the disk is over 3TB, and you're running an older version of FDISK, you'll need to use "parted" instead.***

```shell
root@server:~# fdisk /dev/sdc
```

Now we'll be presented with an **fdisk** shell on our console. We want to view the current disk's information to see if it's empty. In the example below it's a 480GB SSD drive and we’re using **‘p’** to print the information on-screen:

```shell
Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdc: 480.1 GB, 480103981056 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 58369 cylinders, total 937703088 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x80ed6cbb

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
```

We've now confirmed we have the right disk, so we’ll move towards creating a partition. Below, you'll find the commands necessary to create a simple full-size partition. (**__ denotes "default value - Press Enter")**

```shell
Command (m for help): n

Partition type:

p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)

e extended

Select (default p): p

Partition number (1-4, default 1): __

Using default value 1

First sector (2048-937703087, default 2048): __

Using default value 2048

Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-937703087, default 937703087):

Using default value 937703087
```

Check the partition has shown up correctly:

```shell
Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdc: 480.1 GB, 480103981056 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 58369 cylinders, total 937703088 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x80ed6cbb

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/sdc1 2048 937703087 468850520 83 Linux
```

Everything is looking good based on the information we’ve seen, now we will go ahead and "**WRITE**" it to apply the changes to the disk directly:

```shell
Command (m for help): w

The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

Syncing disks.
```

So now we have our partition; we want to create an EXT4 Filesystem on it specifically for our example.

```shell
root@server:~# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdc1

mke2fs 1.42 (29-Nov-2011)
Discarding device blocks: done
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
29310976 inodes, 117212630 blocks
5860631 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=4294967296
3578 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8192 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968,
102400000
Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
```

Now that the filesystem has been created, we will move ahead with the next steps required and locate the disk's UUID, create a mount point, mount it, and configure it for mounting on boot.

In the example below we can locate our Disk UUID. We will only need **UUID="9262f711-a6ba-4aad-dac4-a73eb92225e0"** from the below example (your output will be different):

```shell
root@server:~# blkid /dev/sdc1

/dev/sdc1: UUID="9262f711-a6ba-4aad-dac4-a73eb92225e0" TYPE="ext4"
```

We're going to configure to auto-mount it to a folder titled **"/db2"** in the root file directory of the operating system. Below is a default value. You will need to set the UUID (as shown above), mount point, and filesystem type.

```shell
root@server:~# echo "UUID=9262f711-a6ba-4aad-dac4-a73eb92225e0 /db2 ext4 defaults 0 0" >> /etc/fstab
```

Now we want to create the mount point and mount our new drive:

```shell
root@server:~# mkdir /db2

root@server:~# mount /db2
```

As you can see below, it's now mounted, and available in the below directory:

```shell
root@server:~# df -h /db2

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

/dev/sdc1 441G 199M 418G 1% /db2
```

``