Linux parted Command: Inspect and Manage Partitions

parted is a GNU tool that queries disk partition tables and creates, deletes, or resizes partitions. You must strictly separate the task of reading disk structures from the actual modification task.

What is the parted command?

print shows the current partition table, while print free also displays the free space between partitions. The interactive modification commands of parted can be applied to the disk immediately without waiting for a separate save button. resizepart changes partition boundaries, and resizing the file system is a separate procedure.

Basic syntax

parted [option] [disk] [command]

The installed implementation and options may vary depending on the distribution. Check the current system documentation with man parted.

Examples

Viewing all disk structures

Check the partition table for each disk recognized by the system.

sudo parted -l

Free space on a specific disk

View the target disk and partition boundaries in read-only mode.

sudo parted /dev/sdb unit MiB print free

Contrast with another tool

Check the device model and capacity along with the current mount status.

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL,TYPE,MOUNTPOINTS

Distinguishing Partition Boundaries and File Systems

parted print shows the partition table type of the disk and the start and end positions of partitions. The inquiry command does not create partitions or format file systems.

sudo parted /dev/sdb print

Structure of the example output (numbers vary by device):

Model: ...
Disk /dev/sdb: 20.0GB
Partition Table: gpt
Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name

Creating or resizing partitions is separate from changing the size of the file system. Changing boundaries in parted does not automatically and safely expand or shrink the existing file system. In particular, shrinking requires checking data backup, whether it can be unmounted, and tool support for each file system first.

Main Options and Format

Precautions when using

mklabel replaces the existing partition table and rm deletes partition entries, so do not run without a backup. -s can reduce interactive protection during modification operations. When changing sizes, plan the order of file system, encryption, and LVM layers together, and follow maintenance procedures on disks used in real environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do changes need to be saved before quitting parted?

Interactive parted change commands are usually applied to the disk immediately. Thinking of it like fdisk, where you save at the end with w, is dangerous.

Official Documentation

The exact behavior of options and implementation differences can be checked in the official parted documentation.