Linux – Changing Linux swap partition

linuxpartitioningswapUbuntuubuntu-10.04

I want to change the swap partition to another partition. Is there a gui that can make this process easier so I don't have to do things like manually editing files?

Best Answer

This is in case you don't find a GUI method, you will find the terminal method quite flexible and easy. Run the following commands:

sudo swapoff /dev/hda3
sudo mkswap /dev/hda4
sudo swapon /dev/hda4

Then update /etc/fstab. Change the line containing "/dev/hda3" to "/dev/hda4".

Here is the Ubuntu page on Swap FAQ. Also note (from that page):
With the 2.6 kernel, "a swap file is just as fast as a swap partition."
^{Which means that you don't need to lock down a partition for swap space; you can tune it locally in a data partition as a swap-file.}

Related Solutions

Linux – Can Linux Hibernate Without a Swap Partition

Untested idea: why don't you create a wrapper for s2disk or whichever utility handles suspend to disk which manages a swap file ( as opposed to a swap partition ) and deletes it on resume?

Create the swap file : dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=8388608 ( 8GB )
Setup the swap file: mkswap /swapfile
Only when you need to set suspend you can activate it: swapon /swapfile
When you resume you can deactivate it: swapoff /swapfile

Resuming from swap files is possible, and is documented on kernel.org

Linux – What file system is swap on Linux

Swap is no actual file system. It is just a reserved part of the disk that is raw addressable memory with no special structure.

mkswap creates a header for the swap area with some additional information. From swapheader.h of the util-linux-ng package:

struct swap_header_v1 {
    char         bootbits[1024];    /* Space for disklabel etc. */
    unsigned int version;
    unsigned int last_page;
    unsigned int nr_badpages;
    unsigned int padding[125];
    unsigned int badpages[1];
};

Header version 1 is the currently used one. Thats about all the magic behind the raw structure of swap.

Best Answer

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Linux – Can Linux Hibernate Without a Swap Partition

Linux – What file system is swap on Linux

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