This is my experience on installing Fedora 33 on my laptop with Btrfs and full disk encryption technologies. I use the Workstation 64 bit flagship edition that has GNOME user interface choice. As an addition, I included a short glossary at the end too. I've waited for a fairly long time to try out Fedora and now is my chance. I wish all dear readers o Ubuntu users will like it!
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What I do
We will make our computer runs Fedora with these internal hard disk partitioning scheme:
- UEFI based computer or laptop
- GPT 30GB hard disk
- /boot/efi 200MB for UEFI
- /boot 500MB for Fedora's kernel
- /home 10GB for user's data
- swap 2GB for virtual memory
- / 10GB for Fedora system itself and made encrypted
The result wished from this installation is a Fedora computer where we must input a password to open our hard disk when the computer starts (booting) even before we login to Fedora. Otherwise, one cannot use this Fedora computer nor access the hard disk drive from the outside.
What I prepare
This installation has been done with a computer with a hard disk drive of 30GB with UEFI and GPT technologies (in reality, it is a virtual machine but is applicable to the actual bare metal computer too). I did maximum preparation by making the 30GB space empty as in unformatted.
How to make a Fedora
I downloaded Fedora version 33 edition Workstation architecture x86_64 (you can grab it too by clicking here). Once finished, I got a big sized file with the name Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-33-1.2.iso. Then, I should burn this image (iso) file into a USB flash drive. A Fedora is done. Now we are ready to install Fedora to computer.
Boot Fedora
I started my computer with the Fedora USB plugged in. I checked up the BIOS (UEFI) to make USB as the first device to boot. A correct BIOS setup will make the computer runs Fedora Live and finally I see two options on screen "Try Fedora" and "Install to Hard Drive". I chose Try Fedora so I could enter into Fedora Live Session. Here, I click Activities (on top-left) and then click Install Fedora (on left-vertical panel) so I began the Fedora installer. The fun is starting right now.
1st
First page of Fedora installer, I select English US as my language and keyboard. Then, I click Continue.
2nd
Second page of Fedora installer, I select Jakarta, Indonesia as my timezone as always. Then, I also click Continue.
3rd
Third page of Fedora installer, I click the disk partitioning section, and the disk selection will appear. Then, I activate the Advanced Installer by choosing it on the bottom and click Done (on top-left). The real fun is starting here!
4th
Fourth page of Fedora installer, this is the time I should make the partitions (numbered five of them) I planned in the beginning. If you wish to create the bare minimum, you can skip the /home creation.
Picture below lists the goal of my partitioning plans:
Creating the 1st partition:
First one is making the EFI partition. To do so, select the empty disk space available > click plus button on the toolbar > a dialog will appear > specify the size by 200MB > specify the filesystem by VFAT > specify the mount point by /boot/efi > and specify the label by EFI > click OK > now I see there is one first partition and one free disk space on screen.
Creating the 2nd partition:
Second one is making the BOOT partition. To do so, I select the empty disk space available > click plus button on the toolbar > a dialog will appear > specify the size by 500MB > specify the filesystem by ext4 (in my experiments it was automatic) > specify the mount point by /boot > and specify the label by BOOT > click OK > now I see there are three partitions which are first, second, and the remaining free disk space.
Creating the 3rd partition:
Third one is making the SWAP partition. To do so, I select the empty disk space available > click plus button on the toolbar > a dialog will appear > specify the size by 1GB > specify the filesystem by SWAP > and specify the label by SWAP > click OK > now I see there are four partitions which are first, second, third and the remaining free disk space.
Creating the 4th partition:
Fourth one is making the HOME partition. To do so, I select the empty disk space available > click plus button on the toolbar > a dialog will appear > specify the size by 10GB > specify the filesystem by btrfs > specify the mount point by /home > click OK > now I see there are five partitions which are first, second, third, fourth and the remaining free disk space.
Creating the last partition:
Fifth one is making the ROOT partition and this is the encrypted one. To do so, I select the empty disk space remaining > click plus button on the toolbar > a dialog will appear > specify the size as is (it should be 20GB or as remaining free space available) > specify the filesystem by btrfs > specify the mount point by / > and give check mark to Encrypt option > new options will appear below it > I type my desired password twice as the password of the full disk encryption > click OK > now I finally see there is no free disk space remaining and are five partitions as planned in the beginning.
Start the installation:
I click Done button and begin the installation.
5th
I wait for 12 minutes at best for this first stage of Fedora installation to take place. Once finished, it says "Fedora Installation Finished" and I just restart my computer anyway by removing the USB installation medium.
6th
Once restarted, I see the password box on screen before going into Fedora, and that is the full disk encryption. I enter the password and go to Fedora desktop. Here the second stage of Fedora installation begins.
7th
I make my own username and password in this second stage and finally everything finished properly. Now my Fedora computer installation has been finished.
Result
Here's my Fedora 33 Workstation.
Glossary
BIOS is computer initialization software that starts before the OS starts. With BIOS, a user controls the computer where and how to boot (to initialize) for example to boot using USB instead of HDD. Old computers before 2010 are equipped with BIOS. Today effectively no more computers produced with BIOS as it has been replaced by UEFI by all brands since 2010.
BOOT as in boot partition (/boot) especially in Fedora operating system is an additional disk partition where Fedora places its kernel files.
EFI is a disk partition located in the hard disk (/boot/efi) by 50MB size at least which is required for an OS to boot (to initialize) in a computer with UEFI technology.
GPT is a choice of technology for hard disk drives and other disk storages so that it can be partitioned and then store data within. GPT hard disk is a requirement for a UEFI computer. The advantage of GPT is a user can make any number of partition in the hard disk without limitations.
ROOT as in root partition (/) is the main disk partition where an OS is stored.
SWAP as in swap partition is the additional disk partition which acts as an additional memory whenever the main RAM space insufficient or as a storage for system hibernation.
UEFI is the modern computer initialization software that starts before the OS starts which is a continuation to the legacy BIOS technology. Computers sold after 2010 are included with UEFI.
Afterwords
By reading this, you and me can learn to make a disk encryption in the other than the root (/) partition for example in the HOME (/home) or any other disk drive.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.