Where to Mount Swap?

subraizada3 · 2013-11-09 21:49:56

I am installing Arch Linux on a second computer, but this time I am going to have a swap partition. In the Installation Guide and the Beginners Guide, it says to mount all partitions in /mnt and their subdirectories, like /mnt/home, /mnt/usr, etc. It also says to mount swap, but never specifies where. Do I mount the partition to /mnt/swap or somewhere else?

WonderWoofy · 2013-11-09 21:52:17

Please search before posting.

Trilby · 2013-11-09 21:53:39

Where do you get those instructions, they are not here.

There is no need to do anything with your swap partition during the installation. But if you needed to, you would not ever *mount* a swap partition, you'd just use swapon (`man swapon`) or the equivalent systemd service.

subraizada3 · 2013-11-09 22:07:28

It says this in the Installation Guide (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_Guide):
Mount the partitions
We now must mount the root partition on /mnt. You should also create directories for and mount any other partitions (/mnt/boot, /mnt/home, ...) and mount your swap partition if you want them to be detected by genfstab.

I saw the page WonderWoofy linked to and read about swapon and adding to the fstab, but the Installation Guide says that if it is mounted during installation, genfstab will automatically add the entry, which I would prefer.

WonderWoofy · 2013-11-09 22:10:54

You should really be following the beginners guide. The Official Installation guide does a good job at outlining the necessary steps to install, but the beginners guide gives a complete walk through of the installation procedure. It explains what to do and why, and gives a number of options of how to do things, depending on how exactly you want things to be set up.

Trilby · 2013-11-09 22:48:27

Thanks subraizada, I just checked the beginner's guide. In addition to WWs points I will only emphasize that the installation guide is basically a reminder of what the steps are for users who know exactly how to do all the steps already. If you are unsure how to do all the steps, either follow the beginner's guide (which is really a crappy name*), or when you follow the installation guide, be sure to suppliment it with the relevant wiki pages like the one WW linked to above for each step.

* Some people seem to find "beginner's guide" to be demeaning or patronizing, or some such - and I can completely understand why. It is the right place for beginners to start, but it is certainly not just for beginners.

Last edited by Trilby (2013-11-09 22:49:10)

subraizada3 · 2013-11-09 23:56:46

This is actually my second time installing Arch.
I was reading the Installation Guide and referred to the Beginner's Guide when needed, it's just that this was a bit confusing. The IG stated to mount it for autodetection by genfstab, the BG said nothing about mounting swap except swapon, and just says to set the last number of the fstab line to 0 for swap, and the swap page on the wiki says to manually add the entry.

The way I understand it now is that if swapon is done during installation, genfstab will automatically add it to the fstab, otherwise it needs to be manually added.
Is this correct?

Trilby · 2013-11-10 00:28:55

Yes, that should be correct. But as long as the partition exists, all of this can be patched up after installation if needed.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-11-09 21:49:56

Where to Mount Swap?

#2 2013-11-09 21:52:17

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

#3 2013-11-09 21:53:39

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

#4 2013-11-09 22:07:28

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

#5 2013-11-09 22:10:54

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

#6 2013-11-09 22:48:27

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

#7 2013-11-09 23:56:46

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

#8 2013-11-10 00:28:55

Re: Where to Mount Swap?

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