Hello
I want try Fedora Core - but to avoid problems with the HD
Is there an Official Tutorial/Guide to define the correct partitions to install Fedora for Workstation and Server Environments? It indicating the type and size according with the current hardware.
Extra Question: Can you pls confirm that Fedora uses now “swap file” and not “swap partition”?
Thanks in advance
Welcome to ask 
The generic answer and what works for 99+% of users is to:
With regard to swap – Fedora uses a virtual swap (zram) in memory by default and does not use either a swap file or partition. If you wish to be able to hibernate or suspend then you must manually create a swap partition at least equal in size to your RAM.
Fedora Core OS is a different kind of OS compared to Workstation and Server. So please clarify which version of Fedora you are interested in. Other important things to mention would be the system architecture and BIOS vs. UEFI.
For Fedora Core OS, this might help:
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-coreos/storage/
I’m using Fedora on a device with one drive … just used default setup that leads to 3 partitions : boot, efi and the last with everything in it. I have another device using ROS2, NVidia and INTEL apps that leads to Ubuntu with 3 drives having LVM configuration with extra swap partition.
The idea is to build just one partition for the system using multiple drives and the machine sorts out what it needs by itself. With Fedora, no RAID, no LVM, no swap, just btrfs …
Some potentially useful historical clarification - Before Fedora 7, Fedora was known as Fedora Core and many people who have been around the Linux world for a long time still call it that. Core used to be the Red Hat provided part and Extras was the community provided part, and after Fedora Core 6, Core and Extras were merged, the community could contribute to the entire build process, and “Core” was dropped (though “fc” references remain in RPM dist labels to this day). The modern equivalent to it is Fedora Linux Workstation and the OP references this as well, so it’s probably safe to assume that’s what is going on here. Fedora Core OS is the result of the merger between Red Hat and CoreOS, which is, as you pointed out, quite a different thing.
Thanks for the reply to all.
- use the automatic installer and it will create partitions needed to fill the space allowed.
Ok, so is safe trust in the default settings applied, Am I correct?
I have 3 computers. 2 old PC Desktops and a laptop.
With regard to swap – Fedora uses a virtual swap (zram) in memory by default and does not use either a swap file or partition.
Interesting, I thought was created an internal swap file and later the OS itself uses zram.
Fedora Core OS is a different kind of OS compared to Workstation and Server
I used Fedora Core since 1 to 17 - now I am trying to return. And I want avoid problems
Well I want use both based with the new names or standard: Workstation and Server
Other important things to mention would be the system architecture and BIOS vs. UEFI.
Both cases - I have 2 old PC Desktops and 1 Laptop.
Thanks for the link. I expected a table with the mandatory partitions and recommended sizes
Hello Markos
I am using Ubuntu too, since 17.04 it uses swap file and not swap partition. Therefore I assumed that FC would use the same - and of course to avoid problems I created this post
Some potentially useful historical clarification - Before Fedora 7, Fedora was known as Fedora Core and many people who have been around the Linux world for a long time still call it that
Yes my case, I used to work with FC since 1 until 17. As I said
For me it is still not clear what you are talking about. Do you have a link to the website of what you are talking about?
Fedora Linux is on Version 34 to 36 now. So might changed a lot…
Just a nitpick: swap on zram is a normal swap, there is nothing special about the swap itself, it just isn’t located on a “normal” block device, but on an ephemeral block device created from RAM with some special features like compression.
Swap file stays for historical reasons, sometimes but rarely used. Going back to MULTICS, devices had very small memory so they used a twin dynamic/static method swapping information to/from memory/storage. The same for partitions with very small capacity storage devices. Data storage servers is another story needing resilient management and Linux is perfectly adapted for this.
Swap isn’t obsolete but current. How to mange dynamic process in tight loop without putting some in the background in slow RAM process. Grace Hopper hardware from NVidia is a nice reference to MULTICS project where Linux was born … after?
For me it is still not clear what you are talking about. Do you have a link to the website of what you are talking about? Fedora Linux is on Version 34 to 36 now. So might changed a lot…
In this case Fedora 36. It is practically the latest. I want install Fedora for Workstation and Server environments - version 36 - and I need know the correct partitions configurations.
Just a nitpick: swap on zram is a normal swap, there is nothing special about the swap itself, it just isn’t located on a “normal” block device, but on an ephemeral block device created from RAM with some special features like compression.
Good point, but is important to know if it works in peace for either swap partition or swap file. In my case I saw tutorials about this for Fedora using both.
Swap file stays for historical reasons, sometimes but rarely used
Now is de-facto in Ubuntu and seems for other distributions - I think you are referring to swap partitions.
Swap isn’t obsolete but current
It depends of the current RAM of a PC/laptop - mostly if is higher than 8GB or not and if is involved Hibernation
The official guides are the docs on https://docs.fedoraproject.org . Newly we do have a search field where you can find what you are looking for.
As mentioned above, from other Fedora forum members, a good fit is the automatic installer. As for the type it uses fat32 for the EFI partition and ext4 for the /boot. For /, and /home it uses btrfs (Workstation).
As your question was quite generic, feel free if you have a specific installation, to ask in a new topic with the Hardware information. How to collect information from your system you find some good infos here >> #start-here
A small tip, if you mark text from a other user, you get above a gray box "Quote if you press this, it will insert the marked part as a Block-quote, with the users name where you cursor is. So we do see from whom the quote is and for responding it makes it easier for us.
Using the installer on USB drive, you come to a point of defining user … one user, administrator. This skips SU administration using simply SUDO, empty root file keeping possibility of adding other users giving layout with 3 partitions : fat32 - /boot/efi, ext4 - /boot and btrfs labeled fedora localhost-live spanning as many storage devices chosen.
This gives no access to SU at all. You can still use SSH to log in to Coral AI board, NVidia Jetson interactively, wireless access to Xerox printers, play with Turtlebot3 and ROS2. Some administator software needs SU account but rare and not a problem. Fedora makes the setup easy using btrfs, Ubuntu needs installation on one drive with LVM then expand adding storage.
Off-topic: but important to understand the mystery of Fedora Core
The confusion we had in the beginning about it is now clear for me.
Indeed the first versions of fedora have been called Fedora Core !
I was reading the Article:
@mattdm links to a online speak he had. In the beginning of it, the whole revelation about Fedora Core:
35 Fedora Releases in 30 Minutes (plus Q&A!) - Matthew Miller, Red Hat - YouTube
It is great for newer users to keep up with the fedora community’s story about the Linux versions.
For Fedora Server Edition, there is a dedicated documentation that also explains the partition rationale and the default.
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-server/server-installation/
There is also a newer version that we will publish as soon as F36 is released:
https://docs.stg.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-server/installation-an-introduction/
Best
Peter
(Fedora Server WG)