parted

parted
Name	parted
Author	Andrew Clausen
Developer	GNU Parted Project
Initial release	1997
Latest release	3.x
Operating system	Linux kernel, GNU/Hurd, BSD (limited)
License	GNU General Public License

parted

parted is a command-line and library utility for managing disk partitions, designed to manipulate partition tables and filesystems on storage devices. It is widely used in installer environments, system administration, and rescue tools developed for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and other distributions. Developers and integrators embed parted functionality in installers created by projects such as Anaconda (installer), Ubiquity (software), Calamares (installer), and backup suites like Clonezilla.

Overview

parted operates on block devices exposed by kernels such as the Linux kernel and supports partition table formats like Master Boot Record and GUID Partition Table. It provides both an interactive shell and non-interactive commands suitable for scripting in projects such as Systemd unit scripts, Kickstart installations, and automated deployments orchestrated by Ansible or Puppet. Distributions including Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, openSUSE, Arch Linux and Gentoo package parted and integrate it with installers like Debian-Installer and YaST. Commercial vendors such as Red Hat and SUSE reference parted-derived tools in their documentation for storage configuration.

Features

parted supports creating, resizing, moving, copying, and deleting partitions while handling partition tables including GPT and MBR. It integrates with filesystem utilities such as e2fsprogs, XFS (file system), btrfs, F2FS, and NTFS-3G to align partitions for performance on storage controllers including AHCI, NVMe, and SCSI arrays. parted exposes alignment and geometry options compatible with storage technologies from vendors like Western Digital, Seagate, Samsung Electronics, and Intel Corporation. The tool is commonly used alongside installers from Canonical (company), SUSE, Red Hat, and community tools like GParted and Partimage.

Usage

Users invoke parted via command-line shells such as Bash (Unix shell), Zsh, or scripts run by configuration management systems like SaltStack and Chef (software). It is used in recovery scenarios by system administrators from projects like SystemRescueCD and Rescatux, and by forensic teams using distributions such as Kali Linux and BackTrack. Typical workflows integrate parted with imaging software like Clonezilla and logical volume management tools such as LVM (Linux) and mdadm. Integrators call parted APIs from installers like Anaconda (installer), Ubiquity (software), and live environment tools maintained by The Linux Foundation.

File System and Partition Support

parted recognizes partition types used by operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. It cooperates with filesystem-specific utilities from projects including ntfs-3g, e2fsprogs, xfsprogs, btrfs-progs, and dosfstools. Partition table support includes GUID Partition Table used by UEFI systems and Master Boot Record used by legacy BIOS and hybrid setups described in standards like UEFI Specification. It is part of toolchains used to prepare disks for deployments by VMware, Inc., Proxmox Server Solutions, and Xen (hypervisor) environments.

Development and History

parted was authored by Andrew Clausen and became part of the GNU Project toolset, with maintainers coordinating through projects listed at Savannah (software). Its history intersects with utilities such as fdisk (Linux), sfdisk, and graphical front-ends like GParted. Over time parted added GPT support aligning with work from organizations including the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Forum, and it evolved alongside filesystem developments from The Linux Foundation and storage vendors like Intel Corporation and Seagate Technology. Distributions such as Debian and Fedora have tracked parted releases in their packaging workflows.

Compatibility and Alternatives

Alternatives and complementary tools include fdisk (Linux), sfdisk, cfdisk, GParted, sgdisk from GPT fdisk, and proprietary utilities provided by vendors like Western Digital, Seagate, and Samsung. For logical volume management, users may prefer LVM (Linux) utilities or storage management suites from Red Hat and SUSE. Cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure offer their own disk provisioning interfaces that may obviate local partitioning tools in automated images.

Security and Licensing

parted is distributed under the GNU General Public License, aligning it with other GNU Project software and free software principles championed by organizations such as the Free Software Foundation. Security-sensitive operations are performed on block devices exposed by kernels like the Linux kernel; therefore integrations emphasize careful use in contexts such as installer environments from Canonical (company), Red Hat, and SUSE. Vulnerability disclosures and patches are coordinated through distribution maintainers in Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and project trackers hosted on platforms that interact with Savannah (software) and other code hosting services.

Category:Disk partitioning tools