Linux Swap partition

[MattG]

Hey guys, i realized today after class that during my install i NEVER formatted my Swap parition.

My teacher said that this means im running with out one now, even though i have the partition made.

Is there a way with out having to reinstall to format this swap to make it functional?

Thanks.

 

[Phantasm66]

you created a swap partition but never formatted it?

try issuing this command:

free

you should see memory useage stats... if you don't see any mention of Swap: then you have no swap file running.

[root@fishbone root]# free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 127440 120876 6564 0 54492 10912
-/+ buffers/cache: 55472 71968
Swap: 1052248 43084 1009164


If this is so, post back and we will tell you how format it.

 

[Phantasm66]

oh, is the partition mentioned in /etc/fstab??

ie:

[root@fishbone root]# more /etc/fstab
LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
LABEL=/html /html ext3 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda2 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner,kudzu 0 0

 

[MattG]

total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 515612 201592 314020 0 16652 100200
-/+ buffers/cache: 84740 430872
Swap: 0 0 0

it mentions it...but its all 0's

 

[MattG]

infy@inferno-linux:~$ more /etc/fstab
/dev/hdb1 / reiserfs defaults 1 1
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,owner,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

 

[Phantasm66]

Here is the Red Hat Guide on How to Install a Swap partition properly, by creating it, etc:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/s1-swap-adding.html

That tells you everything I think you will need to know.

 

[Phantasm66]

...and yes, it looks like you have not got an initialised swap partition.

This probably doesn't matter too much if you have like 1 GB or so of RAM, but I would add one just anyway. Linux kernel is very good about not using swap file or partition unless it has to, unlike Windows which can be garbage in that regard.

 

[MattG]

infy@inferno-linux:~$ free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 515612 168112 347500 0 14712 80716
-/+ buffers/cache: 72684 442928
Swap: 2097136 0 2097136


Ive got swap now.

Thanks again.

 

[Phantasm66]

SCORE!