Linux Disk Storage Cheat Sheet

lsblk

# Show disks, partitions, loop devices, and mountpoints.

lsblk -f

# Display filesystem type, label, UUID, and mountpoint.

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,TYPE,MOUNTPOINTS,UUID,MODEL

# Useful when you want clean inventory output for documentation or scripts.

blkid

# Read known filesystem, RAID, and partition metadata.

findmnt

# Display the live mount tree with source, target, and options.

findmnt -S /dev/sda1

# Filter the mount table by source device.

df -h

# Display used and available capacity in human-readable units.

df -i

# Check inode exhaustion when space looks free but writes fail.

du -sh .

# Estimate disk usage for the current directory tree.

du -xh --max-depth=1 /var | sort -h

# Great first pass for finding where storage is going.

stat -f /var

# Inspect block size, available blocks, and filesystem ID for a mounted path.

file -s /dev/sdb

# Read magic signatures from a block device or image.

sudo fdisk -l

# Show disks, sector sizes, partition tables, and partitions.

sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

# Interactive MBR/GPT partitioning for a specific disk.

sudo parted /dev/sdb print

# Display partition table details using parted.

sudo parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt

# Initialize a disk with a GPT partition table.

sudo parted -a optimal /dev/sdb mkpart primary ext4 1MiB 100%

# Create a partition aligned for modern disks.

sudo partprobe /dev/sdb

# Refresh partition table changes without rebooting.

sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sdb > sdb.partitions

# Useful for backups and repeatable partition layouts.

sudo sfdisk /dev/sdb < sdb.partitions

# Replay a previously exported partition layout.

sudo wipefs /dev/sdb

# See what signatures exist before repurposing a disk.

sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdb

# Remove existing filesystem, RAID, or partition signatures.

blkid -o export /dev/sdb1

# Good for preparing stable fstab entries.

sudo udevadm settle

# Wait until udev finishes processing newly created partitions.

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

# Format a partition as ext4.

sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/sdb1

# Format a partition as XFS.

sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdb1

# Useful for EFI partitions or removable media.

sudo mkswap /dev/sdb2

# Initialize a partition or file as swap.

sudo e2label /dev/sdb1 data

# Assign a human-readable label to an ext filesystem.

sudo xfs_admin -L data /dev/sdb1

# Assign a label to an XFS filesystem.

sudo tune2fs -l /dev/sdb1

# Inspect features, UUID, mount count, and reserved blocks.

sudo tune2fs -m 1 /dev/sdb1

# Lower reserved space on large non-root data volumes.

sudo dumpe2fs -h /dev/sdb1

# Show ext superblock and journal settings.

sudo xfs_info /mnt/data

# Display XFS geometry and feature flags.

sudo swapon /dev/sdb2

# Turn on swap after creating it.

swapon --show

# Inspect active swap devices and priorities.