EBS volumes and file systems

1. Instance Root Volume Default Format Type

• Default Format Type:

  • Amazon EC2 root volumes are typically formatted with ext4 for Linux-based instances and NTFS for Windows instances.

• How to Check:

    lsblk -f
  

  This command displays the block devices and their filesystem types.

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2. Checking the Filesystem Type of an EBS Volume

• Use the following command to check the filesystem type:

    sudo file -s /dev/xvdf
  

  • If it shows something like "data," it means the volume is not yet formatted.

  • If it shows a filesystem type (e.g., ext4), the volume is already formatted.

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3. Formatting an EBS Volume

• To format a new EBS volume:

    sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/xvdf
  

  Replace /dev/xvdf with your volume's device name.

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4. Mounting and Automounting an EBS Volume

Mounting

• Create a directory to mount the volume:

    sudo mkdir /data
  

• Mount the volume:

    sudo mount /dev/xvdf /data
  

• Verify:

    df -h
  

Automounting at Boot

• Add an entry in /etc/fstab:

  1. Get the UUID of the volume:

      sudo blkid /dev/xvdf
     

  2. Edit /etc/fstab:

      sudo nano /etc/fstab
     

     Add the following line:

      UUID=<your-uuid> /data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2
     

  3. Test the configuration:

      sudo mount -a
     

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5. Adding Storage to an EBS Volume

Attach the Volume

1. Attach the volume to the instance from the AWS Management Console or CLI:

    aws ec2 attach-volume --volume-id vol-xxxxxxxx --instance-id i-xxxxxxxx --device /dev/xvdf
   

Resizing the Filesystem

1. Check the new size:

    lsblk
   

2. Resize the partition:

    sudo growpart /dev/xvdf 1
   

3. Resize the filesystem:

    sudo resize2fs /dev/xvdf
   

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6. Modifying EBS Volume Type

• You can modify the EBS volume type (e.g., General Purpose SSD gp3, gp2, Provisioned IOPS io1, etc.) using the AWS Management Console or CLI:

    aws ec2 modify-volume --volume-id vol-xxxxxxxx --volume-type gp3
  

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7. File System Types in EBS Volumes

• Common Linux file systems:

  • ext4: Most common for general-purpose use.

  • xfs: High-performance and scalable.

  • btrfs: Advanced features like snapshotting.

  • ntfs: Used mainly for Windows systems.

To change the filesystem:

1. Unmount the volume:

    sudo umount /data
   

2. Reformat the volume with the desired filesystem:

    sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/xvdf
   

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8. Block-Level Formatting

• Format the entire block device before creating partitions:

    sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/xvdf bs=1M count=1
  

  Note: Be cautious as this erases all data.

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Quick Summary Commands

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