Chapter 3.1.7 KDE partition manager
===================================

KDE partition manager creates partitions and deletes partitions on your hard drives and solid state drives.

.. warning::

 Deleting and creating new partitions can result in data loss so please back up your data before removing or creating partitions.

Version
-------
Lubuntu ships with version 3.3.1 of partition manager.

Usage
------

To check the health of your hard drive or solid state drive on the :menuselection:`Device --> SMART Status` or by right clicking on the device in the side pane :menuselection:`Smart Status`. 

You can see your disk usage for each partition graphically with the bars at the top with the shaded in part showing a bar graph as the percentage full of the partition and you can select each partition by left clicking on that section of the bar graph. The Column :guilabel:`Size` shows the size of the entire system while the :guilabel:`Used` column shows the amount of space used on the drive. The :guilabel:`Type` column lets you see which filesystem is on the partition.  

On the side pane to the left you can switch between each different drive on the left with the name of each device. 

To delete a partition left click on a partition to select it press :kbd:`Delete`, :menuselection:`Partition --> Delete`,  or right click and select :menuselection:`Delete`. To add a new partition in unallocated space right click on the   To view statiscal information on a partition select the partition :menuselection:`Partition --> Properties`  or right click on that partition :menuselection:`Properites`. To resize or move a partition press :kbd:`Control+R`, :menuselection:`Partition --> Resize/Move`, or right click on the partition and select :menuselection:`Resize/Move`.

To change your partitions you will need to apply your changes later press the :guilabel:`Apply` button or :menuselection:`Edit --> Apply`. After pressing Apply a dialog will come up asking you to confirm and check this is what you want to do and then press :guilabel:`Apply Pending Operations` to apply these changes. To go back from this point press the :guilabel:`Cancel` button. To undo your your changes to your partitions press :kbd:`Control+Z`, the :guilabel:`Undo` button, or :menuselection:`Edit --> Undo`. To clear your operations that have yet to been applied :menuselection:`Edit --> Clear`.

If you have say a new solid state drive that is not formatted you first need to put a partition table on it. A new partition data will get rid of all partitions on the disk which means no data will be visable anymore. Then you will need to create a partition on to store data. On unallocated space you can right click on the unalloacted space press the :guilabel:`New` button, :menuselection:`Partition --> New`, or press :kbd:`control+N`. A window will popup saying with what type of settings to create the partition with. To change what filesystem you want to create will show in the :guilabel:`File system:` drop down menu. To change what size of partition you want to create change the :guilabel:`Size:` field. To create free space before the partition change the :guilabel:`Free space before:` field. To change free space after the partition change the :guilabel:`Free space after` field. To actually create the partition press the :guilabel:`OK` button while to cancel press the :guilabel:`Cancel` button.

If you have multiple drives on your system :menuselection:`Device --> Select Current Device --> Desired Disk`. To view information on the current drive such as what type of partition table or Logical size and smart status :menuselection:`Device --> Properties`. If you do not really see all your devices or current status press :kbd:`F5` or :menuselection:`Tools --> Refresh Devices`.

Screenshot
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.. image:: kde_partitionmanager.png

How to launch
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To launch kde partition manager from the :menuselection:`System Tools --> KDE Partition Manager` or run 

.. code:: 

   partitionmanager 
   
from the command line. 


Customizing
-----------
To toggle showing a statusbar that shows pending operations check/uncheck the :menuselection:`Settings --> Show Statusbar` checkbox in the menu. To toggle showing your devices side pane  check/uncheck the :menuselection:`Settings --> Panels Shown --> Devices`. To toggle showing informatoin about the currently selected partition check/uncheck the :menuselection:`Settings --> Panels Shown --> Infromation` checkbox in the menu.  To toggle showing log output of check/uncheck the :menuselection:`Settings --> Panels Show --> Log Output` checkbox. 
