How to rename /dev/sdax(partitions) in Linux

Question

I made a partition like /part on my machine with some important data...

But I can't stand the name of it...

I want a clear solution to resolve it and change the name of it to for example /test...

As you see this is my /etc/fstab information:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=a21a99c4-e5b4-4197-ac5e-80d0fab1f30c /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=2e37d833-ca34-4fa7-a5d8-a4423a5af9bc /home           ext4    defaults          0       2
# /part was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=47e6e0b1-0e57-4184-a378-375b9ce315c5 /part           ext4    defaults          0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=485e9f78-4dce-4404-af4e-f43985525264 none            swap    sw                0       0

The point is: My information are important and I scare to manipulate it without being sure... I want a safe solution...

How is it possible?

Solution

• Unmount the partition:

  # umount /part
  

• Rename the directory after making sure it's not mounted:

  # mountpoint /part &>/dev/null || mv /part /best_name_ever
  

• Edit /etc/fstab to replace /part with /best_name_ever

• Remount the partition:

  mount /best_name_ever
  

The # is of course meant to represent your root prompt, not actual input to be typed in.

To test the safety of this solution or any other one on dummy data

The following instructions are (in part) stolen from Virtual Filesystem: Building A Linux Filesystem From An Ordinary File.

• Create an ordinary file with a size of 20 MB (for example):

  $ dd if=/dev/zero of=dummy_fs bs=1k count=20480 # 20480 = 20 * 1024
  

• Create an ext4 filesystem on your file:

  $ /sbin/mkfs -t ext4 dummy_fs       
  mke2fs 1.42.5 (29-Jul-2012)
  dummy_fs is not a block special device.
  Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
  ... # Output of mkfs
  

• Mount the filesystem image, create some dummy data on it and test the solution:

  # mkdir /tmp/testmount
  # mount -o loop dummy_fs /tmp/testmount
  # touch /tmp/testmount/{blah,bleh} # Create dummy data
  # ls /tmp/testmount
  blah bleh lost+found
  # umount /tmp/testmount
  # mountpoint /tmp/testmount &>/dev/null || mv /tmp/testmount /tmp/sexy_name
  # mount -o loop dummy_fs /tmp/sexy_name
  # ls /tmp/sexy_name # to ensure your data is intact:
  blah bleh lost+found
  

Comments

[PersianGulf]

to watching which dev is used, apply: ls /dev/disk/by-uuid/[the-given-uuid] -l

[MLSC]

@Mohsen Pahlevanzadeh thank you but I didn't understand the strange the-given-uuid part

[PersianGulf]

for example for /part , your should use : ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/47e6e0b1-0e57-4184-a378-375b9ce315c5

[PersianGulf]

You wrote scare, i introduce it because i think you have problem with uuid.

[Jeff Hewitt]

@MortezaLSC I will write a more detailed explanation in a bit.

[Jeff Hewitt]

@MortezaLSC Please see if this explanation helps.

[Jeff Hewitt]

@MortezaLSC You're very welcome. I'm glad I could help :)