Hi, Thanks for the great parted tools which help to deploy Linux every day.
This is a feature request for a tool/API that would allow to transform a primary partition into a logical partition inside a new extended partition. The extended partition would have exactly the same size as the original primary partition. The logical partition would be a bit smaller (depending on the characteristics of the original partition filesystem). To avoid moving any data of the original partition, the extended partition header could also be created in a space created by resizing the partition just before. The following is my detailed use case. ---------------------------------------------------- I have just bought a new Compaq PC bundled with Windows 7. The hard disk has the following partitions : - sda1: boot partition (primary, NTFS, name: SYSTEM) - sda2: Windows 7 (primary, NTFS, no name) - sda3: recovery data, that must be transfered by the user to DVD to be able to restore the hard disk in the original state (primary, NTFS, name: RECOVERY) - sda4: HP tools space reserved for BIOS extensions and BIOS updates (primary, FAT32, name: HP_TOOLS) I'm using GNU parted through the graphical GParted. I want to install Ubuntu in some space created by resizing sda2. The problem is the disk already has 4 primary partitions, so I do not even have space to create an extended partition. My workaround was: - backup sda3 with PartImage into files stored on sda2 - delete sda3 - reduce sda2 to make space for Ubuntu - create an extended partition in the new available space - create a new NTFS partition (sda5) of the same size as the old sda3 at the end of the extended partition - restore the old sda3 into sda5 with PartImage - install Ubuntu in the remaining free space of the extended partition It would be easier, faster and safer if sda3 could have been directly converted to a logical partition inside a new extended partition, in place. In that case the process would be: - promote sda3 in-place to a logical partition (sda5) inside an extended. It would probably require to reduce sda2 a bit. - reduce sda2 - extend the extended partition down to be contiguous to sda2 - install Ubuntu into the remaining empty space of the extended partition. Olivier Mengué
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