EFI System Partition: Using it as /boot versus /boot/efi

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To be on the safe side, I try to follow the EFI specification as closely as possible:

  • One EFI System Partition (“esp”) per GPT drive (labeled as “esp” using parted, GParted, KDE Partition Manager, etc)

  • This “esp” formatted as FAT32 for internal drive or FAT12/16/32 for external media

  • Keeping the “esp” separate from invidual OS system/boot/root partitions

I avoid going outside of that scope, and it has worked consisently for me on multiple computers, regardless of dual-booting. I tend to err towards 512MB for this partition, though honestly even 256MB is plenty of room. (Plenty of room since I don’t install my /boot files within, but rather use a separate partition for /boot.) You can even get by with 128MB, even when dual-booting with Windows.

‘*’ The unique GUID for the “esp” on a GPT formatted disk is always: C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

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