How can I remove dual ubuntu partition and use it for timeshift snapshots

Hi,
First:
I could’t find proper category for my question. Please help me to find one.
Then:
I have a 240 gb ssd and I reserved about 35 gb for a second os (ubuntu). Now I want to relcaim it for timeshift backups. It is on sda1 partition flagged as boot not auntomounted with b and Manjaro is on sda2. I don’t need to backup ubuntu os and I just want to sweep it away and use for timehift backups. What is the most secure way for it? Can I just rm -r it, update the grub and add a fstab entry mounted to, say, /mnt/timeshift point? Since the partition is flagged as boot, is it possible?

Here are some info:

~]$  sudo parted -l
[sudo] password for ceres: 
Model: ATA KINGSTON SUV400S (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 240GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  35,0GB  35,0GB  primary  ext4            boot
 2      35,0GB  231GB   196GB   primary  ext4
 3      231GB   240GB   8996MB  primary  linux-swap(v1)


~]$ lsblk           
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 223,6G  0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0  32,6G  0 part
├─sda2   8:2    0 182,6G  0 part /
└─sda3   8:3    0   8,4G  0 part [SWAP]

~]$ blkid           
/dev/sda1: UUID="2d99665a-c61b-41ab-85f3-87b335872c67" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="dee2daa7-01"
/dev/sda2: UUID="6b0569e6-71a6-459e-99cc-ac225fe06b91" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="dee2daa7-02"
/dev/sda3: UUID="19a0c71e-ed32-45ea-8489-9e31e24b22d7" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="dee2daa7-03"


~]$ cat /etc/fstab
# /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>
UUID=6b0569e6-71a6-459e-99cc-ac225fe06b91 /              ext4    defaults,noatime 0 1
UUID=19a0c71e-ed32-45ea-8489-9e31e24b22d7 none          swap    sw      0 0
tmpfs                                     /tmp           tmpfs   defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0

I would suggest simply reformatting that partition and telling timeshift to use it for backups. You’re on a system with legacy boot and an MS-DOS MBR partition table, so there should be no complications.

Do however make sure that you run… :arrow_down:

sudo update-grub

… after formatting the partition, so that Ubuntu will be wiped from the boot loader menu. :wink:

To be sure, I will just format sda1 to ext4 using gparted and run timeshift (and will update grub). No fstab entry, timeshift will use the partition.
However, I think gparted puts it in pending to format and to remove its boot flag. Wouldn’t it be a problem? Or will I flag it as boot again?

Correct, yes.

On an MBR-partitioned system that boots in legacy BIOS mode, the boot flag doesn’t matter ─ it is only pertinent to DOS and Windows ─ but you can always put the boot flag on your Manjaro root partition if it makes you feel better. :wink:

1 Like

Thank you Aragorn,
Gparted didn’t remove the flag (phew! :slight_smile: ) and timeshift did its job. Happy partitions, happy me!

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 15 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.