To remove all partitions and data from a disk and create an empty disk in Linux, you can use the fdisk
utility, which is a standard disk partitioning tool available on most Linux distributions. Here are the steps to follow:
WARNING: These steps will permanently delete all data on the disk. Please ensure that you have backed up any important data before proceeding.
- Open a terminal window on your Linux machine.
- Type the following command to list all disks attached to your system:
sudo fdisk -l
- Identify the disk that you want to erase. Be careful to identify the correct disk, as all data on the selected disk will be permanently deleted.
- Type the following command to start the
fdisk
utility for the selected disk:
sudo fdisk /dev/<disk_name>
Replace <disk_name>
with the name of the disk that you want to erase, such as /dev/sda
.
- Once you are in the
fdisk
utility, type the following command to display the partition table for the disk:
p
This will list all existing partitions on the disk.
- Type the following command to delete each partition on the disk:
d <partition_number>
Replace <partition_number>
with the number of the partition that you want to delete, as listed in the partition table.
- Repeat step 6 for each partition on the disk.
- Once all partitions have been deleted, type the following command to write the changes to the partition table:
w
This will permanently delete all data on the disk.
- Type the following command to create a new empty partition table on the disk:
sudo fdisk /dev/<disk_name>
- Once you are in the
fdisk
utility, type the following command to create a new empty partition table:
o
This will create a new empty partition table on the disk.
- Type the following command to write the changes to the partition table:
w
This will create an empty disk with no partitions or data.
You can now use the mkfs
command to create a new file system on the disk if needed.