Filesystem layouts
Xenia Linux supports a wide range of filesystem layouts and types, but has certain requirements to boot. This page will show the current supported layouts and what is needed to boot.
Traditional label-based layout (generic)
This layout is the current layout used for LVM setups and can be used on any filesystem that supports labels.
Physical map
d1
├─d1p1 - EFI - 512M
├─d1p2 - ROOTS - 8G
├─d1p3 - OVERLAY - around 30% remaining space
└─d1p4 - HOME - all remaining space
Description
This layout contains 4 partitions:
p1 labelled EFI for grub
p2 labelled ROOTS for root image storage
p3 labelled OVERLAY for filesystem overlays
p4 labelled HOME for
/home
EFI, ROOTS, OVERLAY and HOME labels are necessary for Xenia to boot this layout. If OVERLAY is not present, Xenia will boot into recovery.
Traditional label-based layout (LVM)
Physical map
d1
├─d1p1 - EFI - 512M
└─d1p2 - LVM - all remaining space
Logical map
d1p2
├─vg0-roots - ROOTS - 8G
├─vg0-overlay - OVERLAY - around 30% remaining space
└─vg0-home - HOME - all remaining space
Description
This layout contains 2 partitions:
p1 labelled EFI for grub
p2 for LVM
This layout contains 3 LVs:
vg0-roots labelled ROOTS for root image storage
vg0-overlay labelled OVERLAY for filesystem overlays
vg0-home labelled HOME for
/home
EFI, ROOTS, OVERLAY and HOME labels are necessary for Xenia to boot this layout.
Btrfs
This layout is for Btrfs based systems.
Physical map
d1
├─d1p1 - EFI - 512M
└─d1p2 - ROOTS - all remaining space
Logical map
d1p2 - ROOTS
├─overlay - btrfs subvolume
│ ├─etc - btrfs subvolume
│ ├─var - btrfs subvolume
│ └─usr - btrfs subvolume
└─home - btrfs subvolume
Description
This layout contains 2 partitions:
p1 labelled EFI for grub
p2 for Btrfs labelled ROOTS
This layout contains 5 subvolumes alongside the root of the Btrfs:
root of the Btrfs used for root image storage
overlay for filesystem overlays
etc for etc overlay
var for var overlay
usr for usr overlay
home for
/home
BTRFS needs to have the root images stored in its root, not in a subvolume. overlay, etc, var, usr and home need to be named as such for Xenia to mount them.
Note
Overlays on a btrfs system look like this:
/overlay/etc/etc /overlay/etc/etcw
/overlay/var/var /overlay/etc/etcw
due to both the upper directory and work directory having to be on the same filesystem. Don’t worry about making these yourself (foxmount will do it for you on first boot), just make the subvolumes.
Btrfs with encryption
This layout is for Btrfs/LUKS based systems.
Physical map
d1
├─d1p1 - EFI - 512M
├─d1p2 - ROOTS - 8G
└─d1p3 - XENIA - all remaining space
Logical map
d1p3 - XENIA (crypt)
├─overlay - btrfs subvolume
│ ├─etc - btrfs subvolume
│ ├─var - btrfs subvolume
│ └─usr - btrfs subvolume
└─home - btrfs subvolume
Description
This layout contains 3 partitions:
p1 labelled EFI for grub
p2 labelled ROOTS for root image storage
p3 for Btrfs/LUKS labelled XENIA
This layout contains 5 subvolumes alongside the root of the Btrfs:
overlay for filesystem overlays
etc for etc overlay
var for var overlay
usr for usr overlay
home for
/home
This layout comprises of a ext4/xfs/any other labelled filesystem for root image storage, and a LUKS encrypted partition formatted as Btrfs for overlays and home.
Note
Overlays on a btrfs system look like this:
/overlay/etc/etc /overlay/etc/etcw
/overlay/var/var /overlay/etc/etcw
due to both the upper directory and work directory having to be on the same filesystem. Don’t worry about making these yourself (foxmount will do it for you on first boot), just make the subvolumes.