format external ssd for backup

[LostRaccoon]

Hi everyone,
I am new to linux (Kubuntu 26.04, transitioning from macos) and I am a bit lost... I just bought a new external ssd which I intend to use for backup, but I am unable to mount it... The device is seen in the KDE partition manager and the SMART status seems ok. However partition manager stated that no usable partition could be found, so I supposed this was the problem. I tried creating a single partition with the partition manager, and I now have one, unallocated, partition on the disk. Yet this did not solve the issue... The question is how should I format / partition the disk for its intended usage ? Thank you for your help !

[oshunluvr]

KDE Partition Manager should have formatted it unless you selected "unformatted".

Plug it in, launch KDE PM and right-click on the partition. Select "Properties" and pick a file system. I recommend ext4 if your using Linux only. If you want to share the device with Windows, select exfat.

Once it's formatted, you can let it be auto-mounted when plugged in or create a mount point using KDE PM.

[LostRaccoon]

hi, thanks for the quick response,

When making the partition I was prompted to select a format, and I chose GPT. Yet now when I open the "properties" window, I see no mention of file system. The fields I get are :

Label : empty
Mountpoint : "impossible to find one"
State : "inactive"
Partition UUID : "none"
Size : "931,51 Gio" ( which is correct)
First secteur (french word, should translate as area, I guess) : "2048"
Last secteur : "1 953 525 134"
Number of secteurs "1 953 523 087"

And that is all

[Qqmike]

On an empty drive ...

In KDE PM, the sequence would be:

Select that drive from the left side bar.
Select the tab at top called Device > New Partition Table = Ms DOS / or GPT (GPT would be used for an UEFI system).
Then:
Partition (tab at top) > New > File system = ext4

For any of your choice to take effect, you must click Apply.

[LostRaccoon]

In the meantime (I think) I managed to format it as ext4 using the Konsole : now it gets automatically mounted as I plug it in. But I cannot use it because it is owned by 'root'... I tried to change ownership and permissions in the the console (chown), but for now I did not succeed.
Strangely, the mountpoint is at /run/media/[my_account] and not at /dev/[something] as I would have expected, is that normal ?

[skyfishgoo]

GTP is the partition table (as opposed to the old ms dos type partition table) ... it just a means of keeping track of where the partitions are, it does not create partitions.

you want GTP as it is more robust but you need to keep going to create an actual partition with a filesystem on it that you can use within an operation system like linux or windows.

click on the unallocated space and choose New... from the menu

it will let you set the size (start and end locations on the disk) as well as give options for which files system format to install on it.

[oshunluvr]

hi, thanks for the quick response,

When making the partition I was prompted to select a format, and I chose GPT. Yet now when I open the "properties" window, I see no mention of file system.

That's is expected since "GPT" is the partition table type not a partition or file system.

When you start with a totally blank (new) storage device (hard drive, ssd, USB stick, whatever) the action sequence is:

1. Attach drive
2. Create partition table
3. Create partition(s)
4. Create a file system (AKA format) on the partition(s)
5. Mount and use the file system(s)

KDE Partition Manager can do all these steps for you and most of them in one go.

How you mount your new file system(s) will vary with your preference.

Generally, the accepted practice is to permanently mount fixed (non-removable) storage devices using the /etc/fstab file. KDE partition Manager will edit your existing fstab file for you if you indicate a mount location when creating your file systems. The "standard" place to mount fixed devices is in a directory under /mnt/ but it's your system so do as you please.

Removable devices (USB, sdcards, etc.) will be mounted when you insert and attempt to access them depending on the system settings. You can also set up "Auto mounting" in System Settings to control what devices are auto-mounted when inserted or not.

[oshunluvr]

In the meantime (I think) I managed to format it as ext4 using the Konsole : now it gets automatically mounted as I plug it in. But I cannot use it because it is owned by 'root'... I tried to change ownership and permissions in the the console (chown), but for now I did not succeed.
Strangely, the mountpoint is at /run/media/[my_account] and not at /dev/[something] as I would have expected, is that normal ?

ext4 mounts as root by default requires you to change the file system ownership to your user. Simply mount it, open Konsole and enter;

sudo chown 1000:1000 <the mounted location>

and yes, it is expected and normal for removable devices to auto-mount at at /run/media/[my_account]. You can change this for each device in System Settings.

[LostRaccoon]

sudo chown 1000:1000 <the mounted location>

Oh, this is exactly what I needed !... So I was able to use the disk for my backup.
Thanks a lot to all !