Configure XFS Filesystem with Quotas on Fedora

Managing storage is a critical aspect of system administration, and the XFS filesystem is a popular choice due to its performance and scalability. This guide explains how to configure an XFS filesystem with quotas on Fedora, using both /etc/fstab and systemd mount units.

Introduction

This article walks you through the steps to:

• Configure an XFS filesystem on a secondary disk.
• Enable user (uquota) and group (gquota) quotas.
• Manage mounts using /etc/fstab or systemd units.

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Prerequisites

• A secondary disk (e.g., /dev/nvme0n2p1) is attached to your system.
• Familiarity with basic Linux commands.

Configure the XFS Filesystem

1. Identify the Disk

Use lsblk to identify the disk and its partition:

lsblk

2. Format the Partition

If the disk is not formatted, initialize it with the XFS filesystem:

sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/nvme0n2p1

3. Create a Mount Point

Create a directory where the filesystem will be mounted:

sudo mkdir /mnt/data

Enable Quotas in /etc/fstab

To enable quotas during boot, edit /etc/fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add an entry for the partition:

UUID=27acffe0-c3d5-43b7-8614-baa5d9ffce60 /mnt/data xfs uquota,gquota 0 0

Find the partition’s UUID using:

blkid

Remount and Verify

Remount all filesystems:

sudo mount -a

Verify the mount options:

mount | grep /mnt/data

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Use Systemd Mount Units for Advanced Configuration

Create the Systemd Unit

Create a custom systemd unit file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mnt-data.mount

Add the following configuration:

[Unit]
Description=Mount XFS filesystem with quotas on /mnt/data
After=local-fs.target

[Mount]
What=/dev/nvme0n2p1
Where=/mnt/data
Type=xfs
Options=defaults,uquota,gquota

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and Start the Unit

Reload systemd and enable the unit:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable mnt-data.mount
sudo systemctl start mnt-data.mount

Verify the status:

sudo systemctl status mnt-data.mount

Check the Mount

Ensure the filesystem is mounted with quotas:

mount | grep /mnt/data

Initialize Quotas

Enable quotas on the XFS filesystem:

sudo xfs_quota -x -c "quota" /mnt/data

Check quota status:

sudo xfs_quota -x -c "report" /mnt/data

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Optional: Set User and Group Quotas

To set quotas for a user:

sudo xfs_quota -x -c "limit bsoft=500m bhard=600m username" /mnt/data

View quota usage:

sudo xfs_quota -x -c "report -h" /mnt/data

Verify Persistence

Reboot the system to confirm the configuration:

sudo reboot

After reboot, verify the mount and quotas:

mount | grep /mnt/data
sudo xfs_quota -x -c "report" /mnt/data

Conclusion

You have successfully configured an XFS filesystem with quotas on Fedora. Whether you use /etc/fstab or systemd, this guide ensures your filesystem is ready to enforce storage limits for users and groups.

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References

• Learn More About XFS Filesystem
• Systemd Documentation

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