Set Bootable Partition Command Line

Question

How to I set the bootable partition using the command line in parted?

Ideally I would like a numbered list so I can select which partition to boot from easily.

How to set a partition flag is explained in the manual and should be a trivial task... You can't have numbered lists when you set a flag but you can always print the device layout (which is a numbered list) and inspect it before setting any flags. — don_crissti, Feb 08 '17 at 12:24

score 41 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 08 '17 at 16:30

I use fdisk. before to apply this I recommend to work with a live CD or USB and back up your data.

First check if any bootable partition is present like in my system wich "/dev/sda1" is the bootable partition :

fdisk -l /dev/sda                                                      

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00003256

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1    *       2048   959991807   479994880   83  Linux
/dev/sda2       959993854   976766975     8386561    5  Extended
/dev/sda5       959993856   976766975     8386560   82  Linux swap / Solaris

If there is not any boot partition do like this with root login :

fdisk  /dev/sda
Command (m for help): m

Command action
   a   toggle a bootable flag
   b   edit bsd disklabel
   c   toggle the dos compatibility flag
   d   delete a partition
   l   list known partition types
   m   print this menu
   n   add a new partition
   o   create a new empty DOS partition table
   p   print the partition table
   q   quit without saving changes
   s   create a new empty Sun disklabel
   t   change a partition's system id
   u   change display/entry units
   v   verify the partition table
   w   write table to disk and exit
   x   extra functionality (experts only)

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-5):

You've to type 1 if you want to make bootable the partition 1 or and following 2 if you want to make bootable the second partition etc...

and aply the modification with "w" like this

Command (m for help): w

For modify the table of your disk and make the desired partition bootable.

In hoping that help

fdisk appears to not have bootable flag option any longer ... on archlinux install attempt on 20190712 — Scott Stensland, Jul 13 '19 at 14:20
With fdisk I created the System EFI partition and it automatically had the bootable flag with GPT which I could see with parted1, even though I could not set it manually any more. Possibly choosing the correct partition type is sufficient. — mateuszb, Mar 08 '20 at 13:34

score 32 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 07 '17 at 08:33

32

With the print command you ge the partition number (first column). Let us say it is 1. To make it bootable:

(parted) set 1 boot on

answered Nov 07 '17 at 08:33

robert

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Worth noting that you can do this in the GUI very easily; right click the partition you want, flags, click boot. – Owen Versteeg Mar 27 '18 at 03:28
4

@robert, Thank you for the right answer to the question! – Ashfaq Jun 14 '19 at 08:33
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Interactionless one-liner form: parted /dev/sdX set 1 boot on. Prints: Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab. – cbugk Dec 30 '22 at 13:41
what do you mean by print command? just print? parted print? – João Pimentel Ferreira May 24 '23 at 07:23

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 15 '19 at 02:38

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OS X https://qwiek.wordpress.com/ "fdisk" then flag 1 to make first partition bootable.

answered Jan 15 '19 at 02:38

rogerdpack

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The question cannot be about OS X, as it is about Linux ! – Quidam Apr 27 '20 at 11:38
BSD is unix? :) – rogerdpack May 16 '20 at 02:08

Set Bootable Partition Command Line

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