How to configure software RAID1 during installation process on Debian
As an example I will configure RAID1 for the root file-system and swap space using two storage devices, without any additional spare devices.
Step 1
Perform normal installation process up to the disk partitioning menu.
Step 2
Select manual partitioning method in the disk partitioning menu.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4NfuRqHIRkSYZ_p0SqROEZJ0bwOkx3H-k1uii1U9tOR2hjRP9zLmTm9cOjMjObl-Cc_Ra4QJ_BcTvoflkWWLl_2Xhoty2oewvrd6FTeAlu7WdnlC5rEhss7tUUoZB2hHbAo8TnOOpc-IpDXYZ8mRB0wU73hcAtENODGpSkbKiBW0fBd_oianL_LuMw/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Step 3
Create empty partition table on each disk used to create RAID1 array.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3j7I9lypKQJFT3Lqk5Qu64KWAtzZVPbXWgXTspTE9AmTyG_YtXX_HGm4P-Ny86TmkraBXXqZa8TH2kQcpv2PoSPhCJvGrXKGFcf8_dAgy1BmXKe5yWtOgN5RmFHQqcTeLe0wytcR0OB-yO44mZOBq2x7QJG8Tqhf64TOKb7zsu8GHoVzXAysVdJvKQ/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Step 4
Create partitions on the first disk.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RqdAce_b4d4GpsIgAt7FswjEKFfo4gR3kxQ35LYU70e7VE-hjn6X_mqLH2-uLhYSQ7r_0wAWx1kDjmy_8aHJ4ZiWKQUYMjL8VPaYjpT7XudoOqEMYoD4pn5iqCwJSfdPAWpcGb3xLvcdFvzS5D_wK1gI0SYD_sFmS231hN71xKA1a7duuLmeNgIgRg/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
During partition creation process select physical volume for RAID as partition type.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMwNvMdFD08-_xubE0Hv01tTO_-Y7rmCp9qd6lio4nggZJWs-vKWzhtoaXX7qfvscy0FHbM24ZGcwdK13uVCgDd43aBtMG-uxRu9WsSaw1sDeDDWi8Z2ayFlqW1aWNI9he4olssgZmvup-rcxtYldKfE9x0vk_Dl2EImZXrI2TAGjznHishrXu2Zyu3Q/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Replicate changes in the same way to the second disk.
Step 5
Execute configure software RAID option.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54J8ZaFbf-v8QUxrh0cPb9xx-29FotNbYwTGjcpvJFKvcYT4QP28nbo5KMymaGNKo8aVEFax2VsNRlUVIFw3G-tCV_k--HrEop0oNgjI42zsIlA9FDAeGia6y6xR9tIVhS19fIQxk7m_eC0DYRxKG2-ki9xpE33F6vVaKD52K2Ln8dv6NuXroOvzaqQ/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
You will be asked to store changes applied to the partition tables – do it so partitions created in the previous step can be used to create RAID arrays.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmG0LKT1oocmhaMRBJ9kXN3zzj3y7nZLXD9wdqQQjVzdulVVRm-92olc4gHTrg2AuiFA6IeZIcNsGJ3apmni1m9BZufh8FVLNMNpzLmQxsGyjs5AlYLmM3Fi4M6Id95dWlgc-6AcfFFOICRsUCm6A9-TkKF3suw0NisL4VeLA98qv18bjJAkmbxWnVg/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Create new MD device for identical partitions on recently configured disks.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVo70Z8DlgtYfLtSDMX4B6rvzXhHoEG3n7VbGU6eioRLTnk0VolrUttJ9k4ljpQxZT1RmgmW6G1sijmDoBsruCK5R8ELsh4Kt5xZc6gz1KEa76yucR0AN9JmbJQchXw_W4R7ODmzpOfT-c-mZ6sv7Jog33yn1GK0tU7i5jd_wAudhp1Yk8hCuQNNpFew/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Choose RAID1 as device type.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OQ-CuScsaylLaLjLpjSaL8NemLtoTYTVSQQtGvSbc8q1S8m1s3xLW1XVIkNSxOtkMrs-OpWYSW3tJ8PHivefdr1dvPgAxS6qH1Cc6iIsf0ar4-FTnxCrfBGt65GovdF8C8ql70MknxexXWmRcPe4cyrRwYUq0ERh_ZxWtgGAXaqzAlWM7PTxWSCBXw/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Select 2 as the number of active devices for the RAID1 array.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5wDuIyQNVbBFf6wfNkz4c_IPiXF79LGGii_K06HkAIMcHxx8ojWjAXDxQ3P8GXzlFiJF6WI7fPjz_r4odknis1uB0ubBgcwYK-lmT2hTvFN5e775oQs9UgF5aBEz33Ang3eT3Cr7e0Sbmuj9fJcczH20w4w0vTPU9RfAaDjkHooVkrx2moyMVlUl3MA/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Select 0 as the number of spare devices.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wyKM0BIyE0GQ89u0bK4Y3-yYyzmdZIBWgxBXhYAStzyf-nu39Yn-3e2TERfZQV9A-_OEycaFv3BzkLqMl0eYILqH4irpDmugy23ISha3z709R6nFhU9nUjnlDM40r-6Z2jDv9SMQDE0YCiVYwxmPkMSoiKbtma0CZ_cwrdrjdXQvj6MkSkhhxCf_kw/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Select identical partitions on recently configured disks (eg. md0 → [sda1, sdb1] and md1 → [sda2,sdb2]).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQe0koP0pxvspOKhe0KpqR35_VqMrKSkSHzB7j1ShKPxsa1_Zf8IdfnLcWs0PwFPORriQn-iT7gkCDh-vc-Eqr03wvghfQiIshiPKrCu4DSF5eUdduztlEBQJxcJXg13xHLw5tZMwvXAV7e4NTC8yD0Iydlp6Qg4qvtjaXRAVdXHa5q5qZ_TtldVwpyg/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Step 6
Create root file-system on the first RAID1 device.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOQgXLFJmwS45fWtS37jEwr6kL0VLWuPoUgH6xT7XLm8wJ6FLdRc-kXDB8X3u2LtUiMKwhzV8eMab3qr7IIP_sYV7LNzKyeWTAPVmQEJLrK2rN-fyVM4qzOhMRxVmxvoowf86LwIlwA-rUJulqOESWfNIIpEZIRc7oZ3pbk7NLLlalsaxRj1r-vSzsQ/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Create swap space on the second RAID1 device.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoHViSK96kWsWfcdRRD1r_RbC5snKV5syhujAXuUFmzMG5zkuPHiNcK6U_wbKgbKmpgZhuHDtIGCHDHkswmJsv4l0fWMKPKZuaQtbMJxkcKYdufjFGMOhMiv9PjgjjgiP4pNmjwNt2lemiqaqsRymv6Qtds8jxxZQbYgN04uJotMOIvg1OH4IIMSq_Q/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Select finish partitioning and write changes to disk option to confirm changes applied to the RAID1 devices.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9tBjhtnna2v70fNzKMofTr7uCha8QwsrIa587HhXC3mzgcxdY77LeBhyuogFjrYIqG6Oh9InDS4wvR_p5PniqTTj5feoNd_2gRZw1JPSYMlcaGuKFC-lhgh8QXxAeNp3WMKCuZo1gNLdmEkoCWte7_Di1QR5bm2RLq3jRDqZCPjZfPEKWJKCoJGdCA/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
Step 7
Continue installation process up to the install the grub boot loader on a hard disk menu.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cWorQMFi4KsYlreu-ONaE9WAEsek2J42Wh6RNtSbtOb0XSBR1DtrvFmb2Ys82YRfMyt10cmOcl_m0IqQy7aS-8I4e2WhVTp9uNqZDxUxVGD1hvufHugZwC7SvpafeZ-_DSzog7KXRxs8tzZsePmOzQC5OBfdwnOmYNK5jREFzhvLz_jaMSLAJIkkFQ/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
By default grub will be installed only on the first disk so switch to the second (ALT + F2) or third (ALT + F3) console before system reboot, and execute the following commands to install it on the second disk.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYIKOJTbVbtPnUFp3zG2DgMCF2Or5ms_lSYYUSfGIGZXnFlJW0ep7vzppQ3RJFM-R02WSEVISVJI72ifM9lGhS9aLCI1o3Du6BlCsgWSeGPOZ-D2jrhhld2bBkK-H-GAK-i737Vyw58KTZ2D98VYCr8M6u5LzUi3dFXyJONfauNcBKKIfm4QL1SDxu_g/w640-h480/Epson%20Scanner.png)
# chroot /target /bin/bash # grub-install /dev/sdb
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