[TUTORIAL] FdiskBatch - Automatically Fdisk 1,000+ Disks at one time for ZFS pools

[mikeinnyc]

I figured since I have been doing this insanity many times over I'd help others out that have to fdisk multiple disks in order to create ZFS pools.
Just list the disks you want to delete all partitions (Not the OS disks please) and paste in the code section - disks=(/dev/sdi /dev/sdj) where /sdi is one of your disks etc.

1. Multipath must be disabled by either commenting out the wwids or just emptying the file and saving. Whatever works for you. Just make sure you back up everything before you wipe the wwids or comment out.
2. #cd /etc/multipath/
3. #nano wwids
4. requires #apt-get install parted
5. #lsblk (list the correct disks and not the os)
6. To store this script, save it as /usr/local/bin/fdiskscript.sh or /opt/scripts/fdiskscript.sh just use nano
7. #cd /usr/local/bin/
8. #nano fdiskscript.sh
9. To make it executable, run: #chmod +x /usr/local/bin/fdiskscript.sh
10. #cd /usr/local/bin/
11. #./fdiskscript.sh
12. In the above image, I already tested this so no partitions are remaining in all the disks I listed
13. Go create some zfs pools - your disks will show up ... hopefully
14. Don't blame me for destroying your disks. I do it often and as much as possible.
    
15. test a few disks but not the os disks
16. Hope this helps someone

#!/bin/bash

# Display warning message
echo -e "\e[1;31mWarning: This script will delete all data on the following disks:\e[0m"
disks=(
/dev/sdi
/dev/sdj
/dev/sdk
/dev/sdl
/dev/sdm
/dev/sdr
/dev/sdn
/dev/sdp
/dev/sdo
/dev/sds
/dev/sdq
/dev/sdt
/dev/sdu
/dev/sdv
/dev/sdw
/dev/sdx
/dev/sdy
/dev/sdz
/dev/sdaa
/dev/sdab
/dev/sdac
/dev/sdad
/dev/sdae
/dev/sdaf
/dev/sdag
/dev/sdah
/dev/sdai
/dev/sdaj
/dev/sdak
/dev/sdal
/dev/sdam
/dev/sdan
/dev/sdao
/dev/sdap
/dev/sdaq
/dev/sdar
/dev/sdas
/dev/sdat
/dev/sdau
/dev/sdav
/dev/sdaw
/dev/sdax
/dev/sday
/dev/sdaz
/dev/sdba
/dev/sdbb
/dev/sdbc
/dev/sdbd
/dev/sdbe
/dev/sdbf
/dev/sdbg
/dev/sdbh
/dev/sdbi
/dev/sdbj
/dev/sdbk
/dev/sdbl
/dev/sdbm
/dev/sdbn
/dev/sdbo
/dev/sdbp
/dev/sdbq
/dev/sdbr
/dev/sdbs
/dev/sdbt
/dev/sdbu
/dev/sdbv
/dev/sdbw
/dev/sdbx
/dev/sdby
/dev/sdbz
/dev/sdca
/dev/sdcb
/dev/sdcc
/dev/sdcd
/dev/sdce
/dev/sdcf
/dev/sdcg
/dev/sdch
/dev/sdci
/dev/sdcj
/dev/sdck
/dev/sdcl
/dev/sdcm
/dev/sdcn
)
for (( i=0; i<${#disks[@]}; i+=4 ))
do
echo -e "\e[1;31m${disks[$i]}\t${disks[$i+1]}\t${disks[$i+2]}\t${disks[$i+3]}\e[0m"
done

# Prompt user to confirm
read -p "Do you wish to proceed? (y/n) " confirm
case ${confirm:0:1} in
    y|Y )
        # Delete partitions and write changes
        for i in "${disks[@]}"; do
            echo "Deleting partitions on $i ..."
            for (( j=1; j<=4; j++ )); do
                echo -e "d\n$j\n" | fdisk $i
            done
            echo -e "w\n" | fdisk "$i"
            echo "Writing changes to $i ..."
            partprobe "$i"
        done
        echo -e "\e[1;33mPlease check now and make sure you have no disks partitions left. You can do this by #lsblk. If you see any leftover partitions like partition 1, then delete your zpool.# zpool destroy -f tank. Then run this again!\e[0m"
        ;;
    * )
        echo "Aborting."
        exit 1
        ;;
esac

 

[mikeinnyc]

in this loop, j represents the partition number that is being deleted. Since most disks have a maximum of 4 partitions, the loop runs from j=1 to j=4 to delete all four partitions. I had 9 before and this was insane. you can change it or just rerun this if needed

 

[LnxBil]

in this loop, j represents the partition number that is being deleted. Since most disks have a maximum of 4 partitions, the loop runs from j=1 to j=4 to delete all four partitions. I had 9 before and this was insane. you can change it or just rerun this if needed

Yes ... better to create a new table (msdos or gpt) and therefore deleting EVERYTHING.