mkswap command on Linux (creates swap) [Basic Guide]

The mkswap command on Linux prepares the device to be used as a virtual memory area (swap).

The device argument will generally be a disk partition (something like /dev/sdb7), but it can also be a file.

It’s not exactly necessary for the partition to be of type Swap – Type 82 on fdisk – but it’s good if the partition is of type 82.

After creating the swap disk with the mkswap command, it is necessary to activate it with the “swapon” command and put it in /etc/fstab so that the partition is used as a swap after the system restarts.

Example of use:

# mkswap /dev/sdb1 
mkswap: /dev/sdb1: warning: wiping old swap signature. 

Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 2097148 KiB
no label, uuid=a873901e-5b33-4c78-84f5-e9eeadd9fba3

Once created, the swap partition can be activated:

# swapon NAME TYPE SIZE USED PRIO /dev/dm-1 partition 2G 256K -1

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Uirá Endy Ribeiro

Uirá Endy Ribeiro is a Software Developer and Cloud Computing Architect with a 23-year career. He has master's degrees in computer science and fifteen IT certifications and is the author of 11 books recognized in the IT world market. He is also Director at Universidade Salgado de Oliveira and Director of the Linux Professional Institute - LPI Director's Board.