Btrfs On Debian - The Architect Way

You install a system. You give it a new life.
The way you do it - affects its lifetime.
Some decisions are expensive to reverse. Some are flexible.

Btrfs. Debian.
Single root. Multiple subvolumes.

Mounting. Bootstrapping. Partitioning. Copying.
Black magic. Wizardry.

Not because of missing capabilities.
Because of the integrated uncertainty.

Install Debian with its installer - the Architect way.

Architecture is not what the system is today.
It is how difficult it will be to change tomorrow.

Expert Install

The Netinstall ISO provides everything required.
You don't have to operate in a live environment.
You don't wander the uncertain.

Boot the Debian installer -> Choose the Advanced options -> Go for the Expert install.

The Expert install exposes you to more options.

Configure the system as you want.

Partitioning

An important decision. A structural change that cannot be easily reversed later.

Use swap or do not use it?
Encrypt with LUKS or do not encrypt?
Swap partition or a file?

You decide early.
You live with it the rest of the time.

Swap

Memory strain is a headache.
Changing the architecture after installation isn't impossible - it's uncomfortable.

Server machines rarely require hibernation - swap files usually provide enough flexibility.
Swap files keep your system flexible - Btrfs can handle them with subvolumes.

Workstations and notebooks can benefit from hibernation to disk.
Power consumption is reduced to almost zero while idle.

A traditional swap partition makes it fast and well-structured.

LUKS & LVM

Encryption isn't a question for a secure architecture.
The decision must be done early.

Without LUKS the swap partition and the Btrfs can be created - next to each other.

The Debian installer creates a single encrypted LUKS device.
If you want both a traditional swap partition and a Btrfs filesystem inside that encrypted space, LVM provides the necessary abstraction.

If it's swap, there is no place for the rest.
If it's Btrfs, there is no traditional swap.

This is the reason LUKS & swap partition require LVM.
The newly introduced layer gives maximum flexibility.

The swap must be encrypted.

  [Disk]
    |
    |--------------|
    |              |
[EFI|GRUB]       [LUKS]
                   |
                   |
                [LVM VG]
                   |
                   |--------------|
                   |              |
                   |              |
               [LV swap]     [LV Btrfs]

Subvolumes

Your decision about system partitions is crucial.
With Btrfs subvolumes it can happen after the installation.

It can change.
You can modify it later.

You can create and use subvolumes for:

/var/lib
/var/log
/home
/tmp

Or any system path/mount you need.

Final Whisper

A secure architecture requires predictability.
The standard installer preserves that predictability.
You introduce structure and clarity to the system.

Btrfs is flexible enough to manage the rest after the installation.

Your responsibility as an architect is to ensure the structure.
To ensure the stability.

Simplicity is not the absence of structure.
Simplicity is structure without ambiguity.

DeadSwitch | The Silent Architect

[ Fear the Silence. Fear the Switch. ]