Disk layout
The partitions and BTRFS subvolumes the installer creates, and why each one exists.
Partitions
| Partition | Label | Size | Holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| EFI system partition | SAKURA_ESP | 1 GiB | The boot loader and kernel images |
| System | SAKURA_ROOT | The rest | A BTRFS file system labeled SAKURA, optionally inside LUKS encryption |
When installing beside another system, SakuraOS reuses that system's existing EFI system partition, which needs 180 MB free, and creates only the system partition. See Check the EFI system partition.
The EFI system partition is larger than the usual few hundred megabytes
because each unified kernel image contains a whole initramfs, and there are
two of them: the normal one and recovery. It is mounted at /boot
with fmask=0077,dmask=0077, so only root can read it.
Subvolumes
| Subvolume | Mounted at | Why it is separate |
|---|---|---|
@ | / | The system. This is what restore points capture and what going back replaces. |
@home | /home | Your files. Never part of a restore point, so going back never changes them. |
@log | /var/log | Logs survive going back, so the record of what went wrong is still there afterwards. |
@pkg | /var/cache/pacman/pkg | Downloaded packages. Large and not worth capturing in restore points. |
@snapshots | /.snapshots | The restore points themselves. |
Encryption
With encryption, the system partition is a LUKS2 container, opened as
cryptroot at start-up, with the BTRFS file system inside it. The
EFI system partition is not encrypted, because the firmware has to read it.
Both the normal and the recovery kernel image carry the settings needed to
unlock it, so recovery works on an encrypted disk too.
Last checked against the SakuraOS release of 3 October 2026. If your system behaves differently from this page, the page is wrong: please report it.