====== Swap Files ======

**General Information**

Swap can be increased by resizing partitions, adding new partitions formatted as swap, or by creating swap files. Swap files are useful if you need to utilize existing volumes and cannot resize the swap partition.

**Checklist**
  * Distro(s): Any

----

===== Create a Swap File with DD =====

Create a block file called "swapfile" in /home/ that is 1GB.

<code bash>
dd if=/dev/zero of=/home/swapfile bs=1024 count=1048576
</code>

Explanation:
  * bs: write 1024 bytes at a time (or 1K)
  * count: 1024K * 1024K = 1048576K (or 1GB)

===== Format the File =====

<code bash>
mkswap /home/swapfile
</code> 

===== Enable the Swap =====

<code bash>
swapon /home/swapfile
</code>

===== Verify Swap is Used =====

<code bash>
swapon -s

Filename				Type		Size	Used	Priority
/dev/mapper/vgroot-lvswap               partition	4194300	124872	-1
/home/swapfile                          file		1048572	0	-2
</code>

===== Enable this Swap File After a Reboot =====

Edit /etc/fstab and add:
<code bash>
/home/swapfile    none    swap   sw    0    0
</code>