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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Linux SSD TRIM support in 2023 (self.linux)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by ChunkMcHorkle to c/[email protected]

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This might be a really stupid noob question, but I am looking to move to Linux from Windows/Mac, and am about to install an SSD into my very old test machine for Linux distros.

You might have seen my recent post asking for recommends: it has the hardware specs of my test box, and I've updated it with the list of distros I intend to try.

My test box still has a working HDD in it, so no action is required immediately.

But my question is: once I decide on a distro and start moving machines over to Linux, what kind of manual care do I have to put in to maintain my SSD drives, if any?

For each box with a SSD drive and Linux as the OS, do I need to do TRIM manually, do I need to turn it on for a "set and forget" type scenario, or are recent and regularly upgraded distros able to spot a SSD and do the necessary without my intervention?

I guess what I'm really asking is: is SSD TRIM support pretty much standard now across distros, or is it something I need to investigate individually for each distro I install?

I recognize I may just need to ask this again once I settle on a distro, but since I'm trying so many -- and may fully install more than one -- I thought I'd get a jump on it.

EDITED TO ADD: Many thanks to all who took the time to answer. Now I know exactly what to read up on, and if necessary, look up how to do manually for whatever distro(s) I settle on. I -really- appreciate the help. Thank you!

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Trim support is standard. Any kernel released in the past 15 years or so will have trim support built in. So that's not something you should worry about.

How trimming is triggered is another matter, and is distro dependent. On Arch and Debian at least there is a weekly systemd timer that runs the fstrim command on all trimmable filesystems. You can check it if's enabled with: systemctl list-unit-files fstrim.timer. I can't tell how other distributions handle that. On Debian derived ones, I imagine it's similar, on something like Slackware, which is systemd-less and more hands-off in its approach, you may have to schedule fstrim yourself, or run it manually occasionally.

There is also the discard mount option that you can add in /etc/fstab, which enables automatic synchronous trimming every time blocks are deleted, but its use is discouraged because it carries a performance penalty.

Hope that answers your question.

[–] ChunkMcHorkle 9 points 1 year ago

Yes, this helps tremendously. Thank you so much for taking the time to write out not just the info, but all the terminal instructions for this noob. Much appreciated!