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.\" -*- nroff -*-
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.TH MKFS 8 "June 2011" "util-linux" "System Administration"
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.SH NAME
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mkfs \- build a Linux filesystem
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B mkfs
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.RI [ options ]
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.RB [ \-t
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.IR "type fs-options" ] " device " [ size ]
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.B mkfs
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is used to build a Linux filesystem on a device, usually
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a hard disk partition. The
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.I device
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argument is either the device name (e.g.
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.IR /dev/hda1 ,
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.IR /dev/sdb2 ),
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or a regular file that shall contain the filesystem. The
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.I size
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argument is the number of blocks to be used for the filesystem.
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.PP
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The exit code returned by
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.B mkfs
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is 0 on success and 1 on failure.
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.PP
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In actuality,
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.B mkfs
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is simply a front-end for the various filesystem builders
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(\fBmkfs.\fIfstype\fR)
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available under Linux.
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The filesystem-specific builder is searched for in a number
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of directories, like perhaps
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.IR /sbin ,
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.IR /sbin/fs ,
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.IR /sbin/fs.d ,
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.IR /etc/fs ,
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.I /etc
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(the precise list is defined at compile time but at least
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contains
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.I /sbin
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and
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.IR /sbin/fs ),
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and finally in the directories
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listed in the PATH environment variable.
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Please see the filesystem-specific builder manual pages for
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further details.
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.BR \-t , " \-\-type " \fItype\fR
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Specify the \fItype\fR of filesystem to be built.
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If not specified, the default filesystem type
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(currently ext2) is used.
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.TP
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.I fs-options
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Filesystem-specific options to be passed to the real filesystem builder.
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Although not guaranteed, the following options are supported
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by most filesystem builders.
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.TP
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.BR \-V , " \-\-verbose"
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Produce verbose output, including all filesystem-specific commands
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that are executed.
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Specifying this option more than once inhibits execution of any
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filesystem-specific commands.
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This is really only useful for testing.
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.TP
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.BR \-V , " \-\-version"
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Display version information and exit. (Option \fB\-V\fR will display
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version information only when it is the only parameter, otherwise it
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will work as \fB\-\-verbose\fR.)
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.TP
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.BR \-h , " \-\-help"
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Display help and exit.
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.SH BUGS
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All generic options must precede and not be combined with
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filesystem-specific options.
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Some filesystem-specific programs do not support the
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.B -V
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(verbose) option, nor return meaningful exit codes.
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Also, some filesystem-specific programs do not automatically
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detect the device size and require the
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.I size
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parameter to be specified.
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.SH AUTHORS
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David Engel (david@ods.com)
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.br
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Fred N. van Kempen (waltje@uwalt.nl.mugnet.org)
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.br
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Ron Sommeling (sommel@sci.kun.nl)
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.br
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The manual page was shamelessly adapted from Remy Card's version
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for the ext2 filesystem.
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.SH SEE ALSO
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.BR fs (5),
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.BR badblocks (8),
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.BR fsck (8),
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.BR mkdosfs (8),
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.BR mke2fs (8),
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.BR mkfs.bfs (8),
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.BR mkfs.ext2 (8),
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.BR mkfs.ext3 (8),
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.BR mkfs.ext4 (8),
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.BR mkfs.minix (8),
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.BR mkfs.msdos (8),
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.BR mkfs.vfat (8),
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.BR mkfs.xfs (8),
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.BR mkfs.xiafs (8)
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.SH AVAILABILITY
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The mkfs command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
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ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
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