[thirdparty/util-linux.git] / disk-utils / mkfs.8

.TH MKFS 8 "June 2011" "util-linux" "System Administration"
.SH NAME
mkfs \- build a Linux filesystem
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mkfs
[options]
.RB [ \-t
.IR type "] [" fs-options ] " device " [ size ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B This mkfs frontend is deprecated in favour of filesystem specific mkfs.<type> utils.
.PP
.B mkfs
is used to build a Linux filesystem on a device, usually
a hard disk partition.  The
.I device
argument is either the device name (e.g.
.IR /dev/hda1 ,
.IR /dev/sdb2 ),
or a regular file that shall contain the filesystem.  The
.I size
argument is the number of blocks to be used for the filesystem.
.PP
The exit code returned by
.B mkfs
is 0 on success and 1 on failure.
.PP
In actuality,
.B mkfs
is simply a front-end for the various filesystem builders
(\fBmkfs.\fIfstype\fR)
available under Linux.
The filesystem-specific builder is searched for via your PATH
environment setting only.
Please see the filesystem-specific builder manual pages for
further details.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.BR \-t , " \-\-type " \fItype\fR
Specify the \fItype\fR of filesystem to be built.
If not specified, the default filesystem type
(currently ext2) is used.
.TP
.I fs-options
Filesystem-specific options to be passed to the real filesystem builder.
.TP
.BR \-V , " \-\-verbose"
Produce verbose output, including all filesystem-specific commands
that are executed.
Specifying this option more than once inhibits execution of any
filesystem-specific commands.
This is really only useful for testing.
.TP
.BR \-V , " \-\-version"
Display version information and exit.  (Option \fB\-V\fR will display
version information only when it is the only parameter, otherwise it
will work as \fB\-\-verbose\fR.)
.TP
.BR \-h , " \-\-help"
Display help text and exit.
.SH BUGS
All generic options must precede and not be combined with
filesystem-specific options.
Some filesystem-specific programs do not automatically
detect the device size and require the
.I size
parameter to be specified.
.SH AUTHORS
David Engel (david@ods.com)
.br
Fred N.\& van Kempen (waltje@uwalt.nl.mugnet.org)
.br
Ron Sommeling (sommel@sci.kun.nl)
.br
The manual page was shamelessly adapted from Remy Card's version
for the ext2 filesystem.
.SH SEE ALSO
.na
.BR fs (5),
.BR badblocks (8),
.BR fsck (8),
.BR mkdosfs (8),
.BR mke2fs (8),
.BR mkfs.bfs (8),
.BR mkfs.ext2 (8),
.BR mkfs.ext3 (8),
.BR mkfs.ext4 (8),
.BR mkfs.minix (8),
.BR mkfs.msdos (8),
.BR mkfs.vfat (8),
.BR mkfs.xfs (8)
.ad
.SH AVAILABILITY
The mkfs command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
Commit	Line	Data
	1	.TH MKFS 8 "June 2011" "util-linux" "System Administration"
	2	.SH NAME
	3	mkfs \- build a Linux filesystem
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	.B mkfs
	6	[options]
	7	.RB [ \-t
	8	.IR type "] [" fs-options ] " device " [ size ]
	9	.SH DESCRIPTION
	10	.B This mkfs frontend is deprecated in favour of filesystem specific mkfs.<type> utils.
	11	.PP
	12	.B mkfs
	13	is used to build a Linux filesystem on a device, usually
	14	a hard disk partition. The
	15	.I device
	16	argument is either the device name (e.g.
	17	.IR /dev/hda1 ,
	18	.IR /dev/sdb2 ),
	19	or a regular file that shall contain the filesystem. The
	20	.I size
	21	argument is the number of blocks to be used for the filesystem.
	22	.PP
	23	The exit code returned by
	24	.B mkfs
	25	is 0 on success and 1 on failure.
	26	.PP
	27	In actuality,
	28	.B mkfs
	29	is simply a front-end for the various filesystem builders
	30	(\fBmkfs.\fIfstype\fR)
	31	available under Linux.
	32	The filesystem-specific builder is searched for via your PATH
	33	environment setting only.
	34	Please see the filesystem-specific builder manual pages for
	35	further details.
	36	.SH OPTIONS
	37	.TP
	38	.BR \-t , " \-\-type " \fItype\fR
	39	Specify the \fItype\fR of filesystem to be built.
	40	If not specified, the default filesystem type
	41	(currently ext2) is used.
	42	.TP
	43	.I fs-options
	44	Filesystem-specific options to be passed to the real filesystem builder.
	45	.TP
	46	.BR \-V , " \-\-verbose"
	47	Produce verbose output, including all filesystem-specific commands
	48	that are executed.
	49	Specifying this option more than once inhibits execution of any
	50	filesystem-specific commands.
	51	This is really only useful for testing.
	52	.TP
	53	.BR \-V , " \-\-version"
	54	Display version information and exit. (Option \fB\-V\fR will display
	55	version information only when it is the only parameter, otherwise it
	56	will work as \fB\-\-verbose\fR.)
	57	.TP
	58	.BR \-h , " \-\-help"
	59	Display help text and exit.
	60	.SH BUGS
	61	All generic options must precede and not be combined with
	62	filesystem-specific options.
	63	Some filesystem-specific programs do not automatically
	64	detect the device size and require the
	65	.I size
	66	parameter to be specified.
	67	.SH AUTHORS
	68	David Engel (david@ods.com)
	69	.br
	70	Fred N.\& van Kempen (waltje@uwalt.nl.mugnet.org)
	71	.br
	72	Ron Sommeling (sommel@sci.kun.nl)
	73	.br
	74	The manual page was shamelessly adapted from Remy Card's version
	75	for the ext2 filesystem.
	76	.SH SEE ALSO
	77	.na
	78	.BR fs (5),
	79	.BR badblocks (8),
	80	.BR fsck (8),
	81	.BR mkdosfs (8),
	82	.BR mke2fs (8),
	83	.BR mkfs.bfs (8),
	84	.BR mkfs.ext2 (8),
	85	.BR mkfs.ext3 (8),
	86	.BR mkfs.ext4 (8),
	87	.BR mkfs.minix (8),
	88	.BR mkfs.msdos (8),
	89	.BR mkfs.vfat (8),
	90	.BR mkfs.xfs (8)
	91	.ad
	92	.SH AVAILABILITY
	93	The mkfs command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
	94	https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.