man5/filesystems.5

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  24 .\" 2007-12-14 mtk Added Reiserfs, XFS, JFS.
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  26 .TH FILESYSTEMS 5 2014-01-15 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
  27 .nh
  28 .SH NAME
  29 filesystems \- Linux filesystem types: minix, ext, ext2, ext3, ext4, Reiserfs,
  30 XFS, JFS, xiafs, msdos,
  31 umsdos, vfat, ntfs, proc, nfs, iso9660, hpfs, sysv, smb, ncpfs
  32 .SH DESCRIPTION
  33 When, as is customary, the
  34 .B proc
  35 filesystem is mounted on
  36 .IR /proc ,
  37 you can find in the file
  38 .I /proc/filesystems
  39 which filesystems your kernel currently supports;
  40 see
  41 .BR proc (5)
  42 for more details.
  43 If you need a currently unsupported filesystem, insert the corresponding
  44 module or recompile the kernel.
  45
  46 In order to use a filesystem, you have to
  47 .I mount
  48 it; see
  49 .BR mount (8).
  50
  51 Below a short description of the available or historically available
  52 filesystems in Linux kernel. See kernel documentation for a comprehensive
  53 description of all options and limitations.
  54 .TP 10
  55 .B minix
  56 is the filesystem used in the Minix operating system, the first to run
  57 under Linux.
  58 It has a number of shortcomings, including a 64MB partition size
  59 limit, short filenames, and a single timestamp.
  60 It remains useful for floppies and RAM disks.
  61 .TP
  62 .B ext
  63 is an elaborate extension of the
  64 .B minix
  65 filesystem.
  66 It has been completely superseded by the second version
  67 of the extended filesystem
  68 .RB ( ext2 )
  69 and has been removed from the kernel (in 2.1.21).
  70 .TP
  71 .B ext2
  72 is the high performance disk filesystem used by Linux for fixed disks
  73 as well as removable media.
  74 The second extended filesystem was designed as an extension of the
  75 extended filesystem
  76 .RB ( ext ).
  77 .RB See " ext2 " (5).
  78 .TP
  79 .B ext3
  80 is a journaling version of the
  81 .B ext2
  82 filesystem.
  83 It is easy to
  84 switch back and forth between
  85 .BR ext2 " and " ext3 .
  86 .RB See " ext3 " (5).
  87 .TP
  88 .B ext4
  89 is a set of upgrades to
  90 .B ext3
  91 including substantial performance and
  92 reliability enhancements,
  93 plus large increases in volume, file, and directory size limits.
  94 .RB See " ext4 " (5).
  95 .TP
  96 .B Reiserfs
  97 is a journaling filesystem, designed by Hans Reiser,
  98 that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.1.
  99 .TP
 100 .B XFS
 101 is a journaling filesystem, developed by SGI,
 102 that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.20.
 103 .TP
 104 .B JFS
 105 is a journaling filesystem, developed by IBM,
 106 that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.24.
 107 .TP
 108 .B xiafs
 109 was designed and implemented to be a stable, safe filesystem by
 110 extending the Minix filesystem code.
 111 It provides the basic most
 112 requested features without undue complexity.
 113 The
 114 .B xiafs
 115 filesystem is no longer actively developed or maintained.
 116 It was removed from the kernel in 2.1.21.
 117 .TP
 118 .B msdos
 119 is the filesystem used by DOS, Windows, and some OS/2 computers.
 120 .B msdos
 121 filenames can be no longer than 8 characters, followed by an
 122 optional period and 3 character extension.
 123 .TP
 124 .B umsdos
 125 is an extended DOS filesystem used by Linux.
 126 It adds capability for
 127 long filenames, UID/GID, POSIX permissions, and special files
 128 (devices, named pipes, etc.)  under the DOS filesystem, without
 129 sacrificing compatibility with DOS.
 130 .TP
 131 .B vfat
 132 is an extended DOS filesystem used by Microsoft Windows95 and Windows NT.
 133 .B vfat
 134 adds the capability to use long filenames under the MSDOS filesystem.
 135 .TP
 136 .B ntfs
 137 replaces Microsoft Window's FAT filesystems (VFAT, FAT32).
 138 It has reliability, performance, and space-utilization enhancements
 139 plus features like ACLs, journaling, encryption, and so on.
 140 .TP
 141 .B proc
 142 is a pseudo filesystem which is used as an interface to kernel data
 143 structures rather than reading and interpreting
 144 .IR /dev/kmem .
 145 In particular, its files do not take disk space.
 146 See
 147 .BR proc (5).
 148 .TP
 149 .B iso9660
 150 is a CD-ROM filesystem type conforming to the ISO 9660 standard.
 151 .RS
 152 .TP
 153 .B "High Sierra"
 154 Linux supports High Sierra, the precursor to the ISO 9660 standard for
 155 CD-ROM filesystems.
 156 It is automatically recognized within the
 157 .B iso9660
 158 filesystem support under Linux.
 159 .TP
 160 .B "Rock Ridge"
 161 Linux also supports the System Use Sharing Protocol records specified
 162 by the Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol.
 163 They are used to further describe the files in the
 164 .B iso9660
 165 filesystem to a UNIX host, and provide information such as long
 166 filenames, UID/GID, POSIX permissions, and devices.
 167 It is automatically recognized within the
 168 .B iso9660
 169 filesystem support under Linux.
 170 .RE
 171 .TP
 172 .B hpfs
 173 is the High Performance Filesystem, used in OS/2.
 174 This filesystem is
 175 read-only under Linux due to the lack of available documentation.
 176 .TP
 177 .B sysv
 178 is an implementation of the SystemV/Coherent filesystem for Linux.
 179 It implements all of Xenix FS, SystemV/386 FS, and Coherent FS.
 180 .TP
 181 .B nfs
 182 is the network filesystem used to access disks located on remote computers.
 183 .TP
 184 .B smb
 185 is a network filesystem that supports the SMB protocol, used by
 186 Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, and Lan Manager.
 187 .sp
 188 To use
 189 .B smb
 190 fs, you need a special mount program, which can be found in the ksmbfs
 191 package, found at
 192 .UR ftp://sunsite.unc.edu\:/pub\:/Linux\:/system\:/Filesystems\:/smbfs
 193 .UE .
 194 .TP
 195 .B ncpfs
 196 is a network filesystem that supports the NCP protocol, used by
 197 Novell NetWare.
 198 .sp
 199 To use
 200 .BR ncpfs ,
 201 you need special programs, which can be found at
 202 .UR ftp://linux01.gwdg.de\:/pub\:/ncpfs
 203 .UE .
 204 .SH SEE ALSO
 205 .BR ext2 (5),
 206 .BR ext3 (5),
 207 .BR ext4 (5),
 208 .BR proc (5),
 209 .BR fsck (8),
 210 .BR mkfs (8),
 211 .BR mount (8)