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  66 It has been completely superseded by the second version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 .B ext2
  78 offers the best performance (in terms of speed and CPU usage) of
  79 the filesystems supported under Linux.
  80 .RB See " ext2 " (5).
  81 .TP
  82 .B ext3
  83 is a journaling version of the
  84 .B ext2
  85 filesystem.
  86 It is easy to
  87 switch back and forth between
  88 .BR ext2 " and " ext3 .
  89 .RB See " ext3 " (5).
  90 .TP
  91 .B ext4
  92 is a set of upgrades to
  93 .B ext3
  94 including substantial performance and
  95 reliability enhancements,
  96 plus large increases in volume, file, and directory size limits.
  97 .RB See " ext4 " (5).
  98 .TP
  99 .B Reiserfs
 100 is a journaling filesystem, designed by Hans Reiser,
 101 that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.1.
 102 .TP
 103 .B XFS
 104 is a journaling filesystem, developed by SGI,
 105 that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.20.
 106 .TP
 107 .B JFS
 108 is a journaling filesystem, developed by IBM,
 109 that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.24.
 110 .TP
 111 .B xiafs
 112 was designed and implemented to be a stable, safe filesystem by
 113 extending the Minix filesystem code.
 114 It provides the basic most
 115 requested features without undue complexity.
 116 The
 117 .B xiafs
 118 filesystem is no longer actively developed or maintained.
 119 It was removed from the kernel in 2.1.21.
 120 .TP
 121 .B msdos
 122 is the filesystem used by DOS, Windows, and some OS/2 computers.
 123 .B msdos
 124 filenames can be no longer than 8 characters, followed by an
 125 optional period and 3 character extension.
 126 .TP
 127 .B umsdos
 128 is an extended DOS filesystem used by Linux.
 129 It adds capability for
 130 long filenames, UID/GID, POSIX permissions, and special files
 131 (devices, named pipes, etc.)  under the DOS filesystem, without
 132 sacrificing compatibility with DOS.
 133 .TP
 134 .B vfat
 135 is an extended DOS filesystem used by Microsoft Windows95 and Windows NT.
 136 .B vfat
 137 adds the capability to use long filenames under the MSDOS filesystem.
 138 .TP
 139 .B ntfs
 140 replaces Microsoft Window's FAT filesystems (VFAT, FAT32).
 141 It has reliability, performance, and space-utilization enhancements
 142 plus features like ACLs, journaling, encryption, and so on.
 143 .TP
 144 .B proc
 145 is a pseudo filesystem which is used as an interface to kernel data
 146 structures rather than reading and interpreting
 147 .IR /dev/kmem .
 148 In particular, its files do not take disk space.
 149 See
 150 .BR proc (5).
 151 .TP
 152 .B iso9660
 153 is a CD-ROM filesystem type conforming to the ISO 9660 standard.
 154 .RS
 155 .TP
 156 .B "High Sierra"
 157 Linux supports High Sierra, the precursor to the ISO 9660 standard for
 158 CD-ROM filesystems.
 159 It is automatically recognized within the
 160 .B iso9660
 161 filesystem support under Linux.
 162 .TP
 163 .B "Rock Ridge"
 164 Linux also supports the System Use Sharing Protocol records specified
 165 by the Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol.
 166 They are used to further describe the files in the
 167 .B iso9660
 168 filesystem to a UNIX host, and provide information such as long
 169 filenames, UID/GID, POSIX permissions, and devices.
 170 It is automatically recognized within the
 171 .B iso9660
 172 filesystem support under Linux.
 173 .RE
 174 .TP
 175 .B hpfs
 176 is the High Performance Filesystem, used in OS/2.
 177 This filesystem is
 178 read-only under Linux due to the lack of available documentation.
 179 .TP
 180 .B sysv
 181 is an implementation of the SystemV/Coherent filesystem for Linux.
 182 It implements all of Xenix FS, SystemV/386 FS, and Coherent FS.
 183 .TP
 184 .B nfs
 185 is the network filesystem used to access disks located on remote computers.
 186 .TP
 187 .B smb
 188 is a network filesystem that supports the SMB protocol, used by
 189 Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, and Lan Manager.
 190 .sp
 191 To use
 192 .B smb
 193 fs, you need a special mount program, which can be found in the ksmbfs
 194 package, found at
 195 .UR ftp://sunsite.unc.edu\:/pub\:/Linux\:/system\:/Filesystems\:/smbfs
 196 .UE .
 197 .TP
 198 .B ncpfs
 199 is a network filesystem that supports the NCP protocol, used by
 200 Novell NetWare.
 201 .sp
 202 To use
 203 .BR ncpfs ,
 204 you need special programs, which can be found at
 205 .UR ftp://linux01.gwdg.de\:/pub\:/ncpfs
 206 .UE .
 207 .SH SEE ALSO
 208 .BR ext2 (5),
 209 .BR ext3 (5),
 210 .BR ext4 (5),
 211 .BR proc (5),
 212 .BR fsck (8),
 213 .BR mkfs (8),
 214 .BR mount (8)