mkfs(1M)                                                  System Administration Commands                                                  mkfs(1M)

NAME

       mkfs - construct a file system

SYNOPSIS

       mkfs [-F FSType] [generic_options] [-o FSType-specific_options] raw_device_file [operands]

DESCRIPTION

       The mkfs utility constructs a file system on the raw_device_file by calling the specific mkfs module indicated by  -F FSType.

       Note: ufs file systems are normally created with the newfs(1M) command.

       generic_options  are  independent  of file system type. FSType-specific_options is a comma-separated  list of  keyword=value pairs (with no
       intervening spaces), which are FSType-specific. raw_device_file specifies the disk partition on which to  write  the  file  system.  It  is
       required  and   must be the first argument following the  specific_options (if any). operands are  FSType-specific. See the FSType-specific
       manual page of  mkfs (for example,  mkfs_ufs(1M)) for a detailed description.

OPTIONS

       The following are the generic options for mkfs:

       -F       Specify the  FSType to be constructed. If  -F is not specified, the  FSType  is  determined  from   /etc/vfstab  by  matching  the
                raw_device_file with a  vfstab entry, or by consulting the  /etc/default/fs file.

       -V       Echo  the  complete command line, but do not execute the command. The command line is generated by using the options and arguments
                provided and adding to them information derived from  /etc/vfstab or  /etc/default/fs. This option may be used to verify and vali-
                date the command line.

       -m       Return the command line which was used to create the file system. The file system must already exist. This option provides a means
                of determining the command used in constructing the file system.

       -o       Specify  FSType-specific options. See the manual page for the  mkfs module specific to the file system type.

USAGE

       See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of mkfs when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2**31 bytes).

FILES

       /etc/default/fs         Default file system type. Default values can be set for  the  following  flags  in  /etc/default/fs.  For  example:
                               LOCAL=ufs

                               LOCAL    The default partition for a command if no FSType is specified.

       /etc/vfstab             List of default parameters for each file system

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE         |      ATTRIBUTE VALUE        |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability                 |SUNWcsu                      |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       mkfs_ufs(1M), newfs(1M), vfstab(4), attributes(5), largefile(5)

       Manual pages for the  FSType-specific modules of  mkfs.

NOTES

       This command might not be supported for all FSTypes.

       You  can use lofiadm to create a file that appears to a mkfs command as a raw device. You can then use a mkfs command to create a file sys-
       tem on that device. See lofiadm(1M) for examples of creating a UFS and a PC (FAT) file system (using mkfs_ufs(1M) and mkfs_pcfs(1M))  on  a
       device created by lofiadm.

SunOS 5.10                                                          17 Nov 2000                                                           mkfs(1M)