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newfs(8) [bsd man page]

NEWFS(8)						      System Manager's Manual							  NEWFS(8)

NAME

       newfs - construct a new file system

SYNOPSIS

       /sbin/newfs [ -N ] [ -m free-gap ] [ -n free-modulus ] [ -i bytes ] [ -s size ] [ -T disk-type ] special

DESCRIPTION

       Newfs is a ``friendly'' front-end to the mkfs(8) program.  Newfs(8) will normally read the disklabel from the drive to determine the parti-
       tion sizes.  If the driver for the disk does not support disklabels the -T option must be used to force a search of /etc/disktab for parti-
       tion  information  about  drive-type.   Newfs  calculates the appropriate parameters to use in calling mkfs, then builds the file system by
       forking mkfs.

       -N causes the mkfs command which would be executed to be printed out without actually creating the file system.	The disk specified by spe-
       cial must be online though so that newfs can read the disklabel.

       -m  allows the specification of the block interleaving of the free list.  If not specified or outside the range 1 thru 32 then a value of 2
       is used.

       -n parameter is the freelist modulus (when the -m pattern repeats) and is calculated by newfs to be 1 cylinder in size by default.

       -i specifies how many bytes per inode to assume when calculating how many inodes to allocate.  The default is 4096  bytes  per  inode.	If
       this  results  in  too  few  inodes  being allocated (there is an absolute maximum of 65500) then decrease the bytes number (which must lie
       between 512 and 65536).

       -T must be used if the disk specified by special has not been labeled with the disklabel(8) program.  In this case  disk-type  is  used	by
       getdisklabel(3) when searching /etc/disktab.  This option is used when the underlying device driver does not support disklabels.  Care must
       be taken that the contents of /etc/disktab match the partition tables in the kernel.

       -s specifies how many sectors the file system is to contain.  There are two sectors per file system block, therefore size should  be  even.
       This  parameter	must  be less than or equal to the partition size (as determined from the disklabel or /etc/disktab).  An error is printed
       and no action is taken if the partition size is 0 or too large.

	    NOTE: Mkfs deals in units of filesystem blocks not sectors.  Newfs uses sectors.

FILES

       /etc/disktab   disk geometry and partition information
       mkfs to actually build the file system

SEE ALSO

       getdisklabel(3), disklabel(8), disktab(5), diskpart(8), fs(5), fsck(8), mkfs(8)

BUGS

       newfs(8) no longer places boot blocks on the filesystem.  That duty has been moved to the disklabel(8) program.	If you must place  a  boot
       block on a disk whose driver does not support disklabels use dd(1).

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					  April 12, 1996							  NEWFS(8)

Check Out this Related Man Page

DISKTAB(5)							File Formats Manual							DISKTAB(5)

NAME

       disktab - disk description file

SYNOPSIS

       #include <disktab.h>

DESCRIPTION

       Disktab	is a simple date base which describes disk geometries and disk partition characteristics.  The format is patterned after the term-
       cap(5) terminal data base.  Entries in disktab consist of a number of `:' separated fields.  The first entry for each disk gives the  names
       which are known for the disk, separated by `|' characters.  The last name given should be a long name fully identifying the disk.

       The following list indicates the normal values stored for each disk entry.

       Name  Type  Description
       ns    num   Number of sectors per track
       nt    num   Number of tracks per cylinder
       nc    num   Total number of cylinders on the disk
       b0    str   Filename of block zero primary bootstrap for device
       ba    num   Block size for partition `a' (bytes)
       bd    num   Block size for partition `d' (bytes)
       be    num   Block size for partition `e' (bytes)
       bf    num   Block size for partition `f' (bytes)
       bg    num   Block size for partition `g' (bytes)
       bh    num   Block size for partition `h' (bytes)
       fa    num   Fragment size for partition `a' (bytes)
       fd    num   Fragment size for partition `d' (bytes)
       fe    num   Fragment size for partition `e' (bytes)
       ff    num   Fragment size for partition `f' (bytes)
       fg    num   Fragment size for partition `g' (bytes)
       fh    num   Fragment size for partition `h' (bytes)
       pa    num   Size of partition `a' in sectors
       pb    num   Size of partition `b' in sectors
       pc    num   Size of partition `c' in sectors
       pd    num   Size of partition `d' in sectors
       pe    num   Size of partition `e' in sectors
       pf    num   Size of partition `f' in sectors
       pg    num   Size of partition `g' in sectors
       ph    num   Size of partition `h' in sectors
       se    num   Sector size in bytes (default 512)
       sf    bool  supports bad144-style bad sector forwarding
       so    bool  partition offsets in sectors
       ty    str   Type of disk (e.g. removable, winchester)

       Disktab entries may be automatically generated with the diskpart program.

FILES

       /etc/disktab

SEE ALSO

       newfs(8), diskpart(8), getdiskbyname(3)

BUGS

       This file shouldn't exist, the information should be stored on each disk pack.

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					   May 17, 1986 							DISKTAB(5)
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