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) BSD File Formats Manual DISKTAB(5)NAME
disktab -- disk description file
SYNOPSIS
#include <disktab.h>
DESCRIPTION
disktab is a simple database which describes disk geometries and disk partition characteristics. It is used to initialize the disk label on
the disk. The format is patterned after the termcap(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
ty str Type of disk (e.g. removable, winchester)
dt str Type of controller (e.g. SMD, ESDI, floppy)
ns num Number of sectors per track
nt num Number of tracks per cylinder
nc num Total number of cylinders on the disk
sc num Number of sectors per cylinder, ns*nt default
su num Number of sectors per unit, sc*nc default
se num Sector size in bytes, DEV_BSIZE default
sf bool Controller supports bad144-style bad sector forwarding
rm num Rotation speed, rpm, 3600 default
sk num Sector skew per track, default 0
cs num Sector skew per cylinder, default 0
hs num Headswitch time, usec, default 0
ts num One-cylinder seek time, usec, default 0
il num Sector interleave (n:1), 1 default
d[0-4] num Drive-type-dependent parameters
bs num Boot block size, default BBSIZE
sb num Superblock size, default SBSIZE
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)
oa num Offset of partition `a' in sectors
ob num Offset of partition `b' in sectors
oc num Offset of partition `c' in sectors
od num Offset of partition `d' in sectors
oe num Offset of partition `e' in sectors
of num Offset of partition `f' in sectors
og num Offset of partition `g' in sectors
oh num Offset of partition `h' in sectors
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
ta str Partition type of partition `a' (4.2BSD filesystem, swap, etc)
tb str Partition type of partition `b'
tc str Partition type of partition `c'
td str Partition type of partition `d'
te str Partition type of partition `e'
tf str Partition type of partition `f'
tg str Partition type of partition `g'
th str Partition type of partition `h'
FILES
/etc/disktab
SEE ALSO getdiskbyname(3), disklabel(5), disklabel(8), newfs(8)HISTORY
The disktab description file appeared in 4.2BSD.
BSD June 5, 1993 BSD