4.3BSD - /usr/man/cat8/dcheck.0

DCHECK(8)                                                            DCHECK(8)


NAME
       dcheck - file system directory consistency check

SYNOPSIS
       /etc/dcheck [ -i numbers ] [ filesystem ]

DESCRIPTION
       N.B.: Dcheck is obsoleted for normal consistency checking by fsck(8).

       Dcheck  reads  the  directories in a file system and compares the link-
       count in each i-node with the number of directory entries by  which  it
       is  referenced.   If the file system is not specified, a set of default
       file systems is checked.

       The -i flag is followed by a list of i-numbers; when one  of  those  i-
       numbers turns up in a directory, the number, the i-number of the direc‐
       tory, and the name of the entry are reported.

       The program is fastest if the raw version of the special file is  used,
       since the i-list is read in large chunks.

FILES
       Default file systems vary with installation.

SEE ALSO
       fsck(8), icheck(8), fs(5), clri(8), ncheck(8)

DIAGNOSTICS
       When  a file turns up for which the link-count and the number of direc‐
       tory entries disagree, the  relevant  facts  are  reported.   Allocated
       files which have 0 link-count and no entries are also listed.  The only
       dangerous situation occurs when there are more entries than  links;  if
       entries  are  removed,  so  the  link-count  drops  to 0, the remaining
       entries point to thin air.  They should be  removed.   When  there  are
       more  links  than  entries,  or there is an allocated file with neither
       links nor entries, some disk space may be lost but the  situation  will
       not degenerate.

BUGS
       Since  dcheck  is inherently two-pass in nature, extraneous diagnostics
       may be produced if applied to active file systems.

       Dcheck is obsoleted by fsck and remains for historical reasons.


4th Berkeley Distribution       April 27, 1985                       DCHECK(8)