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

MKFS(8)                                                                MKFS(8)


NAME
       mkfs - construct a file system

SYNOPSIS
       /etc/mkfs  [  -N ] special size [ nsect [ ntrack [ blksize [ fragsize [
       ncpg [ minfree [ rps [ nbpi [ opt ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

DESCRIPTION
       N.B.: file system are normally created with the newfs(8) command.

       Mkfs constructs a file system by writing on the  special  file  special
       unless  the -N flag has been specified.  The numeric size specifies the
       number of sectors in the file system.  Mkfs builds a file system with a
       root directory and a lost+found directory.  (see fsck(8)) The number of
       i-nodes is calculated as a function of the file system size.   No  boot
       program is initialized by mkfs (see newfs(8).)

       The  optional  arguments allow fine tune control over the parameters of
       the file system.  Nsect specify the number of sectors per track on  the
       disk.   Ntrack  specify  the number of tracks per cylinder on the disk.
       Blksize gives the primary block size for files on the file system.   It
       must be a power of two, currently selected from 4096 or 8192.  Fragsize
       gives the fragment size for files on the  file  system.   The  fragsize
       represents  the smallest amount of disk space that will be allocated to
       a file.  It must be a power of two currently selected  from  the  range
       512  to 8192.  Ncpg specifies the number of disk cylinders per cylinder
       group.  This number must be in the range 1 to  32.   Minfree  specifies
       the  minimum percentage of free disk space allowed.  Once the file sys‐
       tem capacity reaches this threshold, only the super-user is allowed  to
       allocate  disk  blocks.   The default value is 10%.  If a disk does not
       revolve at 60 revolutions per second, the rps parameter may  be  speci‐
       fied.   If a file system will have more or less than the average number
       of files the nbpi (number of bytes  per  inode)  can  be  specified  to
       increase  or  decrease the number of inodes that are created.  Space or
       time optimization preference can be specified with opt values of  ‘‘s’’
       for space or ‘‘t’’ for time.  Users with special demands for their file
       systems are referred to the paper cited below for a discussion  of  the
       tradeoffs in using different configurations.

SEE ALSO
       fs(5), dir(5), fsck(8), newfs(8), tunefs(8)

       M.  McKusick,  W.  Joy,  S. Leffler, R. Fabry, ‘‘A Fast File System for
       UNIX’’, ACM Transactions on Computer Systems 2, 3.  pp 181-197,  August
       1984.  (reprinted in the System Manager’s Manual, SMM:14)

BUGS
       There should be some way to specify bad blocks.


4th Berkeley Distribution        May 21, 1986                          MKFS(8)