Filesystems by name:
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Introduction:
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There's a "FILESYSTEM" manual page ("man fs" as Unix-encrypted) that describes each of the
filesystems available in some recent kernel. It also says how to determine those in your running kernel.
Note that there are filesystems available that do not come with the usual kernels.
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Partial list of Linux filesystems: minix, ext, ext2, xia, msdos, umsdos, vfat,
proc, nfs, iso9660, hpfs, sysv, smb, ncpfs (not all mentioned below).
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proc (at /proc):
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A weird filesystem that is entirely in Kernel memory (maybe not even that). It can be read or written
to determine or set certain Kernel settings.
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lsdev - A program that formats certain info about devices in use.
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AFFS - Amiga Fast File System:
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affs.txt - info and mount options for the Amiga Fast File System.
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AFS - Acer File System:
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Alex: Said to be a mount-an-ftp-connection-as-a-filesystem-thingy (at ftp alex.sp.cs.cmu.edu ?).
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BFS - BeOS FS Read-only & x86-only as of Feb'99.
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CODA:
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CODA Advanced networking filesystem. May be supported in 2.4 kernels.
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Coherent:
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See the "System V" section.
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DEVFS:
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EFS SGI's Extent File System.
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EXTFS: An ancester of ext2fs. Practically obsolete.
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EXT2FS:
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FAT32, FAT-32:
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GFS - Global File System:
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HFS (Mac FS):
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HPFS:
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hpfs.txt - info and mount options for the OS/2 HPFS.
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Joliet:
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MINIX:
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Old, simple fs that is still sometimes used on floppies or where its small overhead is desired.
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Loopback-Root-FS mini-HOWTO (a way to run Linux from files only on a DOS partition)
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NCPFS:
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ncpfs.txt - info on Novell Netware(tm) filesystem using NCP protocol.
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MS-DOS (FAT-16?):
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mtools "a collection of utilities to access MS-DOS disks from Unix without mounting them"
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NTFS:
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QNX4:
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Mailing list: qnxfs-subscribe@rtc-one.net
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reiserfs Advanced, efficient FS with balanced-tree algorithm.
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smbfs.txt - info on using filesystems with the SMB protocol (Win 3.11, Win NT)
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System V:
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UDF Kernel module for the UDF (ISO9660 replacement).
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UMSDOS:
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UMSDOS HOWTO How to install and use the UMSDOS filesystem.
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umsdos.txt - info on the umsdos extensions to the msdos filesystem.
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VFAT:
Misc Subjects:
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Related files:
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/proc/filesystems - View to see which filesystems the running kernel is using.
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/etc/fstab - See the "fstab" and "mount" man pages.
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Commonly Used Programs:
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fsck, fsck.*, e2fskck (=fsck.ext2): - check integrity of an fs.
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mount - Mounts an fs or shows info on those currently mounted.
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umount - Unmounts an fs.
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df - Shows info on certain currently mounted filesystems.
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mkfs, mkfs.*, emkfs (=mkfs.ext2) - Make a filesystem on a formatted "device".
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mformat - Add an M$DOS filesystem to a previously formatted floppy disk. [badly named]
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Formatting Programs (used before creating a filesystem):
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Note: I know of no Linux hard disk formatting program. Modern disks don't need (or don't permit) it.
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fdformat - Formats a floppy disk.
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ftl_format - Creates a formatted Flash Translation Layer partition on a flash memory device.
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Uncommonly Used Programs:
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dumpe2fs - Put out fs info.
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debugfs - ext2 fs debugger.
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e2label - Change the label on an ext2 filesystem.
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usermount - A GUI fs mount program.
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tunefs - Tunes an fs? (I don't have it.)
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Compressed filesystems:
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e2compr "Transparent compression for ext2 filesystem" (kernel-patches)
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e2compr Mirror?
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dmsdos is a loadable kernel module that allows read and write access to
the following compressed FAT-based filesystems:
* Dos 6.0-6.2 and old Win95 doublespace (version 1)
* Dos 6.22 drivespace (version 2)
* Newer Win95 drivespace 3
* Stacker version 3
* Stacker version 4
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Ask Slashdot: Linux and Hard Drive compression
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Copying filesystems:
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There are several methods. AFAIK, these three work, though some versions of "tar" can fail with
filenames longer than 100 or 255 characters or fail with "special" (eg, device) files.
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mkdir dst-dir; cp -ax src-dir dst-dir
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cd from_dir; find | cpio -pd to_dir
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mkdir dst-dir; tar clf - -C src-dir . | tar xvf - -C dst-dir
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Always try to test what you are about to do because it is quite easy to get
the destination directory structure messed up; esp. introducing extra levels or
dumping a whole mess of files into the current directory.
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Cryptographic filesystems:
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Recovery of corrupted filesystems, files, partition tables, and removed files:
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Freshmeat: Filesystems
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Quick autofs Tutorial Jan'98 LG
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Filesystems Great, detailed page By C.Browne
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Large (> 2 GB) Files:
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LVM - Logical Volume Manager "adds an additional layer between the physical peripherals
and the i/o interface in the kernel to get a logical view of disks" (for increased flexibility of disk usage)
Allows you to create LVs (partitions) on the fly and change their size, and they can span disks.
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Linux System V File System Project For Xenix, Coherent, & System V/386;
some experimental stuff for AFS, Unixware, SCO partitions.
Last Modified 07-Apr-1999
End of page.