2 .\" Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995 by Theodore Ts'o. All Rights Reserved.
3 .\" This file may be copied under the terms of the GNU Public License.
5 .TH E2FSCK 8 "@E2FSPROGS_MONTH@ @E2FSPROGS_YEAR@" "E2fsprogs version @E2FSPROGS_VERSION@"
7 e2fsck \- check a Linux second extended file system
31 @JDEV@.I external-journal
40 is used to check a Linux second extended file system (e2fs). E2fsck also
41 supports ext2 filesystems countaining a journal, which are
42 also sometimes known as ext3 filesystems.
45 is the device file where the filesystem is stored (e.g.
50 This option does the same thing as the
52 option. It is provided for backwards compatibility only; it is
53 suggested that people use
55 option whenever possible.
58 Instead of using the normal superblock, use an alternative superblock
61 This option is normally used when the primary superblock has been
62 corrupted. The location of the backup superblock is dependent on the
63 filesystem's blocksize. For filesystems with 1k blocksizes, a backup
64 superblock can be found at block 8193; for filesystems with 2k
65 blocksizes, at block 16384; and for 4k blocksizes, at block 32768.
67 Additional backup superblocks can be determined by using the
71 option to print out where the superblocks were created. The
75 which specifies blocksize of the filesystem must be specified in order
76 for the superblock locations that are printed out to be accurate.
78 If an alternative superblock is specified and
79 the filesystem is not opened read-only, e2fsck will make sure that the
80 primary superblock is updated appropriately upon completion of the
86 will search for the superblock at various different
87 block sizes in an attempt to find the appropriate block size.
88 This search can be fooled in some cases. This option forces
90 to only try locating the superblock at a particular blocksize.
91 If the superblock is not found,
93 will terminate with a fatal error.
100 program to find any blocks which are bad on the filesystem,
101 and then marks them as bad by adding them to the bad block inode.
102 If this option is specified twice, then the bad block scan will be done
103 using a non-destructive read-write test.
108 to write completion information to the specified file descriptor
109 so that the progress of the filesystem
110 check can be monitored. This option is typically used by programs
113 If the file descriptor specified is 0,
115 will print a completion bar as it goes about its business. This requires
116 that e2fsck is running on a video console or terminal.
119 Print debugging output (useless unless you are debugging
123 Optimize directories in filesystem. This option causes e2fsck to
124 try to optimize all directories, either by reindexing them if the
125 filesystem supports directory indexing, or by sorting and compressing
126 directories for smaller directories, or for filesystems using
127 traditional linear directories.
129 .BI \-E " extended_options"
130 Set e2fsck extended options. Extended options are comma
131 separated, and may take an argument using the equals ('=') sign. The
132 following options are supported:
135 .BI ea_ver= extended_attribute_version
136 Assume the format of the extended attribute blocks in the filesystem is
137 the specified version number. The version number may be 1 or 2. The
138 default extended attribute version format is 2.
142 Force checking even if the file system seems clean.
145 Flush the filesystem device's buffer caches before beginning. Only
146 really useful for doing
150 @JDEV@.BI \-j " external-journal"
151 @JDEV@Set the pathname where the external-journal for this filesystem can be
155 Add the block numbers listed in the file specified by
157 to the list of bad blocks. The format of this file is the same as the
160 program. Note that the block numbers are based on the blocksize
161 of the filesystem. Hence,
163 must be given the blocksize of the filesystem in order to obtain correct
164 results. As a result, it is much simpler and safer to use the
168 since it will assure that the correct parameters are passed to the
173 Set the bad blocks list to be the list of blocks specified by
175 (This option is the same as the
177 option, except the bad blocks list is cleared before the blocks listed
178 in the file are added to the bad blocks list.)
181 Open the filesystem read-only, and assume an answer of `no' to all
184 to be used non-interactively. (Note: if the
189 options are specified in addition to the
191 option, then the filesystem will be opened read-write, to permit the
192 bad-blocks list to be updated. However, no other changes will be made
196 Automatically repair ("preen") the file system without any questions.
199 This option does nothing at all; it is provided only for backwards
203 This option will byte-swap the filesystem so that it is using the normalized,
204 standard byte-order (which is i386 or little endian). If the filesystem is
205 already in the standard byte-order,
210 This option will byte-swap the filesystem, regardless of its current
214 Print timing statistics for
216 If this option is used twice, additional timing statistics are printed
217 on a pass by pass basis.
223 Print version information and exit.
226 Assume an answer of `yes' to all questions; allows
228 to be used non-interactively.
230 The exit code returned by
232 is the sum of the following conditions:
236 \ 1\ \-\ File system errors corrected
238 \ 2\ \-\ File system errors corrected, system should
242 \ 4\ \-\ File system errors left uncorrected
244 \ 8\ \-\ Operational error
246 \ 16\ \-\ Usage or syntax error
248 \ 32\ \-\ E2fsck canceled by user request
250 \ 128\ \-\ Shared library error
253 The following signals have the following effect when sent to
259 to start displaying a completion bar. (See discussion of the
266 to stop displaying a completion bar.
268 Almost any piece of software will have bugs. If you manage to find a
269 filesystem which causes
273 is unable to repair, please report it to the author.
275 Please include as much information as possible in your bug report.
276 Ideally, include a complete transcript of the
278 run, so I can see exactly what error messages are displayed. If you
279 have a writeable filesystem where the transcript can be stored, the
281 program is a handy way to save the output of
285 It is also useful to send the output of
287 If a specific inode or inodes seems to be giving
289 trouble, try running the
291 command and send the output of the
293 command run on the relevant inode(s). If the inode is a directory, the
296 command will allow you to extract the contents of the directory inode,
297 which can sent to me after being first run through
300 Always include the full version string which
302 displays when it is run, so I know which version you are running.
306 was written by Theodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>.