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 ext2/ext3 file system
31 @JDEV@.I external-journal
40 is used to check a Linux second extended file system (ext2fs).
43 supports ext2 filesystems containing a journal, which are
44 also sometimes known as ext3 filesystems, by first applying the journal
45 to the filesystem before continuing with normal
47 processing. After the journal has been applied, a filesystem will
48 normally be marked as clean. Hence, for ext3 filesystems,
50 will normally run the journal and exit, unless its superblock
51 indicates that further checking is required.
54 is the device file where the filesystem is stored (e.g.
57 Note that in general it is not safe to run
59 on mounted filesystems. The only exception is if the
61 option is specified, and
68 specified. However, even if it is safe to do so, the results printed by
70 are not valid if the filesystem is mounted. If
72 asks whether or not you should check a filesystem which is mounted,
73 the only correct answer is ``no''. Only experts who really know what
74 they are doing should consider answering this question in any other way.
78 This option does the same thing as the
80 option. It is provided for backwards compatibility only; it is
81 suggested that people use
83 option whenever possible.
86 Instead of using the normal superblock, use an alternative superblock
89 This option is normally used when the primary superblock has been
90 corrupted. The location of the backup superblock is dependent on the
91 filesystem's blocksize. For filesystems with 1k blocksizes, a backup
92 superblock can be found at block 8193; for filesystems with 2k
93 blocksizes, at block 16384; and for 4k blocksizes, at block 32768.
95 Additional backup superblocks can be determined by using the
99 option to print out where the superblocks were created. The
103 which specifies blocksize of the filesystem must be specified in order
104 for the superblock locations that are printed out to be accurate.
106 If an alternative superblock is specified and
107 the filesystem is not opened read-only, e2fsck will make sure that the
108 primary superblock is updated appropriately upon completion of the
114 will search for the superblock at various different
115 block sizes in an attempt to find the appropriate block size.
116 This search can be fooled in some cases. This option forces
118 to only try locating the superblock at a particular blocksize.
119 If the superblock is not found,
121 will terminate with a fatal error.
128 program to find any blocks which are bad on the filesystem,
129 and then marks them as bad by adding them to the bad block inode.
130 If this option is specified twice, then the bad block scan will be done
131 using a non-destructive read-write test.
136 to write completion information to the specified file descriptor
137 so that the progress of the filesystem
138 check can be monitored. This option is typically used by programs
141 If the file descriptor specified is 0,
143 will print a completion bar as it goes about its business. This requires
144 that e2fsck is running on a video console or terminal.
147 Print debugging output (useless unless you are debugging
151 Optimize directories in filesystem. This option causes e2fsck to
152 try to optimize all directories, either by reindexing them if the
153 filesystem supports directory indexing, or by sorting and compressing
154 directories for smaller directories, or for filesystems using
155 traditional linear directories.
157 .BI \-E " extended_options"
158 Set e2fsck extended options. Extended options are comma
159 separated, and may take an argument using the equals ('=') sign. The
160 following options are supported:
163 .BI ea_ver= extended_attribute_version
164 Assume the format of the extended attribute blocks in the filesystem is
165 the specified version number. The version number may be 1 or 2. The
166 default extended attribute version format is 2.
170 Force checking even if the file system seems clean.
173 Flush the filesystem device's buffer caches before beginning. Only
174 really useful for doing
178 @JDEV@.BI \-j " external-journal"
179 @JDEV@Set the pathname where the external-journal for this filesystem can be
183 When combined with the
185 option, any existing bad blocks in the bad blocks list are preserved,
186 and any new bad blocks found by running
188 will be added to the existing bad blocks list.
191 Add the block numbers listed in the file specified by
193 to the list of bad blocks. The format of this file is the same as the
196 program. Note that the block numbers are based on the blocksize
197 of the filesystem. Hence,
199 must be given the blocksize of the filesystem in order to obtain correct
200 results. As a result, it is much simpler and safer to use the
204 since it will assure that the correct parameters are passed to the
209 Set the bad blocks list to be the list of blocks specified by
211 (This option is the same as the
213 option, except the bad blocks list is cleared before the blocks listed
214 in the file are added to the bad blocks list.)
217 Open the filesystem read-only, and assume an answer of `no' to all
220 to be used non-interactively. (Note: if the
225 options are specified in addition to the
227 option, then the filesystem will be opened read-write, to permit the
228 bad-blocks list to be updated. However, no other changes will be made
232 Automatically repair ("preen") the file system without any questions.
235 This option does nothing at all; it is provided only for backwards
239 This option will byte-swap the filesystem so that it is using the normalized,
240 standard byte-order (which is i386 or little endian). If the filesystem is
241 already in the standard byte-order,
246 This option will byte-swap the filesystem, regardless of its current
250 Print timing statistics for
252 If this option is used twice, additional timing statistics are printed
253 on a pass by pass basis.
259 Print version information and exit.
262 Assume an answer of `yes' to all questions; allows
264 to be used non-interactively.
266 The exit code returned by
268 is the sum of the following conditions:
272 \ 1\ \-\ File system errors corrected
274 \ 2\ \-\ File system errors corrected, system should
278 \ 4\ \-\ File system errors left uncorrected
280 \ 8\ \-\ Operational error
282 \ 16\ \-\ Usage or syntax error
284 \ 32\ \-\ E2fsck canceled by user request
286 \ 128\ \-\ Shared library error
289 The following signals have the following effect when sent to
295 to start displaying a completion bar. (See discussion of the
302 to stop displaying a completion bar.
304 Almost any piece of software will have bugs. If you manage to find a
305 filesystem which causes
309 is unable to repair, please report it to the author.
311 Please include as much information as possible in your bug report.
312 Ideally, include a complete transcript of the
314 run, so I can see exactly what error messages are displayed. (Make sure
315 the messages printed by
317 are in English; if your system has been
320 messages have been translated into another language, please set the the
322 environment variable to
324 so that the transcript of e2fsck's output will be useful to me.)
326 have a writable filesystem where the transcript can be stored, the
328 program is a handy way to save the output of
332 It is also useful to send the output of
334 If a specific inode or inodes seems to be giving
336 trouble, try running the
338 command and send the output of the
340 command run on the relevant inode(s). If the inode is a directory, the
343 command will allow you to extract the contents of the directory inode,
344 which can sent to me after being first run through
346 The most useful data you can send to help reproduce
347 the bug is a compressed raw image dump of the filesyste, generated using
351 man page for more details.
353 Always include the full version string which
355 displays when it is run, so I know which version you are running.
359 was written by Theodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>.