From 4346f675bf8ba03c620e9964436cf58eec606e9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Theodore Ts'o Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 21:35:03 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] misc: add text describing the impact of an inode size < 128 bytes in man pages Addresses-Debian-Bug: #953493 Addresses-Debian-Bug: #953494 Addresses-Debian-Bug: #951808 Signed-off-by: Theodore Ts'o --- misc/mke2fs.8.in | 11 ++++------- misc/tune2fs.8.in | 8 +++++++- 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/misc/mke2fs.8.in b/misc/mke2fs.8.in index 5bcee25..e6bfc6d 100644 --- a/misc/mke2fs.8.in +++ b/misc/mke2fs.8.in @@ -484,13 +484,10 @@ space in the filesystem and can also negatively impact performance. It is not possible to change this value after the filesystem is created. .IP -In kernels after 2.6.10 and some -earlier vendor kernels it is possible to utilize inodes larger than -128 bytes to store -extended attributes for improved performance. -Extended attributes -stored in large inodes are not visible with older kernels, and such -filesystems will not be mountable with 2.4 kernels at all. +File systems with an inode size of 128 bytes do not support timestamps +beyond January 19, 2038. Inodes which are 256 bytes or larger will +support extended timestamps, project id's, and the ability to store some +extended attributes in the inode table for improved performance. .IP The default inode size is controlled by the .BR mke2fs.conf (5) diff --git a/misc/tune2fs.8.in b/misc/tune2fs.8.in index 74eebb6..3cf1f5e 100644 --- a/misc/tune2fs.8.in +++ b/misc/tune2fs.8.in @@ -299,7 +299,13 @@ consistency first using .BR e2fsck (8). This operation can also take a while and the file system can be corrupted and data lost if it is interrupted while in the middle of -converting the file system. +converting the file system. Backing up the file system before changing +inode size is recommended. +.IP +File systems with an inode size of 128 bytes do not support timestamps +beyond January 19, 2038. Inodes which are 256 bytes or larger will +support extended timestamps, project id's, and the ability to store some +extended attributes in the inode table for improved performance. .TP .B \-j Add an ext3 journal to the filesystem. If the -- 1.8.3.1