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= File System = = File Systems =
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File systems are standards for organizing, maintaining, and accessing data on a disk drive. This will ''not'' be a crosswalk of file systems. '''File systems''' are protocols for the organization of data. Compared to commercial operating systems, Linux is compatible with a large number of file systems.
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You may need to take a step back and look at [[PartitionTablesSetup|creating a partition table first]]. See also [[PartitionTablesSetup|this document]] for creating a partition table.
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== Mounting File Systems == == Setup ==
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---- Devices are referenced as `sdXN`, where `X` is the relevant interface letter and `N` is the relevant partition number.
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=== fstab ===

On a Linux system, `/etc/fstab` informs on what volumes should be mounted and with what options. This configuration file is structured as:

{{{
# <device> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <fsck>
UUID=f9fe0b69-a280-415d-a03a-a32752370dee none swap defaults 0 0
}}}

Spacing between columns is arbitrary. The `<dir>` column is the mount point, while the `<type>` column indicates file system type.

The `<fsck>` column is used by the `fsck` utility, and enables boot-time filesystem checks.
 * `0` disables checks.
 * `1` runs corrections based on checks. This is important for the root device.
 * `2` forces reboot on error.

The `<options>` column can contain any of: `noatime` (do not write access times), `noauto` (do not wait on `fsck`), `nofail` (do not indicate errors if unavailable), and so on.

The `<dump>` column is used by the `dump` utility--if you don't need that utility (and most people don't), set it to `0`.

----



== Creating File systems ==

Henceforward you will see reference to `sdXN`, where you should understand that `X` needs to be replaced with the relevant letter and `N` with the relevant number. You should also understand how to find that relevant letter and number combination, and the risks of finding the incorrect letter or number.

----



=== ext2 ===
=== ext2 and ext3 ===
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----



=== ext3 ===

Seriously. Don't.

----
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If you are creating ext4 file systems, you probably are using Linux. Therefore, let's assume you have the Linux toolset available.

Running as superuser:
Run as superuser:
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----
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The main advantage to FAT32 is it near-universal mount-ability. (Expect issues on a vanilla macOS environment!) The cost of getting that is steep though. Expect much slower performance, greater instability, and incompatibility with standard Linux file metadata. The main advantage to FAT32 is it near-universal mount-ability. (Expect issues on a vanilla macOS environment!) The cost is performance, instability, and incompatibility with standard Linux file metadata.
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On Linux, run as superuser: Run as superuser:
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----
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On Linux you can run as superuser: Run as superuser:
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----



== Usage ==

A file system is used by mounting it as a disk.



=== mount ===

To manually mount a volume, try:

{{{
mount /dev/sdXN /mnt/DIR
}}}

You may need to specify the file system type, using the `--types FSTYPE` option.

If you run into persistent errors, try `fsck /dev/sdXN` to check for file system errors.



=== udisksctl ===

'''udisksctl''' wraps the `udisks` utility to aids in mounting devices.

Run `udisksctl status` to see an overview of all devices. A volume can be mounted or unmounted using `udiscksctl mount -b /dev/sdXN` and `udiscksctl unmount -b /dev/sdXN`,



=== fstab ===

The standard way to mount disks on startup is the '''fstab''' file. See [[Linux/fstab|here]] for details.

File Systems

File systems are protocols for the organization of data. Compared to commercial operating systems, Linux is compatible with a large number of file systems.

See also this document for creating a partition table.


Setup

Devices are referenced as sdXN, where X is the relevant interface letter and N is the relevant partition number.

ext2 and ext3

Don't.

ext4

Run as superuser:

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdXN

Consider disabling access time on secondary and storage drives. Setting this metadata isn't always helpful and carries a speed cost.

# <device>                                <dir> <type> <options>        <dump> <fsck>
/dev/sdXN                                 /var  ext4   defaults,noatime 0      0

FAT32

The main advantage to FAT32 is it near-universal mount-ability. (Expect issues on a vanilla macOS environment!) The cost is performance, instability, and incompatibility with standard Linux file metadata.

Run as superuser:

mkfs.vfat /dev/sdXN

MS-DOS

Run as superuser:

mkdosfs /dev/sdXN

But you should also know that mkdosfs is a symlink to mkfs.vfat.


Usage

A file system is used by mounting it as a disk.

mount

To manually mount a volume, try:

mount /dev/sdXN /mnt/DIR

You may need to specify the file system type, using the --types FSTYPE option.

If you run into persistent errors, try fsck /dev/sdXN to check for file system errors.

udisksctl

udisksctl wraps the udisks utility to aids in mounting devices.

Run udisksctl status to see an overview of all devices. A volume can be mounted or unmounted using udiscksctl mount -b /dev/sdXN and udiscksctl unmount -b /dev/sdXN,

fstab

The standard way to mount disks on startup is the fstab file. See here for details.


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Linux/FileSystems (last edited 2023-07-19 15:07:39 by DominicRicottone)