e2fsprogs (sometimes called the e2fs programs) is a set of utilities for maintaining the
ext2
ext2, or second extended file system, is a file system for the Linux kernel (operating system), kernel. It was initially designed by French software developer Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system (ext). Having been designed ...
,
ext3
ext3, or third extended filesystem, is a journaling file system, journaled file system that is commonly used with the Linux kernel. It used to be the default file system for many popular Linux distributions but generally has been supplanted by ...
and
ext4
ext4 (fourth extended filesystem) is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3.
ext4 was initially a series of backward-compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for ...
file systems. Since those file systems are often the default for
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...
s, it is commonly considered to be essential software.
List of utilities
Included with e2fsprogs, ordered by
ASCIIbetical order, are:
;
badblocks
: search a device for bad blocks
;
blkid
: locate/print block device attributes
;
chattr
is the command in Linux that allows a user to set certain attributes of a file. is the command that displays the attributes of a file.
Most BSD-like systems, including macOS, have always had an analogous command to set the attributes, but ...
: change file attributes on a Linux file system
;
debugfs
: used to manually view or modify internal structures of the file system
;
dumpe2fs
: prints superblock and block group information.
;
e2freefrag
: report free space fragmentation information
;
e2fsck
: an
fsck
The system utility fsck (''file system check'') is a tool for checking the consistency of a file system in Unix and Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the L ...
program that checks for and corrects inconsistencies
;
e2image
: save critical ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem metadata to a file
;
e2label
: change the label on an ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem
;
e2scrub
: check a filesystem "online" (i.e. without having to unmount it) in the case where the filesystem is on an
LVM LV
;
e2undo
: replay an undo log for an ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem
;
e4defrag
: online defragmenter for ext4 filesystems
;
filefrag
: report file fragmentation
;
findfs
: find a filesystem by label or UUID
;
findsuper
: quick hacked up program to find ext2 superblocks
;
logsave
: save the output of a command in a logfile
;
lsattr
: list file attributes on a Linux second extended file system
;
mke2fs
: used for creating ext2, ext3 and ext4 file systems
;
resize2fs
: which can expand and shrink ext2, ext3 and
ext4
ext4 (fourth extended filesystem) is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3.
ext4 was initially a series of backward-compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for ...
file systems. On-line support was added in 2006.
;
tune2fs
: used to modify file system parameters
Many of these utilities are based on the
libext2fs
library.
Usage
Despite what its name might suggest, e2fsprogs works not only with ext2, but also with ext3 and ext4. Although ext3's
journaling capability can reduce the need to use
e2fsck
, it is sometimes still necessary to help protect against kernel bugs or bad hardware.
As the
userspace
A modern computer operating system usually uses virtual memory to provide separate address spaces or regions of a single address space, called user space and kernel space. This separation primarily provides memory protection and hardware prote ...
companion for the ext2, ext3, and ext4 drivers in the
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a Free and open-source software, free and open source Unix-like kernel (operating system), kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide. The kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and was soon adopted as the k ...
, the e2fsprogs are most commonly used with
Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
. However, they have been ported to other systems, such as
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free-software Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). The first version was released in 1993 developed from 386BSD, one of the first fully functional and free Unix clones on affordable ...
and
Darwin.
See also
*
mkfs
*
dd — convert and copy a file
*
fdisk
fdisk is a command-line utility for disk partitioning. It has been part of DOS, DR FlexOS, IBM OS/2, and early versions of Microsoft Windows, as well as certain ports of FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, DragonFly BSD and macOS for compatibilit ...
— examine and write partition table
*
fsck
The system utility fsck (''file system check'') is a tool for checking the consistency of a file system in Unix and Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the L ...
— file system check
*
mkisofs — make an iso file system
*
mount
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
— mount a file system
*
parted
GNU Parted (from ''GNU Project, GNU partition editor'') is a Free software, free partition editor, used for creating and deleting Partition (computing), partitions. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganising hard di ...
— partition manager
References
External links
* {{sourceforge, e2fsprogs
e2fsprogs git repository
Free software programmed in C
Linux file system-related software
Unix file system-related software