e2fsck

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NAME

       e2fsck - check a Linux second extended file system


SYNOPSIS

       e2fsck  [ -pacnyrdfvtFV ] [ -b superblock ] [ -B blocksize
       ] [ -l|-L bad_blocks_file ] device


DESCRIPTION

       e2fsck is used to check a Linux second extended file  sys-
       tem.

       device is  the  special  file  corresponding to the device
              (e.g /dev/hdXX).


OPTIONS

       -a     This option does the same thing as the  -p  option.
              It is provided for backwards compatibility only; it
              is suggested that people use -p option whever  pos-
              sible.

       -b superblock
              Instead  of  using  the  normal superblock, use the
              alternative superblock specified by superblock.

       -B blocksize
              Normally, e2fsck will search for the superblock  at
              various different block sizes in an attempt to find
              the appropriate block size.   This  search  can  be
              fooled in some cases.  This option forces e2fsck to
              only try locating the superblock  at  a  particular
              blocksize.   If the superblock is not found, e2fsck
              will terminate with a fatal error.

       -c     This option causes e2fsck to run  the  badblocks(8)
              program  to  find  any  blocks which are bad on the
              filesystem, and then marks them as  bad  by  adding
              them to the bad block inode.

       -d     Print  debugging  output  (useless  unless  you are
              debugging e2fsck ).

       -f     Force checking even if the file system seems clean.

       -F     Flush  the filesystem device's buffer caches before
              beginning.  Only really  useful  for  doing  e2fsck
              time trials.

       -l filename
              Add  the  blocks  listed  in  the file specified by
              filename to the list of bad blocks.

       -L filename
              Set the bad blocks list to be the  list  of  blocks
              specified by filename.  (This option is the same as
              the -l  option,  except  the  bad  blocks  list  is
              cleared  before  the  blocks listed in the file are
              added to the bad blocks list.)

       -n     Open the filesystem read-only, and assume an answer
              of  ``no''  to  all questions.  Allows e2fsck to be
              used non-interactively.  (Note: if the -c,  -l,  or
              -L  options  are  specified  in  addition to the -n
              option, then the filesystem will  be  opened  read-
              write, to permit the bad-blocks list to be updated.
              However, no other  changes  will  be  made  to  the
              filesystem.)

       -p     Automatically  repair  ("preen")  the  file  system
              without any questions.

       -r     This option does nothing at  all;  it  is  provided
              only for backwards compatibility.

       -t     Print timing statistics for e2fsck.  If this option
              is used twice,  additional  timing  statistics  are
              printed on a pass by pass basis.

       -v     Verbose mode.

       -V     Print version information and exit.

       -y     Assume  an  answer  of  ``yes''  to  all questions;
              allows e2fsck to be used non-interactively.


EXIT CODE

       The exit code returned by e2fsck is the sum of the follow-
       ing conditions:
            0    - No errors
            1    - File system errors corrected
            2    - File system errors corrected, system should
                   be rebooted if file system was mounted
            4    - File system errors left uncorrected
            8    - Operational error
            16   - Usage or syntax error
            128  - Shared library error


BUGS

       Almost  any piece of software will have bugs.  If you man-
       age to find a filesystem which causes e2fsck to crash,  or
       which  e2fsck is unable to repair, please report it to the
       author.

       Please include as much information as possible in your bug
       report.   Ideally,  include  a  complete transcript of the
       e2fsck run, so I can see exactly what error  messages  are
       displayed.   If  you have a writeable filesystem where the
       transcript can be stored, the script(1) program is a handy
       way to save the output of to a file.
       It is also useful to send the output of dumpe2fs(8).  If a
       specific inode or inodes seems to be giving  e2fsck  trou-
       ble,  try running the debugfs(8) command and send the out-
       put of the stat command run on the relevant inode(s).   If
       the  inode  is  a directory, the debugfs dump command will
       allow you to extract the contents of the directory  inode,
       which  can  sent to me after being first run through uuen-
       code(1).

       Always include the full version string which  e2fsck  dis-
       plays when it is run, so I know which version you are run-
       ning.


AUTHOR

       This  version  of  e2fsck  is  written  by  Theodore  Ts'o
       <tytso@mit.edu>.


SEE ALSO

       mke2fs(8), tune2fs(8), dumpe2fs(8), debugfs(8)
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