Linux File System Management Tools

The Linux fsck command analyzes the specified filesystem and performs repairs as required. For example, if you have problems in your Linux machine with files in the /home1 directory, which is mounted on /dev/sdb1, then execute the following "fsck" command for a file system to check it and repair. Make sure to unmount the file system before running fsck.

[root@localhost ~]# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda2 14G 2.3G 11G 18% /
/dev/sda1 99M 9.9M 84M 11% /boot
tmpfs 252M 0 252M 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sdb1 7.9G 147M 7.4G 2% /home1

[root@localhost ~]# umount /dev/sdb1

[root@localhost ~]# fsck -t ext3 /dev/sdb1
fsck 1.39 (29-May-2006)
e2fsck 1.39 (29-May-2006)
/dev/sdb1: clean, 11/1048576 files, 70321/2096474 blocks

Important options of Linux fsck command are

• -a option: Automatically repair the file system without any questions.

• -r option: Interactively repair the filesystem (ask for confirmations).

Other options of Linux fsck command are

• -A option: Walk through the /etc/fstab file and try to check all filesystems in one run. This option is typically used from the /etc/rc system initialization file, instead of multiple commands for checking a single file system.

• -R option: When checking all filesystems with the -A flag, skip the root file system (in case it’s already mounted read-write).

• -T option: Don’t show the title on startup.

• -N option: Don’t execute; just show what would be done.

• -s option: Serialize fsck operations.

• -V option: Produce verbose output, including all filesystem-specific commands that are executed.

Linux File System Management Tools - fsck command