MKFS(8)

NAME
mkfs - construct a file system

SYNOPSIS
/sbin/mkfs [ -i bytes ] [ -s size ] [ -m gap ] [ -n modulus ] special

DESCRIPTION
N.B.: file systems are normally created with the newfs(8) command.

Mkfs constructs a file system by writing on the special file special. The size of the filesystem in logical blocks is specified by the -s size option. Logical blocks are 1K (2 sectors) under 2.11BSD.

NOTE: The newfs(8) program's -s option is in units of sectors. Newfs(8) converts this to filesystem (logical) blocks for mkfs(8).

The number of inodes is calculated based on the argument bytes to the -i option. The default is 4096. If more inodes are desired in a filesystem (there is an absolute maximum of 65500) then a lower value for bytes should be used, perhaps 3072 or even 2048.

The flags -m gap and -n modulus determine the block interleaving of the freelist that will be constructed, where gap is the distance between successive 1024-byte blocks, and modulus is the number of blocks before the pattern repeats, typically one cylinder. The optimal values for these parameters vary with the speed and geometry of the disk, as well as the speed of the processor. Newfs(8) will calculate the correct values in almost all cases from the disklabel.

SEE ALSO
fs(5), dir(5), disklabel(8), fsck(8), mkproto(8) newfs(8)

BUGS
The lost+found directory is created but the boot block is left uninitialized (see disklabel(8).)