where is inode table in ext3

_Linux_Learner · 03-16-2010, 09:35 AM

Hi all

Where is the inode table located in ext3 file system ? How can I read the entries in it ?

Regards
_Linux_Learner

jamescondron · 03-16-2010, 10:34 AM

Are you quite sure you know what an inode is?

Code:

jc@jcmain:~$ dict inode
1 definition found

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  inode
       
          A data structure holding information about files in a {Unix}
          {file system}.  There is an inode for each file and a file
          is uniquely identified by the file system on which it
          resides and its inode number on that system.  Each inode
          contains the following information: the device where the inode
          resides, locking information, mode and type of file, the
          number of links to the file, the owner's user and group ids,
          the number of bytes in the file, access and modification
          times, the time the inode itself was last modified and the
          addresses of the file's blocks on disk.  A {Unix} directory is
          an association between file leafnames and inode numbers.  A
          file's inode number can be found using the "-i" switch to ls.
       
          {Unix manual page}: fs(5).
       
          See also /usr/include/ufs/inode.h.

If you're sure this is what you want, I would suggest you take a look at the documentation for ext3

i92guboj · 03-16-2010, 11:01 AM

The whole point of i-node based fs's is that they don't have such a thing like a file allocation table. Otherwise they would be called FAT, and would not be based on i-nodes.

I suggest you do do some wiki research and check the ext2/3 documentation before continuing your research. You are completely lost.

Zuulie · 03-16-2010, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Linux_Learner

Where is the inode table located in ext3 file system ? How can I read the entries in it ?

Quite an odd question, but to find where you have the inode tables, you can run:

Code:

 sudo dumpe2fs /dev/<device> | fgrep 'Inode table'

I’m not sure what it is you want to read, but you can do a hexdump of the raw data at the block where the inodes resides:

Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/<device> ibs=4096 skip=<inode block> count=1 | hexdump

You’ll have to replace the <device> in the above examples and the <inode block> with the block offset to the inode table you want to look at that dumpe2fs returned.

Otherwise, "ls" is a more user friendly command for looking at inodes ;-)

-- Dan

onebuck · 03-16-2010, 03:23 PM

Hi,

Look at 'Linux File System' section of 'Slackware-Links', particularly 'Part IV Understanding filesystem Inodes'.

Just a few more links to aid you to gaining some understanding;

Linux Documentation Project
Rute Tutorial & Exposition
Linux Command Guide
Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
LinuxSelfHelp
Getting Started with Linux
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
Linux Home Networking

The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!