mke2fs what is the command to format a FAT23 or SWAP hd?

linus72 · 04-14-2009, 06:51 AM

OK-if mke2fs does EXT2, what is the command for FAT32 and Swap?
Thanks.

r3sistance · 04-14-2009, 06:55 AM

Coming from a red-hat background, I personally use the commands like 'mkfs.ext3' and 'mkfs.vfat' (FAT 32). Not sure if those are universal or not tho, never done swap.

dasy2k1 · 04-14-2009, 06:56 AM

mkswap for swap,
not sure about fat32

onebuck · 04-14-2009, 07:41 AM

Hi,

Code:

excerpt from 'man mkfs';

NAME
       mkfs - build a Linux file system

SYNOPSIS
       mkfs [ -V ] [ -t fstype ] [ fs-options ] filesys [ blocks ]

DESCRIPTION
       mkfs  is  used to build a Linux file system on a device, usually a hard
       disk partition.  filesys is either the device  name  (e.g.   /dev/hda1,
       /dev/sdb2).   blocks  is  the  number of blocks to be used for the file
       system.

       The exit code returned by mkfs is 0 on success and 1 on failure.

       In actuality, mkfs is simply a front-end for the  various  file  system
       builders (mkfs.fstype) available under Linux.  The file system-specific
       builder is searched for in a number of directories like perhaps  /sbin,
       /sbin/fs,  /sbin/fs.d,  /etc/fs,  /etc  (the precise list is defined at
       compile time but at least contains /sbin and /sbin/fs), and finally  in
       the  directories  listed  in the PATH environment variable.  Please see
       the file system-specific builder manual pages for further details.

Code:

excerpt from 'man mkswap';

 mkswap - set up a Linux swap area

SYNOPSIS
       mkswap [-c] [-vN] [-f] [-p PSZ] [-L label] device [size]

DESCRIPTION
       mkswap sets up a Linux swap area on a device or in a file.

       (After  creating  the  swap  area, you need the swapon command to start
       using it. Usually swap areas are listed in /etc/fstab so that they  can
       be  taken  into  use  at  boot time by a swapon -a command in some boot
       script.)

       The device argument will usually be a disk  partition  (something  like
       /dev/hda4  or /dev/sdb7) but can also be a file.  The Linux kernel does
       not look at partition Id's, but many installation scripts  will  assume
       that partitions of hex type 82 (LINUX_SWAP) are meant to be swap parti-
       tions.  (Warning: Solaris also uses this type. Be careful not  to  kill
       your Solaris partitions.)

The 'man command' is available to you online or from the command line if you have 'man' installed.

linus72 · 04-15-2009, 12:43 PM

OK-what is the command to mount swap-

Code:

/dev/hdc looks like swapspace
-not mounted mount: you must specify the filesystem type

So, what do I do?
I tried swapspace/swap, etc.
What is the proper command?

repo · 04-15-2009, 12:50 PM

you don't mount a swapspace, since it has no filessystem
To start using a swap partition you can enter this command.

Code:

swapon /dev/hda2

To get a list

Code:

swapon -s