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DEBUGFS(8)

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NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       debugfs - ext2 file system debugger

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       debugfs [ -b blocksize ] [ -s superblock ] [ -f cmd_file ] [ -R request
       ] [ -V ] [ [ -w ] [ -c ] [ -i ] [ device ] ]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       The debugfs program is an interactive file system debugger. It  can  be
       used to examine and change the state of an ext2 file system.
       device  is  the special file corresponding to the device containing the
       ext2 file system (e.g /dev/hdXX).

OPTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

       -w     Specifies that the file system should be	opened	in  read-write
	      mode.   Without  this option, the file system is opened in readonly
 mode.

       -c     Specifies that the file system should be opened in  catastrophic
	      mode,  in  which	the  inode and group bitmaps are not read initially.
  This can be useful  for	filesystems  with  significant
	      corruption,  but	because  of this, catastrophic mode forces the
	      filesystem to be opened read-only.

       -i     Specifies that device represents an ext2 image file  created  by
	      the  e2image  program.   Since the ext2 image file only contains
	      the superblock, block group descriptor, block and inode  allocation
  bitmaps,  and  the inode table, many debugfs commands will
	      not function properly.  Warning: no safety checks are in	place,
	      and debugfs may fail in interesting ways if commands such as ls,
	      dump, etc. are tried.  debugfs is  a  debugging  tool.   It  has
	      rough edges!

       -b blocksize
	      Forces  the  use	of  the  given block size for the file system,
	      rather than detecting the correct block size as normal.

       -s superblock
	      Causes the file system superblock to  be	read  from  the  given
	      block  number,  rather  than  the default (1).  If you give a -s
	      option, you must also give a -b option.

       -f cmd_file
	      Causes debugfs to read in commands from  cmd_file,  and  execute
	      them.   When  debugfs  is  finished executing those commands, it
	      will exit.

       -R request
	      Causes debugfs to execute the single command request,  and  then
	      exit.

       -V     print the version number of debugfs and exit.

SPECIFYING FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

       Many  debugfs  commands	take  a  filespec as an argument to specify an
       inode (as opposed to a pathname) in the filesystem which  is  currently
       opened  by  debugfs.   The  filespec  argument  may be specified in two
       forms.  The first form is an inode number surrounded by angle brackets,
       e.g.,  <2>.  The second form is a pathname; if the pathname is prefixed
       by a forward slash ('/'), then it is interpreted relative to  the  root
       of  the	filesystem  which is currently opened by debugfs.  If not, the
       pathname is interpreted relative to the current	working  directory  as
       maintained  by debugfs.	This may be modified by using the debugfs command
 cd.

COMMANDS    [Toc]    [Back]

       This is a list of the commands which debugfs supports.

       cat filespec
	      Dump the contents of the inode filespec to stdout.

       cd filespec
	      Change the current working directory to filespec.

       chroot filespec
	      Change the root directory to be the directory filespec.

       close  Close the currently open file system.

       clri file
	      Clear the contents of the inode file.

       dump [-p] filspec out_file
	      Dump the contents of the	inode  filespec  to  the  output  file
	      out_file.   If  the  -p option is given set the owner, group and
	      permissions information on out_file to match filespec.

       expand_dir filespec
	      Expand the directory filespec.

       feature [fs_feature] [-fs_feature] ...
	      Set or clear various  filesystem	features  in  the  superblock.
	      After  setting  or  clearing  any  filesystem features that were
	      requested, print the current state  of  the  filesystem  feature
	      set.

       find_free_block [count [goal]]
	      Find  the  first count free blocks, starting from goal and allocate
 it.

       find_free_inode [dir [mode]]
	      Find a free inode and allocate it.  If  present,	dir  specifies
	      the  inode  number  of  the  directory  which the inode is to be
	      located.	The second optional argument mode specifies  the  permissions
	of the new inode.  (If the directory bit is set on the
	      mode, the allocation routine will function differently.)

       freeb block [count]
	      Mark the block number block as not allocated.  If  the  optional
	      argument	count  is present, then count blocks starting at block
	      number block will be marked as not allocated.

       freei filespec
	      Free the inode specified by filespec.

       help   Print a list of commands understood by debugfs(8).

       icheck block ...
	      Print a listing of the inodes which use the one or  more	blocks
	      specified on the command line.

       initialize device blocksize
	      Create an ext2 file system on device with device size blocksize.
	      Note that this does not fully initialize all of the data	structures;
  to  do  this, use the mke2fs(8) program.	This is just a
	      call to the low-level library, which sets up the superblock  and
	      block descriptors.

       kill_file filespec
	      Deallocate  the  inode  filespec and its blocks.	Note that this
	      does not remove any directory entries (if any)  to  this	inode.
	      See the rm(1) command if you wish to unlink a file.

       lcd directory
	      Change  the  current working directory of the debugfs process to
	      directory on the native filesystem.

       ln filespec dest_file
	      Create a link named dest_file which is a link to filespec.  Note
	      this does not adjust the inode reference counts.

       logdump [-ac] [-b<block>] [-i<inode>] [-f<journal_file>] [output_file]
	      Dump the contents of the ext3 journal.

       ls [-l] [-d] filespec
	      Print  a listing of the files in the directory filespec.	The -l
	      flag will list files using a more verbose format.  The  -d  flag
	      will list deleted entries in the directory.

       modify_inode filespec
	      Modify  the  contents  of the inode structure in the inode file-
	      spec.

       mkdir filespec
	      Make a directory.

       mknod filespec [p|[[c|b] major minor]]
	      Create a special device file (a named pipe, character  or  block
	      device).	 If  a	character  or  block device is to be made, the
	      major and minor device numbers must be specified.

       ncheck inode_num ...
	      Take the requested list of inode numbers, and print a listing of
	      pathnames to those inodes.

       open [-w] [-f] [-i] [-c] [-b blocksize] [-s superblock] device
	      Open  a filesystem for editing.  The -w flag causes the filesystem
 to be opened for writing.  The -f flag forces the filesystem
	      to  be  opened  even  if	there are some unknown or incompatible
	      filesystem features which would normally prevent the  filesystem
	      from  being  opened.   The -c, -b, -i, and -s options behave the
	      same as those to debugfs itself.

       pwd    Print the current working directory.

       quit   Quit debugfs

       rdump directory destination
	      Recursively dump directory and all its contents (including regular
 files, symbolic links, and other directories) into the named
	      destination which should be an existing directory on the	native
	      filesystem.

       rm pathname
	      Unlink  pathname.   If this causes the inode pointed to by path-
	      name to have no other references,  deallocate  the  file.   This
	      command functions as the unlink() system call.

       rmdir filespec
	      Remove  the  directory filespec.	This function is currently not
	      implemented.

       setb block [count]
	      Mark the block number block as allocated.  If the optional argument
  count is present, then count blocks starting at block number
 block will be marked as allocated.

       seti filespec
	      Mark inode filespec as in use in the inode bitmap.

       set_super_value field value
	      Set the superblock field field to  value.   The  list  of  valid
	      superblock  fields which can be set via this command can be displayed
 by using the command: set_super_value -l

       show_super_stats [-h]
	      List the contents  of  the  super  block	and  the  block  group
	      descriptors.   If  the  -h  flag	is  given,  only print out the
	      superblock contents.

       stat filespec
	      Display the contents of the inode structure of the  inode  file-
	      spec.

       testb block [count]
	      Test  if	the  block  number block is marked as allocated in the
	      block bitmap.  If the optional argument count is	present,  then
	      count blocks starting at block number block will be tested.

       testi filespec
	      Test  if	the inode filespec is marked as allocated in the inode
	      bitmap.

       unlink pathname
	      Remove the link specified by pathname to an  inode.   Note  this
	      does not adjust the inode reference counts.

       write source_file out_file
	      Create  a  file  in  the filesystem named out_file, and copy the
	      contents of source_file into the destination file.

AUTHOR    [Toc]    [Back]

       debugfs was written by Theodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

      
      
       dumpe2fs(8), e2fsck(8), mke2fs(8)



E2fsprogs version 1.27		  March 2002			    DEBUGFS(8)
[ Back ]
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