man > fs(5)

man perldoc info pydoc3 ri search

📄 NAME

filesystems — Linux filesystem types: ext, ext2, ext3, ext4, hpfs, iso9660, JFS, minix, msdos, ncpfs, nfs, ntfs, proc, Reiserfs, smb, sysv, umsdos, vfat, XFS, xiafs

🚀 Quick Reference

Use Case	Command	Description
List supported filesystems	cat /proc/filesystems	Show which filesystems the kernel currently supports
Mount a filesystem	mount -t <type> <device> <mountpoint>	Mount a specific filesystem type
Check filesystem type on devices	lsblk -f	Display filesystem type of block devices
Create a filesystem	mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1	Create an ext4 filesystem on a partition
Display filesystem usage	df -T	Show filesystem type and disk usage

📖 DESCRIPTION

When, as is customary, the proc filesystem is mounted on /proc, you can find in the file /proc/filesystems which filesystems your kernel currently supports; see proc(5) for more details. There is also a legacy sysfs(2) system call (whose availability is controlled by the CONFIG_SYSFS_SYSCALL kernel build configuration option since Linux 3.15) that enables enumeration of the currently available filesystem types regardless of /proc availability and/or sanity.

If you need a currently unsupported filesystem, insert the corresponding kernel module or recompile the kernel.

In order to use a filesystem, you have to mount it; see mount(2) and mount(8).

The following list provides a short description of the available or historically available filesystems in the Linux kernel. See the kernel documentation for a comprehensive description of all options and limitations.

• ext — is an elaborate extension of the minix filesystem. It has been completely superseded by the second version of the extended filesystem (ext2) and has been removed from the kernel (in 2.1.21).
• ext2 — is the high performance disk filesystem used by Linux for fixed disks as well as removable media. The second extended filesystem was designed as an extension of the extended filesystem (ext). See ext2(5).
• ext3 — is a journaling version of the ext2 filesystem. It is easy to switch back and forth between ext2 and ext3. See ext3(5).
• ext4 — is a set of upgrades to ext3 including substantial performance and reliability enhancements, plus large increases in volume, file, and directory size limits. See ext4(5).
• hpfs — is the High Performance Filesystem, used in OS/2. This filesystem is read-only under Linux due to the lack of available documentation.
• iso9660 — is a CD-ROM filesystem type conforming to the ISO 9660 standard.
  • High Sierra — Linux supports High Sierra, the precursor to the ISO 9660 standard for CD-ROM filesystems. It is automatically recognized within the iso9660 filesystem support under Linux.
  • Rock Ridge — Linux also supports the System Use Sharing Protocol records specified by the Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol. They are used to further describe the files in the iso9660 filesystem to a UNIX host, and provide information such as long filenames, UID/GID, POSIX permissions, and devices. It is automatically recognized within the iso9660 filesystem support under Linux.
• JFS — is a journaling filesystem, developed by IBM, that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.24.
• minix — is the filesystem used in the Minix operating system, the first to run under Linux. It has a number of shortcomings, including a 64 MB partition size limit, short filenames, and a single timestamp. It remains useful for floppies and RAM disks.
• msdos — is the filesystem used by DOS, Windows, and some OS/2 computers. msdos filenames can be no longer than 8 characters, followed by an optional period and 3 character extension.
• ncpfs — is a network filesystem that supports the NCP protocol, used by Novell NetWare. It was removed from the kernel in 4.17. To use ncpfs, you need special programs, which can be found at ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/ncpfs.
• nfs — is the network filesystem used to access disks located on remote computers.
• ntfs — is the filesystem native to Microsoft Windows NT, supporting features like ACLs, journaling, encryption, and so on.
• proc — is a pseudo filesystem which is used as an interface to kernel data structures rather than reading and interpreting /dev/kmem. In particular, its files do not take disk space. See proc(5).
• Reiserfs — is a journaling filesystem, designed by Hans Reiser, that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.1.
• smb — is a network filesystem that supports the SMB protocol, used by Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, and Lan Manager. See https://www.samba.org/samba/smbfs/.
• sysv — is an implementation of the System V/Coherent filesystem for Linux. It implements all of Xenix FS, System V/386 FS, and Coherent FS.
• umsdos — is an extended DOS filesystem used by Linux. It adds capability for long filenames, UID/GID, POSIX permissions, and special files (devices, named pipes, etc.) under the DOS filesystem, without sacrificing compatibility with DOS.
• tmpfs — is a filesystem whose contents reside in virtual memory. Since the files on such filesystems typically reside in RAM, file access is extremely fast. See tmpfs(5).
• vfat — is an extended FAT filesystem used by Microsoft Windows95 and Windows NT. vfat adds the capability to use long filenames under the MSDOS filesystem.
• XFS — is a journaling filesystem, developed by SGI, that was integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.20.
• xiafs — was designed and implemented to be a stable, safe filesystem by extending the Minix filesystem code. It provides the basic most requested features without undue complexity. The xiafs filesystem is no longer actively developed or maintained. It was removed from the kernel in 2.1.21.

📚 SEE ALSO

fuse(4), btrfs(5), ext2(5), ext3(5), ext4(5), nfs(5), proc(5), sysfs(5), tmpfs(5), xfs(5), fsck(8), mkfs(8), mount(8)

ℹ️ COLOPHON

This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

📄 NAME 🚀 Quick Reference 📖 DESCRIPTION 📚 SEE ALSO ℹ️ COLOPHON