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Systems & Data Center · Foundational

mkfs

The Linux command family that creates (formats) a filesystem on a block device, such as mkfs.ext4 or mkfs.xfs.

Definition

mkfs is a front end for filesystem-specific builders and destroys existing data on the target. Options set labels, block size and inode ratios at creation time.

Example

mkfs.xfs -L appdata /dev/vg01/lv_app formats a logical volume with a label.

Exam tip

Matching tools matter: mkfs.xfs for XFS, mkfs.ext4 for ext4, mkswap (not mkfs) for swap.

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