How to Create a File System on a USB Mass Storage Device

Devices typically already have default slices. If the default slices are not acceptable refer to the following sections to create the slices:

• How to Modify Partitions and Create a PCFS File System on a USB Mass Storage Device

• How to Create a Solaris Partition and Modify the Slices on a USB Mass Storage Device

1. Become an administrator.
2. Add the USB device to your system. For information about hot-plugging USB devices, see:

   • Hot-Plugging USB Mass Storage Devices

   • Hot-Plugging USB Devices With the cfgadm Command

3. (Optional) Identify the USB device by using the rmformat command.

   In the following example, the device is c2t0d0p0.

   # rmformat
   Looking for devices...
   1. Logical Node: /dev/rdsk/c2t0d0p0
   Physical Node: /pci@0,0/pci108e,534a@2,1/hub@7/floppy@1/disk@0,0
   Connected Device: MITSUMI  USB FDD          1039
   Device Type: Floppy drive
   Bus: USB
   Size: 1.4 MB
   Label: <None>
   Access permissions: Medium is not write protected.

4. Perform this step only if you need to format a USB diskette. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
   1. Insert a diskette into the diskette drive.
   2. Format the diskette, if necessary.

      # rmformat -F long raw-device-file

      where raw-device-file is the disk partition on which to write the file system.

      ---

      Caution  -  Use the rmformat -F command only on USB diskettes.

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5. Determine the file system type to create, if necessary.
6. Unmount the device, if necessary.

   For more information about unmounting a USB device, see How to Mount or Unmount a USB Mass Storage Device.

7. Create the file system.

   Select one of the following:

   • Create a ZFS pool and file system on a USB stick if you need to transfer data to another system.

     # zpool create device temp-pool
     # zfs create temp-pool/data

     The following example creates a ZFS pool for the device c5t0d0 and then creates the file system on the pool.

     # zpool create c5t0d0 usbpool
     # zfs create usbpool/data

   • Create a PCFS file system.

     For information and examples, see Creating File Systems on USB Storage Devices

   • Create a legacy UFS file system.

     For information and examples, see Creating File Systems on USB Storage Devices