When to Use the format Utility

Disk drives are partitioned and labeled by the Solaris installation program as part of installing the Solaris release. You may need to use the format utility when:

• Displaying slice information

• Dividing a disk into slices

• Adding a disk drive to an existing system

• Formatting a disk drive

• Repairing a disk drive

The main reason a system administrator uses the format utility is to divide a disk into disk slices. These steps are covered in Chapter 23, SPARC: Adding a Disk (Tasks) and Chapter 24, x86: Adding a Disk (Tasks).

See Table 21-6 for guidelines on using the format utility.