When to Use the format Utility

Disk drives are partitioned and labeled by the Solaris installation program when you install the Solaris release. You can use the format utility to do the following:

• Display slice information

• Divide a disk into slices

• Add a disk drive to an existing system

• Format a disk drive

• Label a disk

• Repair a disk drive

• Analyze a disk for errors

The main reason a system administrator uses the format utility is to divide a disk into disk slices. These steps are covered in Chapter 33, SPARC: Adding a Disk (Tasks) and Chapter 34, x86: Adding a Disk (Tasks).

See the following section for guidelines on using the format utility.