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System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 Information Library |
1. Managing Removable Media (Overview)
2. Managing Removable Media (Tasks)
3. Accessing Removable Media (Tasks)
4. Writing CDs and DVDs (Tasks)
5. Managing Devices (Overview/Tasks)
6. Dynamically Configuring Devices (Tasks)
7. Using USB Devices (Overview)
9. Using InfiniBand Devices (Overview/Tasks)
11. Administering Disks (Tasks)
12. SPARC: Setting Up Disks (Tasks)
13. x86: Setting Up Disks (Tasks)
14. Configuring Oracle Solaris iSCSI Targets and Initiators (Tasks)
15. The format Utility (Reference)
Recommendations and Requirements for Using the format Utility
format Menu and Command Descriptions
Contents of the format.dat File
Keywords in the format.dat File
Specifying an Alternate Data File for the format Utility
Rules for Input to format Commands
Specifying Numbers to format Commands
Specifying Block Numbers to format Commands
Getting Help on the format Utility
16. Managing File Systems (Overview)
17. Creating and Mounting File Systems (Tasks)
18. Using The CacheFS File System (Tasks)
19. Configuring Additional Swap Space (Tasks)
20. Checking UFS File System Consistency (Tasks)
21. UFS File System (Reference)
22. Backing Up and Restoring UFS File Systems (Overview)
23. Backing Up UFS Files and File Systems (Tasks)
24. Using UFS Snapshots (Tasks)
25. Restoring UFS Files and File Systems (Tasks)
26. UFS Backup and Restore Commands (Reference)
27. Copying Files and File Systems (Tasks)
When you use the format utility, you need to provide various kinds of information. This section describes the rules for this information. For information on using format's help facility when you specify data, see Getting Help on the format Utility.
Several places in the format utility require number as input. You must either specify the appropriate data or select a number from a list of choices. In either case, the help facility causes format to display the upper and lower limits of the number expected. Simply enter the appropriate number. The number is assumed to be in decimal format unless a base is explicitly specified as part of the number (for example, 0x for hexadecimal).
The following are examples of integer input:
Enter number of passes [2]: 34 Enter number of passes [34] Oxf
Whenever you are required to specify a disk block number, there are two ways to do so:
Specify the block number as an integer
Specify the block number in the cylinder/head/sector format
You can specify the information as an integer that represents the logical block number. You can specify the number in any base, but the default is decimal. The maximum operator (a dollar sign, $) can also be used here so that format utility can select the appropriate value. Logical block format is used by the SunOS disk drivers in error messages.
The other way to specify a block number is by using cylinder/head/sector format. In this method, you must specify explicitly the three logical components of the block number: the cylinder, head, and sector values. These values are still logical. However, they allow you to define regions of the disk that are related to the layout of the media.
If any of the cylinder/head/sector numbers are not specified, the value is assumed to be zero. You can also use the maximum operator in place of any of the numbers. Then, the format utility will select the appropriate value. The following are some examples of cylinder, head, and sector values:
Enter defective block number: 34/2/3 Enter defective block number: 23/1/ Enter defective block number: 457// Enter defective block number: 12345 Enter defective block number: Oxabcd Enter defective block number: 334/$/2 Enter defective block number: 892//$
The format utility always displays block numbers in both formats. Also, the help facility shows you the upper and lower limits of the block number expected, in both formats.
Command names are needed as input whenever the format utility displays a menu prompt. You can abbreviate the command names, as long as what you type is sufficient to uniquely identify the command desired.
For example, use p to access the partition menu from the format menu. Then, type p to display the current slice table.
format> p PARTITION MENU: 0 - change `0' partition 1 - change `1' partition 2 - change `2' partition 3 - change `3' partition 4 - change `4' partition 5 - change `5' partition 6 - change `6' partition 7 - change `7' partition select - select a predefined table modify - modify a predefined partition table name - name the current table print - display the current table label - write partition map and label to the disk quit partition> p
At certain points in the format utility, you must name something. In these cases, you are free to specify any string you want for the name. If the name has white space in it, the entire name must be enclosed in double quotation marks ("). Otherwise, only the first word of the name is used.
For example, if you want to identify a specific partition table for a disk, you can use the name subcommand that is available from the partition menu:
partition> name Enter table name (remember quotes): "new disk3"