4.3BSD-Reno/share/man/cat8/disklabel.0

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DISKLABEL(8) 1990 DISKLABEL(8)

NNAAMMEE
disklabel - read and write disk pack label

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
ddiisskkllaabbeell [ --rr ] _d_i_s_k
ddiisskkllaabbeell --ww [ --rr ] _d_i_s_k _d_i_s_k_t_y_p_e [ _p_a_c_k_i_d [ _p_r_i_b_o_o_t _s_e_c_b_o_o_t
] ]
ddiisskkllaabbeell --ee [ --rr ] _d_i_s_k
ddiisskkllaabbeell --RR [ --rr ] _d_i_s_k _p_r_o_t_o_f_i_l_e [ _p_r_i_b_o_o_t _s_e_c_b_o_o_t ]
ddiisskkllaabbeell [ --NNWW ] _d_i_s_k

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
_D_i_s_k_l_a_b_e_l can be used to install, examine or modify the
label on a disk drive or pack. When writing the label, it
can be used to change the drive identification, the disk
partitions on the drive, or to replace a damaged label or
bootstrap. The disk label is located on one of the first
sectors of each disk (usually block 0). On machines that
require a block-0 bootstrap (VAX 11/750), the label is
inserted into the bootstrap program. This information is
used by the system disk driver and by the bootstrap program
to determine how to program the drive. There are several
forms of the command that display, install or modify the
label on a disk. Each form has an additional option, --rr,
which causes the label to be read from or written to the
disk directly, rather than going through the system's in-
core copy of the label. When writing, the in-core copy is
also updated if possible. This option may allow a label to
be installed on a disk without kernel support for a label,
such as when labels are first installed on a system; it must
be used when first installing a label on a disk.

The first form of the command is used to examine the label
on the named disk drive (e.g. hp0 or /dev/rhp0c). It will
display all of the parameters associated with the drive and
its partition layout. Unless the --rr flag is given, the
kernel's in-core copy of the label is displayed; if the disk
has no label, or the partition types on the disk are
incorrect, the kernel may have constructed or modified the
label. If the --rr flag is given, the label from the raw disk
will be displayed rather than the in-core label.

The second form of the command, with the --ww flag, is used to
write a standard label on the designated drive. The
required arguments to _d_i_s_k_l_a_b_e_l are the drive to be labelled
(e.g. hp0), and the drive type as described in the _d_i_s_k_-
_t_a_b(5) file. The drive parameters and partitions are taken
from that file. If different disks of the same physical
type are to have different partitions, it will be necessary
to have separate disktab entries describing each, or to edit
the label after installation as described below. The first
optional argument is a pack identification string, up to 16

Printed 7/27/90 June 1

DISKLABEL(8) 1990 DISKLABEL(8)

characters long. The pack id must be quoted if it contains
blanks. If the --rr flag is given, the disk sectors contain-
ing the label and bootstrap will be written directly, other-
wise the existing label will be updated in place without
modifying the bootstrap. If the disk does not already have
a label, the --rr flag must be used. In either case, the
kernel's in-core label is replaced.

Alternate versions of the bootstrap files may be specified
after the pack identifier. If an alternate bootstrap is not
specified, the standard bootstrap will be used. The
bootstrap programs are located in /_u_s_r/_m_d_e_c. The names of
the bootstrap programs may be specified in _d_i_s_k_t_a_b(5); if
not specified, the default names are of the form
_b_a_s_e_n_a_m_eboot for the primary (block 0) bootstrap, and boot-
_b_a_s_e_n_a_m_e for the secondary (block 1-15) bootstrap; for exam-
ple, /usr/mdec/hpboot and /usr/mdec/boothp if the disk dev-
ice is hhpp00.

An existing disk label may be edited by using the --ee flag.
The label is read from the in-core kernel copy, or directly
from the disk if the --rr flag is also given. The label is
formatted and then supplied to an editor for changes. If no
editor is specified in an EDITOR environment variable, _v_i(1)
is used. When the editor terminates, the formatted label is
reread and used to rewrite the disk label.

With the --RR flag, _d_i_s_k_l_a_b_e_l is capable of restoring a disk
label that was formatted in a prior operation and saved in
an ascii file. The prototype file used to create the label
should be in the same format as that produced when reading
or editing a label. Comments are delimited by ## and new-
line. If the --rr option is also given, a block-0 bootstrap
is installed on machines that use one; either the disktype
or the names of the bootstrap files must be specified on
such machines.

Finally, the --NNWW flags for _d_i_s_k_l_a_b_e_l explicitly disallow and
allow, respectively, writing of the pack label area on the
selected disk.

FFIILLEESS
/etc/disktab
/usr/mdec/_x_xboot
/usr/mdec/boot_x_x

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
disktab(5), disklabel(5)

DDIIAAGGNNOOSSTTIICCSS
The kernel device drivers will not allow the size of a disk
partition to be decreased or the offset of a partition to be

Printed 7/27/90 June 2

DISKLABEL(8) 1990 DISKLABEL(8)

changed while it is open. Some device drivers create a
label containing only a single large partition if a disk is
unlabeled; thus, the label must be written to the ``a'' par-
tition of the disk while it is open. This sometimes
requires the desired label to be set in two steps, the first
one creating at least one other partition, and the second
setting the label on the new partition while shrinking the
``a'' partition.

BBUUGGSS
When a disk name is given without a full pathname, the con-
structed device name uses the ``c'' partition on the vax and
the ``a'' partition on the tahoe.

Printed 7/27/90 June 3