4BSD/usr/man/man8/mkfs.8

.TH MKFS 8 
.UC 4
.SH NAME
mkfs \- construct a file system
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /etc/mkfs
special size
.br
.B /etc/mkfs
special proto
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Mkfs
constructs a file system
by writing on the special file
.I special.
In the first form of the command a numeric size is given and
.I mkfs
builds a file system with a single empty directory on it.
The number of i-nodes is calculated as a function of the filesystem size.
(No boot program is initialized in this form of
.I mkfs.)
.PP
.B N.B.:
All filesystems should have a
.I lost+found
directory for
.IR fsck (8);
this should be created for each file system by running
.IR mklost+found (8)
in the root directory of a newly created file system, after
the file system is first mounted.
.PP
In bootstrapping, the second form of
.I mkfs
is sometimes used.
In this form, the file system is constructed according to the directions
found in the prototype file
.I proto.
The prototype file
contains tokens separated by spaces or
new lines.
The first token is the name of a file
to be copied onto block zero as
the bootstrap program,
see
.IR bproc (8).
The second token is a number specifying the
size of the created file system.
Typically it will be the number of blocks on the device,
perhaps diminished
by space for swapping.
The next token is the number of i-nodes
in the i-list.
The next set of tokens comprise the specification
for the root file.
File specifications consist of tokens
giving the mode,
the user-id,
the group id,
and the initial contents of the file.
The syntax of the contents field
depends on the mode.
.PP
The mode token for a file is a 6 character string.
The first character
specifies the type of the file.
(The characters
.B \-bcd
specify regular, block special,
character special and directory files
respectively.)
The second character of the type
is either
.B u
or
.B \-
to specify set-user-id mode or not.
The third is
.B g
or
.B \-
for the set-group-id mode.
The rest of the mode
is a three digit octal number giving the
owner, group, and other read, write, execute
permissions, see
.IR chmod (1).
.PP
Two decimal number
tokens come after the mode; they specify the
user and group ID's of the owner of the file.
.PP
If the file is a regular file,
the next token is a pathname
whence the contents and size are copied.
.PP
If the file is a block or character special file,
two decimal number tokens
follow which give the major and minor device numbers.
.PP
If the file is a directory,
.I mkfs
makes the entries
.BR . ""
and
.B  ..
and then
reads a list of names and
(recursively)
file specifications for the entries
in the directory.
The scan is terminated with the
token
.BR $ .
.PP
A sample prototype specification follows:
.PP
.nf
.in +5
/usr/mdec/uboot
4872 55
d\-\-777 3 1
usr	d\-\-777 3 1
	sh	\-\-\-755 3 1 /bin/sh
	ken	d\-\-755 6 1
		$
	b0	b\-\-644 3 1 0 0
	c0	c\-\-644 3 1 0 0
	$
$
.in -5
.fi
.SH "SEE ALSO"
filsys(5),
dir(5),
bproc(8),
fsck(8),
mklost+found(8)
.SH BUGS
There should be some way to specify links.
.PP
There should be some way to specify bad blocks.
.PP
Should make
.I lost+found
automatically.