February 23, 2008 FSCK 8

### NAME

fsck - file system consistency check and interactive repair

### SYNOPSIS

fsck [-dfnPpqvy] [-l maxparallel] [-T fstype:fsoptions] [-t fstype] [special | node ...]

### DESCRIPTION

The fsck command invokes file system-specific programs to check the special devices listed in the fstab(5) file or in the command line for consistency.

It is normally used in the script ```/etc/rc` during automatic reboot. If no file systems are specified, and ``preen'' mode is enabled ( -p option) fsck reads the table ```/etc/fstab` to determine which file systems to check, in what order. Only partitions in fstab that are mounted ``rw,'' ``rq'' or ``ro'' and that have non-zero pass number are checked. File systems with pass number 1 (normally just the root file system) are checked one at a time. When pass 1 completes, all remaining file systems are checked, running one process per disk drive. By default, file systems which are already mounted read-write are not checked. The disk drive containing each file system is inferred from the longest prefix of the device name that ends in a digit; the remaining characters are assumed to be the partition designator.

The options are as follows:

-d
  Debugging mode. Just print the commands without executing them.

-f
  Force checking of file systems, even when they are marked clean (for file systems that support this), or when they are mounted read-write.

-l maxparallel
  Limit the number of parallel checks to the number specified in the following argument. By default, the limit is the number of disks, running one process per disk. If a smaller limit is given, the disks are checked round-robin, one file system at a time.

-n
  Causes fsck to assume no as the answer to all operator questions, except "CONTINUE?".

-P
  Display a progress meter for each file system check. This option also disables parallel checking. Note that progress meters are not supported by all file system types.

-p
  Enter preen mode. In preen mode, fsck will check all file systems listed in ```/etc/fstab` according to their pass number, and will make minor repairs without human intervention.

-q
  Quiet mode, do not output any messages for clean filesystems.

-T fstype:fsoptions
  List of comma separated file system specific options for the specified file system type, in the same format as mount(8).

-t fstype
  Invoke fsck only for the comma separated list of file system types. If the list starts with ``no'' then invoke fsck for the file system types that are not specified in the list.

-v
  Print the commands before executing them.

-y
  Causes fsck to assume yes as the answer to all operator questions.

### EXIT STATUS

fsck exits with ```0` on success. Any major problems will cause fsck to exit with the following non-zero exit(3) codes, so as to alert any invoking program or script that human intervention is required.

```1`
  Usage problem.

```2`
  Unresolved errors while checking the filesystem. Re-running fsck on the filesystem(s) is required.

```4`
  The root filesystem was changed in the process of checking, and updating the mount was unsuccessful. A reboot (without sync) is required.

```8`
  The filesystem check has failed, and a subsequent check is required that will require human intervention.

```12`
  fsck exited because of the result of a signal (usually ```SIGINT` or ```SIGQUIT` from the terminal).

### FILES

```/etc/fstab`
  file system table

### SEE ALSO

fstab(5), fsck_ext2fs(8), fsck_ffs(8), fsck_lfs(8), fsck_msdos(8), mount(8)