/usr/bin/mkfs.ext2 --help — Chainguard OS Manuals

From e2fsprogs 1.47.4-r5 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running mkfs.ext2 --help (exit 1). permalink

/usr/bin/mkfs.ext2: invalid option -- '-'
Usage: mkfs.ext2 [-c|-l filename] [-b block-size] [-C cluster-size]
	[-i bytes-per-inode] [-I inode-size] [-J journal-options]
	[-G flex-group-size] [-N number-of-inodes] [-d root-directory|tarball]
	[-m reserved-blocks-percentage] [-o creator-os]
	[-g blocks-per-group] [-L volume-label] [-M last-mounted-directory]
	[-O feature[,...]] [-E extended-option[,...]] [-t fs-type]
	[-T usage-type ] [-U UUID] [-e errors_behavior][-z undo_file]
	[-jnqvDFSV] device [blocks-count]

Options (28)

Option	Description	Source
`-b` block-size	Specify the size of blocks in bytes.	man
`-c`	Check the device for bad blocks before creating the file system.	man
`-C` cluster-size	Specify the size of clusters in bytes for file systems using the bigalloc feature.	man
`-d` root-directory\|tarball\|-	Copy the contents of the given directory or tarball into the root directory of the file system.	man
`-D`	Use direct I/O when writing to the disk.	man
`-e` error-behavior	Change the behavior of the kernel code when errors are detected.	man
`-E` extended-options	Set extended options for the file system.	man
`-F`	Force mke2fs to create a file system, even if the specified device is not a partition on a block special device, or if other parameters do not make sense.	man
`-g` blocks-per-group	Specify the number of blocks in a block group.	man
`-G` number-of-groups	Specify the number of block groups that will be packed together to create a larger virtual block group (or "flex_bg group") in an ext4 file system.	man
`-i` bytes-per-inode	Specify the bytes/inode ratio.	man
`-I` inode-size	Specify the size of each inode in bytes.	man
`-j`	Create the file system with an ext3 journal.	man
`-J` journal-options	Create the ext3 journal using options specified on the command-line.	man
`-l` filename	Read the bad blocks list from filename.	man
`-L` new-volume-label	Set the volume label for the file system to new-volume-label.	man
`-m` reserved-blocks-percentage	Specify the percentage of the file system blocks reserved for the super-user.	man
`-M` last-mounted-directory	Set the last mounted directory for the file system.	man
`-n`	Causes mke2fs to not actually create a file system, but display what it would do if it were to create a file system.	man
`-N` number-of-inodes	Overrides the default calculation of the number of inodes that should be reserved for the file system (which is based on the number of blocks and the bytes-per-inode ratio).	man
`-o` creator-os	Overrides the default value of the "creator operating system" field of the file system.	man
`-q`	Quiet execution.	man
`-S`	Write superblock and group descriptors only.	man
`-t` fs-type	Specify the file system type (i.e., ext2, ext3, ext4, etc.) that is to be created.	man
`-U` UUID	Set the universally unique identifier (UUID) of the file system to UUID.	man
`-v`	Verbose execution.	man
`-V`	Print the version number of mke2fs and exit.	man
`-z` undo_file	Before overwriting a file system block, write the old contents of the block to an undo file.	man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.