From Linux Man Pages
debugfs - ext2/ext3 file system debugger
SYNOPSIS
debugfs [ -Vwci ] [ -b blocksize ] [ -s superblock ] [ -f cmd_file ] [ -R request ] [ -d data_source_device ] [
device ]
DESCRIPTION
The debugfs program is an interactive file system debugger. It can be used to examine and change the state of an
ext2 file system.
device is the special file corresponding to the device containing the ext2 file system (e.g /dev/hdXX).
OPTIONS
-w Specifies that the file system should be opened in read-write mode. Without this option, the file system
is opened in read-only mode.
-c Specifies that the file system should be opened in catastrophic mode, in which the inode and group bitmaps
are not read initially. This can be useful for filesystems with significant corruption, but because of
this, catastrophic mode forces the filesystem to be opened read-only.
-i Specifies that device represents an ext2 image file created by the e2image program. Since the ext2 image
file only contains the superblock, block group descriptor, block and inode allocation bitmaps, and the
inode table, many debugfs commands will not function properly. Warning: no safety checks are in place,
and debugfs may fail in interesting ways if commands such as ls, dump, etc. are tried without specifying
the data_source_device using the -d option. debugfs is a debugging tool. It has rough edges!
-d data_source_device
Used with the -i option, specifies that data_source_device should be used when reading blocks not found in
the ext2 image file. This includes data, directory, and indirect blocks.
-b blocksize
Forces the use of the given block size for the file system, rather than detecting the correct block size
as normal.
-s superblock
Causes the file system superblock to be read from the given block number, rather than the default(1). If
you give a -s option, you must also give a -b option.
-f cmd_file
Causes debugfs to read in commands from cmd_file, and execute them. When debugfs is finished executing
those commands, it will exit.
-R request
Causes debugfs to execute the single command request, and then exit.
-V print the version number of debugfs and exit.
SPECIFYING FILES
Many debugfs commands take a filespec as an argument to specify an inode (as opposed to a pathname) in the
filesystem which is currently opened by debugfs. The filespec argument may be specified in two forms. The first
form is an inode number surrounded by angle brackets, e.g., <2>. The second form is a pathname; if the pathname
is prefixed by a forward slash ('/'), then it is interpreted relative to the root of the filesystem which is cur-
rently opened by debugfs. If not, the pathname is interpreted relative to the current working directory as main-
tained by debugfs. This may be modified by using the debugfs command cd.
COMMANDS
This is a list of the commands which debugfs supports.
bmap filespec logical_block
Print the physical block number corresponding to the logical block number logical_block in the inode file-
spec.
cat filespec
Dump the contents of the inode filespec to stdout.
cd filespec
Change the current working directory to filespec.
chroot filespec
Change the root directory to be the directory filespec.
close Close the currently open file system.
clri file
Clear the contents of the inode file.
dump [-p] filspec out_file
Dump the contents of the inode filespec to the output file out_file. If the -p option is given set the
owner, group and permissions information on out_file to match filespec.
expand_dir filespec
Expand the directory filespec.
feature [fs_feature] [-fs_feature] ...
Set or clear various filesystem features in the superblock. After setting or clearing any filesystem fea-
tures that were requested, print the current state of the filesystem feature set.
find_free_block [count [goal]]
Find the first count free blocks, starting from goal and allocate it.
find_free_inode [dir [mode]]
Find a free inode and allocate it. If present, dir specifies the inode number of the directory which the
inode is to be located. The second optional argument mode specifies the permissions of the new inode.
(If the directory bit is set on the mode, the allocation routine will function differently.)
freeb block [count]
Mark the block number block as not allocated. If the optional argument count is present, then count
blocks starting at block number block will be marked as not allocated.
freei filespec
Free the inode specified by filespec.
help Print a list of commands understood by debugfs(8).
icheck block ...
Print a listing of the inodes which use the one or more blocks specified on the command line.
imap filespec
Print the location of the inode data structure (in the inode table) of the inode filespec.
init_filesys device blocksize
Create an ext2 file system on device with device size blocksize. Note that this does not fully initialize
all of the data structures; to do this, use the mke2fs(8) program. This is just a call to the low-level
library, which sets up the superblock and block descriptors.
kill_file filespec
Deallocate the inode filespec and its blocks. Note that this does not remove any directory entries (if
any) to this inode. See the rm(1) command if you wish to unlink a file.
lcd directory
Change the current working directory of the debugfs process to directory on the native filesystem.
ln filespec dest_file
Create a link named dest_file which is a link to filespec. Note this does not adjust the inode reference
counts.
logdump [-acs] [-b<block>] [-i<filespec>] [-f<journal_file>] [output_file]
Dump the contents of the ext3 journal. By default, the journal inode as specified in the superblock.
However, this can be overridden with the -i option, which uses an inode specifier to specify the journal
to be used. A file containing journal data can be specified using the -f option. Finally, the -s option
utilizes the backup information in the superblock to locate the journal.
The -a option causes the logdump program to print the contents of all of the descriptor blocks. The -b
option causes logdump to print all journal records that are refer to the specified block. The -c option
will print out the contents of all of the data blocks selected by the -a and -b options.
ls [-l] [-d] filespec
Print a listing of the files in the directory filespec. The -l flag will list files using a more verbose
format. The -d flag will list deleted entries in the directory.
modify_inode filespec
Modify the contents of the inode structure in the inode filespec.
mkdir filespec
Make a directory.
mknod filespec [p|b] major minor
Create a special device file (a named pipe, character or block device). If a character or block device is
to be made, the major and minor device numbers must be specified.
ncheck inode_num ...
Take the requested list of inode numbers, and print a listing of pathnames to those inodes.
open [-w] [-e] [-f] [-i] [-c] [-b blocksize] [-s superblock] device
Open a filesystem for editing. The -f flag forces the filesystem to be opened even if there are some
unknown or incompatible filesystem features which would normally prevent the filesystem from being opened.
The -e flag causes the filesystem to be opened in exclusive mode. The -b, -c, -i, -s, and -w options
behave the same as the command-line options to debugfs.
pwd Print the current working directory.
quit Quit debugfs
rdump directory destination
Recursively dump directory and all its contents (including regular files, symbolic links, and other direc-
tories) into the named destination which should be an existing directory on the native filesystem.
rm pathname
Unlink pathname. If this causes the inode pointed to by pathname to have no other references, deallocate
the file. This command functions as the unlink() system call.
rmdir filespec
Remove the directory filespec.
setb block [count]
Mark the block number block as allocated. If the optional argument count is present, then count blocks
starting at block number block will be marked as allocated.
seti filespec
Mark inode filespec as in use in the inode bitmap.
set_inode_field filespec field value
Modify the inode specified by filespec so that the inode field field has value value. The list of valid
inode fields which can be set via this command can be displayed by using the command: set_inode_field -l
set_super_value field value
Set the superblock field field to value. The list of valid superblock fields which can be set via this
command can be displayed by using the command: set_super_value -l
show_super_stats [-h]
List the contents of the super block and the block group descriptors. If the -h flag is given, only print
out the superblock contents.
stat filespec
Display the contents of the inode structure of the inode filespec.
testb block [count]
Test if the block number block is marked as allocated in the block bitmap. If the optional argument count
is present, then count blocks starting at block number block will be tested.
testi filespec
Test if the inode filespec is marked as allocated in the inode bitmap.
unlink pathname
Remove the link specified by pathname to an inode. Note this does not adjust the inode reference counts.
write source_file out_file
Create a file in the filesystem named out_file, and copy the contents of source_file into the destination
file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
DEBUGFS_PAGER, PAGER
The debugfs(8) program always pipes the output of the some commands through a pager program. These com-
mands include: show_super_stats, list_directory, show_inode_info, list_deleted_inodes, and htree_dump.
The specific pager can explicitly specified by the DEBUGFS_PAGER environment variable, and if it is not
set, by the PAGER environment variable.
Note that since a pager is always used, the less(1) pager is not particularly appropriate, since it clears
the screen before displaying the output of the command and clears the output the screen when the pager is
exited. Many users prefer to use the less(1) pager for most purposes, which is why the DEBUGFS_PAGER
environment variable is available to override the more general PAGER environment variable.
RELATED
dumpe2fs(8), e2fsck(8), mke2fs(8)
CATEGORY