mkfs

TLDR

Build ext2 filesystem (default)

$ sudo mkfs /dev/sdXY

Build filesystem of specific type

$ sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sdXY

Build filesystem and check for bad blocks

$ sudo mkfs -c -t ext4 /dev/sdXY

Build XFS filesystem

$ sudo mkfs -t xfs /dev/sdXY

Show verbose output

$ sudo mkfs -V -t ext4 /dev/sdXY

SYNOPSIS

mkfs [options] [-t type] [fs-options] device [size]

mkfs builds a Linux filesystem on a device, usually a hard disk partition. It is a front-end wrapper that calls filesystem-specific utilities like mkfs.ext4 or mkfs.xfs. The device can be a block device or a regular file.

PARAMETERS

-t, --type TYPE

Specify filesystem type (ext2, ext3, ext4, xfs, btrfs, etc.); defaults to ext2

-c

Check the device for bad blocks before building

-V, --verbose

Produce verbose output including executed commands

-h, --help

Display help text

-V, --version

Display version information

COMMON FILESYSTEM TYPES

ext2: Legacy Linux filesystem
ext3: ext2 with journaling
ext4: Modern Linux filesystem (recommended)
xfs: High-performance filesystem
btrfs: Copy-on-write filesystem
vfat: FAT32 for compatibility
ntfs: Windows NTFS filesystem

CAVEATS

This command is deprecated in favor of filesystem-specific mkfs utilities (mkfs.ext4, mkfs.xfs, etc.). All data on the target device will be destroyed. Always double-check the device path before running.

HISTORY

mkfs is part of util-linux. It serves as a wrapper that delegates to the appropriate filesystem-specific mkfs.* utility based on the specified type.