volname

volname [device|mountpoint]

device
    The device name (e.g., /dev/sda1) for which to retrieve the volume name.

mountpoint
    The mount point (e.g., /mnt/data) for which to retrieve the volume name.


    If no device or mountpoint is specified, it attempts to infer the volume name of the current directory's filesystem.

The volname command is a simple utility used to display the volume name of a mounted filesystem. It examines the mount table (typically /etc/mtab or obtained from the `mount` command) to determine the volume label associated with a given device or mount point. If no device or mount point is specified, it attempts to infer the volume name of the current directory's filesystem. This command is especially useful for scripts or applications that need to dynamically determine the name of the volume on which a file or directory resides.

Historically, the volume name was often a property associated with the filesystem itself, allowing for easier identification and management, particularly on removable media. While its usage has somewhat diminished with the adoption of UUIDs and labels managed directly by the filesystem tools, volname can still be useful in certain contexts, especially where compatibility with older systems or scripts is required. It relies on the mountinfo files provided by procfs to get mount information. If there is not mountinfo file available volname will fall back to /etc/mtab. If that is also unavailable volname will attempt to get info from output of command `mount`.

The accuracy of volname depends on the information available in the mount table or mountinfo file. If the volume does not have a name recorded or the mount table is incomplete or inaccurate, volname may not return a meaningful result. Note that this command might be deprecated in some distributions in favor of other command, like 'findmnt'.

If volname cannot determine the volume name, it typically exits silently or prints an error message to standard error.

The location of the mount table (usually /etc/mtab or /proc/mounts) may vary slightly between different Linux distributions and Unix-like systems. volname typically attempts to autodetect the correct location.

The volname command has been a part of Unix-like systems for many years, primarily to provide a simple way to determine the volume label of a filesystem. Its roots lie in the era when volume names were a more central part of filesystem identification and management, particularly for removable media like floppy disks and early hard drives. Over time, with the advent of more sophisticated filesystem features such as UUIDs and labels managed through utilities like `e2label` (for ext2/3/4 filesystems) and `xfs_admin` (for XFS filesystems), the direct use of volname has decreased in some contexts. It remains useful, however, in situations where scripts or applications need to interact with older systems or require a simple, quick way to determine the filesystem's volume label.

mount(8), findmnt(1), blkid(8)