System Administration Commands format(1M)
NAME
format - disk partitioning and maintenance utility
SYNOPSIS
format [-f command-file] [-l log-file] [-x data-file]
[-d disk-name] [-t disk-type] [-p partition-name]
[-s] [-m] [-M] [-e] [disk-list]
DESCRIPTION
format enables you to format, label, repair, and analyze
disks on your system. Unlike previous disk maintenance pro-
grams, format runs under SunOS. Because there are limita-
tions to what can be done to the system disk while the sys-
tem is running, format is also supported within the memory-
resident system environment. For most applications, however,running format under SunOS is the more convenient approach.
format first uses the disk list defined in data-file if the
-x option is used. format then checks for the FORMAT_PATH
environment variable, a colon-separated list of filenames
and/or directories. In the case of a directory, format
searches for a file named format.dat in that directory; a
filename should be an absolute pathname, and is used withoutchange. format adds all disk and partition definitions in
each specified file to the working set. Multiple identicaldefinitions are silently ignored. If FORMAT_PATH is not set,
the path defaults to /etc/format.dat.
disk-list is a list of disks in the form c?t?d? or
/dev/rdsk/c?t?d?s?. With the latter form, shell wildcard specifications are supported. For example, specifying/dev/rdsk/c2* causes format to work on all drives connected
to controller c2 only. If no disk-list is specified, format
lists all the disks present in the system that can be admin-
istered by format.
Removable media devices are listed only when users executeformat in expert mode (option -e). This feature is provided
for backward compatibility. Use rmformat(1) for rewritable
removable media devices. OPTIONS The following options are supported:-d disk-name Specify which disk should be made
current upon entry into the program. The disk is specified by its logicalname (for instance, -d c0t1d0). This
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System Administration Commands format(1M)
can also be accomplished by specifying a single disk in the disk list.-e Enable SCSI expert menu. Note this
option is not recommended for casual use.-f command-file Take command input from command-file
rather than the standard input. The file must contain commands that appear just as they would if they had been entered from the keyboard. With thisoption, format does not issue continue?
prompts; there is no need to specifyy(es) or n(o) answers in the command-
file. In non-interactive mode, format
does not initially expect the input of a disk selection number. The user must specify the current working disk withthe -d disk-name option when format is
invoked, or specify disk and the diskselection number in the command-file.
-l log-file Log a transcript of the format session
to the indicated log-file, including
the standard input, the standard output and the standard error.-m Enable extended messages. Provides more
detailed information in the event of an
error.-M Enable extended and diagnostic mes-
sages. Provides extensive information
on the state of a SCSI device's modepages, during formatting.
-p partition-name Specify the partition table for the
disk which is current upon entry into the program. The table is specified by its name as defined in the data file. This option can be used only if a disk is being made current, and its type is either specified or available from the disk label.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 25 Sep 2008 2
System Administration Commands format(1M)
-s Silent. Suppress all of the standard
output. Error messages are still displayed. This is generally used inconjunction with the -f option.
-t disk-type Specify the type of disk which is
current upon entry into the program. A disk's type is specified by name in the data file. This option can only be used if a disk is being made current as described above.-x data-file Use the list of disks contained in
data-file.
USAGE
When you invoke format with no options or with the -e, -l,
-m, -M, or -s options, the program displays a numbered list
of available disks and prompts you to specify a disk by list number. If the machine has more than 10 disks, press SPACE to see the next screenful of disks. You can specify a disk by list number even if the disk is not displayed in the current screenful. For example, if thecurrent screen shows disks 11-20, you can enter 25 to
specify the twenty-fifth disk on the list. If you enter a
number for a disk that is not currently displayed, format
prompts you to verify your selection. If you enter a numberfrom the displayed list, format silently accepts your selec-
tion.After you specify a disk, format displays its main menu.
This menu enables you to perform the following tasks: analyze Run read, write, compare tests, and data purge. The data purge function implements the National Computer Security Center Guide to UnderstandingData Remnance (NCSC-TG-025 version 2) Overwrit-
ing Algorithm. See NOTES. backup Search for backup labels. cache Enable, disable, and query the state of the write cache and read cache. This menu item onlyappears when format is invoked with the -e
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System Administration Commands format(1M)
option, and is only supported on SCSI devices.. current Display the device name, the disk geometry, and the pathname to the disk device. defect Retrieve and print defect lists. This option issupported only on SCSI devices. IDE disks per-
form automatic defect management. Upon using the defect option on an IDE disk, you receive the message: Controller does not support defect management or disk supports automatic defect management. disk Choose the disk that will be used in subsequent operations (known as the current disk.) fdisk Run the fdisk(1M) program to create a fdiskpartition for Solaris software (x86 based sys-
tems only).format Format and verify the current disk. This option
is supported only on SCSI devices. IDE disksare pre-formatted by the manufacturer. Upon
using the format option on an IDE disk, you
receive the message:Cannot format this drive. Please use your
manufacturer-supplied formatting utility.
inquiry Display the vendor, product name, and revision level of the current drive. label Write a new label to the current disk. partition Create and modify slices.quit Exit the format menu.
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System Administration Commands format(1M)
repair Repair a specific block on the disk.save Save new disk and slice information.
type Select (define) a disk type.verify Read and display labels. Print information such
as the number of cylinders, alternate cylinders, heads, sectors, and the partition table. volname Label the disk with a new eight character volume name. ENVIRONMENT VARIABLESFORMAT_PATH a colon-separated list of filenames and/or
directories of disk and partition defini-
tions. If a directory is specified, format
searches for the file format.dat in that
directory. FILES/etc/format.dat default data file
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWcs ||_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
fmthard(1M), prtvtoc(1M), rmformat(1), format.dat(4), attri-
butes(5), sd(7D) x86 Only fdisk(1M)SunOS 5.11 Last change: 25 Sep 2008 5
System Administration Commands format(1M)
WARNINGSWhen the format function is selected to format the Maxtor
207MB disk, the following message displays: Mode sense page(4) reports rpm value as 0, adjusting it to 3600 This is a drive bug that may also occur with older third party drives. The above message is not an error; the drive will still function correctly. Cylinder 0 contains the partition table (disk label), which can be overwritten if used in a raw disk partition by third party software.format supports writing EFI-compliant disk labels in order
to support disks or LUNs with capacities greater than one terabyte. However, care should be exercised since many software components, such as filesystems and volume managers, are still restricted to capacities of one terabyteor less. See the System Administration Guide: Basic Adminis-
tration for additional information.
By default, on an unlabeled disk, EFI labels will be writtenon disks larger than 2 TB. When format is invoked with the
-e option, on writing the label, the label type can be
chosen. Booting is not currently supported on a disk with an EFI label. NOTESformat provides a help facility you can use whenever format
is expecting input. You can request help about what informa-
tion is expected by simply entering a question mark (?) andformat prints a brief description of what type of input is
needed. If you enter a ? at the menu prompt, a list of available commands is displayed.For SCSI disks, formatting is done with both Primary and
Grown defects list by default. However, if only Primary listis extracted in defect menu before formatting, formatting
will be done with Primary list only. Changing the state of the caches is only supported on SCSI devices, and not all SCSI devices support changing or saving the state of the caches.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 25 Sep 2008 6
System Administration Commands format(1M)
The NCSC-TG-025 algorithm for overwriting meets the DoD
5200.28-M (ADP Security Manual) Eraser Procedures specifica-
tion. The NIST Guidelines for Media Sanitization (NIST SP800-88) also reference this algorithm.
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