DESCRIPTION

       mke2fs.conf  is  the configuration file for mke2fs(8).  It controls the
       default parameters used by mke2fs(8) when it is creating ext2  or  ext3
       filesystems.

       The  mke2fs.conf  file uses an INI-style format.  Stanzas, or top-level
       sections, are delimited by square braces: [ ].   Within  each  section,
       each  line  defines  a  relation, which assigns tags to values, or to a
       subsection, which contains further relations or subsections.  An  exam-
       ple  of  the  INI-style  format used by this configuration file follows
       below:

            [section1]
                 tag1 = value_a
                 tag1 = value_b
                 tag2 = value_c

            [section 2]
                 tag3 = {
                      subtag1 = subtag_value_a
                      subtag1 = subtag_value_b
                      subtag2 = subtag_value_c
                 }
                 tag1 = value_d
                 tag2 = value_e
            }

       Comments are delimited by a semicolon (';') or a hash  ('#')  character
       at  the beginning of the comment, and are terminated by the end of line
       character.

       Tags and values must be quoted using double quotes if they contain spa-
       ces.   Within  a  quoted string, the standard backslash interpretations
       apply: "\n" (for the newline character), "\t" (for the tab  character),
       "\b" (for the backspace character), and "\\" (for the backslash charac-
       ter).

       The following stanzas are used in the mke2fs.conf file.  They  will  be
       described in more detail in future sections of this document.

       [defaults]
              Contains  relations  which define the default parameters used by
              mke2fs(8).  In general, these defaults may be  overridden  by  a
              definition  in the fs_types stanza, or by an command-line option
              provided by the user.

       [fs_types]
              Contains relations which define defaults that should be used for
              specific filesystem types.  The filesystem type can be specified
              explicitly using the -T option to mke2fs(8).  If  no  filesystem
              type is specified, mke2fs(8) will use the filesystem type floppy
              if the filesystem size is less than or equal to 3 megabytes.  If
              This relation specifies a set of features that should  be  added
              or removed to the features listed in the base_features relation.
              It may be overridden by the filesystem-specific default_features
              in  the  filesystem-type subsection of [fs_types], and by the -O
              command-line option to mke2fs(8).

       blocksize
              This relation specifies the default blocksize if the  user  does
              not specify a blocksize on the command line, and the filesystem-
              type specific section of the configuration file does not specify
              a blocksize.

       inode_ratio
              This relation specifies the default inode ratio if the user does
              not specify one on the command  line,  and  the  filesystem-type
              specific  section  of  the configuration file does not specify a
              default inode ratio.

       inode_size
              This relation specifies the default inode size if the user  does
              not  specify  one  on  the command line, and the filesystem-type
              specific section of the configuration file does  not  specify  a
              default inode size.

THE [fs_types] STANZA

       Each  tag in the [fs_types] stanza names a filesystem type which can be
       specified via the -T option to mke2fs(8).  The value of the  tag  is  a
       subsection  where  the relations in that subsection define the defaults
       for that filesystem type. For example:

       [fs_types]
            small = {
                 blocksize = 1024
                 inode_ratio = 4096
            }
            floppy = {
                 blocksize = 1024
            }

       For each filesystem type, the  following  tags  may  be  used  in  that
       fs_type's subsection:

       base_features
              This  relation specifies the features which are enabled for this
              filesystem type.

       default_features
              This relation specifies set of features which should be  enabled
              or  disabled  to  the features listed in the base_features rela-
              tion.  It may be overridden by the  -O  command-line  option  to
              mke2fs(8).

              The configuration file for mke2fs(8).

SEE ALSO

       mke2fs(8)



E2fsprogs version 1.40.3         December 2007                  mke2fs.conf(5)