filesystems

FILESYSTEMS(5)             Linux Programmer's Manual            FILESYSTEMS(5)

NAME
       filesystems  -  Linux  filesystem  types:  ext, ext2, ext3, ext4, hpfs,
       iso9660, JFS, minix, msdos, ncpfs nfs, ntfs, proc, Reiserfs, smb, sysv,
       umsdos, vfat, XFS, xiafs,

DESCRIPTION
       When, as is customary, the proc filesystem is mounted on /proc, you can
       find in  the  file  /proc/filesystems  which  filesystems  your  kernel
       currently  supports;  see  proc(5)  for  more details.  There is also a
       legacy sysfs(2) system call (whose availability is  controlled  by  the
       CONFIG_SYSFS_SYSCALL  kernel  build  configuration  option  since Linux
       3.15) that enables enumeration of the  currently  available  filesystem
       types regardless of /proc availability and/or sanity.

       If   you   need   a   currently   unsupported  filesystem,  insert  the
       corresponding kernel module or recompile the kernel.

       In order to use a filesystem, you have to mount it;  see  mount(2)  and
       mount(8).

       iThe  following  list  provides a short description of the available or
       historically available filesystems in the Linux kernel.  See the kernel
       documentation  for  a  comprehensive  description  of  all  options and
       limitations.

       ext       is an elaborate extension of the minix  filesystem.   It  has
                 been  completely  superseded  by  the  second  version of the
                 extended filesystem (ext2) and  has  been  removed  from  the
                 kernel (in 2.1.21).

       ext2      is  the  high  performance  disk filesystem used by Linux for
                 fixed disks as well as removable media.  The second  extended
                 filesystem  was  designed  as  an  extension  of the extended
                 filesystem (ext).  See ext2(5).

       ext3      is a journaling version of the ext2 filesystem.  It  is  easy
                 to switch back and forth between ext2 and ext3.  See ext3(5).

       ext4      is   a   set   of  upgrades  to  ext3  including  substantial
                 performance  and   reliability   enhancements,   plus   large
                 increases  in  volume,  file, and directory size limits.  See
                 ext4(5).

       hpfs      is the High  Performance  Filesystem,  used  in  OS/2.   This
                 filesystem  is  read-only  under  Linux  due  to  the lack of
                 available documentation.

       iso9660   is a CD-ROM  filesystem  type  conforming  to  the  ISO  9660
                 standard.

                 High Sierra
                        Linux  supports  High Sierra, the precursor to the ISO
                        9660  standard  for   CD-ROM   filesystems.    It   is
                        automatically recognized within the iso9660 filesystem
                        support under Linux.

                 Rock Ridge
                        Linux also supports the System  Use  Sharing  Protocol
                        records   specified  by  the  Rock  Ridge  Interchange
                        Protocol.  They are used to further describe the files
                        in  the iso9660 filesystem to a UNIX host, and provide
                        information such as  long  filenames,  UID/GID,  POSIX
                        permissions,   and   devices.    It  is  automatically
                        recognized within the iso9660 filesystem support under
                        Linux.

       JFS       is  a  journaling  filesystem,  developed  by  IBM,  that was
                 integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.24.

       minix     is the filesystem used in the  Minix  operating  system,  the
                 first  to  run under Linux.  It has a number of shortcomings,
                 including a 64 MB partition size limit, short filenames,  and
                 a  single  timestamp.  It remains useful for floppies and RAM
                 disks.

       msdos     is the  filesystem  used  by  DOS,  Windows,  and  some  OS/2
                 computers.    msdos   filenames  can  be  no  longer  than  8
                 characters, followed by an optional period  and  3  character
                 extension.

       ncpfs     is  a network filesystem that supports the NCP protocol, used
                 by Novell NetWare.

                 To use ncpfs, you need special programs, which can  be  found
                 at <ftp://linux01.gwdg.de/pub/ncpfs>.

       nfs       is the network filesystem used to access disks located on re-
                 mote computers.

       ntfs      replaces Microsoft Window's FAT  filesystems  (VFAT,  FAT32).
                 It  has  reliability,  performance, and space-utilization en-
                 hancements plus features like ACLs,  journaling,  encryption,
                 and so on.

       proc      is  a pseudo filesystem which is used as an interface to ker-
                 nel data structures  rather  than  reading  and  interpreting
                 /dev/kmem.   In particular, its files do not take disk space.
                 See proc(5).

       Reiserfs  is a journaling filesystem, designed by Hans Reiser, that was
                 integrated into Linux in kernel 2.4.1.

       smb       is  a network filesystem that supports the SMB protocol, used
                 by Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, and Lan Manager.   See
                 <https://www.samba.org/samba/smbfs/>.

       sysv      is  an  implementation of the SystemV/Coherent filesystem for
                 Linux.  It implements all of Xenix FS,  SystemV/386  FS,  and
                 Coherent FS.

       umsdos    is  an  extended DOS filesystem used by Linux.  It adds capa-
                 bility for long filenames, UID/GID,  POSIX  permissions,  and
                 special  files  (devices,  named  pipes,  etc.) under the DOS
                 filesystem, without sacrificing compatibility with DOS.

       tmpfs     is a filesystem whose  contents  reside  in  virtual  memory.
                 Since  the files on such filesystems typically reside in RAM,
                 file access is extremely fast.  See tmpfs(5).

       vfat      is an extended FAT filesystem used by Microsoft Windows95 and
                 Windows  NT.   vfat adds the capability to use long filenames
                 under the MSDOS filesystem.

       XFS       is a journaling filesystem, developed by SGI, that was  inte-
                 grated into Linux in kernel 2.4.20.

       xiafs     was  designed and implemented to be a stable, safe filesystem
                 by extending the Minix filesystem code.  It provides the  ba-
                 sic  most  requested  features without undue complexity.  The
                 xiafs filesystem is no longer  actively  developed  or  main-
                 tained.  It was removed from the kernel in 2.1.21.

SEE ALSO
       fuse(4),   btrfs(5),   ext2(5),   ext3(5),  ext4(5),  nfs(5),  proc(5),
       tmpfs(5), fsck(8), mkfs(8), mount(8)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 5.05 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of  the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
       latest    version    of    this    page,    can     be     found     at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

Linux                             2018-04-30                    FILESYSTEMS(5)